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http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/ ... ina-080822

The Americans will take a narrower margin as long as they come out of Sunday's game with the gold medals, just as they'll take this 20-point victory in a game in which they were not at their best.

A win, after all, is a win. And with the gold medal within their grasp, they should be considerably more focused.

But this one did leave you scratching your head a little, wondering whether the Americans are going to finish this thing with a flourish, or whether they might be flustered. The answer will come Sunday.

He has done this after every game USA plays. Sheridan plays a stupid angle on about how the Team might lose. He never gives credit either, and if he does its like this "Nice job, but wait until THE NEXT GAME" Why is he so cynic?

You can tell he wants this team to lose . He said Argentina , Greece, Australia. All had good chances of beating the redeem team . And he has been dead wrong. And none of the Games have been close .

I kind of wish ESPN would've assigned someone else to these Olympic games because Sheridan has been doing too much talking out of his a**. Some of the people posting in the comments section are letting him have it.

Why is he so cynical?

Probably because he's watched the U.S. lose in its past three major tournaments. There's an established history there. Let's not forget, this is the first championship Team USA has reached since 2000 -- that's eight, long years.

That said, I have to agree that his approach is wearing a bit thin. After reading the same angle game after game, it's probably time for something original.

Sheridan is just rehashing old stories. If ESPN says USA will lose, it gives people something to talk about. Of course it's not impossible that US can lose, but making those claims based on the team's past performance with other players and coaches is not the way to do it.

Obviously this team has some weaknesses, but as we have seen, their strengths far outweigh the weaknesses, and that's what will propel them to the gold. It seems US journalists/writers want the US to lose more so than foreign ones, just so they can say "I told you so" and give their "expert" opinions of what need to be done.

Will Calderon play in the gold medal game?

Sedale Threatt wrote:Why is he so cynical?

Probably because he's watched the U.S. lose in its past three major tournaments. There's an established history there. Let's not forget, this is the first championship Team USA has reached since 2000 -- that's eight, long years.

That said, I have to agree that his approach is wearing a bit thin. After reading the same angle game after game, it's probably time for something original.

Eventhough its been 8 years the fact remains that the US has only lost 3 games over that time. I'd say that's hardly enough for someone to get truly cynical about a team especially since the games tend to be pretty tight when they lose why they generally win in an enormous rout. Most people say that the US played their worst game and yet they still won by 20 in a game that was never really in doubt.

He's just a hater . . .

Charley Rosen is worst. He is always pointing out flaws and saying we might lose

Antontio DAVIS FTRRRRRRRRRRR

I don't mind people pointing out we can lose but its gets very tiresome when they point it out after every blowout win...

TheOUTLAW wrote:
Eventhough its been 8 years the fact remains that the US has only lost 3 games over that time. I'd say that's hardly enough for someone to get truly cynical about a team especially since the games tend to be pretty tight when they lose why they generally win in an enormous rout. Most people say that the US played their worst game and yet they still won by 20 in a game that was never really in doubt.

I think it's actually closer to seven losses -- three at the 2002 Worlds, three at the 2004 Olympics and one at the 2006 Worlds.

The 2006 loss to Greece is looking more and more like a fluke; the preparation and effort was there, we just got beat by a superhuman effort that they'd be hard-pressed to ever duplicate. But nobody can deny that 2002 and 2004 were complete debacles, so much so that we felt the need to christen this year's team the Redeem Team, as in to restore the worth, honor and/or reputation of USA Basketball. That alone tells you how far we'd sunk.

But back to the point at hand: As justified as I think Sheridan's skepticism might be -- let's not forget that he hasn't been the only doubter, either -- after cranking out basically the same column for about the 10th time this summer, it's probably time for a fresh angle. This team obviously doesn't deserve to be lumped in with those others.

Well for the 07-08 season of everything basketball, the media has been wrong about every freaking prediction. Why give them attention. Seriously, they flip flop more than politicians, they're just miserable people. Stop contributing to their utterly wasteful pay check.

J-Mezzy wrote:Charley Rosen is worst. He is always pointing out flaws and saying we might lose

I haven't been reading his Olympic articles but just from past articles the guy always seems to have a stick up his.

Kobay wrote:Well for the 07-08 season of everything basketball, the media has been wrong about every freaking prediction. Why give them attention. Seriously, they flip flop more than politicians, they're just miserable people. Stop contributing to their utterly wasteful pay check.

Wow, miserable people? Right up there with mass murderers and child molesters, huh?

I didn't mind it at first, as it was completely justified to say wait till we play Greece and Spain. After we blew them out he looked at it more positively, but his columns since pool play ended have just been rehashes. He's just filling space in his column at this point.

Just like Fran Frischilla...we understand their points but it's like how many times are they going to setup the repetitve "I told you so" angle? Almost everyone who has been clued in to USA basektball knows anything can happen in a one game shot. Yet these guys act like they are the voice of reason when they're really just broken records. And when they keep giving these 'warnings' it just seems like they are rooting against USA. Watch I bet he gives Coach K all the credit when they win gold.

Where is Fran Frischilla? I bet he's somewhere drinking heavily trying to figure out why these one on one playing NBA players are blowing out his incredibly talented and versatile Euros who actually play the game the right way.

Sorry Fran, but in truth you were wrong all along.

Sedale Threatt wrote:

TheOUTLAW wrote:
Eventhough its been 8 years the fact remains that the US has only lost 3 games over that time. I'd say that's hardly enough for someone to get truly cynical about a team especially since the games tend to be pretty tight when they lose why they generally win in an enormous rout. Most people say that the US played their worst game and yet they still won by 20 in a game that was never really in doubt.

I think it's actually closer to seven losses -- three at the 2002 Worlds, three at the 2004 Olympics and one at the 2006 Worlds.

The 2006 loss to Greece is looking more and more like a fluke; the preparation and effort was there, we just got beat by a superhuman effort that they'd be hard-pressed to ever duplicate. But nobody can deny that 2002 and 2004 were complete debacles, so much so that we felt the need to christen this year's team the Redeem Team, as in to restore the worth, honor and/or reputation of USA Basketball. That alone tells you how far we'd sunk.

But back to the point at hand: As justified as I think Sheridan's skepticism might be -- let's not forget that he hasn't been the only doubter, either -- after cranking out basically the same column for about the 10th time this summer, it's probably time for a fresh angle. This team obviously doesn't deserve to be lumped in with those others.

How can it be a fluke? Coach K didn't even know the names of the players and referred to them as numbers. To say otherwise it beyond stupid in my opinion. The preparation and effort wasn't there when the other team shoots over 60%.

tsherkin wrote:Will Calderon play in the gold medal game?

highly unlikely at this point.