This Columnist Thinks Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, & Shaquille O'Neal Can't "Fix USA."

[LakerRaider]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/15428325.htm


Posted on Sun, Sep. 03, 2006email thisprint thisreprint or license this


COMMENTARY


NBA should get off the world stage


By JASON WHITLOCK


The Kansas City Star


You go ahead and play the “if-so-and-so-was-on-the-team” game. I’ll deal with the truth of what’s wrong with USA Basketball in international competition.

We reward the individual. International competition rewards the team.

Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Shaquille O’Neal can’t fix our Olympic basketball team. They might stop the bleeding and get us a close victory in the gold-medal game.

But if we’re truly interested in fixing the problem — and we should be after Greece eliminated Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Coach K from the latest world championships — we need to dramatically change our approach to international competition.

We need to build and pay for a year-round team. Pay 10 guys $500,000 a year to travel the globe practicing and playing together and sprinkle in three or four NBA superstars for major international competitions.

The Dream Team era is over. Dream Teams don’t play defense. Dream Teams don’t set screens or call out screens consistently. Dream Teams pout about practice and playing time.

Dream Teams have no clue about stopping the pick-and-roll and preventing a perimeter player from getting the ball in his sweet spot. For most NBA players defense begins when the player he’s guarding touches the ball, and offense begins when the ball reaches his hands.

A group of NBA players will never again dominate international competition. The officiating is too different, in some cases too fair. You can’t take three steps without dribbling. There are no phantom superstar calls.

OK, let me write something insightful.

David Stern and NBA players should walk away now before they do any more damage to the NBA brand.

The NBA is supposed to play the best basketball in the world. Every time one of these Dream Teams gets smacked by a group of unknowns the myth of NBA supremacy takes another blow. It’s bad for business. It creates more fan animosity for a league recovering from an image crisis.

A couple of months ago, Wade was basking in the glow of being hailed as the next Michael Jordan. He’d led the Miami Heat to a come-from-behind victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA finals. He’d position himself to challenge LeBron as America’s new No. 1 shoe pitchmen.

Now what?

Jordan didn’t lose when he led a Dream Team. The Wade comparisons to Jordan seem really silly now.

In fact, Kobe Bryant enhanced his image by sitting out of this tournament. The conventional wisdom now is that this team needed Kobe, the “best player in basketball.” If Kobe joins this team later and helps it squeak to an Olympic gold medal in three years, he’ll receive most of the credit. Not Wade. Not LeBron. Not Carmelo.

If I’m an NBA agent looking out for the best interest of my client, I tell him to stay out of international competition. It’s not worth the risk. It’s not worth the risk for the whole league.

When you’re a professional league, you don’t want your customers believing there’s a superior brand of basketball being played somewhere else. If the champion of the Canadian Football League whipped the NFL champ — even playing CFL rules — that would damage the NFL.

I enjoy the NBA. But it’s reached the point now where I’d really like to see the NBA adopt international rules and an international style of officiating. The international game, with its wider lane and blind officiating, seems to promote team play. I’ve seen enough dunks and uncalled traveling violations to last a lifetime.

I’m ready for something new, something a bit less predictable.


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To reach Jason Whitlock, call (816) 234-4869 or send e-mail to jwhitlock@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com.


http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/15428325.htm

[MaxFly]

The Dream Team era is over. Dream Teams don’t play defense. Dream Teams don’t set screens or call out screens consistently. Dream Teams pout about practice and playing time.

Dream Teams have no clue about stopping the pick-and-roll and preventing a perimeter player from getting the ball in his sweet spot. For most NBA players defense begins when the player he’s guarding touches the ball, and offense begins when the ball reaches his hands.

Problem is that those are the exact sorts of things that players like Bryant and Garnett would bring to a Team USA. And T-Mac and it's over, literally... Add Shaq, and you might as well forego the Olympics and give it to us right now. Again, our main problem is experience. We attempted to put together a team, have them practice for a few weeks, and then expect them to win right away, all the while forgetting that the leaders of the team have only been in the NBA for three years. If someone really thinks that having Bryant and Garnett on the team wouldn't have changed the outcome of the Greece game (we lost by 6 points and played horrible defense) then they should stop posting now.

Thing is, adding Bryant and Garnett is only a bandaid. They aren't a fix for the overall problem. We should be able to win without them. What we really need is time; time for the players to become more experienced, time for them to become better aquinted with eachother's game, and time to learn how to play better defense.

[insidehoops]

the writer is right

- jeff, from pocket pc traveling to connecticut for peace and quiet

[kentatm]

[i was not paying attention and now am a complete fool. thats what i get for not reading.

the end

kentatm




oh yea, the writer IS right

[Diamonds]

lol. yeah, because other teams have guys who don't play pro for clubs, they just have 10 guys practising all year long and waiting every 2 years for a major tournament! lol Stop using that as an excuse. Whether it's Spain, France, Argentina and others, all the players on those teams play in pro leagues too, and don't meet every weekend to play ball. Yes, they have been playing for their teams for the last few years, but that's not the main problem.
If the US don't want to change the way they approach basketball as a whole, they won't regain their statuts anytime soon. Teach fundamentals to the kids, teach them to learn how to put their ego on the side for the good of the team, stop allowing them to travel, carry, get ridiculous calls because they're the main man etc. That's a start
Also, with all the patriotism Americans like to display in everyday life, it's shocking to see that most NBA players aren't thrilled to represent their country, and get not adrenaline rush out of it.
The ones that actually seemed to feel this way were told "thanks, but no thanks" (AI, Arenas) so that Team USA and the NBA could make sure LeBron, Wade and Melo got theirs and were given more exposure to the world, as a promotional tool for the NBA. We saw how that turned out

[jody]

by 2008, o'neal won't fix anything except his own breakfast.

[AppleNader]

the problem with basketball in the US really does start all the way at the bottom. Mistakes and awful habits are being bred at even the lowest levels of competitive ball and are multiplied exponentially instead of cured as players get older.

Sticking a JKidd or Ray Allen on the team is only a temporary fix, because you are not actually attacking the very root of the problem.

[GOBB]

Jason Whitlock is one of the most lame sportswriters out. Really dont like his opinions, thoughts on issues.

[The Mamba]

Because people bought into MJ and Nike's marketing. And Im serious. MJ spawned a generation of flash and pizzaz over substance. I swear to god. The ESPN generation.

[insidehoops]

Originally Posted by kentatm

so is that why my entire comment was deleted? b/c i disagree?



and i thought you said we are supposed to back up what we say and not just leave a pithy comment?

no idea what you are talking about

as for backing up comments cant right now, as i said im typing on phone on a bus

[GOBB]

Thing is, adding Bryant and Garnett is only a bandaid. They aren't a fix for the overall problem. We should be able to win without them. What we really need is time; time for the players to become more experienced, time for them to become better aquinted with eachother's game, and time to learn how to play better defense.

How? They have training camp, preseason, regular season 82gms long plus if they reach the postseason more games. When does this team become familiar with one another? After each offseason they practice and play exhibition games or do they sit around now and wait until the Olympics THEN start practicing for Olympics and that = experiences, playing together?

[Diamonds]

Originally Posted by The Mamba

Because people bought into MJ and Nike's marketing. And Im serious. MJ spawned a generation of flash and pizzaz over substance. I swear to god. The ESPN generation.

It's funny, but you're right. Even though Jordan was all about hard work and results coming from it, all a lot of kids remembered were the dunks and the flashy moves featured in commercials and highlight reports. They skipped the essence of what Jordan was truly about.

[MaxFly]

Originally Posted by GOBB

How? They have training camp, preseason, regular season 82gms long plus if they reach the postseason more games. When does this team become familiar with one another? After each offseason they practice and play exhibition games or do they sit around now and wait until the Olympics THEN start practicing for Olympics and that = experiences, playing together?

Well experience doesn't necessarily have to come by playing with team USA. Wade, Carmelo, Bron, Bosh, Howard, and Brand will grow more experienced as they continue to play in the NBA. The first five will hopefully become better individual defenders which can certainly translate into better team defense for Team USA, and just smarter more knowledgeable players in general... They can grow on their own... they don't have to do that within the context of playing on Team USA.

As for them becoming familiar with one another, they have another two summers to practice and play together. They will become more familiar with eachother than they are now, and sufficiently, I think, to win gold in the Olympics.

[dak121]

I read an NFL article this past summer in which Whitlock said that Joey Harrington was a better QB than Daunte Culpepper. That opinion alone is just too outlandish to respect.

The guy is basically a fat, black version of Mariotti, Bayless and all of the other ESPN clowns. He just writes in the most controversial way possible in order to attract readers.



It must be the money.

[Indian guy]

What a truly awful article. Filled with stupid generalizations and ignorance. No surprise it's from Whitlock. He's a football/college bball freak who long ago admitted he hates the NBA.