Tokyo Olympic Basketball Tournament Discussion

[FreeThrowLine]

The first 15 minutes, every 3 the US team took was short. It was like they were running on sand, they were slow to rotate, slow to loose balls and Middleton had his open dunk attempt rejected by the front of the ring.

If KD doesn’t do his thing, the US could have been looking at a 25-30 point deficit instead of 15 and it might just have been too much to claw back

Instead, KD kept them relatively close and in the 2nd half they finally started making their 3’s while the Australians cooled down after looking like they couldn’t miss from 3 in the 1st half

LaVine was good on both ends despite some of the comments to the contrary, the US needs to find the right rotation, they still look like they don’t have any chemistry out there

[Mirotic12]

Honestly, Josh Giddey would’ve been better than Delly at this stage.

You’re way off on Nick Kay. Man looks super awkward but I’d say he might have some NBA offers after this tournament. As I said, he’s probably been out 3rd best player after Mills/Thybulle.

I don’t know why you always downplay Australia’s talent.

I'm not downplaying Australia's talent. I'm downplaying their coaching. He just should have benched their scrubs and he didn't.

[FreeThrowLine]

the competition Team USA's have faced since '92, especially since '00 or '04, was/is much better than what the '92 Dream Team faced.

In general there are a lot of more talented international teams now, BUT let’s not forget how good that Croatian team was in 92 with Petrovic, Kukoc & Radja

[AussieCeltic]

Honestly, Josh Giddey would’ve been better than Delly at this stage.

You’re way off on Nick Kay. Man looks super awkward but I’d say he might have some NBA offers after this tournament. As I said, he’s probably been out 3rd best player after Mills/Thybulle.

I don’t know why you always downplay Australia’s talent.

I'm not downplaying Australia's talent. I'm downplaying their coaching. He just should have benched their scrubs and he didn't.

His coaching has been great in the lead up games and the Olympics. Aside from playing Delly too much and not calling a timeout late in the 2nd quarter and early in the second half, I think he’s been fantastic.

[NaturalThunder]

Australia gonna finally get that USA monkey off their back unless something drastically changes. I mean from the opening tip they've dominated this one.

Well this didn’t age well lol

I mean I did say "unless something drastically changes" which is exactly what happened. I didn't definitively say Australia was going to win the game. I admittedly may have overreacted, but starting in the final few minutes of the 2nd quarter, "something drastically changed" in that Team USA started locking in defensively and moving the ball better on offense. Durant also took over in that late 2nd quarter early 3rd quarter stretch to put the USA over the top.

I should've known a little bit better, sure. I should've had enough foresight to know there was a very good possibility that USA's overwhelming talent advantage would eventually wear down the Aussie's. But again, I didn't definitively say Team USA would lose.

[Mirotic12]

the competition Team USA's have faced since '92, especially since '00 or '04, was/is much better than what the '92 Dream Team faced.

In general there are a lot of more talented international teams now, BUT let’s not forget how good that Croatian team was in 92 with Petrovic, Kukoc & Radja

Not very good by today's standards.

[FreeThrowLine]

the competition Team USA's have faced since '92, especially since '00 or '04, was/is much better than what the '92 Dream Team faced.

In general there are a lot of more talented international teams now, BUT let’s not forget how good that Croatian team was in 92 with Petrovic, Kukoc & Radja

Not very good by today's standards.

Disagree, they were tough, had good size and 3 point shooting and Drazen (RIP) could shoot with the best of them.

That team would definitely get a medal vs current competition in my opinion. They were hanging in there vs team USA most of the first half of the gold medal game

[Mirotic12]

In general there are a lot of more talented international teams now, BUT let’s not forget how good that Croatian team was in 92 with Petrovic, Kukoc & Radja

Not very good by today's standards.

Disagree, they were tough, had good size and 3 point shooting and Drazen (RIP) could shoot with the best of them.

That team would definitely get a medal vs current competition in my opinion. They were hanging in there vs team USA most of the first half of the gold medal game

Even old as hell 2021 Spain would beat that 92 Croatian team. The level of international play is way, way higher than it was then. That wasn't even a deep team.

[Sedale Threatt]

Australia gonna finally get that USA monkey off their back unless something drastically changes. I mean from the opening tip they've dominated this one.

Well this didn’t age well lol

I mean I did say "unless something drastically changes" which is exactly what happened. I didn't definitively say Australia was going to win the game. I admittedly may have overreacted, but starting in the final few minutes of the 2nd quarter, "something drastically changed" in that Team USA started locking in defensively and moving the ball better on offense. Durant also took over in that late 2nd quarter early 3rd quarter stretch to put the USA over the top.

I should've known a little bit better, sure. I should've had enough foresight to know there was a very good possibility that USA's overwhelming talent advantage would eventually wear down the Aussie's. But again, I didn't definitively say Team USA would lose.

It was grim. Falling behind 15 points late in the first half of a shortened game against a veteran, hard-nosed team is not a winning formula. I don't want to say the game was necessarily closer than the final score because outscoring a team 48-14 over the equivalent of an entire half is an insane display of power. But we were very, very much behind the eight ball.

[EmperorLocky]

Honestly, Josh Giddey would’ve been better than Delly at this stage.

You’re way off on Nick Kay. Man looks super awkward but I’d say he might have some NBA offers after this tournament. As I said, he’s probably been out 3rd best player after Mills/Thybulle.

I don’t know why you always downplay Australia’s talent.

I'm not downplaying Australia's talent. I'm downplaying their coaching. He just should have benched their scrubs and he didn't.

His coaching has been great in the lead up games and the Olympics. Aside from playing Delly too much and not calling a timeout late in the 2nd quarter and early in the second half, I think he’s been fantastic.

Yeah I'm inclined to agree. I think Brian has been a net positive for the team. Some mistakes definitely like you said. I mean watching the US bring out that lead to double digits deep into the 3rd quarter before a time out was called was infuriating. Thought once they started off on an 8 point run and us down by 5 with about 7:30 to go I thought would be the right time to call it and try to get the guys to refocus.

That said I don't think anything would have changed this outcome. Aussies just looked deflated once the US closed our lead to end the half.

[GSP]

Read on Twitter

[NaturalThunder]

Well this didn’t age well lol

I mean I did say "unless something drastically changes" which is exactly what happened. I didn't definitively say Australia was going to win the game. I admittedly may have overreacted, but starting in the final few minutes of the 2nd quarter, "something drastically changed" in that Team USA started locking in defensively and moving the ball better on offense. Durant also took over in that late 2nd quarter early 3rd quarter stretch to put the USA over the top.

I should've known a little bit better, sure. I should've had enough foresight to know there was a very good possibility that USA's overwhelming talent advantage would eventually wear down the Aussie's. But again, I didn't definitively say Team USA would lose.

It was grim. Falling behind 15 points late in the first half of a shortened game against a veteran, hard-nosed team is not a winning formula. I don't want to say the game was necessarily closer than the final score because outscoring a team 48-14 over the equivalent of an entire half is an insane display of power. But we were very, very much behind the eight ball.

Yeah, and through the first 15 minutes of the game or so, when I made that post, Australia was clearly dominating the game on their way to that 15 point lead. Their defense was much more hard-nosed, USA weren't generating open looks from 3, and USA's overall game on both ends of the floor was severely lacking in focus.

[Chuck Diesel]

Slightly off topic, but I was listening to a Brian Goorjian interview a few weeks ago on Fran Fraschilla’s “World of Basketball” podcast (highly recommend for international hoops fans, despite the occasional Fran induced eye rolls) and Goorj had some really entertaining things to say about what it’s like to coach professionally in China. One line stuck in my head is “I had to tell them-‘enough with the rice!”

[Sofia]

You're talking about FIBA Patty Mills. NBA Patty mills is a notch or two lower.

I will kill you EArl

(why no OTB?)

No a lot of time these days. I went to look at the activity a few months ago. Looked like a wasteland tbh.

Acting like it wasn’t a wasteland before.

[Sofia]

I'm not an American.

Are you enjoying the Lockdown

unless you're Slovenian or French they still got a lot further than whatever country you're from

Suck dick.

Occasionally, how bout u?

[Sofia]

Never ceases to amaze me how true Americans play to their stereotype.

Seppos and their burger grease

Get cancer and die.

whoa wtf.

Rattled.

[FreeThrowLine]

Not very good by today's standards.

Disagree, they were tough, had good size and 3 point shooting and Drazen (RIP) could shoot with the best of them.

That team would definitely get a medal vs current competition in my opinion. They were hanging in there vs team USA most of the first half of the gold medal game

Even old as hell 2021 Spain would beat that 92 Croatian team. The level of international play is way, way higher than it was then. That wasn't even a deep team.

No

[Sofia]

Slovenia/France is in 5hrs? Who the f#%@ is in charge of scheduling? Cmon man!

A lot of the scheduling is being dictated by NBC who want certain events in their prime time. Money talks, or in this case creates the schedule. That’s why the swimming finals where on in the morning Tokyo time.

Seppos fail again

[Sofia]

You ok?

Hey he gave an order

I need pics

Gonna have to lift the burger gunt

[Phreak50]

Despite the score, a really good effort by the Australian team.

When you have a few NBA bench players vs a team of All-stars, you have to play a perfect game and also hope for some luck.

They can hold their heads high. Play a great team game, coached really well, played great team d for the first half and a bit and really showed what basketball is about.

They ran out of gas sadly and then their depth (Delly offered nothing and they missed Baynes) dropped off but they've still got an historic bronze to play for and a bright future with Exum, Landale, Green, Simmons, Giddey, Magnay and co.

Durant is just unbelievable, what he can do with that shot and the spots he gets himself into is something no one of that height has ever achieved. He is a freak.

Mills is an international superstar but it shows why he hadn't taken that step in the NBA, as any decent athletic defenders with height, make it really hard for him to get his shot off (see Bryn Forbes not getting minutes in the finals also) unless wide open.

Such a pleasure to watch real basketball being played by these international teams. And a shame the NBA will never get back to this style.