Greece?

[26 Year Gap]

Top 6 from NCAA champ & top 6 from NCAA runner-up. That would worth watching. I can't remember the last international contest I watched, but lots of electronic gadgets had not been invented yet. And it probably pre-dated the 10 panel ball.

[Jimgolf]

Originally Posted by 26 Year Gap

Top 6 from NCAA champ & top 6 from NCAA runner-up. That would worth watching. I can't remember the last international contest I watched, but lots of electronic gadgets had not been invented yet. And it probably pre-dated the 10 panel ball.

You might like to watch it, but Florida / UCLA would have lost by 30. There is no way an NCAA team could compete with the top 8 international teams.

Greece plays basketball the way it's supposed to be played: pass, cut, screen, layup. Defend. Repeat.

[JRutledge]

Greece did not miss big shots. There was a point in the game when everything they threw up went in. Every time the USA made a run, Greece would hit a 3 point shot or make a difficult lay-up. Greece played out of their mind. The pick and roll worked all night and the USA could not stop it. Greece played a great game, they deserve all the credit.

Peace

[zeke]

Originally Posted by Jimgolf

You might like to watch it, but Florida / UCLA would have lost by 30. There is no way an NCAA team could compete with the top 8 international teams.

Greece plays basketball the way it's supposed to be played: pass, cut, screen, layup. Defend. Repeat.

Agreed. The Overseas players are better fundamentally than the Americans. Well documented. We are to into the dunks and sportscenter to concentrate on the basics.

[Nevadaref]

And now the USA womens' team goes down.

Like it or not, European basketball is here to stay.

[Junker]

I'm getting in on this one way late, but this post reminded me of a HBO Real Sports segment about basketball camps. They compared European camps with American Camps. The European camps are like American camps used to be as in they run drills, run drills and run drills. American campers play meaningless games, play meaningless games, and play meaningless games. The point of the story is that our player are extremely gifted, but they don't learn to play fundamental basketball anymore. In fact, they claimed some of the NBA clinicians they broughth over had a hard time with some of the drills they were making their high schoolers do. It was pretty interesting.

[26 Year Gap]

Just got back from a business conference and Magic Johnson was one of the keynote speakers. Someone asked him the question as to whether we would dominate again. He said there was only one dream team. He said that Coach Daly split them up East vs West for practices and that those were the most intense 'games' he has ever been a part of. He summed it up in that the Dream Team was a team. They wanted to be up by 30 at halftime. They didn't care who scored. And that today's player is different. And until that changes, we will not dominate again.

Now I did not watch any of the recent games and only read stuff in the paper or here or similar places. And there seemed to be one guy taking a lion's share of shots. It is not just International ball, either. Certain NBA teams have that problem as well and you know they will never win it all.

My point about the college teams is that they play as teams more than as 5 individuals. Here is an interesteing quiz...can anybody name the starting five for Greece without looking it up?

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by 26 Year Gap

Here is an interesteing quiz...can anybody name the starting five for Greece without looking it up?

How many can name any of the starting five?

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by 26 Year Gap

Top 6 from NCAA champ & top 6 from NCAA runner-up. That would worth watching.

They gave up sending the college kids in 1988 because they were getting their azz handed to them. And they were NCAA all-star teams. Basketball US went to the pros because the NCAA players were losing so much.

[mopar60]

Obviously many others countries have learned to play the game at it's highest level, now the question is will the American's learn the art of good sportsmanship from the rest of the world?

[26 Year Gap]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

They gave up sending the college kids in 1988 because they were getting their azz handed to them. And they were NCAA all-star teams. Basketball US went to the pros because the NCAA players were losing so much.

The point I was making was that all-star teams are not necessarily the best option. Guys who play well together is a much better way to go. Heck, you could send Miami & Dallas [you'd have to go deeper than 6 with Dallas obviously] and you would have a better result. Otherwise everyone thinks their role is "Give me the ball and I'll score."