[jjgold]

Unreal that we are not even close to the best basketball World anymore, I do not care who plays in the Olympics we will not win that either.

James looked like he did not belong and dif not fit in. Anthony was the standout for team USA.

This has to be coach K's toughest loss ever.

[pjesnik24]

lol

[fearless]

They should ask the world championship NBA team to play in these tournaments! No prep time necessary, just a couple of weeks of work. If a player from the world championship team isn't American, that player can be substituted with an all-star of the team's choice.

Who thinks Greece could have beaten the Heat? I don't.

[JoshW]

Thought they had it enough together to win this year, guess not.

[BadAzz]

USA keeps making the same mistakes over and over again. They had a real program this year and still they managed to put together a team that lacks shooting, defense and team play just like the previous years. If you take a 10 players and each of these 10 players is used to handling the ball 50% of the time he spends on court and you try to make a team functioning out of that bunch, you will not succeed.

It looked better in the early stages of this program, but eventually all the role players were cut off. Battier and Miller excluded. Does anyone know why Miller did not play? is he injured? Bowen would have been nice against that pick 'n roll and he is also a good STAND STILL shooter.

If your starting 5 consists of 3 slashers, point guard and a big guy that cannot shoot form outside you'll have the whole opposing team standing under the basket. Melo, Wade and James are terrific players but you only need 1-2 of that kind on the court at the same time.

Back when USA was a powerhouse they had the likes of Reggie (excellent catch and shooter), Mullin (terrific stand still shooter),
inside scoring threat with Shaq, Malone etc. And only one Jordan, who was a "do it all"-package.

That is the problem with the whole NBA I figure, It is a 1 on 1 slashing contest nowadays and I hate that. It used to be so much better...

[nikosgr]

I think Greece could have beaten the Heat too.
Like it or not the distance between the NBA and the rest of the championship is getting shorter and shorter.

[BigDaddy]

its sad when we can't even win these things they need to form a team not a bunch of highlight reels if anyone watched this game it was all show for usa and all team for greece.

[Bill Dozer]

Bowen would have been nice against that pick 'n roll and he is also a good STAND STILL shooter.

That move has to be questioned right now. They need to spread the floor.

They should ask the world championship NBA team to play in these tournaments! No prep time necessary, just a couple of weeks of work. If a player from the world championship team isn't American, that player can be substituted with an all-star of the team's choice.

Who thinks Greece could have beaten the Heat? I don't.

I am starting to think this is the way to go to. At least invite them! I guess the problem is the two conf champs already had the longest NBA seasons.

They need time to prep too and if 2003 Mavs had won it, you would be out of luck.

[scottyy11]

i'm not sure about this prep time stuff. I think its a poor excuse and the same one that we used here in Canada when we started getting beat in hockey. The days of the dream team are long gone.

[mad]

They were a little complacent. By all rights the U.S team should have won that comp. They certainly have the talent at their disposal, so no excuses i'm afraid.

[Bill Dozer]

Anyone have a box score? I wanted to see the %. ESPN's report on the game requires and INSIDER pass!

[BadAzz]

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/06_...mNumber=&zone=

[bigboydan]

after Greece went on that 22-5 run in the 2nd quater and blew that 12 point lead they had, the USA never recovered.

[Bill Dozer]

Thanks BadAzz. 58.8% FTs is too low for the words best guards.

[Dark Horse]

This is a different sport than the NBA.

This was the US when faced with the Greek zone defense:

And this was the US when faced with the Greek pick 'n roll offense:

And this was coach K about the necessary adjustments:

Other than that, I think the problem was mostly in the mind. The US came in with a 'just another game' attitude, and to Greece this was a playoff game. To illustrate, with US up by 12 pts the game turned around on a Hinrich jumper, in which he went up for a 3 pt shot, with no player in his face, and landed with the ball in his hands! This guy comes in with a playground attitude (that he'd shown before in the tournament), and it seemed the sign for Greece to take care of business. Greece picked up the slack and never looked back.

[chano]

One thing I have always wondered about is , why do they call the NBA championship winner, The World champs, And the same with MLB.
Clearly they are not, there are better teams in both sports in other countries. United States NBA Champs & Unted States MLB Champs is more like it. Just my thought

[pjesnik24]

lol

[Dark Horse]

Shhhh....

To the majority of Americans the world is the US, and knowledge of the rest of the planet is extremely limited. How else do you think the people would buy the idea of exporting freedom to the rest of the world? Oh, through aggressive wars... lol. Freedom through oppression. WTF.

[chano]

God Bless America.

[kdmfox]

Things sure have changed ... Our collegians used to be enough to beat anyone on the planet ... Where's Larry and Magic?

[Dark Horse]

God Bless America.

And the rest of the world.

[Illusion]

I thought this was supposed to be the team that cared. They obviously didn't care enough to play defense today.

[jjgold]

We would of won easy if we had Ben Wallace and Tim Duncan and Kobe

The olympic team better be better than this group

[onlooker]

Does this prove that the NBA is catered to our players, and blow calls for our stars? To make them look better?

No wonder David Stern is trying to expand the NBA to other countries. Because our guys are just not cutting it no more.

Pretty soon, Americans will be trying to go overseas to play basketball.

[bigboydan]

Pretty soon, Americans will be trying to go overseas to play basketball.

i wouldn't put it past some of them looker.

i would say the players play in the NBA for the money, but last night one of the announcers mentioned one of the players on the Greece team signed with a russian team for like 17 million dollars tax free.

[pags11]

as much as these guys say they take it seriously, they don't...they use it as a free vacation for them and their families...probably party it up pretty good too...

[imgv94]

One thing I have always wondered about is , why do they call the NBA championship winner, The World champs, And the same with MLB.
Clearly they are not, there are better teams in both sports in other countries. United States NBA Champs & Unted States MLB Champs is more like it. Just my thought

You are wrong, The United States does have the best players.
This isn't the best team we could assemble. NO Kobe,Duncan and Garnett.

America is the best that is why foreigners flock over here..

[tacomax]

This isn't the best team we could assemble. NO Kobe,Duncan and Garnett.

What was the excuse in the World Baseball Classic?

Anyway, it's always good to see the team which expects to win fall flat on their arses time and time again. Never mind, I think that an American side will win the baseball World Series this year - that's a world championship in which America always seems to dominate.

[Dark Horse]

US just destroyed Argentina 96-81. I think it was unfamiliarity with the Greek players, and lack of respect for non-NBA players, behind that loss.

[imgv94]

HAHA

Obviously it has became the trendy thing to do criticize TEAM USA. They lose one game after winning every other game by an avg of 25+ and everyone jumps on them, THE GAME WAS A FLUKE and if you can't see that I feel sorry for ya.. GET IT THROUGH YOUR MINDS KNUCKLEHEADS this is basketball shit happens.

AMERICA IS THE BEST!!!

[Dark Horse]

C'mon. You saw the game, didn't you? The US was flat in a game that required playoff intensity.

[Dark Horse]

But to avoid flukes it may have been better to play best-of-three in the semis and the finals.

[imgv94]

This is basketball, it is not that hard of game. Any team can get lucky one night and win. Greece's win over TEAM USA was just that

[BadAzz]

I disagree with Imgv wholeheartedly. Basketball is not a game where any tem can get lucky and win, that would be soccer or hockey. In basketball the better team usually wins.

Team USA has not won the tournament 3 times in a row, it is not about flukes but detorioration of American basketball. I want to call it detorioration, you can call it development. NBA rules are so twisted nowadays that it is not basketball any more and the players that league produce are of course fit for those rules.

I want Euro rules combined with NCAA intensity, that is what I call basketball. Kenyon Martin can shout and stare together with Richard Jefferson when they slam on each other in some other place.