Not putting down interntaional basketball

[BRIGGS]

even if this teams loses[which would take a miracle] and taking into account the poor showing the USA has had recently--there is no country even REMOTELY close with the ability to bring the incredibly skilled superior athletic players that the US team brings. There ARE no other Kobe's Lebrons or Wade's in the world and when they haev had a little time to play together like a team---who can match it? It's like college basketball--a Cinderella playing a 1 seed--yes they can lose but it takes a miracle. Otherwise if each team plays A game--meaning USA vs opponent USA team A game is 20+ points better than any other nation and everyone knows it. No arrogance--just fact. Many people put down USA basketball but it was a mirage and a fallacy.

[BadWolf]

USA has 300M citizens + some foreigners with citizenship
Spain 46 M, Greece 11 M, Argentina 40 M

[-SDU-]

if the game was all about athleticism, maybe, but its the arrogance and ignorance in your post that lead to usa losing in the first place

the NBA players dont even play proper basketball rules so their athleticism is negated by the fact that they dont play the true game of basketball

sure the USA is great, and their athleticism might be enough to get them over the line, but as long as the NBA is about show and not real basketball then the rest of the world will always have a shot

[phx#7]

USA has 300M citizens + some foreigners with citizenship
Spain 46 M, Greece 11 M, Argentina 40 M

I guess the US doesn't stand a chance against the Indian team then.

[Duiz]

USA has 300M citizens + some foreigners with citizenship
Spain 46 M, Greece 11 M, Argentina 40 M

I guess the US doesn't stand a chance against the Indian team then.

Hamed Ehadadi

[/thread]

[BadWolf]

USA has 300M citizens + some foreigners with citizenship
Spain 46 M, Greece 11 M, Argentina 40 M

I guess the US doesn't stand a chance against the Indian team then.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/08/slovenia-hammer.html

Fear Slovenia.

Through eyeballs bloodshot from hours of trivial long division, the world's lonely and frivolous Medals Per Capita scholars will look at you and share with you an ancient Medals Per Capita adage:

The top 10:
(country, medal tally, MPC)

1. Slovenia (4) - one medal per every 501,927
2. Armenia (5) - 593,717
3. Jamaica (4) - 701,083
4. Australia (29) - 710,374
5. New Zealand (5) - 834,692
6. Belarus (10) - 968,576
7. Trinidad & Tobago (1) - 1,047,366
8. Norway (4) - 1,161,114
9. Estonia (1) - 1,307,605
10. Slovakia (4) - 1,311,187

Selected Others:

11. Denmark (4) - one medal per every 1,371,180
25. Great Britain (25) - 2,437,756
26. France (25) - 2,562,311
35. Germany (21) - 3,922,359
39. Singapore (1) - 4,608,167
40. United States (65) - 4,674,225
41. Canada (7) - 4,744,670
44. Japan (20) - 6,364,420
46. Spain (6) - 6,748,508
56. China (61) - 21,804,010

Is it the same with Nr of NBA players per capita?
It's easier to get to the league for an american scrub then for an international one, also much more desirable
Rasho, Brezec, Udrih, Vujacic, Nachbar, Dragic - ok, 2 left, we're not that strong anymore

[jt142]

sure the USA is great, and their athleticism might be enough to get them over the line, but as long as the NBA is about show and not real basketball then the rest of the world will always have a shot

Well, the USA team has put on a clinic so far.

[jt142]

even if this teams loses[which would take a miracle] and taking into account the poor showing the USA has had recently--there is no country even REMOTELY close with the ability to bring the incredibly skilled superior athletic players that the US team brings. There ARE no other Kobe's Lebrons or Wade's in the world and when they haev had a little time to play together like a team---who can match it? It's like college basketball--a Cinderella playing a 1 seed--yes they can lose but it takes a miracle. Otherwise if each team plays A game--meaning USA vs opponent USA team A game is 20+ points better than any other nation and everyone knows it. No arrogance--just fact. Many people put down USA basketball but it was a mirage and a fallacy.

I think if the USA basketball officials maintain the current system of selecting and training future teams, we will continue to dominate. The reason why we lost that dominance was because of arrogance and lack of preparation. After making a few amendments, the system is now intact. So far in this Olympics, it the USA team has looked like a 1 seed playing against a bunch of 15 or 16 seed teams in the NCAA tournament. Actually, they've been even more dominant than that. As FIBA starts to adopt even more NBA rules, the gap will only widen. I see the USA team dominating for the considerable future, especially if Howard, Lebron, Anthony, Williams, Paul, and Bosh keep playing for us. They're still only 22-24, so they have a lot of playing time left. It should be interesting to see if we'll still be motivated after the Olympics. Will these players want to compete in 2010, 2012, 2014, or even 2016? We still have plenty of talent left if any of these players decide not to play. We just have to get them acclimated to the system. The USA basketball committee should get Roy, Oden, Aldridge, Mayo, Rose, etc, into the system as soon as possible. It's great to see the USA dominating again, but what fun is it beating every team by 20+ pts? At some point, we're going to want and need better competition.

[BadWolf]

At some point, we're going to want and need better competition.

Interstellar expansion?

[BarbaGrizz]

if the game was all about athleticism, maybe, but its the arrogance and ignorance in your post that lead to usa losing in the first place

the NBA players dont even play proper basketball rules so their athleticism is negated by the fact that they dont play the true game of basketball

sure the USA is great, and their athleticism might be enough to get them over the line, but as long as the NBA is about show and not real basketball then the rest of the world will always have a shot

I coudn´t agree more

[Mastergvg]

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ipkq4l

Please download it, and watch it. It'as a film about the travelling in this Olympic Games.

[CircleCitysportsfan]

if the game was all about athleticism, maybe, but its the arrogance and ignorance in your post that lead to usa losing in the first place

the NBA players dont even play proper basketball rules so their athleticism is negated by the fact that they dont play the true game of basketball

sure the USA is great, and their athleticism might be enough to get them over the line, but as long as the NBA is about show and not real basketball then the rest of the world will always have a shot

Looks like fake basketball is about 30 ppg better than the real thing. These ass whippings are really hurting you guys feelings. Awww

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ipkq4l

Please download it, and watch it. It'as a film about the travelling in this Olympic Games.

Oh so that's why Spain lost. For a minute there I thought America had a better team.

[noido]

I don't like per capita comparisons, I personally don't think that population is a good measure of athletic performance, more important is;
1. presence of a sporting culture
2. number of sports available for potential athletes
3. money (possibly the most important factor)

given all these factors are present, population becomes important. Which is why America has the advantage, however, given that there is only one national team this is still tempered. America's top 15 teams would be competitive international teams, but that kind of depth isn't required to win a tournament.

Having said that, in other areas of discussion the EU is often compared to America due to the comparative size. It would be interesting if the EU as a whole would threaten the US for talent and depth. I'd say yes for the former, and no for the latter