USA vs Italy

[Gorilla]

The only people that should be afraid of getting injured is Joe Soldier in Iraq, who has more at stake than a torn ACL.

Long year? The Olympics come once every 4 years. Hand me a handkerchief.

Well said Sly!!

 

[George O'Brien]

The only people that should be afraid of getting injured is Joe Soldier in Iraq, who has more at stake than a torn ACL.

Long year? The Olympics come once every 4 years. Hand me a handkerchief.

I agree. Actually, Amare, LeBron, Carmelo, and Okafor all have a lot more at stake than the high priced veterans who already have big long term contracts.

 

[Stoner]

From Chris Webber's recent chat regarding the Kings playoff loss which I feel is very telling regarding the state of American basketball:

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/10185133p-11105724c.html

It's time o stop playing soft and (like) suburban kids. That's what we play like. We play like we're from the suburbs and the best basketball is played in the city. Everybody knows that.

Apparently not, Chris. This loss to Italy makes it even more evident. The "street" mentality needs to be balanced with the fundamentals and good team basketball from the "suburbs" (Europe)

btw..if you happen to read the long article, Webber becomes very hard to root for (if you ever did).

 

[Gaddabout]

btw..if you happen to read the long article, Webber becomes very hard to root for (if you ever did).

What's really sad is Webber will never be the same player he once was. Anyone remember the first time Moses Malone passed out of 1-on-1 against an overmatched defender? It was disturbing if you could recall him mowing down double- and triple-teams for a dunk. He was formerly indefensible once he got the ball on the block. That was the kind of shocking display of weakness I saw from Webber. I'm wondering if the Maloofs will start looking for a buyout of his contract this time next year, because the Kings aren't a better team with him on the floor.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

The only people that should be afraid of getting injured is Joe Soldier in Iraq, who has more at stake than a torn ACL.

Long year? The Olympics come once every 4 years. Hand me a handkerchief.

If I went I would be scared to death of a terrorist attack. By all accounts, Greece isn't even prepared for the games, so I can't imagine they have the best security. They shouldn't have even gotton the games.

The American players know they will be the target if something does happen. Odom said it best, "I ain't gonna lie to you, I made out my will before I left home."


Of people who aren't playing: Both Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett are getting married. More than a fair enough excuse.

Jason Kidd has microfracture surgery (same thing Penny had I think). No way he could have.

Bryant was in until he had to go to court. Can't really expect (or want him representing us) at this point.

I am pretty sure there are 1 or 2 other good reasons for players.

Some guys don't really have the solid excuse, but who cares? They didn't want to go, so why make them? At the intial time, it was a 2 year commitment. That meant playing basketball from Oct. 1 2002 straight through June 2005. Pretty long time, and pretty exhausting if you ask me.

Why do people bash the players who don't go? Instead, embrace the ones who genuinely want to be there.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I'm wondering if the Maloofs will start looking for a buyout of his contract this time next year, because the Kings aren't a better team with him on the floor.

I am pretty sure you can't do that. At least, if they did his salary would stay on the cap for the duration of the contract (making it nearly impossible to make improvements).

They could waive him, but they would still have to pay his salary. Might as well keep him on the floor at that point.

Only way the Kings can be helped is if they find an idiot GM willing to take on his deal. Kind of like how the Sonics got rid of Baker.

 

[elindholm]

Why do people bash the players who don't go?

Right, exactly. All this "obligation to represent your country" stuff is crap. If someone wants to go and considers it an honor, great. If they don't want to go, no problem.

NBA players have responsibilities to their families and friends, as well as -- let's not forget -- their employers, the NBA franchises. The Olympics interfere with those priorities. Deciding whether to play is a complicated judgement call, and I don't see how we can fault people one way or another when we don't know everything that's going on in their lives.

I represent my country by paying taxes, voting, and trying to act according to values that I believe are consistent with those of this country. I think that's a pretty good commitment right there.

 

[devilalum]

Why do people bash the players who don't go?

Right, exactly. All this "obligation to represent your country" stuff is crap. If someone wants to go and considers it an honor, great. If they don't want to go, no problem.

NBA players have responsibilities to their families and friends, as well as -- let's not forget -- their employers, the NBA franchises. The Olympics interfere with those priorities. Deciding whether to play is a complicated judgement call, and I don't see how we can fault people one way or another when we don't know everything that's going on in their lives.

I represent my country by paying taxes, voting, and trying to act according to values that I believe are consistent with those of this country. I think that's a pretty good commitment right there.

There is no obligation but it is extremely diappointing that so many players have no desire to represent their country.

The olympics just haven't been the same since they started letting pro athletes compete.

 

[elindholm]

There is no obligation but it is extremely diappointing that so many players have no desire to represent their country.

And how are you concluding that? Maybe they have lots of different desires and can't satisfy all of them simultaneously.

 

[devilalum]

There is no obligation but it is extremely diappointing that so many players have no desire to represent their country.

And how are you concluding that? Maybe they have lots of different desires and can't satisfy all of them simultaneously.

The desire obviously isn't strong enough to actually do it so what difference does it make.

If we were talking about one or two guys I might agree with you but player after player kept dropping out. Are you telling me that all of them had some other special obligation? It seemed more like, "Hey look Shaq isn't going, if he isn't going then I'm not going either..."

There was a big backlash from players, the league, everybody when we lost the worlds recently. What happened to the big commitment to put USA basketball back on top?

 

[Chaz]

Well some of the players that didn't go this time had represented in Atlanta or Sydney. I think it is a little unfair to bash those guys that have played previously.

I agree with elindhom, if they don't want to go for whatever reason that is their right. It is a free country, at least for now.

 

[jbeecham]

Olymipic Men's Basketball is a joke. I wish it would go back to being college players, but the college players are marginal now because everyone enters the NBA draft early. My point is that for every other event, people train their whole lives for the chance to make it to the olympics, except for basketball. In America, people work on their basketball skills to make it into the NBA and make money. Sure there are some who truly love this country and want to represent it, but most just do it for the recognition.

The real problem is that there are serious risks that go into playing these games. Any injury that a player sustains while playing in the Olympics can hurt their actual careers where they make their money. On top of that, there's the chance of terrorist attacks, which the US athletes will surely be the targets.

I think we should only send college seniors that won't make it into the NBA. We won't win the gold or silver or probably not even bronze, but everyone will still know that the NBA is the best league in the world and athletes from all over the world will still want to be in it.