2024 Olympic BASKETBALL Thread (Pt.4: Quarterfinals are set!)

[GYK]

Only see Greece as a challenge.
Germany is nice. If we decided to put out Jrue/White/Lebron-Durant-Ant/Bam-AD we can strangle any offense they had hopes for.
Oddly I don’t think we’ve played exceptionally well ball. Just the lulls of a high possession game like basketball just didn’t harm us.

[peja_the_legend]

Man this going to be a cake walk for the US until the finals.

A bit disappointed by the brackets and group stages to be honest. The US won't play against 2 out of 3 of Canada, France and Germany (assuming Greece doesn't pull a major upset ofcourse).

I know it's random draws but, from a viewer interest point of view, you want to see the best team face the biggest challengers.

It wasn't a totally random draw.USA and Germany being the best teams in the group stage meant they couldn't face each other until the final.

[dirkdiggler4177]

Low class and actions unbecoming. He's a representative of our country and just another example of why other nations have a negative view or perception of Americans in general.

The wins or losses are irrelevant.

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The reason why we look down on Americans is not your celebrities or athletes, it's you guys, the average American.

Don't overgeneralize and insult entire groups of people. It's uncool and a violation of posting guidelines. -b

[durden_tyler]

Man this going to be a cake walk for the US until the finals.

A bit disappointed by the brackets and group stages to be honest. The US won't play against 2 out of 3 of Canada, France and Germany (assuming Greece doesn't pull a major upset ofcourse).

I know it's random draws but, from a viewer interest point of view, you want to see the best team face the biggest challengers.

It wasn't a totally random draw.USA and Germany being the best teams in the group stage meant they couldn't face each other until the final.

Not only it's totally random, the conditions on Pots A be drawn vs Pot D and so forth; the "can't face a previous" group stage opponent, etc also led to these pairings. The conditions are actually not bad (it guarantees that the top 2 teams faces off with the bottom 2 teams) and what this try to solve was that teams would not intentionally lose some games to get a better pairing (at this stage, that shouldn't be a worry but here we are). The latter issue was funnily enough almost accomplished by Serbia, who chose not to "choose" opponents.

[Sgt Major]

Only see Greece as a challenge.
Germany is nice. If we decided to put out Jrue/White/Lebron-Durant-Ant/Bam-AD we can strangle any offense they had hopes for.
Oddly I don’t think we’ve played exceptionally well ball. Just the lulls of a high possession game like basketball just didn’t harm us.

Greece? How come?

[Rainwater]

It would require a ridiculous choke job for the US to lose this tournament

In a 7 or even 5 or 3 game series sure, usa would essentially be unbeatable

But 1 game elimination is inherently volatile and has a tiny error margin as ncaa basketball shows.

Is actually a crazy testament to usa overwhelming talent edge they are essentially unbeaten/almost unbeaten all time when bringing their A teams but all it takes is one bad game (and good luck on the other side)

It’s the US’ overwhelming talent edge why the US won’t lose this tournament. I don’t see how they lose.

[Gontscha]

If the USA we're to face a hypothetical KO stage path of Germany, France and Canada (in whatever order) I'd give it a small but reasonable chance of messing it up. One game off and you're out.
But with this draw I just don't see it. They'll breeze through Brazil and Serbia (who just matches up terrible against them) and in the final they'll be 100% focused, no way they'll lose that against whoever comes through on the other side.
Unlike other US teams there's also very little ego involved with this squad. LeBron, Curry and Durant are happy to sit back and let others take over when they get hot and the young players rightfully don't dare to question the hierarchy.

[Sweet Serenity]

Best part is Embiid trolled ALL the haters in this thread. All the people clutching their pearls...

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I mean you can have your own opinion & think this is a “gotcha” moment for Embiid but at the end of the day nothing is more embarrassing than watching you fall into a downward spiral each & every time trying to defend your idol.

[Dez]

What nation are we talking about though? Cameroon? USA? France? Gonna have to be more specific.

[eyeatoma]

Best part is Embiid trolled ALL the haters in this thread. All the people clutching their pearls...

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I mean you can have your own opinion & think this is a “gotcha” moment for Embiid but at the end of the day nothing is more embarrassing than watching you fall into a downward spiral each & every time trying to defend your idol.

Lol, yet you've posted more on this thread than me. And have been all over the Embiid threads since you joined RealGm while I've had minimal interaction since the offseason.

[SweaterBae]

I mean you can have your own opinion & think this is a “gotcha” moment for Embiid but at the end of the day nothing is more embarrassing than watching you fall into a downward spiral each & every time trying to defend your idol.

Please don't quote that poster, put them on ignore, for all of us!

[Sweet Serenity]

Best part is Embiid trolled ALL the haters in this thread. All the people clutching their pearls...

Sent from my SM-S928B using Tapatalk

I mean you can have your own opinion & think this is a “gotcha” moment for Embiid but at the end of the day nothing is more embarrassing than watching you fall into a downward spiral each & every time trying to defend your idol.

Lol, yet you've posted more on this thread than me. And have been all over the Embiid threads since you joined RealGm while I've had minimal interaction since the offseason.

& it must be killing you inside too knowing you can’t defend him anymore

[hippesthippo]

I felt embarrassed for him.

Maybe I'm projecting, but Bam and Derrick White didn't seem to pleased about watching their teammate act a fool. Embiid is representing our country and his actions reflect rather poorly on us.

Next time he gets booed he should try putting in some effort, move his damn feet on defense and reject a shot into the crowds.

I’m not sure what was more embarrassing.

Doing all that and air balling the 3

Or

Writing a letter to the President of France begging for citizenship in exchange for him playing only to turn around and play for a powerhouse in direct competition to them.

France tripped over themselves to get Embiid a passport. And he's not even French. Has not even lived in France and now they are upset that he decided to play for a country that he is an actual citizen of. That's just crazy on Embiid's part, right. France should be ashamed that they went to such lengths to get a player that has never lived in their country. If I am not mistaken this is the first time he has ever set foot on French soil. My cod these French....so sensitive.

I hope everyone hates him even in the USA when he comes back. Be the Villain of the NBA Embiid use their hate to make you stronger. Perhaps this way he can actually be healthy come the playoffs.

So why did he write a letter to the president of France begging for citizenship?

His family have immigrated to France from
Cameroon. The French have housed them and given them a better life. He wrote a letter asking for citizenship and he’d repay them with playing for France. They gave him citizenship and he bounced.

It’s poor form no matter how you spin it Eyeatoma I mean Eyeamok….

It's the Eyea Brothers!

[Sweet Serenity]

I mean you can have your own opinion & think this is a “gotcha” moment for Embiid but at the end of the day nothing is more embarrassing than watching you fall into a downward spiral each & every time trying to defend your idol.

Please don't quote that poster, put them on ignore, for all of us!

Sorry mate it’s just too entertaining watching his desperate attempts to continue defending Embiid.

Embiid (now 30) the only MVP to never make it to the Conference Finals. What makes that crazy is there are only 2 other MVP’s that have never made the Finals; Steve Nash (who at least went to 3 conference finals) & Derrick Rose (who at least has multiple season ending injuries as an excuse).

[Dubious Handles]

I wouldn’t take what JustBuzzin says seriously. He’s either a troll or a teenager.

Anecdotally, the only Embiid fans i've met irl were kids/teens (only talking about player fans like OP, the people of Philly have to root for and defend their superstar, understandable).

There's just nothing redeeming about his personality, playstyle or performance. Unless you enjoy stat-padding against tanking teams in the regular season and making a fool of yourself on social media, which kids definitely do.

[Pachinko_]

I'm going to Crete tomorrow and I hope the Greeks will welcome me with free gyropitas for what we did yesterday.

Of course, we always treat our Orthodox brothers (except when Nenad Kristic broke a chair on Bourousi's head but that's ok, that's what brothers do sometimes )
Ι met a tonne of Serbians in Lefkada last year. Lefkada is sort of Greece's hidden secret, it's a proper island with the kind of beaches you see on posters at travel agents, but you can actually drive there because it has a bridge. You could see a lot of the cars had various Yugo license plates but most Serbians were driving old BMWs and Golf GTis with German numbers. Always easy to get along with, we talked some hoops, bought eachother beers, at some point I saw some Croatians in BBB jerseys and I thought they might start some s*** but nah, everybody was there for a good time.

Enjoy Crete bro, I know it probably looks far on the map from wherever you're going but don't miss Elafonisi, it's like something from another planet. And yes the sand is actually pink.

[chudak]

If the USA we're to face a hypothetical KO stage path of Germany, France and Canada (in whatever order) I'd give it a small but reasonable chance of messing it up. One game off and you're out.
But with this draw I just don't see it. They'll breeze through Brazil and Serbia (who just matches up terrible against them) and in the final they'll be 100% focused, no way they'll lose that against whoever comes through on the other side.
Unlike other US teams there's also very little ego involved with this squad. LeBron, Curry and Durant are happy to sit back and let others take over when they get hot and the young players rightfully don't dare to question the hierarchy.

The only realistic chance Serbia has against US is if Embiid plays 30 minutes.

USA is too mobile for us with Bam or AD at the 5

[chudak]

This is btw not even a knock on Embiid as Serbia is not well suited for USA playing with Bam and AD as they are not easy to exploit on rebounding, are very mobile and US has more overall talent than Serbia

Both the matchups and overall talent level and depth are on US side

Serbia had Jokic take away all rebounding against Puerto Rico and then score and playmake some, and had Bogdan go off vs South Sudan

When Jokic is not playing (like in WC) Serbia shares the ball better but lacks talent, when Jokic is playing for the NT we have a tendancy to over rely on him for creating which hurts even more when he is off the floor as the team loses a bit of identity and even with him they dont cut well enough to use his passes especially against more athletic teams

US can defend Bogdan easily if they focus on him and Jokic playmaking is more limited with Serbia compared to Nuggets as he does not have athletic guys that can cut around him in the NT

[Pachinko_]

I mean, I'm not sure if we realise, but Serbia is equal to the population of the State of Indiana. We're talking about an All Star American team playing against the equivalent of Indiana. I looked up NBA players by state of origin, it looks like Indiana would actually have a good team with Desmond Bane, Darius Garland, Michael Porter Jr and a couple more NBA players, but far from being able to compete against the whole frigging united US basketball. Just the fact that Serbia has the reigning MVP is mindblowing enough, I think we should just step back a little and appreciate what a massive achievement it is for a small country to even make it to a medal.

[AussieCeltic]

France tripped over themselves to get Embiid a passport. And he's not even French. Has not even lived in France and now they are upset that he decided to play for a country that he is an actual citizen of. That's just crazy on Embiid's part, right. France should be ashamed that they went to such lengths to get a player that has never lived in their country. If I am not mistaken this is the first time he has ever set foot on French soil. My cod these French....so sensitive.

I hope everyone hates him even in the USA when he comes back. Be the Villain of the NBA Embiid use their hate to make you stronger. Perhaps this way he can actually be healthy come the playoffs.

So why did he write a letter to the president of France begging for citizenship?

His family have immigrated to France from
Cameroon. The French have housed them and given them a better life. He wrote a letter asking for citizenship and he’d repay them with playing for France. They gave him citizenship and he bounced.

It’s poor form no matter how you spin it Eyeatoma I mean Eyeamok….

He wrote a letter because he wanted to play for the French team. He changed his mind. He is an American citizen. Do you have an issue with that?

With the way it went down yes.

He literally wrote a sob story letter to the president of a country to get citizenship to turn around and go, actually nah don’t worry about after they gave him citizenship.

I mean… come on. That is pretty disrespectful to a country and its citizens.