2024 Olympic Basketball Discussion Thread

[ReddoverKobe]

Hey guys, how come Tatum is not starting over Lebron?

[kingr]

I wholeheartedly believe Embiid is on the team, simply to be in the paint when they play against Jokic and Giannis.

[Rainwater]

I hope team USA doesn’t even medal

Klutch sports and Nike playing politics with Jaylen brown And trae young will hopefully burn them

Trae should be no where on this team.

[Nuntius]

That's even more embarrassing for Germany that they got beat by one guy that is 40 years old.

Like I said, stick to do what you do best.

You’re embarrassing yourself.

Their country doesn’t give two flying ****s about basketball and yet are capable of taking down our supposedly unbeatable team of stars.

Ah the old "we don't care" defense when you lose. I always say that when I lose in anything to be honest. Game of cards; pick up basektball etc. Anytime I lose I Just say oh I don't care or wasn't trying, but when I win, I celebrate like it's the great accomplishment of my life. So i get why people do this.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this exactly the reaction that most American posters in this forum had after the US didn't even medal in last year's World Cup? Endless paragraphs were written on this very forum about how the USA doesn't care about the World Cup.

[durden_tyler]

Embiid remains a baffling recruiting choice by the US team.

Same with the Banchero and Reaves recruitment, this could simply be an international free agency play. LOL


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[durden_tyler]

You’re embarrassing yourself.

Their country doesn’t give two flying ****s about basketball and yet are capable of taking down our supposedly unbeatable team of stars.

Ah the old "we don't care" defense when you lose. I always say that when I lose in anything to be honest. Game of cards; pick up basektball etc. Anytime I lose I Just say oh I don't care or wasn't trying, but when I win, I celebrate like it's the great accomplishment of my life. So i get why people do this.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this exactly the reaction that most American posters in this forum had after the US didn't even medal in last year's World Cup? Endless paragraphs were written on this very forum about how the USA doesn't care about the World Cup.

They still don’t. Their Olympics has always been the redemption arc/opportunity after every World Cup failure. If they do manage to win gold in Paris, they are redeemed again and Americans will care even less about the World Cup, where they should send Team B/C again since all is right again.


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[Nuntius]

Ah the old "we don't care" defense when you lose. I always say that when I lose in anything to be honest. Game of cards; pick up basektball etc. Anytime I lose I Just say oh I don't care or wasn't trying, but when I win, I celebrate like it's the great accomplishment of my life. So i get why people do this.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this exactly the reaction that most American posters in this forum had after the US didn't even medal in last year's World Cup? Endless paragraphs were written on this very forum about how the USA doesn't care about the World Cup.

They still don’t. Their Olympics has always been the redemption arc/opportunity after every World Cup failure. If they do manage to win gold in Paris, they are redeemed again and Americans will care even less about the World Cup, where they should send Team B/C again since all is right again.


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Right but that doesn't change the fact that it's hypocritical to call out someone for "not caring" about something after busting everyone else's balls about how much you didn't care for the past 12 months

PS: And, obviously, the hypocritical part here doesn't refer to you, durden. You're not the one making that claim.

[dockingsched]

Watching theses games I’m remembering how much I dislike FIBA rules with their smaller courts, no illegal defense/defensive 3 seconds, shorter 3 point line. It all results in everything seeming like it’s more crowded and lacking flow. Takes away from the athleticism and speed of the game, just don’t prefer it.

[Quentin]

Edwards has been so baaad

You've ripped on Edwards plenty, we know you hate him. He did have some very good plays and definitely some bad ones as did other guys on the team. But...

Team USA had issues with allowing dribble penetration, which led to kick-out 3-pointers in the near disaster against South Sudan on Saturday. This was clearly a point of emphasis coming into Monday's game, especially with Holiday and Anthony Edwards applying heavy ball pressure on Germany's guards and generally better defensive focus on energy.

The Germans struggled at times generating clean looks and attempted more end-of-shot-clock 3-pointers than triples out of their offense. It was exactly the type of defensive response the Team USA coaches were hoping for.

[Nuntius]

Woke up to a see my twitter timeline all about Paul Pierce. African medias and fans are pissed at his comments, and for good reason, it was dumb , misinformed and highly disrespectful.

Read on Twitter

I'm shocked at how horrible of a take this was. It wasn't just wildly incorrect and ignorant, it was insulting as ****. Also, it's funny that the clown next to him said how he didn't recognize anyone from South Sudan's roster even though JT Thor is a current NBA player and Wenyen Gabriel was a rotation player for LA last season.

[Edrees]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this exactly the reaction that most American posters in this forum had after the US didn't even medal in last year's World Cup? Endless paragraphs were written on this very forum about how the USA doesn't care about the World Cup.

They still don’t. Their Olympics has always been the redemption arc/opportunity after every World Cup failure. If they do manage to win gold in Paris, they are redeemed again and Americans will care even less about the World Cup, where they should send Team B/C again since all is right again.


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Right but that doesn't change the fact that it's hypocritical to call out someone for "not caring" about something after busting everyone else's balls about how much you didn't care for the past 12 months

PS: And, obviously, the hypocritical part here doesn't refer to you, durden. You're not the one making that claim.

It's not hypocritical if you have evidence to back up your claims. Germany sent their best players to the Olympics, so it's presumable to think they care. There is no evidence that "germany doesn't care".

USA did not send their best players to the FIBA world cup,they did not even send their 20th best team possible, so there's a good argument to be made that the USA doesn't care.

It's not hypocritical to use an evidence based arguement. If my criteria is " teams care if they send their best players, and they dont care if they dont" then it's using a single standard. How is this hypocritical?

If Germany sent their F team to the Olympics and lost, THEN I would say it's hypocritical if Americans to call them out for not caring, because then the situations would be identical.

the situations are not identical in the least.

To make the claim that Americans DO care about the Fiba world cup is denial and you don't even believe that yourself. Just look at the roster they sent compared to the roster they sent to the Olympic and in good faith can you honestly tell yourself they even attempted to win the former?

To make the claim the Germany don't care about the Olympics has no evidence to support it.

Again, I want to stress, nobody claimed that the players on Team USA didn't care during FIBA World Cup. They are saying USA as a whole doesn't care, therefore they did not even send their best players. I am sure, and others are, that the players who showed up, and the coaches who participated, did their best to win each game they played.

In THIS case, people are claiming the German players on the team don't care to win the game or that the coaches did not attempt to gameplan to win the game. That's an entirely different argument.

[dockingsched]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this exactly the reaction that most American posters in this forum had after the US didn't even medal in last year's World Cup? Endless paragraphs were written on this very forum about how the USA doesn't care about the World Cup.

They still don’t. Their Olympics has always been the redemption arc/opportunity after every World Cup failure. If they do manage to win gold in Paris, they are redeemed again and Americans will care even less about the World Cup, where they should send Team B/C again since all is right again.


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Right but that doesn't change the fact that it's hypocritical to call out someone for "not caring" about something after busting everyone else's balls about how much you didn't care for the past 12 months

PS: And, obviously, the hypocritical part here doesn't refer to you, durden. You're not the one making that claim.

I get what you’re saying here, but I don’t think it’s hypocritical if the claims made are true. USA obviously doesn’t care about the World Cup. At the same time, there’s no reason to think Germany doesn’t care.

[JustBuzzin]

LeBron still our best player 2 decades later.

Sad and pathetic. Please stop hyping guys like Tatum. He's the champ what has he done in the games so far?

Still trying to learn from King James smh.

[durden_tyler]

For reference (for those who do not care about the World Cup, but now cares for the Olympics. LOL), here are the lines for group stage winners:

Group A
Canada: – 170
Greece: +370
Australia: +600
Spain: +800

Group B
France: -200
Germany: +175
Japan: +2800
Brazil: +5000

Group C
USA: -1800
Serbia: +800
Puerto Rico: +3000
South Sudan: +5500

[Dennis Reynolds]

Edwards has been so baaad

You've ripped on Edwards plenty, we know you hate him. He did have some very good plays and definitely some bad ones as did other guys on the team. But...

Team USA had issues with allowing dribble penetration, which led to kick-out 3-pointers in the near disaster against South Sudan on Saturday. This was clearly a point of emphasis coming into Monday's game, especially with Holiday and Anthony Edwards applying heavy ball pressure on Germany's guards and generally better defensive focus on energy.

The Germans struggled at times generating clean looks and attempted more end-of-shot-clock 3-pointers than triples out of their offense. It was exactly the type of defensive response the Team USA coaches were hoping for.

I criticized 5 different players, maybe you fanboys will realize one day that not everything is personal. I actually like Edwards, the playoff version of him if nothing else but he needs to stop trying to be a hero, at least when he's on team USA. I have criticized him maybe once outside this thread cause I think he is a great player with great potential who is also fun to watch when he isn't forcing things but I absolutely hate hero ball tendencies, especially when a player trying to be the hero is surrounded by plenty of talent.

That quote you just posted also doesn't make any sense if you ask me cause Schröder was blowing by pretty much everyone with ease including Edwards but I think they will pick up the intensity on that side of the court when the real games start so that's not much of an issue.

[JustBuzzin]

Can we all agree they left the DAWGS home?

Aka Jaylen Brown and Ja Morant!

[FrobeBryant]

Read on Twitter

I agree with Windy. Pelinka needs to get off his ass and get LeBron and AD some help for next season while they’re still playing like this. .

[Wingy]

You’re embarrassing yourself.

Their country doesn’t give two flying ****s about basketball and yet are capable of taking down our supposedly unbeatable team of stars.

Ah the old "we don't care" defense when you lose. I always say that when I lose in anything to be honest. Game of cards; pick up basektball etc. Anytime I lose I Just say oh I don't care or wasn't trying, but when I win, I celebrate like it's the great accomplishment of my life. So i get why people do this.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this exactly the reaction that most American posters in this forum had after the US didn't even medal in last year's World Cup? Endless paragraphs were written on this very forum about how the USA doesn't care about the World Cup.

Indeed, and I’m sure I was one of them at the time. It’s true the US doesn’t care about the World Cup. Just like Germany by and large doesn’t really care about basketball.

[Chuck Everett]

Watching theses games I’m remembering how much I dislike FIBA rules with their smaller courts, no illegal defense/defensive 3 seconds, shorter 3 point line. It all results in everything seeming like it’s more crowded and lacking flow. Takes away from the athleticism and speed of the game, just don’t prefer it.

If these guys have deep shooting range, why would a shorter 3 hurt them? There's nothing stopping them from taking NBA 3's in a FIBA game.

[Nuntius]

They still don’t. Their Olympics has always been the redemption arc/opportunity after every World Cup failure. If they do manage to win gold in Paris, they are redeemed again and Americans will care even less about the World Cup, where they should send Team B/C again since all is right again.


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Right but that doesn't change the fact that it's hypocritical to call out someone for "not caring" about something after busting everyone else's balls about how much you didn't care for the past 12 months

PS: And, obviously, the hypocritical part here doesn't refer to you, durden. You're not the one making that claim.

It's not hypocritical if you have evidence to back up your claims. Germany sent their best players to the Olympics, so it's presumable to think they care. There is no evidence that "germany doesn't care".

USA did not send their best players to the FIBA world cup,they did not even send their 20th best team possible, so there's a good argument to be made that the USA doesn't care.

It's not hypocritical to use an evidence based arguement. If my criteria is " teams care if they send their best players, and they dont care if they dont" then it's using a single standard. How is this hypocritical?

If Germany sent their F team to the Olympics and lost, THEN I would say it's hypocritical if Americans to call them out for not caring, because then the situations would be identical.

the situations are not identical in the least.

To make the claim that Americans DO care about the Fiba world cup is denial and you don't even believe that yourself. Just look at the roster they sent compared to the roster they sent to the Olympic and in good faith can you honestly tell yourself they even attempted to win the former?

To make the claim the Germany don't care about the Olympics has no evidence to support it.

The problem is that you're misunderstanding the argument that Wingy is making. Wingy isn't claiming that Germany doesn't care about the Olympics. Wingy's claim is that Germany doesn't care about basketball. Seriously, read Wingy's post again:

Their country doesn’t give two flying ****s about basketball and yet are capable of taking down our supposedly unbeatable team of stars.

"Their country doesn't give two flying **** about basketball" was Wingy's claim. And that claim is correct. Here's a Statista survey gauging the number of people interested in basketball in Germany from 2018 to 2023:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1339434/basketball-interest-germany/

The results of that survey make it pretty crystal that Germany truly doesn't give two flying **** about basketball. The percentage of people who were very interested in basketball hovered at around 3%. The percentage of those who were interested in basketball but "not as much" hovered at around 12% to 13%. The percentage of those who were not interested in basketball at all hovered around 52% and 53%.

Football is king in Germany. Absolute and indisputable.

Then you have handball. Handball's modern ruleset was codified in Berlin, Germany back in 1917.

Then you have all kinds of winter sports. Ski jumping, Alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing et cetera. Germany is really, really strong in the Winter Olympics. They are 3rd in the Gold Medal table despite the fact that they have competed in 11 less Winter Olympics than their competitors (Norway is first, USA is second). The reason why they have competed in 11 less Winter Olympics is that the IOC is not counting the medals that East Germany and West Germany won prior to reunification. If they did, Germany would be 1st in Gold Medals by a good margin (total medals too).

Then you have all kinds of motorsports with Formula One being especially popular. And how could it not be popular? Let's not forget that Mercedes won 8 consecutive World Constructor's Championships from 2014 to 2021 or that Michael Schumacher won 5 straight World Driver's Championships in the early 00s and then Sebastian Vettel won 4 straight of his own in the early 10s (Germany has the second-most championships after Great Britain when it comes to drivers).

In fact, here's another Statista survey on the popularity of sports in Germany from 2018 to 2020:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/975658/most-popular-sports-in-germany/

Basketball is ranked #20 in that list and it's right below the sport of tobogganing. In fact, American football isn't that far off from basketball in that list.

Now, don't get me wrong here. The people who DO care about basketball in Germany absolutely care about the World Cup, the Olympics and any other basketball competitions. They are a huge country so they are going to produce their fair share of good players and those players (as well as the federation and everyone else involved with the sport) will absolutely care and give it their all. But their country as a whole? Nah, they don't give a ****.

Granted, they probably do care more now that they won a World Cup and I have indeed heard that there's been a basketball boon in Germany after their win (so, it's safe to say that the situation isn't as dire as it was when that survery above was carried out) but, by and large, the country still doesn't care all that much.

PS: I also heavily, heavily disagree with the notion that the team you sent in the World Cup was the "20th best team possible" and consider this a hilarious exaggeration. At worst, it was your C team (but, imo, it was closer to your B team).