Tokyo Olympic Basketball Tournament Discussion

[jinxed]

I think the international play regressed in the last 7-8 years. There is no team as good as that Spanish team from 2006-2015. Serbia is the only one that has the potential to become as good as they were.

I'm speaking broadly. Some people think we should just be able to roll out the ball and beat teams by 30 like we did back in the 90s, and it's just not like that anymore.

With a team like the Redeem team, playing together for 3 years, they would roll out everybody now. The only team that stood their ground in 2008 and 2012 was Spain. That team was more like an exception, that has no equivalent in today's game.

Exactly. The Spain team was the greatest international team ever. The rest of the world has made strides, but Spain winning the world cup last year, and still being pretty damn good this year despite their core of key players being 10 years past their prime (minus Rubio), shows how great they were.

[Mirotic12]

In the gold medal game, USA really needs to thank both Vincent Collet and Thomas Huertel. France lost the game because of Heurtel's idiocy, and because Collet didn't have the sense to bench him.

Heurtel proved once again, that he has made every team he ever played on noticeably worse. Such a sad thing for a player that is very talented and skilled like he is. But his ridiculously low basketball IQ ruins every single team he's on.

[Mirotic12]

Tony Parker couldn't come out of retirement to play backup?

The funny thing is that France's NT has been much better ever since Parker stopped playing on it. France got noticeably better as soon as Parker retired from their national team.

We were the overwhelming favorites, and we won. Expecting us to completely roll the field hasn't really been a thing for a good 20 years now. Even the dominant 2008 and 2012 teams, with elite top-level talent, won coin flip games that could have gone either way against a great Spanish team. I guess because we're so good some people are always going to want to grade us on a curve, but as somebody who has been watching these competitions religiously since the 2006 World Cup, it's a totally different game. There's never going to be another Dream Team and international play has improved by light years.

I think the international play regressed in the last 7-8 years. There is no team as good as that Spanish team from 2006-2015. Serbia is the only one that has the potential to become as good as they were.

This. To me the countries that are actually good at basketball had more formidable teams years ago, like Greece, Argentina and Spain. Those were their golden generation teams. Now there might be better individual players who can emerge as actual NBA stars (speaking of international ball in general), but those teams arent nearly as strong overall.

And, yea, a full Serbian squad can definitely be compared to those teams.

Actually not. Those 2000s Spain, Greece, Argentina teams were the best non-USA national teams of all time. US sports media is always talking about USSR and Yugoslavia national teams, as part of the propaganda gimmicks, but those 2000s Argentina, Greece, Spain teams were easily the best international teams ever.

Any of those 3 teams would have went undefeated and won the gold at this tournament. I don't think a full Serbia is as good as those teams were. Those teams were really special and unique in terms of FIBA history. People don't really appreciate how great those teams were, because they often had to compete against each other. If it was just one team like that at that time, any one of the three would be considered the best non USA team ever. Because they all happened at the same time, a lot of people just don't grasp how great those teams were.

It's odd that they all happened at the same time. A full Serbia is theoretically great, but still not as good as those teams were.

[homecourtloss]

Tony Parker couldn't come out of retirement to play backup?

The funny thing is that France's NT has been much better ever since Parker stopped playing on it. France got noticeably better as soon Parker retired from their national team.

I think the international play regressed in the last 7-8 years. There is no team as good as that Spanish team from 2006-2015. Serbia is the only one that has the potential to become as good as they were.

This. To me the countries that are actually good at basketball had more formidable teams years ago, like Greece, Argentina and Spain. Those were their golden generation teams. Now there might be better individual players who can emerge as actual NBA stars (speaking of international ball in general), but those teams arent nearly as strong overall.

And, yea, a full Serbian squad can definitely be compared to those teams.

Actually not. Those 2000s Spain, Greece, Argentina teams were the best non-USA national teams of all time. US sports media is always talking about USSR and Yugoslavia national teams, as part of the propaganda gimmicks, but those 2000s Argentina, Greece, Spain teams were easily the best international teams ever.

Any of those 3 teams would have won went undefeated and won the gold at this tournament. I don't think a full Serbia is as good as those teams were. Those teams were really special and unique in terms of FIBA history. People don't really appreciate how great those teams were, because they often had to compete against each other. If it was just one team like that at that time, any one of the three would be considered the best non USA team ever. Because they all happened at the same time, a lot of people just don't grasp how great those teams were.

It's odd that they all happened at the same time. A full Serbia is theoretically great, but still not as good as those teams were.

Back at it, I see.

[stillgotgame]

In the gold medal game, USA really needs to thank both Vincent Collet and Thomas Huertel. France lost the game because Hertel's idiocy, and because Collet didn't have the sense to bench him.

Heurtel proved once again, that he has made every team he ever played on noticeably worse. Such a sad thing for a player that is very talented and skilled like he is. But his ridiculously low basketball IQ ruins every single team he's on.

Huertel was ok. He was just dominated by world champion Jrue Holiday. Holiday is quicker, stronger, has longer arms, and more aggressive. Basically he owned him.
I’m surprised the coach didn’t play de Colo more. At least he was smart enough to work around guys and get what they give. He seemed very intelligent and composed, despite his incessant whining to the refs. Huertel went straight at Holiday, dumb.

[Mirotic12]

I love Patty Mills, but Andrew Gaze will always be the king to me.

Gaze > Heal > Mills

Huertel was ok. He was just dominated by world champion Jrue Holiday. Holiday is quicker, stronger, has longer arms, and more aggressive. Basically he owned him.
I’m surprised the coach didn’t play de Colo more. At least he was smart enough to work around guys and get what they give. He seemed very intelligent and composed, despite his incessant whining to the refs. Huertel went straight at Holiday, dumb.

I've watched Heurtel play in EuroLeague for years. He's made every single team he ever played on worse. Every team was better before him. Then after he leaves, every team is better right away. He's a very skilled player, but what he did in the gold medal game is typical of his career. It has nothing to do with Holliday.

Heurtel was still a better option than Leandro Bolmaro was though Saras...

[Feed Your Head]

Read on Twitter

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[Sedale Threatt]

Happy for Patty. Exemplary human being.

[Sildegil]

Basketball is the 5th, possibly 6th most popular sport in Australia. It's incredible what the team has achieved for the last decade and a real reward today for the team.

Well, in France, it is probably between the 6th and the 8th

Football (soccer)
Rugby
Biking
Tennis
Boxing

Basketball
Judo
Handball

Skiing
Fencing
Swimming
Volleyball
Riding

[TaylorTRoom]

Over the last couple of days, harsh words were said about different countries during pre game bickering. This is what I think:

1. I love France. The French, in my opinion, have a great sense about living in the here and now, while we Americans are too eager to wait until later to try to have enjoyable moments. Perhaps that’s why the cuisine, drinks, arts and architecture are so amazing.

2. I haven’t been to Australia, yet. I plan to. I have never met an Aussie in person that I didn’t enjoy knowing.

[falcolombardi]

Basketball is the 5th, possibly 6th most popular sport in Australia. It's incredible what the team has achieved for the last decade and a real reward today for the team.

Well, in France, it is probably between the 6th and the 8th

Football (soccer)
Rugby
Biking
Tennis
Boxing

Basketball
Judo
Handball

Skiing
Fencing
Swimming
Volleyball
Riding

with these thinghs is always important. to understand what kind of popularity are we talking about

popularity to watch or popularity to play, and even in the latter tge popularity to play more seriously can be a distinction

look at usa, nfl has the best ratings and college football has arguably as much popularity as the nba

yet as far as player pool goes i would argue a lot more people play basketball than they play football

but if i change the question to competitive play, football may be higher again cause how much bigger team rosters are in high school or college level

[falcolombardi]

Tony Parker couldn't come out of retirement to play backup?

The funny thing is that France's NT has been much better ever since Parker stopped playing on it. France got noticeably better as soon Parker retired from their national team.

This. To me the countries that are actually good at basketball had more formidable teams years ago, like Greece, Argentina and Spain. Those were their golden generation teams. Now there might be better individual players who can emerge as actual NBA stars (speaking of international ball in general), but those teams arent nearly as strong overall.

And, yea, a full Serbian squad can definitely be compared to those teams.

Actually not. Those 2000s Spain, Greece, Argentina teams were the best non-USA national teams of all time. US sports media is always talking about USSR and Yugoslavia national teams, as part of the propaganda gimmicks, but those 2000s Argentina, Greece, Spain teams were easily the best international teams ever.

Any of those 3 teams would have won went undefeated and won the gold at this tournament. I don't think a full Serbia is as good as those teams were. Those teams were really special and unique in terms of FIBA history. People don't really appreciate how great those teams were, because they often had to compete against each other. If it was just one team like that at that time, any one of the three would be considered the best non USA team ever. Because they all happened at the same time, a lot of people just don't grasp how great those teams were.

It's odd that they all happened at the same time. A full Serbia is theoretically great, but still not as good as those teams were.

Back at it, I see.

is also weird he sees france has got so much better without Parker when the only championship they have is the eurobasket he led them to against peak spain NT (the same team he is correctly propping up in another comment)

[Chuck Diesel]

Give me Donte Exum on the Bucks. The best training staff in the league will keep him injury free for the rest of his career.

[Catchall]

Give me Donte Exum on the Bucks. The best training staff in the league will keep him injury free for the rest of his career.

Nah you just took Grayson Allen, so....

[LeMasta]

Patty Mills > Luka
dont @ me

[Dupp]

Congratulations to Kevin Durant for being the only player to ever average 20ppg in the Olympics.

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

Yes and he’s also the first player ever to wear shoes on a basketball court

[Chuck Diesel]

Give me Donte Exum on the Bucks. The best training staff in the league will keep him injury free for the rest of his career.

Nah you just took Grayson Allen, so....

Long season, guys are gonna need rest. DiVincenzo health’s always a question mark. No third pg on the roster. George Hill is 35. I’ll take Donte.

[nick p]

August 7th shall forever be know as Boomers Day

[Catchall]

Fun fact: Rudy Gobert had a positive +/- in both games against USA.

[Chuck Diesel]

Rather than G-League guys I’d like to see them go 12 deep with hard nosed, two way NBA role players for next September’s AmeriCup roster. Stakes are pretty low, experiment and see who might earn a spot on the World Cup/Olympic teams.

TJ McConnell/Alex Caruso
Gary Trent Jr/De’Anthony Melton
Royce O’Neal/Pat Connaughton/Kenrich Williams
Miles Bridges/Kyle Anderson/Dorian Finney Smith
Richaun Holmes/Bobby Portis

Thats not really how it works though. If youre going to invite NBA players, it should be younger dudes that you want to establish a healthy relationship, like Morant, Young, Turner, Edwards etc. Get them invested in the training camp and the tournament. Of course, you can still have some of the guys you mentioned on the roster. But first show respect to the actual rising stars and then settle for less if necessary.

Of course, if the NBA dudes cant make it, then go for the G-league option or the IT, Joe Johnson option like last time.

It’s only “not how it works” because it hasn’t been done before. I just think it’a time for Team USA to start thinking outside the box with how these teams train/put together. Gold was earned on the skin of our teeth because the best FIBA player of all time decided to play. Maybe that fan keep working for the Olympics. Need a new approach for the World Cup imo.