USA basketball weakness and the decline in dominance

[WhiteKyrie]

The late 80s and 90s even through most of the 2000s is the greatest era of basketball.

Like that 1996 Olympic team, if you subtract Hakeem Olajuwon, because he really wasn’t American, and replaced him with 33 year old Michael Jordan from that season? It already probably is the greatest team USA ever, because they could play any style and they had intense premiere defense, interior defense, rebounding, low post banging and scoring, shooting, scorers, creators, passing, IQ, and if you add the games greatest player of all time?

GP / Penny / Stockton
Jordan / Reggie / Mitch Rich
Pippen / G-Hill
Malone / Barkley
Shaq / D-Rob

That team is beating anybody. Handily. Any style. Any rule set. Not even close TBH.

The diversity of play style. The size and physicality with skill.

People that call players from that era as plumbers, are very much retarded. Yes, their argument that on average players are more skilled today, rings entirely true but the ability to showcase that skill is enhanced and promoted with the total subtraction of physicality from the game. And lack of emphasis on defense.

That is why we have struggled so mightily in international competition in the 2000s and more specifically the 2010s. I most noticed the change after 2008 Redeem Team. Where at least we had a large traditional big who played as so like Dwight Howard. You could protect the lane and shot block, and was a good defender, and could catch lobs and forcefully dunk the ball.

The 2012 team was a little softer and way more perimeter oriented, that team just had so much talent, that didn’t matter. No true dominant big like D12. Tyson Chandler could at least protect the rim with height and catch lobs. Gold Medal Game vs Spain was another tight one though.

If any of you have ever played a group of Lithuanian basketball players, you would know, as America found out the other day, they are big, physical, brawny, and sturdy players. They’re not exceptionally quick or fast, but they will beat you down with physicality. American players now don’t face any physicality in the NBA. So they’re not used to it when faced with it. That’s why Luka said it’s easier to score in the NBA than it is in international play. This used to be the polar opposite up until the early 2000s.

The death of the true big man is the reason we got beat yesterday. If you play any type of pick up ball over the past 10 to 15 years, you would know they guys want to be guards and wings. Lithuania still has physicality and back to the basket game. The last great American big man was Dwight Howard. He played like a big man, Joel Embiid is soft, like wet flowers, built like tissue paper, always being injured, and tends to play very softly and shoot from the perimeter. Nikola Jokić dominated all the brothers in the league this year, with his big body, in combination with his brains and his skill set , even if he looks uncoordinated, and unathletic, and as if he’s playing in flip-flops.

Big guys that think they are guards can dribble when nobody’s allowed to be physical and nobody plays good defense. Back in the day you couldn’t be a guard over 6 foot 7 ish while handling the ball through the lane because with hand check and physicality it would be easy to steal. The only players that were able to do it from that size and larger was Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen, Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill. The latter had great modern type handles, where they could dribble the ball low with precision. Magic and Scottie could dribble up the court while backing you down to protect the ball from being stolen at that size.

The point is, we need to bring back the big man, we need to bring back physicality, we need to bring back post play. Everybody plays the same way. Our nation has become too dependent on perimeter play with no physicality. This isn’t the greatest era of basketball, post, modern basketball, which started in 2016, is devoid of physicality and diversity of play style and it’s hurting the game. It’s just a team full of guards and wings. And that can be very easily exploited.

[JohnMax]

The problem is they went back to a white American head coach instead of sticking with Eastern Europeans like Rudy Tomjanovich, Mike Krzyzewski, and Gregg Popovich.

[Xiao Yao You]

The late 80s and 90s even through most of the 2000s is the greatest era of basketball.

Like that 1996 Olympic team, if you subtract Hakeem Olajuwon, because he really wasn’t American, and replaced him with 33 year old Michael Jordan from that season? It already probably is the greatest team USA ever, because they could play any style and they had intense premiere defense, interior defense, rebounding, low post banging and scoring, shooting, scorers, creators, passing, IQ, and if you add the games greatest player of all time?

GP / Penny / Stockton
Jordan / Reggie / Mitch Rich
Pippen / G-Hill
Malone / Barkley
Shaq / D-Rob

That team is beating anybody. Handily. Any style. Any rule set. Not even close TBH.

The diversity of play style. The size and physicality with skill.

People that call players from that era as plumbers, are very much retarded. Yes, their argument that on average players are more skilled today, rings entirely true but the ability to showcase that skill is enhanced and promoted with the total subtraction of physicality from the game. And lack of emphasis on defense.

That is why we have struggled so mightily in international competition in the 2000s and more specifically the 2010s. I most noticed the change after 2008 Redeem Team. Where at least we had a large traditional big who played as so like Dwight Howard. You could protect the lane and shot block, and was a good defender, and could catch lobs and forcefully dunk the ball.

The 2012 team was a little softer and way more perimeter oriented, that team just had so much talent, that didn’t matter. No true dominant big like D12. Tyson Chandler could at least protect the rim with height and catch lobs. Gold Medal Game vs Spain was another tight one though.

If any of you have ever played a group of Lithuanian basketball players, you would know, as America found out the other day, they are big, physical, brawny, and sturdy players. They’re not exceptionally quick or fast, but they will beat you down with physicality. American players now don’t face any physicality in the NBA. So they’re not used to it when faced with it. That’s why Luka said it’s easier to score in the NBA than it is in international play. This used to be the polar opposite up until the early 2000s.

The death of the true big man is the reason we got beat yesterday. If you play any type of pick up ball over the past 10 to 15 years, you would know they guys want to be guards and wings. Lithuania still has physicality and back to the basket game. The last great American big man was Dwight Howard. He played like a big man, Joel Embiid is soft, like wet flowers, built like tissue paper, always being injured, and tends to play very softly and shoot from the perimeter. Nikola Jokić dominated all the brothers in the league this year, with his big body, in combination with his brains and his skill set , even if he looks uncoordinated, and unathletic, and as if he’s playing in flip-flops.

Big guys that think they are guards can dribble when nobody’s allowed to be physical and nobody plays good defense. Back in the day you couldn’t be a guard over 6 foot 7 ish while handling the ball through the lane because with hand check and physicality it would be easy to steal. The only players that were able to do it from that size and larger was Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen, Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill. The latter had great modern type handles, where they could dribble the ball low with precision. Magic and Scottie could dribble up the court while backing you down to protect the ball from being stolen at that size.

The point is, we need to bring back the big man, we need to bring back physicality, we need to bring back post play. Everybody plays the same way. Our nation has become too dependent on perimeter play with no physicality. This isn’t the greatest era of basketball, post, modern basketball, which started in 2016, is devoid of physicality and diversity of play style and it’s hurting the game. It’s just a team full of guards and wings. And that can be very easily exploited.

not sure different bigs is going to keep them from going 14-25 from 3 :facepalm

[sdot_thadon]

All they need to bring back is the A tier players, anytime we do that we win. Period. None of the big guns went with this team, kinda like the time we got bronze with Ai, Duncan and 3 rookies who the coach wouldn't even play lol. Also, what does Mj being in Dream's place really change that much? The 96 team is already arguable in the greatest usa teams ever, they already could play any style with the guys they took. Seemed kinda out of left field to me coach.

[WhiteKyrie]

The problem is they went back to a white American head coach instead of sticking with Eastern Europeans like Rudy Tomjanovich, Mike Krzyzewski, and Gregg Popovich.

Those are literally all white American coaches

[WhiteKyrie]

All they need to bring back is the A tier players, anytime we do that we win. Period. None of the big guns went with this team, kinda like the time we got bronze with Ai, Duncan and 3 rookies who the coach wouldn't even play lol. Also, what does Mj being in Dream's place really change that much? The 96 team is already arguable in the greatest usa teams ever, they already could play any style with the guys they took. Seemed kinda out of left field to me coach.

It’s not entirely that simple. Yes that would probably ensure victory easily. With that said, this USA team is still top the bottom, more talented than any other roster in the competition we don’t have the best player, that’s Luka. But we have the best and most talented roster still … no excuse.

[Jasper]

All they need to bring back is the A tier players, anytime we do that we win. Period. None of the big guns went with this team, kinda like the time we got bronze with Ai, Duncan and 3 rookies who the coach wouldn't even play lol. Also, what does Mj being in Dream's place really change that much? The 96 team is already arguable in the greatest usa teams ever, they already could play any style with the guys they took. Seemed kinda out of left field to me coach.

This :

But the world has caught to us. People on the political forum always likes to use change as a weapon for their arguments , but the world has made a change. Americans have made a change as well and are playing more than ever soccer (foot ball for the purist's)

[90sgoat]

This thread has now been peer reviewed and is pending publication.

[ArbitraryWater]

Dude theyre just playing the C squad

[FultzNationRISE]

Basketball is similar to futbol now in that every country plays it seriously. This was not the case in 1996.

America is now akin to a Germany or Brazil in futbol. Always a favorite but not destroying countries because of a giant gap in athletic infrastructure. They used to win all the time because the national resources and organization they put into the sport were just better than many countries. Same reason Soviets historically dominate chess. It’s not because Russians are predisposed to chess superiority, or Brazilians and Germans to fulbol superiority, or Americans to basketball superiority. These places just put more focus on them at a time other countries werent. Now that the world is basically fully globalized you see more parity.

[ILLsmak]

I think everyone who takes an L as a team USA player or coach needs to remember it for the rest of their life.

Even if they get the gold.

It's that serious. The fact that our dudes are probably like o well is SAD. It's actually not so much that the rest of the world has caught up, but we just don't have that same mentality.

Didn't watch. Not gonna watch. I feel like if our players don't care about winning, then I don't care about them losing.

We came out to absolutely shit on every opposing team when we had the dream-level squads. We clowned them. Coast 2 coast just cuz we could. That was just USA. Even tho it was a Canadian dude, bball is OUR sport. It's about the same level as if American football was a world sport; we should never have stopped dominating. Our theory and talent is just too far ahead. I could see other teams closing the gap, but we should still be cruising. Not by 50 like before, but we should be shitting.

Just saw the score was 31-12 at the end of the first quarter haha. OH NO. I might have to watch now, at least that first Q.

-Smak

[90sgoat]

The lack of centers is very obvious yes and everyone has noticed now.

It is probably to do with the AAU system as Kobe put it eloquently.

[Xiao Yao You]

I think everyone who takes an L as a team USA player or coach needs to remember it for the rest of their life.

Even if they get the gold.

It's that serious. The fact that our dudes are probably like o well is SAD. It's actually not so much that the rest of the world has caught up, but we just don't have that same mentality.

Didn't watch. Not gonna watch. I feel like if our players don't care about winning, then I don't care about them losing.

We came out to absolutely shit on every opposing team when we had the dream-level squads. We clowned them. Coast 2 coast just cuz we could. That was just USA. Even tho it was a Canadian dude, bball is OUR sport. It's about the same level as if American football was a world sport; we should never have stopped dominating. Our theory and talent is just too far ahead. I could see other teams closing the gap, but we should still be cruising. Not by 50 like before, but we should be shitting.

Just saw the score was 31-12 at the end of the first quarter haha. OH NO. I might have to watch now, at least that first Q.

-Smak

the talent level and theory is too far ahead if you believe the plumbers crap. North Americans aren't as fundamentally sound as others anymore. They can play iso and spot up for 3's and run and jump.

[ILLsmak]

the talent level and theory is too far ahead if you believe the plumbers crap. North Americans aren't as fundamentally sound as others anymore. They can play iso and spot up for 3's and run and jump.

The fundamentals you talk about can be fixed by putting people in the right spots. I was watching a lil highlights of stuff, dudes just wet shots with no worries. It's not like they are lucking into them, either. They just aren't consistently getting those shots; they feel themselves or whatever. We need SOME plays, but we don't need that many. Dude comes out and makes the first three or four shots then he starts wiling out. That's where discipline and such comes in. You need some fundamentals, but stars are supposed to be jacking. The issue is when you give the ball to one guy and it's like ok... maybe I'll set you a pick but... jack it!! That's more than just lack of fundamentals, that's losing bball.

This is what we can't have. This would never happen to TRU USA DAWGS. The TONGUE.

https://youtu.be/viLlcukUHh4?si=rd-l7szyN1egAqls&t=368

Edit: look at our spacing, our shot selection... that's more than fundamentals. Look at that ingram shot a few plays later, he was isoing and there was NOT ONE passing option. That's just bad basketball. 7:45 peep it. That's some call a time out level basketball.

-Smak

[ArbitraryWater]

I knew OP as someone that took his capital letters seriously for the aesthetic purpose


Sad what happened to him

[Xiao Yao You]

The fundamentals you talk about can be fixed by putting people in the right spots. I was watching a lil highlights of stuff, dudes just wet shots with no worries. It's not like they are lucking into them, either. They just aren't consistently getting those shots; they feel themselves or whatever. We need SOME plays, but we don't need that many. Dude comes out and makes the first three or four shots then he starts wiling out. That's where discipline and such comes in. You need some fundamentals, but stars are supposed to be jacking. The issue is when you give the ball to one guy and it's like ok... maybe I'll set you a pick but... jack it!! That's more than just lack of fundamentals, that's losing bball.

This is what we can't have. This would never happen to TRU USA DAWGS. The TONGUE.

https://youtu.be/viLlcukUHh4?si=rd-l7szyN1egAqls&t=368

Edit: look at our spacing, our shot selection... that's more than fundamentals. Look at that ingram shot a few plays later, he was isoing and there was NOT ONE passing option. That's just bad basketball. 7:45 peep it. That's some call a time out level basketball.

-Smak

They showed that Spain had made twice as many passes in the tourney than the USA. That's AAU. The NIl keeping guys in college longer might help?

[ILLsmak]

For real, though, we got guys that are just a little too bummy. We should have dudes who can score + make it nearly impossible for the other team to make passes. IMAGINE MARCUS SMART ON THIS TEAM. I appreciate the feel good-ness, but c'mon. We got like 5 or 6 players that are not really ready to rep the USA. They should have had a try out or something haha. They could have prol got some non NBA dudes to come in who were better. Some YouTube kids. It's probably marketing or some crap, but I mean some of these dudes it's like... ok but... but...

Look. AUSTIN REEVES. JOSH HART. BOBBY PORTIS. WALKER KESLER. CAMERON JOHNSON. We kinda want dudes who are starting on their NBA teams, don't you think? That'd be the first thing I would be looking for. It's like some 4D chess stuff where they are psyching themselves out... well... we need BENCH players coming off the BENCH. No.

Edit: @ passing, yea, I mean, dudes play different now, but if one guy sits on the ball and passes it to another guy who has a good shot, that's 1 pass, and it's good. WE GOT BUMS. I understand NBA ballers don't play like I want them to, but the coaches should be able to set them up to play decently. It's not rocket science. Set the floor up so that we can exploit advantages and if they have to help, we get dunks or 3s. If we're not doing that, our team sucks. I def think fundamentals are an issue when comparing older players to guys now, but like I said some of these guys shouldn't even be dribbling vs our guys.

But what I saw from the highlights is most of our dudes aren't even trying, just letting guys wet 3s in their face. Depressing.

-Smak

[Lebron23]

USA sent their C team. Anyway Steve Kerr thought he was still coaching the Warriors. I lmao when he made Josh Hart played the PF Position.

[WhiteKyrie]

They showed that Spain had made twice as many passes in the tourney than the USA. That's AAU. The NIl keeping guys in college longer might help?

Possibly

[Xiao Yao You]

USA sent their C team. Anyway Steve Kerr thought he was still coaching the Warriors. I lmao when he made Josh Hart played the PF Position.

Hart actually rebounds which they obviously need

[3ba11]

the lack of spacing in prior eras forced guys to take more contested shots and be better shot-makers on everything except threes - players had a pure instinctual way of playing that mitigated any defense while today's american robots ' players are only elite at the high-screen roll ball-dominant drive-and-kick style.. coddled by a hands-off, spaced-out, no-impede (no defense) beginner format

[WhiteKyrie]

the lack of spacing in prior eras forced guys to take more contested shots and be better shot-makers on everything except threes - players had a pure instinctual way of playing that mitigated any defense while today's american robots ' players are only elite at the high-screen roll ball-dominant drive-and-kick style.. coddled by a hands-off, spaced-out, no-impede (no defense) beginner format

Facts

[iamgine]

AD
Durant
Kawhi
Booker
Curry

These guys would be pretty dominant. Internationals have caught up some but USA is also sending the B team.

[Xiao Yao You]

AD
Durant
Kawhi
Booker
Curry

These guys would be pretty dominant. Internationals have caught up some but USA is also sending the B team.

you need guys that will actually be on the court rather they are the B team or not

[iamgine]

you need guys that will actually be on the court rather they are the B team or not

Thanks captain

[sdot_thadon]

the lack of spacing in prior eras forced guys to take more contested shots and be better shot-makers on everything except threes - players had a pure instinctual way of playing that mitigated any defense while today's american robots ' players are only elite at the high-screen roll ball-dominant drive-and-kick style.. coddled by a hands-off, spaced-out, no-impede (no defense) beginner format

And somehow still that much better than the rest of the world. The guys they put out here can't even make the bench on most previous squads lol.

[90sgoat]

And somehow still that much better than the rest of the world. The guys they put out here can't even make the bench on most previous squads lol.

Lithuania is 3 million people.

They are crazy about basketball though, but still, that's not a lot of people.

It's obvious they focus big time on size and strength. They were strong. There were at least 5 guys on that squad who bullied their NBA counterpart.

US basketball is soft, we've been saying it for 10+ years. It's not "quicker, faster, stronger". It's definitely not stronger.

Probably Lithuania has focused on physique for the very reason of beating the US. The analysis has been out for quite a while, the US is soft, the US won't hustle, won't rebound.

[JohnMax]

Those are literally all white American coaches

Steve Kerr is British Isles Protestant. None of the previous Team USA coaches have been that. They're all Eastern Europeans, Jewish, or Catholic (Chuck Daly).

God and Satan are dueling through people.

Satan didn't want Jewish head coach Larry Brown to win Olympic gold so he had the best Black players drop out of 2004 team. He had the Black players on the team not try as hard.

God doesn't want British Isles Protestant head coach to win with Team USA so he had the best Black players drop out of 2023 FIBA team. He had the Black players on the team not try as hard.

[Johnny32]

There was a handful of international players in the NBA in the 90s. Now there's 100+. These countries are fielding teams with multiple current or former NBA players. It's one game and the competition is much better. Not that hard to see or figure out.

[Manny98]

Dude theyre just playing the C squad
:lol

[Hey Yo]

Wonder if OP Coach is going to break down the win against Italy and tell us why team USA is still declining and less dominant

[paksat]

@heinrichollbers
23 hours ago
Congrats for team USA - you lost by a single digit deficit to Lithuania, the only team that managed to achieve such high result so far.



it's now a "feat" to stay within single digits to quite a few people

that post had 56 likes on a youtube video of the highlights

but OP, probably the best post I've seen on this forum. I've been saying we're trash for years now, because we are lol. We used to beat teams because they didn't have our physicality and our post play... now we're out here playing euro ball with the endless 3 pointers.

but people don't listen to me, and I frankly don't care.. usa basketball will continue to plummet

[Hey Yo]

@heinrichollbers
23 hours ago
Congrats for team USA - you lost by a single digit deficit to Lithuania, the only team that managed to achieve such high result so far.



it's now a "feat" to stay within single digits to quite a few people

that post had 56 likes on a youtube video of the highlights

but OP, probably the best post I've seen on this forum. I've been saying we're trash for years now, because we are lol. We used to beat teams because they didn't have our physicality and our post play... now we're out here playing euro ball with the endless 3 pointers.

but people don't listen to me, and I frankly don't care.. usa basketball will continue to plummet

Did team USA send their best players this year?

[paksat]

Did team USA send their best players this year?

should we need to? Didn't OP state that in different ways in some of his posts?

they were down 31-12 in the 1st quarter to a country that has less population than los angeles. It has little to do with the rest of the world catching up as much as it is the usa LETTING them catch up.

[90sgoat]

should we need to? Didn't OP state that in different ways in some of his posts?

they were down 31-12 in the 1st quarter to a country that has less population than los angeles. It has little to do with the rest of the world catching up as much as it is the usa LETTING them catch up.

Not to mention that Sabonis was not even playing.

[tpols]

should we need to? Didn't OP state that in different ways in some of his posts?

they were down 31-12 in the 1st quarter to a country that has less population than los angeles. It has little to do with the rest of the world catching up as much as it is the usa LETTING them catch up.


Yea the populations are pretty unfair. It'd be like if we had to send team California, team Texas, team NY etc.

Or if team USA had to play team Europe. Our AAU ballers would get smoked.

[Hey Yo]

should we need to? Didn't OP state that in different ways in some of his posts?

they were down 31-12 in the 1st quarter to a country that has less population than los angeles. It has little to do with the rest of the world catching up as much as it is the usa LETTING them catch up.
If we did and were seeing the same results and sloppy play at times, then you'd have a point.

Comparing the teams we've sent in 1992 and 1996 etc... to some of the recent USA teams we've sent is flat out dumb. We're deliberately sending lower level players compared to other countries.

[paksat]

If we did and were seeing the same results and sloppy play at times, then you'd have a point.

Comparing the teams we've sent in 1992 and 1996 etc... to some of the recent USA teams we've sent is flat out dumb. We're deliberately sending lower level players compared to other countries.

it shows a lack of depth at the least

most of the real stars are aging out, durant, curry, lebron... usa is in deep shit

[ILLsmak]

Steve Kerr is British Isles Protestant. None of the previous Team USA coaches have been that. They're all Eastern Europeans, Jewish, or Catholic (Chuck Daly).

God and Satan are dueling through people.

Satan didn't want Jewish head coach Larry Brown to win Olympic gold so he had the best Black players drop out of 2004 team. He had the Black players on the team not try as hard.

God doesn't want British Isles Protestant head coach to win with Team USA so he had the best Black players drop out of 2023 FIBA team. He had the Black players on the team not try as hard.

Love it.

Shout out to the original russian video game don, don miguel, ‘Niggaz vs Satan.’ Act like u know.

-Smak

[Reggie43]

Yeah the lack of decent physical and talented bigmen is basically the main culprit. Imagine sending your C team in the mid 90s and you still have Mourning, Coleman and Larry Johnson available for you because of the depth at those positions.

[Xiao Yao You]

Yeah the lack of decent physical and talented bigmen is basically the main culprit. Imagine sending your C team in the mid 90s and you still have Mourning, Coleman and Larry Johnson available for you because of the depth at those positions.

Having Coleman wasn't a good thing. Rather have any big on their current roster to that bum. Mourning would certainly be welcome

[8Ball]

should we need to? Didn't OP state that in different ways in some of his posts?

they were down 31-12 in the 1st quarter to a country that has less population than los angeles. It has little to do with the rest of the world catching up as much as it is the usa LETTING them catch up.

International talent is getting better and better.

Last 5 MVP winners were not born in USA.

Giannis / Jokic / Luka / Embiid are the 4 best players in the NBA today and are international. When Nash and Dirk won their MVPs, nobody thought they were the best players in the league.

It's a new era now.

[Reggie43]

Having Coleman wasn't a good thing. Rather have any big on their current roster to that bum. Mourning would certainly be welcome

True but its still hard to deny the level of talent that he had.

He is a worse headcase but I wonder how Prime Rodman would perform under international rules?

[Lebron23]

True but its still hard to deny the level of talent that he had.

He is a worse headcase but I wonder how Prime Rodman would perform under international rules?

Rodman is a head case. One of the main reason why the lakers kicked him out of their roster in 1999

[ralph_i_el]

Yea the populations are pretty unfair. It'd be like if we had to send team California, team Texas, team NY etc.

Or if team USA had to play team Europe. Our AAU ballers would get smoked.

Both ideas are awesome though, I'd watch Team Cali, Texas, and NY go play in the WC. We might actually see more American NBA guys participate willingly because of their chance for a bigger role, and because there is less pressure for their team to get gold every time.

I want to see a US State March-Madness style tournament. Imagine all of the guys that didn't quite make the pros coming out of the woodwork for like, Rhode Island and Alaska.

Look at this Canada team. They have plenty of NBA talent, but not so much that anyone has to take a smaller role than they do in the NBA. It's a fun dynamic.

[ILLsmak]

Both ideas are awesome though, I'd watch Team Cali, Texas, and NY go play in the WC. We might actually see more American NBA guys participate willingly because of their chance for a bigger role, and because there is less pressure for their team to get gold every time.

I want to see a US State March-Madness style tournament. Imagine all of the guys that didn't quite make the pros coming out of the woodwork for like, Rhode Island and Alaska.

Look at this Canada team. They have plenty of NBA talent, but not so much that anyone has to take a smaller role than they do in the NBA. It's a fun dynamic.

I'm saying, man, you need to get on social media and see some of those dudes. They'd even have time to practice. Pay them like 100k for a year and get them together and they would at the very least compete vs world competition. Think about that: dudes from some of our states would be going neck to neck w/ the best players in the world, even other teams that 'adopt' NBA players. I really do think we just have different breeds of athletes, esp for basketball. Legit bet team NY, Team TX, Team Cali... prol even team IL and team FL would be able to smash up on a lot of those 3rd world bummies and compete against most teams, except for the ones with multiple good NBA players. But with the right coach and scheme, they might be able to beat them with depth. If they went 12 deep with athletes, they could full court press a bunch of the teams without star level ball handling.

DUDES DON'T EVEN KNOW. Our guys are mad hungry. We got dudes who have been playing their whole life, who dominated in college but have been wasting away in Euroleague or some other country, to give them a shot to rep USA? I think people are looking at things through a really narrow lens when they talk about our guys not being way more talented.

Also booo @ Coleman bum comment. Haha. I love ya, man, and your insight, but some of the guys you say are irredeemable as bball players, I just can't agree. BIG CUZZZ.

-Smak

[3ba11]

So the Dream Team with MJ, Bird and Magic couldn't beat today's players but Germany, Lithuania and Puerto Rico can?

Let's face it - today's brand of ball, instinct and skills are inferior to prior eras..

Today's high screen roll format is a technique that the NBA mastered and produced a bunch of robotic players, but they haven't learned actual BASKETBALL, so vastly inferior talent whoops us in international play ("World" champs??? puhleaze.. World Losers is more accurate)

[sdot_thadon]

So the Dream Team with MJ, Bird and Magic couldn't beat today's players but Germany, Lithuania and Puerto Rico can?

Let's face it - today's brand of ball, instinct and skills are inferior to prior eras..

Today's high screen roll format is a technique that the NBA mastered and produced a bunch of robotic players, but they haven't learned actual BASKETBALL, so vastly inferior talent whoops us in international play ("World" champs??? puhleaze.. World Losers is more accurate)

They'd annihilate today's C team of course. They'd absolutely have their hands full with this eras A-team.

[3ba11]

They'd annihilate today's C team of course. They'd absolutely have their hands full with this eras A-team.


Our A teams have lost plenty and our C team still has vastly superior talent - only a weak brand of ball and weak skills in tougher formats causes close games and losses despite superior talent

Team USA lost with Duncan, Bron and FMVP wade in

So no... Our best gets destroyed because hoops in the USA has been on the decline for 25 years

And even our best guys have horrific fundamentals and brand like Lebron, Harden, SGA, etc .. dumb ball-dominators that never evolved out of AAU skillsets

[WhiteKyrie]

Rodman is a head case. One of the main reason why the lakers kicked him out of their roster in 1999

Yeah, but he progressively got worse with time. He wasn’t a head case at all on the Pistons.

In fact, he was one of the all-time greatest defenders and athletes when he was the size of a small forward. He could rebound and defend bigs, but also could play lightning quick wings on the perimeter. Michael Jordan faced two of the greatest defenders ever on the same team. If Joe Dumars wasn’t guarding him, it was Dennis Rodman.

Rodman went AWOL on the Spurs, to the point that, even though he was the rebound in King, nobody in the league wanted him.

Chicago signed him and under the GOAT’s leader ship he fell in line for Chicago in 1996, and 1997. But started to get ridiculously crazy his last year there with a Chicago in 1998. And it got worse every year there after.