Comments on USA Hoops Performance

[SirSaxa]

THIS THREAD HAS BEEN RE-NAMED AS OF SUNDAY 8/24

NEW POSTS AT END OF THIS THREAD

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OLD POSTS STARTED HERE

SCHEDULE UPDATE

Friday the US plays Argentina at 10:15 AM (EDT)

Assuming they win, the FINAL will be on Sunday at 2:30 AM (EDT)
vs. the winner of Spain v. Lithuania.

The games have been on the USA TV, don't know if that will continue.

Nice scheduling right? Friday morning and Sunday at 2:30 in the morning?!?!

It has been fun to watch though.

LeBron is the man.





-----------
UPDATE:
OK -- GAME IS OVER NOW.
WAS CLOSE FOR MOST OF FIRST HALF, THEN US BLEW IT OPEN.

NEXT UP, WINNER OF GREECE V. ARGENTINA IN SEMI-FINALS ON FRIDAY.


Original post below:
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US v AUS RIght Now... on USA TV


US Leading 41-32, despite missing threes and frees

Kid Mills from St. Mary's is playing great for Australia

[SirSaxa]

Halftime US 55-43

Despite shooting 10/20 from the line and...!!! 2/12 from three!!!

patrick Mills, quick, aggressive PG for AUS. Was a frosh at St. Mary's last year.
This kid can play.

US getting the job done somehow. Had 13 O Boards in the first half, to Australia's 12 TOTAL boards. US looking sloppy, settling for far too many threes, but still winning.

MODS -- Please leave this up until 10:00 AM (EDT) when the game should be over. Thanks.

[strummer8526]

U.S. is really pulling away.

[SirSaxa]

69-43 after second half opens 14-0!

[SirSaxa]

89-61 end of Q3

[SirSaxa]

Back in the second quarter when game was close, US went "small". Australia had two 7'ers in (LIC was in Aussie Heaven!).
US ran LeBron, Kobe, Dwayne, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and took over the game with quicks.

[hoyalawyer]

great to see lebron at the 5.

[Deleted]

Sweet Jesus H., I hope Chris Paul and Deron Williams can somehow play together in the same division (or at least conference) for the next 10 years.

EDIT: Ditto for Wade-LeBron(-Kobe?)

[SirSaxa]

LeBron is a VERY impressive basketball player.

Kind of like Magic... can do everything.
And makes those around him better!

[SirSaxa]

Final 116-85

[NorthCarolinaHOYA]

Im happy for the US team I only wish Iverson was on the team and he could enjoy winning the Olympics. I hate they dogged him.

[SirSaxa]

Aug 20, 2008 9:25:09 GMT -5 NorthCarolinaHOYA said:

Im happy for the US team I only wish Iverson was on the team and he could enjoy winning the Olympics. I hate they dogged him.

Most on this board would agree, especially because he was the best and classiest player on the team in Athens.

[prhoya]

Plus, he would add that all-important GU connection.

[MCIGuy]

Aug 20, 2008 9:25:09 GMT -5 NorthCarolinaHOYA said:

Im happy for the US team I only wish Iverson was on the team and he could enjoy winning the Olympics. I hate they dogged him.

I'm particularly mad that the media has forgotten or gotten revisionist about Iverson's involvement. Especially when considering that Kidd and nine other guys dropped out of the 2004 Olympics causing Team USA to scramble to put together 10 other players to go along with Iverson and Duncan. Do folks remember that before Colangelo got involved Team USA and Larry Brown had ask for more than one summer worth of commitment from the NBA players? The guys who played in the 2003 FIBA were supposed to return to play again in 2004 (two summers). But the Madrid train bombing caused most of the players to get cold feet.

[SirSaxa]

What an exciting final was US wins GOLD.

Kobe
He really came up HUGE in the 4th Qtr of the Final.
He played like the NBA MVP.

Coaching
Coack K and Jim Boeheim are not among the favorites on this board,
But they deserve Kudos, along with D'Antonio, for doing a great job leading this team of superstars and superegos. Gotta hand it to them.

Spain
WOW, they really played well.
Anyone else think Gasol played tougher and with a lot more determination and grit than he did in the NBA Finals?

Lebron James
I think he is the best basketball player in the world.
And a total, 100% leader.

Dwayne Wade
He is as good as, if not better than, ever.
One of the very top players in the NBA and world.

Jason Kidd
In the last two games in particular, he showed why he was on this team and the key role he played

The whole team really played great and -- more importantly -- showed great attitude and team play. it was really fun to see Superstars like these guys play a serious, team game.

But the rest of the world is coming up fast. Some excellent players out there.

I did not think I was going to enjoy the Olympic basketball, but I did. Great job USA Hoops!

[GIGAFAN99]

SirSaxa, I was thinking the same thing about Gasol. It's almost like the exact opposite of the past US NBA players who care about the season but not the Olympics. He really looked hungry for that gold.

[SirSaxa]

2012 USA Hoops Team???


SFHoya raised this point last week in another thread. What will our team look like next time, and can the US bring another dominating team to London?

Yesterday's NY Times has a brief write-up on some responses from players re: next time.

Said they would Definitely be back
Kobe ("If they want me")
C Paul ("If they want me")
D. Williams
C. Bosh
D. Howard

Maybe
LeBron -- "I'm definitely open to it at this point"
Carmelo -- "I'll think about it"
Dwayne -- "We'll worry about London when it becomes time"

Also, mentioned how important it is to keep Jerry Colangelo involved.

Said Coach K would definitely NOT be back

Suggested a couple possibilities for coach next time:
Greg Popovich
Mike D'Antoni


NY Times on USA Hoops in 2012

[hoyarooter]

I stayed up to watch the game last night (ah, the advantages of the left coast). I agree that it was really exciting, Spain played great (I particularly couldn't believe all of the runners Navarro was making - I didn't think he was ever going to miss), and Kobe took over when the game was on the line. I also agree about Pau - he played way better last night than he did against the Celtics. I also thought little brother Marc played well. My only regreat about the Pau deal was that I was sorry that Marc was included, as it would have been pretty cool to see them playing together.

[RDF]

As expected- the Iverson bashing begins. Today--Jim Souhan-an awful columnist from Star Tribune--said the "Re-deem" team needs to thank Allen Iverson and Larry Brown for the "style of play" and gold medal. Your usual talk of "team play...." and how Iverson-who out of all the players--including NBA "Sweetheart" Tim Duncan actually showed pride in playing and stayed committed--you know the same commitment that many stars opted out of after playing the previous Summer in Puerto Rico?

Anyways--Iverson is getting trashed and is "figurehead" of the '04 failure.

No mention that Stephon Marbury and uncompetitive losers like Lamar Odom were on team--not to mention that guys on this current team were just thrown on team and many weren't as good as they are now.

Oh well--what else would Iverson be--if not target for what is wrong in the world of basketball.

[SirSaxa]

Very sorry -- but not shocked -- to hear someone is taking shots at Iverson yet again.
He was the classiest guy associated with the team in '04 -- including the coaching staff. He had a vastly different and more mature and responsible attitude and comments than Larry Brown for example.