Interesting FIBA.com Post

[Volcano]

Euro fans please stop crying. You're making yourselves look like fools. I'm not even American and I can see clearly, this is by far the best team in the Olympics. There are like three players in the world that aren't American and could have made this team. Dirk, Yao, and Gasol. But none of them would have been shoo-ins. This is even more of a talent disparity than between Canada and the rest of the world in hockey. We don't always win hockey though, because its the type of sport where bounces can really derail a game, and we just have so much depth at redundant positions that one team can't reap the benefits fully.

assuming an actual team isnt established yet..Nash and Ginobili have a chance of making it in too


Usually, the best are arrogant..they have that competitive fire and belief that they're better than everyone else. Some just choose to show their arrogance and rub it in. After losing twice, I think they're keeping they're arrogance in check now and actually respecting the other team.

But what's worse than arrogant Americans are pansy Germans..Dirk cries..this guy cries. I'd rather cheer for America than a bunch of German sissies who suck anyway. You could easily turn it around and write an essay on that. Stupid article.

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

We all enjoyed Dream Team in Barcelona, and we all wanted them to get the gold medal, but things changed because of that arrogant behaviour.
:

The original 1992 team was probably the most arrogant team ever constructed, given how they expected to humiliate every team on their schedule.

I think people just got tire of them winning. The expectations put upon the 2000 and 2002 teams made the game almost a chore for the players. It was a lose-lose situation. That mood around the team probably put people off more so than any actual "arrogance" by the team members themselves.

[Don Draper]

Some of you people don't even know the definition of arrogance...

[King Roosk]

Bunch of sore losers.


And do not mistake pride and confidence with arrogance.

BINGO!

Nice guys finish last, so America will continue to kick ass and take names.

What is an exact definition of arrogance (though this time some American posters are far more guilty of this than US players).

Sure people hate us for doing so, but that's also why our country is the world's measuring stick.

Being measuring stick in arrogance is not something to be proud of. And still nobody managed to answer this post of mine:

The world's measuring stick in arrogance? Now you're putting words in my mouth. I think the problem here isn't American arrogance, it's international jealousy. Americans are typically so politically correct in the media, because otherwise they'll catch flak nationwide. We (Americans) don't gloat, we just do a damn good job in competition and people get jealous.

For example, the French swimmers said they were going to "SMASH" the Americans, and what happened? Phelps and crew shut them the hell up in the swimming pool with their actions...not their words. That right there is a classic example of how the world runs their mouth, but America virtually tells them to STFU by performing well when it counts.

If you can give me one legitimate example of American arrogance in these Olympics I'll lend you an ear. The US basketball team may do a stare down after a dunk, or do a flashy move, but why does that anger you? It's that type of confidence and swagger that contributes to producing such successful basketball programs. Put down that haterade and respect their accomplishments. They haven't won gold yet, but so far they've done an amazing job. Instead of hating on them, why don't you give credit where it's due?

[St.Nick]

Don't know if this has been said already, but yeah, of course people want the top dog to fail. That makes them feel like they've got a shot at rising to the top one day. It's why we all root against Brazil in soccer or Federer in tennis or those damned Yankess in baseball.

This whole issue of US players showing arrogance...its called competitive fire. They are entirely focused on defeating their opponent. Don't expect them to be nice and courteous to the teams that that are blocking them from their goal. I'd think that some of you would appreciate their determination.

This behavior happens in sports that pit one team against another on the field of play. Doesn't happen in individual sports, so don't try to compare the two.

[Sedale Threatt]

A nice counter to the issues raised in the initial post. All of which, I'll point out, we were already well aware of. Why else would this team be named the Redeem Team?

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-oly ... 1025.story

Opposing teams bristled at the U.S. players' attitude. It would be 10 years before the pros representing the U.S. lost their first international game, but almost from the moment the Dream Team left Barcelona in 1992, opposing players had stopped asking to pose with them for pictures.

Jay Triano, a star guard for Canada in the 1980s and '90s, said the arrogance could be seen in "almost everything," from the poses the players struck to the entitlement they felt, assuming all they needed were 12 stars and two weeks of practice.

This U.S. team may not lose any games, but if it lost them all, it already has won. If we never see another Dream Team, these U.S. players have dialed the clock back to 1992 in terms of the respect they're extending and receiving. It's more than the postgame pictures with the other team, now choreographed by the NBA Entertainment crew shooting that documentary for Nike. The same people who rolled their eyes at the Americans' bad manners for years say this team is different.

"I think they've been outstanding, the way they've conducted themselves, [although] they may be coming from a fairly low base from some of their predecessors in the way they've gone about it," former Australia star Andrew Gaze says, laughing. "I think they've really taken on the challenge, not only to resurrect the reputation of what goes on the court but what goes off the court."

Anybody who has a problem with the way this team is conducting itself is apparently very much in the minority. Frankly, I haven't seen anything during the games that I've been embarrassed about, certainly not on the level of Larry Johnson's gangsta poses or our relay teams parading around the track like a bunch of buffoons. Michael Phelps, Shawn Johnson, Dara Torres, Tyson Gay, our men's and women's basketball teams -- all of them have done our country proud.

Some people just believe what they want to believe.

[bballmaniac27]

As a Canadian I can say that there have been arrogant fans on both sides. I've been reading some of the game threads and honestly some of the Euro fans have just been plain (Please Use More Appropriate Word).Those fans are such hypocrites, it's hilarious. But then there's also guys like circlecitysports who acts like it's a guarantee that the US NT will win gold ( it's single elimination, anything can happen!) and disrespects non US competition. Personally, I'm rooting for the US to win gold in bball but I can understand why others would be rooting against the US just to see guys like him eat crow.

That's about how far it goes though, the actual players on the team have been everything but arrogant during these Olympics.

[CircleCitysportsfan]

As a Canadian I can say that there have been arrogant fans on both sides. I've been reading some of the game threads and honestly some of the Euro fans have just been plain (Please Use More Appropriate Word).Those fans are such hypocrites, it's hilarious. But then there's also guys like circlecitysports who acts like it's a guarantee that the US NT will win gold ( it's single elimination, anything can happen!) and disrespects non US competition. Personally, I'm rooting for the US to win gold in bball but I can understand why others would be rooting against the US just to see guys like him eat crow.

That's about how far it goes though, the actual players on the team have been everything but arrogant during these Olympics.

You damn right I'm acting like it's a guarantee because it is. This team won't lose. Of course there's a chance, but there was also a chance the 1992 team could lose, the chances of that as well with this team is slimmer than Manute Bol. If I'm wrong you can sig me or post as many laughing faces as you want, so what...That's the fun of a message board. So like my man Jermanic used to say "you mad doggy"

[Rerisen]

I don't think the article really gets at the heart of the matter. It's more than a case of just rooting against Team USA because they have been dominant for so long. The level of antipathy and hate is not justified merely because the USA did not give teams credit that beat them. It is probably tied into larger things.

It is only natural for the USA to examine how badly they played when they have lost in many of the past games. It is sort of like when Tiger Woods loses a golf tournament, does anyone suddenly expect him to call the player that won the new best player in the world? Does anyone else do that in the media or elsewhere? Of course not. Because everyone realizes if Tiger played his best, he almost certainly would have won. Same case with Team USA.

[Sedale Threatt]

I totally disagree; I thought the article thoroughly and accurately summed up the entirely of the problem we were facing, and losing was only a part of it. Nor was it simply a matter of not giving our opponents credit, which was hardly the point being driven home here.

It was, as that Canadian player pointed out, almost everything we did -- the way we acted on the court, the way we treated our foes, the way we figured we could just slap any old team together a few weeks before a competition and still dominate, and as a result losing when we never should have.

Bottom line, we were disrespecting the game, and we had a massive image problem as a result. I for one am thrilled that a man as capable as Jerry Colangelo recognized the problem and took the necessary steps to make amends. I sincerely hope he stays on for another term. I am also pleased the players got the message and are doing their part to clean this thing up.