Why is the United States so much better at basketball than the rest of the world?

[QUOTE=Euroleague]Exactly. USA 99 - Lithuania 94...........

I fail to see how this thread makes sense.

Yes, the US is better than every other country of the world individually in basketball.

However, they are not "oh so very much better" as is implied here. Hell, they were losing to Spain in the gold medal game deep into the second half of the game.

Also, again, the "better than the rest of the world" thing isn't realistic or true.

USA never plays against a unified European team, or a unified world team. It's only against single individual countries that USA plays.

The people that think USA can really beat a unified European or world team are morons. So they are not actually "better than the rest of the world". That's WRONG.

They are better than any other single individual country.

And no, I don't think the 2012 Team USA Olympic team would be favored to beat a Euroleague all star team.[/QUOTE]

Euroleague all star team.:oldlol:

What kind of joke is that.:facepalm

Especially when a definite scrub is so called the best player.:facepalm

It only took NBA has beens like the twilight version of Kirilenko and Krstic. :oldlol:

To expose what a sh1tty league that is.:cheers:

Nate Huffman Euroleague MVP

Joseph Blair MVP

Anthony Parker 2 MVPs 3 Euroleague title

33 Americans has been named to All Euroleague team

Obscure players ranging from scrubs to NBA rejects.

Sh1tty league indeed

[QUOTE=SourPatchKids]Our youth system is part of it.[/QUOTE]

Just this.

[QUOTE=swi7ch]We have black people who are driven to play either basketball or football. End of story. It is scientifically proven (and common sense, really) that black people have the superior athletic genes.

Imagine if soccer in the US became as big as basketball and football... we'll be taking over that sport, too! :bowdown:[/QUOTE]
not sure about that......in soccer it is better to be small and fast, and dribbling the ball is easier with short legs....

the answer is really ncaa division 1 sports......

a full ride to college for being dominant in a sport is partially the United States dominates so many sports.

it's essentially a "farm" league that attracts the greatest american (and some international) athletes in many sports.... play against each other and develop their talent..and then the creme of the crop is selected to try out for pro teams


anybody paying attention during the olympics would have noted how many International world class athletes trained, developed and got free education at AMERICAN universities


half baked racist theories aside, ncaa scholarship system is the real answer

African Americans are genetically more athletic than ANY other race... there is simply no denying this fact! Basketball requires more athleticism than most sports, similar to football. We have the most athletic players in the world... the combination of speed, height, length, all these traits... this is why we consistently have the best basketball players. Add to the fact the we have the best basketball youth system all the way to college, and then the best pro league... it's a no brainer we have the best basketball played here in the states.

As to why African Americans in the US are athletically similar, after hearing several theories, I would have to agree that genetics played the most part. Its simply about the survival of the fittest... only the strongest people survived the brutal journey across the Atlantic. The weak starved and died off, while the strong made the journey. Even during the slave auctions, only the strong were selected and sold. With this cycle continuing, we have a group of genetically stronger people. Is it also true that Blacks have a higher testosterone level than other races? I'm not sure where I read that...

Those theories used to be skewed the other way...sportswriters used to write that whites were naturally superior to other races physically...then Jack Johnson was allowed to fight for the belt....and then it got flipped into Blacks being "naturally" better athletes.

[QUOTE=gabepizza]Well the Greek team that just lost to Nigeria had the Euroleague Final Four MVP (Spanoulis) and the player that the poster "Euroleague" claims is the best Euroleague center who was selected to all-Euroleague 1st team three years ago (Bourousis) plus 3 other members of the Euroleague champions. I know Euroleague champions are different from a Euroleague all-star team but still. [B]So since a team with two all-star Euroleague players would lose to Nigeria it is not so far fetched to think a few more wouldn't make a difference.[/B] Krstic and Teodosic? They couldn't even reach the top 7 in Eurobasket together. McCalebb? Couldn't even lead his team past Dominican Republic. Who else? Lorbek? Batiste? Please. Diamantidis? Schortsanitis? Last time they played together with Spanoulis and Bourousis (hell that's almost a Euroleague all-star team there) they finished 11th in the World Championship behind Australia and Slovenia![/QUOTE]

Knowing that a team with 2 Euroleague "All Stars" lost by a total of 1 point, while having epically choked in the last minutes (they led throughout most of the game), I'd say "few more" would make quite a bit of difference. Let's be real. Nigeria had a few surprising results and is a very improved team, but, since you want to nitpick, they still finished 10th, below freaking UK and Australia.


[QUOTE]And I never made the comparisons saying since the US beat Nigeria by 83 and Greece lost to Nigeria by 1 the US would beat Greece by 84. I was simply replying to people who were pointing to the US only beating Lithuania by 5 and Spain by 7 by saying that was a bad day by them and they still won. Yet on a good say they beat the top teams by 25+ and can destroy lessor teams by 80+. While on a bad day by the other top national teams they could lose to teams as bad as Nigeria and even Spain, the 2nd best team in the world, lost to Russia and Brazil.[/QUOTE]

It wasn't a post directed specifically to you, but I do remember a few people making this "point", although they probably tried to troll.

[QUOTE=tomtucker]not sure about that......in soccer it is better to be small and fast, and dribbling the ball is easier with short legs....[/QUOTE]


Not necessarily true. Look at C. Ronaldo and Messi. One is 6'1 and one is 5'7 yet they are very close at the skills you point out.

It's the same thing as it is with Bolt, years ago people would tell you that you have to be small to be the fastest cuz taller people are clumsy. Look at Bolt now...

[QUOTE=tomtucker][B]oh really ?[/B].


[IMG]http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2012/0812/08_12olympicmedalcount/13441320-2-eng-US/08_12OlympicMedalCount_full_600.jpg[/IMG]


.
:biggums:[/QUOTE]

Apparently you didn't bother to take a look at the breakdown of those medals. Of those 88 medals, 41 were in either badminton, pingpong, women's swimming, women's weightlifting, or diving.

[QUOTE=Psileas]Knowing that a team with 2 Euroleague "All Stars" lost by a total of 1 point, while having epically choked in the last minutes (they led throughout most of the game), I'd say "few more" would make quite a bit of difference. Let's be real. Nigeria had a few surprising results and is a very improved team, but, since you want to nitpick, they still finished 10th, below freaking UK and Australia.




It wasn't a post directed specifically to you, but I do remember a few people making this "point", although they probably tried to troll.[/QUOTE]

Okay but Greece actually lost to Nigeria. A team with a few more Euroleague all-stars would probably beat Nigeria but might still have trouble. They definitely would struggle against teams like Croatia and Angola and would not be even a top ten FIBA team. To think that they would actually pose a challenge to Team USA or even Team Spain is delusional beyond words.

But of course this would never happen because a Euroleague All-Star team would never play a national team. The closest to a Euroleague all-star team we got was team Greece with two Euroleague "all-stars" and 3 other Euroleague champions and they lost to Nigeria. I mean can you imagine a team with Lebron James, Dwight Howard and three other players who got significant playing time on the Miami Heat lose to Nigeria! lol

Survival of the fittest is such a lie.

Americans just have a better work ethic towards becoming top ballers.

[QUOTE=LBJ 23]Not necessarily true. [B]Look at C. Ronaldo and Messi. One is 6'1 [/B]and one is 5'7 yet they are very close at the skills you point out.

It's the same thing as it is with Bolt, years ago people would tell you that you have to be small to be the fastest cuz taller people are clumsy. Look at Bolt now...[/QUOTE]

i guess that

[QUOTE=gabepizza][B]Okay but Greece actually lost to Nigeria. A team with a few more Euroleague all-stars would probably beat Nigeria but might still have trouble. They definitely would struggle against teams like Croatia and Angola and would not be even a top ten FIBA team.[/B] To think that they would actually pose a challenge to Team USA or even Team Spain is delusional beyond words.

But of course this would never happen because a Euroleague All-Star team would never play a national team. The closest to a Euroleague all-star team we got was team Greece with two Euroleague "all-stars" and 3 other Euroleague champions and they lost to Nigeria. I mean can you imagine a team with Lebron James, Dwight Howard and three other players who got significant playing time on the Miami Heat lose to Nigeria! lol[/QUOTE]

Again, you're trying to make rules out of single games. As a reminder, in the Olympic Tournament, the "awesome" Nigeria, apart from getting destroyed by the US, collapsed and almost lost to the weak Tunisia, lost hands-down to Lithuania, a team definitely weaker than an All-Euroleague team (after all, most of their players are playing in the EL, and not all of them are EL "all-stars"), easily lost to Argentina and played their only good game against France (and still lost).
Look at their roster:
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria_national_basketball_team[/url]

That's 1 NBA guy, a couple of EL guys and all the others playing in leagues inferior to EL, and you're telling me an All-EL team would supposedly struggle to beat them?
Angola? [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angola_national_basketball_team[/url]
All their players except one play in the Angolan league, they have only 1 guy above 6'7 (the only one who doesn't play in Angola, LOL), I'd be surprised if they managed to even get 1-2 wins playing in the EL. Against All-EL, they'd get slaughtered.

[QUOTE=gabepizza]Euroleague all star team? You're joking right? A good match up would be a European all-star team vs Team USA but as we have seen a Euroleague all star team would have difficulty beating Nigeria! What "great" Euroleague players even made the Olympics? Only Juan Carlos Navarro and he was on a team with two NBA stars and a couple of other NBA players. I guess if you include AK-47 but he only played one year in Euroleague (winning league MVP and DPOY) before going back to being a role player in the NBA.

And yes the US is all lot better then the rest of the world. You mention their close games this summer. The point is they have gone through the past three global tournament without losing a game. Yes on a bad day they beat Lithuania by 5 and Spain by 7 but on a good day they beat France by 27, Argentina by 29 and Nigeria by 83! On a bad day Spain loses to Brazil and Greece loses to Nigeria...NIGERIA!!!!![/QUOTE]

You are just a stupid idiot.

[QUOTE=gabepizza]Well the Greek team that just lost to Nigeria had the Euroleague Final Four MVP (Spanoulis) and the player that the poster "Euroleague" claims is the best Euroleague center who was selected to all-Euroleague 1st team three years ago (Bourousis) plus 3 other members of the Euroleague champions. I know Euroleague champions are different from a Euroleague all-star team but still. So since a team with two all-star Euroleague players would lose to Nigeria it is not so far fetched to think a few more wouldn't make a difference. Krstic and Teodosic? They couldn't even reach the top 7 in Eurobasket together. McCalebb? Couldn't even lead his team past Dominican Republic. Who else? Lorbek? Batiste? Please. Diamantidis? Schortsanitis? Last time they played together with Spanoulis and Bourousis (hell that's almost a Euroleague all-star team there) they finished 11th in the World Championship behind Australia and Slovenia!

And I never made the comparisons saying since the US beat Nigeria by 83 and Greece lost to Nigeria by 1 the US would beat Greece by 84. I was simply replying to people who were pointing to the US only beating Lithuania by 5 and Spain by 7 by saying that was a bad day by them and they still won. Yet on a good say they beat the top teams by 25+ and can destroy lessor teams by 80+. While on a bad day by the other top national teams they could lose to teams as bad as Nigeria and even Spain, the 2nd best team in the world, lost to Russia and Brazil.[/QUOTE]

This individual is probably a psychopath. He is clearly not trolling, as he posts in a manner that shows he BELIEVES what he says, and that he is "analyzing" this.......

He shows not a complete ignorance (like the trolls do), but actually instead a total inability to form a single rational thought, use basic reasoning skills, or to form anything even remotely resembling a rational deduction or a logical thinking ability.

Every single personality characteristic of a psychopath is on display here.

[QUOTE=Rooster]Euroleague all star team.:oldlol:

What kind of joke is that.:facepalm

Especially when a definite scrub is so called the best player.:facepalm

It only took NBA has beens like the twilight version of Kirilenko and Krstic. :oldlol:

To expose what a sh1tty league that is.:cheers:

[B]Nate Huffman Euroleague MVP

Joseph Blair MVP[/B]

Anthony Parker 2 MVPs [B]3 Euroleague title[/B]

33 Americans has been named to All Euroleague team

Obscure players ranging from scrubs to NBA rejects.

Sh1tty league indeed[/QUOTE]

False myths created by liars like you on ISH forum. False myths that have been debunked here about 100 times already.

[QUOTE=baller562]African Americans are genetically more athletic than ANY other race... there is simply no denying this fact! Basketball requires more athleticism than most sports, similar to football. We have the most athletic players in the world... the combination of speed, height, length, all these traits... this is why we consistently have the best basketball players. Add to the fact the we have the best basketball youth system all the way to college, and then the best pro league... it's a no brainer we have the best basketball played here in the states.

As to why African Americans in the US are athletically similar, after hearing several theories, I would have to agree that genetics played the most part. Its simply about the survival of the fittest... only the strongest people survived the brutal journey across the Atlantic. The weak starved and died off, while the strong made the journey. Even during the slave auctions, only the strong were selected and sold. With this cycle continuing, we have a group of genetically stronger people. Is it also true that Blacks have a higher testosterone level than other races? I'm not sure where I read that...[/QUOTE]

So if what you claim is true, then that explains why they also have lower IQs than other races. Because only the dumbest of the very dumbest were stupid enough to fight to survive to live as a slave for the rest of their lives.

Oh wait...you are talking about "natural selection" and "survival of the fittest".....but wait a minute, that implies that the "genetically best and most superior" survived............

But, the dumbest of the dumbest of the dumbest are actually at the lowest end of the genetic scale.

[B]Oh, and of course, a DNA study done by Harvard actually found that 50% of black NBA players descend directly from a WHITE MAN in the USA.[/B]

You and everyone else here that claims this total bullshit are both racist and freaking retarded.

[QUOTE=gabepizza]Okay but Greece actually lost to Nigeria. A team with a few more Euroleague all-stars would probably beat Nigeria but might still have trouble. They definitely would struggle against teams like Croatia and Angola and would not be even a top ten FIBA team. To think that they would actually pose a challenge to Team USA or even Team Spain is delusional beyond words.

But of course this would never happen because a Euroleague All-Star team would never play a national team. The closest to a Euroleague all-star team we got was team Greece with two Euroleague "all-stars" and 3 other Euroleague champions and they lost to Nigeria. I mean can you imagine a team with Lebron James, Dwight Howard and three other players who got significant playing time on the Miami Heat lose to Nigeria! lol[/QUOTE]

Your level of stupidity is disturbing.

To put it as simple as possible: When growing up as kids, all the way from kindergarden to college, Europeans play soccer. Americans play basketball.

In addition to this, the obvious genetic differences aren't exactly working in the Europeans favor either. Combined, this makes USA the vastly superior side.

First we're a big f**king country.

Secondly we def got, on average, more athletic players (especially against Europeans).

But also, even our best ball players throughout history with average athleticism or so, are better than the best foreigner players with comparable athleticism.


Call it devotion or playing many times a week since a really young age, call it what you want but it's just how it is.

[QUOTE=dannywpt]To put it as simple as possible: When growing up as kids, all the way from kindergarden to college, Europeans play soccer. Americans play basketball.

In addition to this, the obvious genetic differences aren't exactly working in the Europeans favor either. Combined, this makes USA the vastly superior side.[/QUOTE]

Yeah

No european player comes close to a guy like Bird and that ain't certainly due to athleticism, so what you mention first also plays a huge part.

The simple answer is wealth I think. In a lot of poor countries you might not ever see a basketball net. You kind of can't play basketball without a net, so that could be a potential answer. I would think this is why you don't see too many South American players except from Brazil.

Another factor would be population. If for example 1/100 people has the body/athletecism/interest/skills to be an NBA player, and we say that 1/100 of those players actually make it through to the NBA then it would stand to reason that the US's 300 + million people would produce more NBA players than Canada's 30 million people.

The last big factor that I can think of is that in certain countrys there are more popular sports. In Canada there is hockey, in Europe there is soccer/rugby, and in some African countries they throw sticks at dead bodies.

ish is allergic to the truth, why even try to have real conversations here?

[QUOTE=Euroleague]Team USA can beat Spain, Lithuania, Russia, but it could NOT beat a unified European team, such as a Euroleague all star team.

You are an even bigger moron than the racist Afro supremacists are. Because they say the things they do out of racism. You are evidently saying them out of simply being a freaking dumb ass.[/QUOTE]

What would the Euroleague All-Star team look like?

You can definitively say that team for sure beat team USA? What if team USA had a healthy Wade, Howard, and Rose in place of Davis, Harden, and Iguadola?

[QUOTE=get these NETS]ish is allergic to the truth, why even try to have real conversations here?[/QUOTE]

What truth? I'm afraid to the people who think they own the truth. Say your "truth", and and I will give you my opinion. People who speak the "truth" do not respect other opinions normally.

[QUOTE=TaLvsCuaL]What truth? I'm afraid to the people who think they own the truth. Say your "truth", and and I will give you my opinion. People who speak the "truth" do not respect other opinions normally.[/QUOTE]


I respect people's opinions about the TOPIC of the thread

and the ncaa and D1 scholarships have much more to do with the topic than any of the other babble being written here

tried to read and follow this thread but just half assed half baked generalizations and pseudo science

[QUOTE=Euroleague]So if what you claim is true, then that explains why they also have lower IQs than other races. Because only the dumbest of the very dumbest were stupid enough to fight to survive to live as a slave for the rest of their lives.

Oh wait...you are talking about "natural selection" and "survival of the fittest".....but wait a minute, that implies that the "genetically best and most superior" survived............

But, the dumbest of the dumbest of the dumbest are actually at the lowest end of the genetic scale.

[B]Oh, and of course, a DNA study done by Harvard actually found that 50% of black NBA players descend directly from a WHITE MAN in the USA.[/B]

You and everyone else here that claims this total bullshit are both racist and freaking retarded.[/QUOTE]

What does intelligence have to do with anything I just wrote? Believe me, people will do anything to survive, even eat other humans when it all comes down to it. Yes, the genetically superior did survive the extreme hardships the slaves had to encounter... but again this is probably only one of many factors. In reality, the US is the richest country in the world.... it is then that you see people can invest in training for sports, entertainment, and leisure. Tell me Euroleague... where do all the movies you watch come from? Why are you on an american site, do you use a smart phone running android or IOS? Do you use google? Your Euro-superiority complex is really based on nothing...

[QUOTE=Sakkreth]Barely better with over 300million population than a country with under 3millions ? Wouldn't be proud...[/QUOTE]


I think you're underrating the depth of talent in the United States.




We sent our b-squad to win the FIBA Championships, and were missing key players in the last Olympics. Even a roster consisting of the 3rd or 4th best rosters we could compile (top 50ish U.S. players) would probably be the favorite in any international competition.


Spain has a great team right now, no doubt, but I question whether or not they will be able to fill the shoes of players like the Gasol Brothers when they retire... while I have little doubt the U.S. will continue to produce top level Basketball talent.


Again, no disrespect to Basketball countries like Lithuania, Argentina, and Spain... I just wanted to point out that while those teams can put together a competitive team, they certainly don't have the depth of the United States.

same reason why america sucks at soccer

[QUOTE=KG215]What would the Euroleague All-Star team look like?

You can definitively say that team for sure beat team USA? What if team USA had a healthy Wade, Howard, and Rose in place of Davis, Harden, and Iguadola?[/QUOTE]

Well, without really looking over the current Euroleague rosters or anything, and just going off the top of my head, it would look something like this:

PG Spanoulis/McCalebb/Huertas
SG Diamantidis/Teodosic
SF Printezis/Fernandez
PF Lorbek/Mirotic
C Schortsanitis/Krstic/Bourousis

You can change the positions around offensively for a lot of the players, but you could assemble a team like that by defensive assignments.

Juan Carlos Navarro would definitely be in the team over someone like Fernandez, quite easily, but he's had tons of injury problems in the last year and his career appears to be about done. But, if he can come back healthy (not known right now) then you could put him in there over Fernandez, and it would look something like this:

PG Spanoulis/McCalebb/Huertas
SG Navarro/Teodosic
SF Diamantidis/Printezis
PF Lorbek/Mirotic
C Schortsanitis/Krstic/Bourousis

Either way, a team like the Miami Heat would get beaten by such a team of top Euroleague players about 4-1 in a 7 game series - maybe even swept, and the Heat wouldn't do better than take it to 6 games, at best case scenario.

But really, they would honestly just be fighting not to get swept.

Team USA, whatever players it had, would have all it could handle against such a Euroleague selection. If you added a healthy Navarro into the mix, Team USA would definitely not be favored at all to win a 7 game series in that match up. I think it would be fairly even.

[B]As for the 2012 version of Team USA, that team isn't as good as either of the Euroleague "all star teams" listed above.[/B]

[QUOTE=baller562]What does intelligence have to do with anything I just wrote? Believe me, people will do anything to survive, even eat other humans when it all comes down to it. Yes, the genetically superior did survive the extreme hardships the slaves had to encounter... but again this is probably only one of many factors. In reality, the US is the richest country in the world.... it is then that you see people can invest in training for sports, entertainment, and leisure. Tell me Euroleague... where do all the movies you watch come from? Why are you on an american site, do you use a smart phone running android or IOS? Do you use google? Your Euro-superiority complex is really based on nothing...[/QUOTE]

1. Every race has been enslaved before, some of them for FAR LONGER than blacks.

2. Intelligent people would not have allowed themselves to be made slaves for hundreds of years. So, they were stupid people that "survived the hardship". You can't be stupid and also be "genetically superior".

3. Harvard showed through a DNA study that 50% of current American black NBA players are directly descended from white men.

4. The technology you talk about was all created by Germans, and it is now made by Chinese. Americans have nothing to do with any of it, except that a small number of them own the patents and means of production.

5. The US is not even remotely close to being the "richest country in the world".

[QUOTE=bdreason]I think you're underrating the depth of talent in the United States.




We sent our b-squad to win the FIBA Championships, and were missing key players in the last Olympics. Even a roster consisting of the 3rd or 4th best rosters we could compile (top 50ish U.S. players) would probably be the favorite in any international competition.


Spain has a great team right now, no doubt, but I question whether or not they will be able to fill the shoes of players like the Gasol Brothers when they retire... while I have little doubt the U.S. will continue to produce top level Basketball talent.


Again, no disrespect to Basketball countries like Lithuania, Argentina, and Spain... I just wanted to point out that while those teams can put together a competitive team, they certainly don't have the depth of the United States.[/QUOTE]

2010 USA "B team" would have not gotten past the quarterfinals in 2012. It would have lost to both Lithuania and Argentina in the group stage, and then would have lost to Brazil at the quarterfinals.

If you don't grasp that, then you have a severe lack of general basketball knowledge.

Yes, the USA has much more depth than any other country. But you are completely fooling yourself if you think that 2010 Team USA would have sniffed a medal in 2012.

[QUOTE=Euroleague]Well, without really looking over the current Euroleague rosters or anything, and just going off the top of my head, it would look something like this:

PG Spanoulis/McCalebb/Huertas
SG Diamantidis/Teodosic
SF Printezis/Fernandez
PF Lorbek/Mirotic
C Schortsanitis/Krstic/Bourousis

You can change the positions around offensively for a lot of the players, but you could assemble a team like that by defensive assignments.

Juan Carlos Navarro would definitely be in the team over someone like Fernandez, quite easily, but he's had tons of injury problems in the last year and
his career appears to be about done. But, if he can come back healthy (not
known right now) then you could put him in there over Fernandez, and it would
look something like this:

PG Spanoulis/McCalebb/Huertas
SG Navarro/Teodosic
SF Diamantidis/Printezis
PF Lorbek/Mirotic
C Schortsanitis/Krstic/Bourousis

Either way, a team like the Miami Heat would get beaten by such a team of top Euroleague players about 4-1 in a 7 game series - maybe even swept, and the Heat wouldn't do better than take it to 6 games, at best case scenario.

But really, they would honestly just be fighting not to get swept.

Team USA, whatever players it had, would have all it could handle against such a Euroleague selection. If you added a healthy Navarro into the mix, Team USA would definitely not be favored at all to win a 7 game series in that match up. I think it would be fairly even.

[B]As for the 2012 version of Team USA, that team isn't good as either of the Euroleague "all star teams" listed above.[/B][/QUOTE]

So you put the scrubs together and dream about beating USA.:facepalm

Nigeria would owned that Euroleague team of yours in 7 game series.:oldlol:

If there is any indication, the Eurobasket 2011 was a final between team loaded with NBA players.

I can pick a team from Europe that will sweep those scrubs you called Euroleague All Stars.:oldlol:

PG. Parker, Rubio
SG Batum, Deng
SF Kirilenko, Kleiza
PF Pau Gasol, Nowitzki Ibaka
C Marc Gasol, Pekovic, Noah

[QUOTE=Euroleague]2010 USA "B team" would have not gotten past the quarterfinals in 2012. It would have lost to both Lithuania and Argentina in the group stage, and then would have lost to Brazil at the quarterfinals.

If you don't grasp that, then you have a severe lack of general basketball knowledge.

Yes, the USA has much more depth than any other country. But you are completely fooling yourself if you think that 2010 Team USA would have sniffed a medal in 2012.[/QUOTE]

Team USA B team would have mopped the floor with any of those aforementioned teams even in a bad day and would annihilate those slow unathletic scrubs from Greece.:oldlol:

[QUOTE=bdreason]I think you're underrating the depth of talent in the United States.




We sent our b-squad to win the FIBA Championships, and were missing key players in the last Olympics. Even a roster consisting of the 3rd or 4th best rosters we could compile (top 50ish U.S. players) would probably be the favorite in any international competition.


Spain has a great team right now, no doubt, but I question whether or not they will be able to fill the shoes of players like the Gasol Brothers when they retire... while I have little doubt the U.S. will continue to produce top level Basketball talent.


Again, no disrespect to Basketball countries like Lithuania, Argentina, and Spain... I just wanted to point out that while those teams can put together a competitive team, they certainly don't have the depth of the United States.[/QUOTE]

I would like to add if the game played under NBA rules, other team would have slim chance of upsetting us. We could sent our D squad and will probably obliterate anyone. Hell I can pick players from Los Angeles area and will still beat everybody.

[QUOTE=Euroleague]Well, without really looking over the current Euroleague rosters or anything, and just going off the top of my head, it would look something like this:

PG Spanoulis/McCalebb/Huertas
SG Diamantidis/Teodosic
SF Printezis/Fernandez
PF Lorbek/Mirotic
C Schortsanitis/Krstic/Bourousis

You can change the positions around offensively for a lot of the players, but you could assemble a team like that by defensive assignments.

Juan Carlos Navarro would definitely be in the team over someone like Fernandez, quite easily, but he's had tons of injury problems in the last year and his career appears to be about done. But, if he can come back healthy (not known right now) then you could put him in there over Fernandez, and it would look something like this:

PG Spanoulis/McCalebb/Huertas
SG Navarro/Teodosic
SF Diamantidis/Printezis
PF Lorbek/Mirotic
C Schortsanitis/Krstic/Bourousis

Either way, a team like the Miami Heat would get beaten by such a team of top Euroleague players about 4-1 in a 7 game series - maybe even swept, and the Heat wouldn't do better than take it to 6 games, at best case scenario.

But really, they would honestly just be fighting not to get swept.

Team USA, whatever players it had, would have all it could handle against such a Euroleague selection. If you added a healthy Navarro into the mix, Team USA would definitely not be favored at all to win a 7 game series in that match up. I think it would be fairly even.

[B]As for the 2012 version of Team USA, that team isn't good as either of the Euroleague "all star teams" listed above.[/B][/QUOTE]

hahahah What a horrible team. In fact five of those players, including four of the five starters (Spanoulis, Diamantidis, Printezis, Schortsanitis) you put on the 1st list were on the Greek Team in 2010 and finished 11th. So five players from this Euroleague selection including the 4 players that you choose of starters couldn't even reach the quarter finals yet add Lorbek and a bench and suddenly they could beat Team USA.

See you have been exposed. How were you predicting Greece would do this summer. Probably challenge for gold and they sucked. Again five of those players on your Euroleague all-star team couldn't even reach top 10 in a global competition and 2010 was a weak field. There's a reason those players aren't in the NBA...they suck and 2010 showed it.

[QUOTE=wally_world]same reason why america sucks at soccer[/QUOTE]

The rest of the US don't give a crap about soccer. Most soccer players I know are the ones who couldn't cut it in baseball, American football, and even basketball.

It's soccer or track and field for lesser American athletes.

[QUOTE=Euroleague]1. Every race has been enslaved before, some of them for FAR LONGER than blacks.

2. Intelligent people would not have allowed themselves to be made slaves for hundreds of years. So, they were stupid people that "survived the hardship". You can't be stupid and also be "genetically superior".

3. Harvard showed through a DNA study that 50% of current American black NBA players are directly descended from white men.

4. The technology you talk about was all created by Germans, and it is now made by Chinese. Americans have nothing to do with any of it, except that a small number of them own the patents and means of production.

5. The US is not even remotely close to being the "richest country in the world".[/QUOTE]

Again what does intelligence have to do with my original claim that African Americans have superior ATHLETICISM. Basketball is somewhat cerebral, but not really... that's what the coach is for. Germans are the best engineers, I agree with that... but the greatness of America comes from the brain drain on the rest of the world as well as creating the best environment for creativity and mental stimulation. So your not giving the US any credit for the last century of advancements? Tell me, did the Germans or Chinese ever reach the moon? Who invented the internet you are using right now? Where was the a-bomb invented? Where was the light bulb invented? Who was the first to mass-produce cars? light bulbs? airplanes? computers?

[QUOTE=Euroleague]

5. The US is not even remotely close to being the "richest country in the world".[/QUOTE]

Unless you count the European Union as a country, then the United States is indeed the richest country in the world by a considerable margin.

[QUOTE=Euroleague]Well, without really looking over the current Euroleague rosters or anything, and just going off the top of my head, it would look something like this:

PG Spanoulis/McCalebb/Huertas
SG Diamantidis/Teodosic
SF Printezis/Fernandez
PF Lorbek/Mirotic
C Schortsanitis/Krstic/Bourousis

You can change the positions around offensively for a lot of the players, but you could assemble a team like that by defensive assignments.

Juan Carlos Navarro would definitely be in the team over someone like Fernandez, quite easily, but he's had tons of injury problems in the last year and his career appears to be about done. But, if he can come back healthy (not known right now) then you could put him in there over Fernandez, and it would look something like this:

[B]PG Spanoulis/McCalebb/Huertas
SG Navarro/Teodosic
SF Diamantidis/Printezis
PF Lorbek/Mirotic
C Schortsanitis/Krstic/Bourousis

Either way, a team like the Miami Heat would get beaten by such a team of top Euroleague players about 4-1 in a 7 game series - maybe even swept, and the Heat wouldn't do better than take it to 6 games, at best case scenario.

But really, they would honestly just be fighting not to get swept.[/B]

Team USA, whatever players it had, would have all it could handle against such a Euroleague selection. If you added a healthy Navarro into the mix, Team USA would definitely not be favored at all to win a 7 game series in that match up. I think it would be fairly even.

[B]As for the 2012 version of Team USA, that team isn't good as either of the Euroleague "all star teams" listed above.[/B][/QUOTE]
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