USA competing in international game last night ... LeBron James had a swooping dunk ... lead official waves it off, and calls traveling!

Smart referees know that's creating an advantage. Violation.

Also Europe won't be sending its best referees to the Olympics. A dispute between FIBA and ULEB makes it impossible for any Euroleague or ULEB Cup officials to work Olympic matches. They are probably working on the new NBA rules to be in effect for the upcoming year (time outs in final two minutes and block-charge).

Interesting, too, in the Euroleague, this new rule: the ball may be sent to the backcourt when the ball is inbounded from the center line on resumption of play following a time-out in the final two minutes.

What about those uniforms the FIBA refs were wearing in todays USA vs. PR game??

I personally would choose the old greys over those aweful looking shirts. I also can't believe they still wear belted pants.

FIBA's got a long way to go, but I think the first thing they should do is adopt a 3 person officiating system.

Just my observations.

I had read that FIBA had adopted the 3-Person system for Olympics and World Championships. I could not believe when I saw the Two-Person system today. That was more of a shock than the US losing.

I agree about the shirts. Weird!

But I was more impressed (negatively) with the poor play and sloppy ball-handling of the US team. Sheez, they looked like an exhausted hs team most of the game.

The announcers kept saying that the US was having trouble adjusting to the different game, but I'd be interested in the details of that. What specific differences make it so difficult to adjust? Is the 3-point line being closer actually a disadvantage, rather than an advantage? And is the FIBA floor smaller? It felt smaller to me, but I'm not sure. I'd be interested in hearing what y'all think.

Rainmaker - the court is the same size in both FIBA and NBA.

Personally, I think one of the biggest differences is that the other countries are more used to playing zone defence (and playing against it). I know that the NBA now allows zones (although I believe there are still restrictions?). Seems to me, that the US struggles against the defensive pressure of some of the zones they come up against. IMHO

Obviously there are also a few rules differences - stricter travel call, no cylinder above the ring, no time-out calls from the floor, to name a few. These would also be affecting the players at some times.

I don't think they were talking about rules difference...but style differences.

The biggest difference they need to adjust to is the type of calls that are being made or not made. It's quite apparent that the FIBA officials of that game were very willing to call a charge whenever the defender held their ground...and sometimes when they flopped...even when close to the basket. The NBA players are used to that not being called. As a result, they go for the block instead of holding their ground. That got them called for several fouls. It seems aggressive shot blocking is almost assumed to be a foul where US often often let a moderate amount of contact go if they get the ball.

They also would drive aggressively into the defense expecting to get a defensive foul call that never came. Sometimes correctly, sometimes not. If it involved body contact, it was often ignored. If it involved any arm contact, it was often called. The PR players seemed to know that and the US players didn't and never seemed to get it.

I was also watching the US vs New Zealand Women's game where 3 US players simultaneously blocked a shot. In live action it appeared clean and replay also confirmed that no one even came close to making contact....anywhere. The shooter fell down. A foul was called. :(