is it wrong to root against your own team?
Yes. I think it’s in the Bible or something.
Thou shalt not “root” against thine own nation’s team.
What are you supposed to do when they keep on getting spanked?
You can go ahead and root against the USA basketball organization that put together the wrong team. Also, I think the Bible gives you permission to root against the guys who decided not to go to Greece in the first place.
Hey, at least the women showed up to play.
It is right to do so, in every game. I’ve never seen such a group of prima donnas assembled ever.
Well, maybe the 1988 hockey team in Sarajevo. As with the hockey players, the roundballers came to party, and by the way, there’s a little tournament called the Olympics. They’re only representing their country and there’s no money on the line, so it doesn’t matter how they play. How pathetic.
I’ll take a bunch of hungry college players any day over those guys.
Rocketboy
I love the fact that the press continues to use the term “dream team” with the quotes - almost sarcastically.
Australia is a great sports country - but we shouldn’t need a 4th quarter comeback to beat them.
Certainly not all of these guys are playing well, and maybe one or two aren’t playing hard, but this team wasn’t assembled to play the type of game they play in the Olympics. Lot’s of NBA players wouldn’t come play and this group of “prima donnas” at least showed up for the team and came to Greece. They don’t have any outside shooters and they aren’t used to playing a zone. I think the fault lies more with the selection process and the state of basketball in the NBA than with this team and these players.
Thou shalt not “root” against thine own nation’s team.
Then I’m a heretic. I’m rooting against them for two reasons:
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They act like asses. They beat Germany in exhibition, and make like they’ve just won gold? Give me a break. Show some class.
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If they get eliminated, maybe I won’t have to watch basketball so much during the Olympics. Like I don’t get enough b-ball during the NBA and collegiate seasons, right?
At the very least, they should stop calling them the “Dream Team”. Honestly, Jordan and company, that was a dream team. This group isn’t even a shadow of a dream team. My best guess is they barely make it out of their group, and lose in the quarter finals. I think our old college based teams played better. Honestly, taking one year out of high school players to the Olympics? Iverson, I’m playing hurt as always? Anyone good started bailing on accepting a team slot over six months ago, they could see the writing the on the wall. Gawd, how I miss John Wooden.
“Well, maybe the 1988 hockey team in Sarajevo.”
You ain’t kiddin’. The only thing Roenick and Tkuck (sp?) tore up were the chairs and card tables they smashed in their living quarters.
I like the international way of not calling defensive fouls when the ballhandler is out of control and deliberately trying to draw the foul.
Good grief, even Tim Duncan is bitching and moaning after every whistle.
Wasn’t the term “Dream Team” assigned to the first NBA Olympic team because everyone on there was heading to the Hall of Fame. Lose the term “Dream team”. It only leads to horribly uncreative newspapers headlines like “Dream Team is a Nightmare”.
For the same reason that I have had a personal boycott of major professional team sports for about 10 years. (I confess. I watched John Elway and the Broncos 2 super bowls, but none of the regular season games. I’ll go to a baseball game if a friend invites me, but only for the comaraderie. Otherwise, no! Never!!) Those guys are a bunch of prima donna crybaby felons playing a team sport as selfish individuals. Who needs 'em?
PS. Put the amateurs back in the olympic basketball, then I’ll root for our team. (Or, team players like Magic and Larry.)
Certainly not all of these guys are playing well, and maybe one or two aren’t playing hard, but this team wasn’t assembled to play the type of game they play in the Olympics. Lot’s of NBA players wouldn’t come play and this group of “prima donnas” at least showed up for the team and came to Greece. They don’t have any outside shooters and they aren’t used to playing a zone. I think the fault lies more with the selection process and the state of basketball in the NBA than with this team and these players.
Good post. I just watched the Lithuania game. The US played a good game but lost at the end. Missed free throws allowed Lit. to stay in the game and they made some great 3 pointer at the end to win. The US team is flawed. They only have one true point guard on the roster(Marbury) and even he is one of those shoot 1st, pass 2nd PG’s. We have a bunch of guys who all basically play the same 2 positions and are offensive minded players.
I think the selection committee should have avoided going for the best available players and instead tried to create the best “team.” There are very few role players on the squad. A pass first point guard, a couple of outside shooters, a good perimeter defender and a couple of big bangers willing to play tough interior D would have been nice. Ok, maybe not all of these are completely missing, but you get my point. I think you also made a good point about the zone D. A good percentage of the team either didn’t play in college or only played a year and are not used to the zone D. We certainly don’t have the shooters to take advantage of it. Maybe these shortcomings could have been overcome if the team had been together longer, but not when thrown together a couple of weeks before the games.
Ok, so 10 of the selection committee’s top choices turned down the chance, so they were hamstrung a bit. I still think a better effort could have been made a truly forming a well-rounded team, even if they weren’t neccessarily All-Star players.
Prediction: US beats Angola, goes to the quarterfinals, wins to get in the semi’s and then loses there. They then lose the bronze-medal game and leaves Athens empty handed.
Yeah, they could have picked some shooters. The best 3 point guy on the US team is 47th in the NBA in 3 point percentage. Not good. I’m sure that if they had invited some of the lower profile shooters they would have had no problem getting a couple to step up into the spotlight.