I surprisingly agree with this. If hockey wasn't pretty balanced then I'd say they should do the same thing, I mean the greatest olympic moment was because we had non-pro players. Hockey is pretty balanced and has great competition as it's not limited to just one country so I think it's fine, or at least I think so. Can't say the same about Basketball.
2012 US Mens Olympic Basketball Thread
Collapse
X
-
Meh, most of the top guys who play would have a chance to play within their first 4 seasons. I understand Amuricans like to dominate, but watching their games just becomes horrible, because it's obvious none of these other countries can play with our absolute best. I watched the France/Lithuania game and it was a great game, but Amurica just runs through these teams and we get to watch James, Kobe, etc laugh and joke on the bench. It just gets sort of meh after the 1st quarter. I'd like to see our absolute best guys under the age of 23 and they don't necessarily have to be in the NBA. For instance, if the Olympics was next year I wouldn't mind seeing the top guys who are still in college mixed in with our top under 23 year old NBA players.
It's a showcase, but you are right watching Amurica beat up on Nigeria, Tunisia, etc and watching Spain or Argentina believe they have a chance is rather lame.
We proved our point. There is no question where the hoops power lies when we send our best.
U-23 would be fine, and i'm even open to the idea of going back to sending the college kids. I'd be more interested in seeing how the younger players stack up, and if the geeks in Argentina or Spain wanna talk shit about beating a U-23 team by 7, so be it. It's like playing at half speed or just taking jumpers against your little brother. He can talk shit at the dinner table, but who cares, you know you can drive on him and swat every shot next time if you feel like it.Comment
-
-
-
Meh, most of the top guys who play would have a chance to play within their first 4 seasons. I understand Amuricans like to dominate, but watching their games just becomes horrible, because it's obvious none of these other countries can play with our absolute best. I watched the France/Lithuania game and it was a great game, but Amurica just runs through these teams and we get to watch James, Kobe, etc laugh and joke on the bench. It just gets sort of meh after the 1st quarter. I'd like to see our absolute best guys under the age of 23 and they don't necessarily have to be in the NBA. For instance, if the Olympics was next year I wouldn't mind seeing the top guys who are still in college mixed in with our top under 23 year old NBA players.
For example, if Wade or Rose wasnt hurt, Harden wouldn't be on this team and would be over 23 the next time the Olympics came. Same could be said for Anthony Davis(who replaced Blake, who replaced Bosh/Howard), depending on the restrictions when they actually selected the team. But I still get your point. I just disagree. I'm ok with them picking lesser talented players, (or as Colin Cowherd would say, B to B+ players), including college guys to send over there, but I'm still not a fan of the U23.
I would prefer our best guys over there or our best B/B+ players regardless of age, because the minute we have another team like 2004, who had some decent players, people will be screaming for the stars again.Comment
-
Haven't read the VSN thoughts on yesterday but here are mine:
I give rep not thanks
My Audio Blog (Whoring)Comment
-
If you freeze American guys out at 23, you open up even more country hopping. Guys who don't make the US team by then will essentially just become international free agents at age 24 and can get citizenry elsewhere.
You wouldn't even be able to call them a traitor, because they have no country to play for anyway. You'll end up with OJ Mayo and Josh Smith playing for Russia and shit.Comment
-
Bigga and Raiders pretty much summed up my feelings on this. Fuck the rest of the world - GO TEAM USA!! I love watching my countrymen/women win, no matter what sport.
Now I'm hearing some media loudmouths whining about how unfair it is that Team USA is so dominant in basketball. They want to change the rules so the rest of the world can catch up. Man, fuck that shit. The U.S should never apologise for having the best basketball players and proving it every four years. It's not our problem other nations are lagging.Comment
-
-
I don't want to hear another word from Kobe or Lebron or geek fans about this team beating '92. They trailed a very unspectacular Lithuania team with like 6 minutes left.Comment
Comment