What happened in 2004

[HarlemHeat37]

Duncan has a tendency to get frustrated by poor officiating, as everybody here knows, and as my fellow Spurs fans would know..ANYBODY that watched the 2004 games saw that he was being treated very unfairly by the refs..it wasn't just Duncan's usual complaining, he wasn't getting nearly the same amount of calls that his opponents were, which is why he doesn't wanna return to play..

with that being said, he still played well..like someone else said, there was a lack of shooting on the team that allowed others to pack it in on Duncan..

also, poor coaching was definitely a factor..and IMO, lack of motivation and determination was a factor as well..our team went into the tournament not expecting to the improvement from the international teams, and we simply weren't prepared..coaching is obviously part of that though..

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

My question is why Tim Duncan is bad at FIFA bball. I would think that's more suited for him since FIBA is more team play and a higher emphasis on fundamentals and less on athleticism.

Duncan was the best player on the team. They struggled when he left the game. Duncan is not bad at FIBA ball, he just got in foul trouble playing as the only big on defense where the perimeter players didn't keep anyone out of the paint.

And we lost because the offense was horrible. Usually our dominant offense can just overpower other teams (like last night). That year, Marbury and Iverson were starting and shooting a combined 40%.

This year, Wade shot 67%. LeBron shot 60%. Kobe struggled, but even he shot a little better at 46%. And all three defense the perimeter better than Marbury and Iverson. And we had two bigs on this team, plus LeBron and Melo can play the 4 more effectively than Odom did on that '04 team. That '04 team was lost without Duncan at C because no one else played big inside.

[tha_rock220]

Duncan wasn't unsuited for FIBA. The 2004 team was unsuited for FIBA. There was nothing to keep opposing teams from packing the paint since the US team couldn't shoot. It also didn't help that they had Iverson and Marbury at the point. Both of which must have the ball to be effective, and neither of them are pass first. If the team that had won FIBA Americas in 2003 had gone to Athens the US team would have won.

[ambiglight]

Some people have a pretty short memory. AI was pivotal in helping the US even qualify for the Olympics that year during FIBA Americas championship.That team was on cruise control and did great, 10 of the 12 players chose not to play in the 2004 olympics. AI didnt spazz out on representing our country, while the rest of our all-stars had every excuse in the book for not playing. I feel kind of bad for ol boy that he and the rest of that 2004 team got set up to fail. Larry brown's ego handicapped the team and we saw a lot of dumb lineups that olympics. Who in their right mind would start marbury and AI in the same back-court together? And then compound that mistake by forcing the team to play a slowed down, half court set like they had any inkling of chemistry to be able to pull it off. I'll never forget brown actually tryign to blame carmelo anthony for the team performing so poorly and carmelo couldnt have played more than five minutes a game. As for players, the only ones who actually looked like they cared were lebron, wade, melo and AI. And AI was the only one of the four that actually played significant minutes.

[Brandon-Clyde]

I believe part of the problem was that many of the players were picked to sell merchandise more than for actual basketball skills

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

Some people have a pretty short memory. AI was pivotal in helping the US even qualify for the Olympics that year during FIBA Americas championship.

Stop. Iverson shot 38% in 8 games. AI was only pivotal in so much as the US didn't have anyone else on the team to score, but that's why they lost, they had to rely on AI in the first place, and he couldn't produce.

[ambiglight]

In your eagerness to blame AI, you only proved my point. People have a short memory.

IN the 2003 FIBA qualifiers, which AI played in JUST so the US could even be in the 2004 olympics, he shot nearly 60%.

http://www.nba.com/news/oqt_usa_stats.html

Obviously losing 10 out of the 12 players we had the year before that was so successful was the real problem. But hey if it must have been AIs fault, sure, whatever makes you feel better.

[Apollo64]

My question is why Tim Duncan is bad at FIFA bball. I would think that's more suited for him since FIBA is more team play and a higher emphasis on fundamentals and less on athleticism.

The FIBA rules make the game hard for inside scorers and the fact that he didn't have the proper teammates made it even harder for him. Duncan is a system player, not a "gimme the ball and i'll score no matter what" one.

[Danny1616]

You also have to remember that the 04 team had very young players who were inexperianced.

Wade, James, Anthony, Boozer, Okafor and Staudemire had not played more then two NBA seasons. What really helped the 08 team was that they gained experiance and maturity.

[Blame Rasho]

It was just a flawed team that was put together. No real point guards, no 3 point shooting, no real defenders to speak of. It is quite amazing that they beat Spain. It was just an act of god that Marbury actually shot well when he was chucking in the Spanish game.

[ilikecb4]

stubborn coach

poorly chosen team-no legit 3 pt shooters

bad point guard (ball hogs) AI and Marbury who disagree with the coach

Shawn Marion , one of the worst FIBA players i've ever seen (not that he's not a good NBA player)

Duncan (who sucked at FIBA ball), wasnt getting those tick tack calls he gets in the NBA

they played 2 bigs at the same time , got lit up at 3 pt line

l.......................

[Dynamos]

Having the Best players doesnt always equal having the best team.

Yeah, except we didn't send the best players in '04.

I know It wasnt our best players but they were better than the other countries best players and still werent the best team. that was my point.

[joe.linnen]

SF:James/Anthony
PF:Boozer/Marion/Odom
C:Duncan/Stoudemire/Okafor
SG:Wade/Jefferson
PG:Iverson/Marbury

This team has all the talent but no damn direction at all. Now don't get me wrong I can make a line-up out of this that works.

SF:Anthony
PF:Odom
C:Duncan
SG:James
PG:Wade

You also have to think tho only 4 player for the 2004 team made it onto the 2008 team. Boozer, Jame, Anthony, and Wade.

2008
SF:James/Prince
PF:Anthony/Boozer
C:Howard/Bosh
SG:Bryant/Wade/Redd
PG:Kidd/Paul/Williams

This team had everything all rolled into one. The are hands down better than the 2004 team.

[nesta]

analyze the box scores

http://web.archive.org/web/200409010506 ... 7_box.html

http://www.usabasketball.com/seniormen/ ... 6_box.html

-Allen Iverson and Marbury starting in the backcourt is just stupid. No consistent shooters here
-Carmelo and Lebron didn't or barely respectively play. A young Melo and Lebron was always better than RJ. Larry Brown must of thought Jefferson reminded him of Prince too much
-When Duncan was in foul trouble, Okafor or Stoudemire didn't get a chance to help defend the paint. Instead a young Boozer and Odom got paint duties. Okafor and Stoudemire at that time were much better threats at shot blocking and clogging the key.
-Young Jefferson, Marion and young DWade are not consistent shooters
-Dwyane Wade played more than Melo and Lebron combined when he was considered worser than both(LBJ and Melo 1 and 2 in ROY Voting)
-Larry Brown's refusal to play young players

Summary:Larry Brown's fault

[SpeedyG]

here's a list of players that would have made that roster a lot better, including some top notch guards.

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/g ... 230837.asp

The terrorists have won at least one battle with the United States this summer. They have scared away many of our most talented basketball players from playing on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team in Athens. The list of perennial NBA All Stars that either declined invitations or withdrew after previously agreeing to play is quite impressive: Tracy McGrady, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Jermaine O'Neal, Vince Carter, Elton Brand, Kenyon Martin, and Ben Wallace — to name just a few.

Many of these players have not been shy about why they refused to play for Team U.S.A. Wallace and fellow NBA championship teammate Richard Hamilton quit the Olympic team for "security reasons," according to the Detroit Free Press. Even though their own head coach, Larry Brown, is the head coach of the Olympic squad, both players were apparently not as brave. Same goes for Kidd, O'Neal, McGrady, and Wallace — all of whom cited "security concerns" as their primary reason not to play.

Several of these players will be in the basketball Hall of Fame one day. But there ought to be an asterisk next to each of their names, to let generations to come know that they decided not to represent our country in the Olympics while America was at war.

To be fair, not all of these guys were cowards. Kobe Bryant has a few legal issues to deal with this summer, and Ray Allen's wife is expecting a baby. They get a pass. But the rest of the players who abandoned Team U.S.A should be ashamed of themselves (not that Kobe shouldn't be, for other reasons).

put in tmac, kobe, ray allen, vince carter, kidd take out marbury, jefferson, iverson, a young wade...gold.

I'm not sure how much stock to put in that article. Seems like a journalist trying to rile things up. Yes, he did note Kobe's legal issues and Allen's situation. But I really don't remember anyone but one person from that year who declined to play because of security reasons, and that was Bibby.

Kidd wasn't even healthy in 2004. He had knee surgery after the Nets lost to the Pistons in the ECF and didn't play basketball again until December that year. Hamilton and Wallace reasoning for opting out was that they went to the Finals and wanted to take a break (to which I say screw both of them. I've never liked Rip from that point on, and I was a fan of him at UCONN). KG was obsessed in winning his championship and wanted to rest.

The fact was, had the 2003 team remain intact, that team would have won gold in Athens also. Kidd would have directed the offense in his prime (along with pressure defense), while Bibby would have provided a better outside shooter than Marbury and AI.

To put things in perspective, Richard Jefferson was starting for the 2004 Athens team. He was mainly another body in 2003, and barely played at all for the qualifying tournament as guys like Allen, Carter, McGrady were all in front of him, and that's with Kobe waiting on the wings (he had an elbow injury, and was waiting on that to heal to join the team. He never did join because of his legal troubles).

[Mad Balla 15]

As I said in the other thread, It's a shame so many players from the 2003 qualifying tournament team rejected their invitations to play in the 04 Olympics. If they had the 2003 qualifying team for the 2004 Olympics they would've won Gold no questions asked.

[durden_tyler]

Bad US team and an improved international play. Any era before that i feel the US still have the chance because of sheer talent alone.