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Basketball: The Race for Silver

katisha

By katisha
in 2016 Olympics

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katisha

katisha

Since there's no topic for this sport that I could find, I am assuming not many people care or think it's a joke that multimillionaire NBA players are even allowed to compete (but, well, hello, golf, tennis....) but as an Australian basketball fan who would just love to see our Boomers get a medal of ANY colour or description, I'm just putting this up in case anyone else wants to talk hoops!

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MaryMitch

MaryMitch

I don't know what the coverage is like in other countries, in the US they are showing a lot of US basketball, and I really don't need to watch another basketball game on television. I want to see sports that are only on television every 4 years.  The US games aren't even exciting.

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againstthewind

againstthewind

1 minute ago, MaryMitch said:

I don't know what the coverage is like in other countries, in the US they are showing a lot of US basketball, and I really don't need to watch another basketball game on television. I want to see sports that are only on television every 4 years.  The US games aren't even exciting.

I feel the same way. They aren't even remotely competitive.

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mehtotheworld

mehtotheworld

I've seen a few games pop up in my tv listings in the last couple of days with non-US teams like Brazil, Spain, etc. (and to be fair has only played two games each for the men's and women's teams, right? 4 games really doesn't seem excessive). Here's to hoping the games will get more competitive in the later rounds. The skill of the players makes it interesting to me even against comparatively amateur teams, so I'm not really complaining about that. I just feel bad for teams that go up against them. That must be so disheartening.

5 hours ago, katisha said:

Since there's no topic for this sport that I could find, I am assuming not many people care or think it's a joke that multimillionaire NBA players are even allowed to compete (but, well, hello, golf, tennis....) but as an Australian basketball fan who would just love to see our Boomers get a medal of ANY colour or description, I'm just putting this up in case anyone else wants to talk hoops!

Someone on NBC actually brought up the idea of using college kids again instead of professionals, but I don't see how that can be done unless other countries also only go with amateurs, perhaps something like soccer where an age limit is imposed. Spain, France, etc. (even Australia!), also use NBA players, though of course the teams aren't entirely comprised of NBA players so there's no comparison. Even so, apparently the Boomers have the best chance to knock off the US. Didn't know that! 

I can't think of any other sport where teams are just blown out in the preliminary rounds, with only 3-4 teams being competitive. I know an argument against softball being in the Olympics was the US winning all the gold medals (though it's coming back for 2020). Is there any chatter at all about the same happening to basketball in the near future?

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katisha

katisha

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14 hours ago, mehtotheworld said:

I've seen a few games pop up in my tv listings in the last couple of days with non-US teams like Brazil, Spain, etc. (and to be fair has only played two games each for the men's and women's teams, right? 4 games really doesn't seem excessive). Here's to hoping the games will get more competitive in the later rounds. The skill of the players makes it interesting to me even against comparatively amateur teams, so I'm not really complaining about that. I just feel bad for teams that go up against them. That must be so disheartening.

Someone on NBC actually brought up the idea of using college kids again instead of professionals, but I don't see how that can be done unless other countries also only go with amateurs, perhaps something like soccer where an age limit is imposed. Spain, France, etc. (even Australia!), also use NBA players, though of course the teams aren't entirely comprised of NBA players so there's no comparison. Even so, apparently the Boomers have the best chance to knock off the US. Didn't know that! 

I can't think of any other sport where teams are just blown out in the preliminary rounds, with only 3-4 teams being competitive. I know an argument against softball being in the Olympics was the US winning all the gold medals (though it's coming back for 2020). Is there any chatter at all about the same happening to basketball in the near future?

Well, further to my original post, I think it's unlikely we will go anywhere near beating the Dream Team but if we do it will mainly be due to the NBA players on our team, Bogut, Mills and Dellavadova. We do have a National Basketball League in Australia, but it's small and struggles to survive season by season. Here, it's all about rugby league football, Australian rules football and cricket. Basketball is seen as "too American" and it doesn't grab attention. I find this mystifying because I would far rather watch hoops than boring footy any day. So it's a minor miracle we have ANY players in the NBA and especially a point guard like Mills. You can understand Bogut being in demand anywhere in the world at 214cm but there must be thousands of players like Mills on the fringes of NBA selection. More power to him!

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Trey

Trey

Did anyone here watch the women's Canada-Senegal game?  I know it's still just the pools but that was a heartpounder.  Canada was leading all the time I saw it but by such a slim lead I could hardly watch.

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MaryMitch

MaryMitch

Well, Australia gave the US men's team a scare - Australia was up by 5 at halftime. With less than a minute and a half to go, the US was only up by 4. The Aussies had to start fouling, and the US ended up winning by 10.

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Sew Sumi

Sew Sumi

Maybe a little less hanging out with Christ the Redeemer and Michael Phelps on off days? I follow a bunch of these guys on SM (hey, three of them are on my team), and they had a jampacked day yesterday. They're getting a bit long in the tooth for that. Interestingly, I don't remember seeing Melo in any of those pictures (he could have been, and I missed it). But yeah, KD was front and center in all of those pics around Rio yesterday, and where was he today? 

Hopefully, lesson learned. This should have been an easier game. 

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katisha

katisha

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6 hours ago, MaryMitch said:

Well, Australia gave the US men's team a scare - Australia was up by 5 at halftime. With less than a minute and a half to go, the US was only up by 4. The Aussies had to start fouling, and the US ended up winning by 10.

Just catching up with my recording. Even if the US team had an off day, so proud of the Boomers right now. To even get that close is a massive achievement. Have only been able to watch the second half but I did read there was controversy about Dellavadova playing dirty?

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roamyn

roamyn

19 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

No Steph, no "Dream Team" appellation. Sorry. 

Seriously?  Steph?  Ha!

He has never dominated a league like Michael, LeBron, Magic & Bird, Walter, Kobe or dozens of others.

That said - the US SUCKED last night.  If it weren't for Melo & Kyrie they would've lost.

I was kinda rooting for the Aussies because of my love for Delly.  But my love for Kyrie tears me in too.

If KD & DG & KT are what we'll see from GSW next season, the Oracle's gonna be plenty empty.  Bring on that rubber match! 

(I hate that green court too)

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ElDosEquis

ElDosEquis

(edited)

Don't give the US team the medal just yet. Check out what happened in '72 at the end of the gold medal game.

I saw it live and I'll never forget the look on the head coach's face (Hank Iba) as he ran around trying to figure out what happened.  It's a sports story for the ages.

ESPN did a '30 for 30' piece on the game and the circumstances around the event.

Edited by ElDosEquis
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isalicat

isalicat

The coaching of this version of the U.S. team is terrible - I realize they have had no practices, but there is way too much standing around waiting for someone else to shoot, no one is running proper screens, all the guys seem to be playing contrary to their usual, effective roles on the teams they come from - its a mess!

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greyhorse

greyhorse

On August 9, 2016 at 8:31 AM, MaryMitch said:

I don't know what the coverage is like in other countries, in the US they are showing a lot of US basketball, and I really don't need to watch another basketball game on television. I want to see sports that are only on television every 4 years.  The US games aren't even exciting.

Yeah, I'm just not interested.  I saw it was on one of the NBC channels today, flipped over, saw a French-representing Boris Diaw reverse layup and a Klay Thompson 3, and then flipped the channel.   Apparently it was a competitive game according to the final score, but I couldn't care less.

The original Dream Team was so exciting.  Jordan. Bird. Magic.  That was must see TV and a true All-star team that you cared about watching.  This current version?  Especially this year with no Lebron or Steph?  Pfffft.

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katisha

katisha

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(edited)
13 hours ago, roamyn said:

Annnddd the US men barely won again today against France , of all countries.  Another 3 pt win.

If the team are out to lunch to that extent, surely it gives a more motivated, invested team (cough*Boomers*cough) a real chance at beating them.  The NBA is surely the best competition in the world so you'd think even a fourth-rate team of even only some of its stars should be able to wipe the floor with just about any other country.  Hard to believe they only beat France by 3.

Edited by katisha
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roamyn

roamyn

6 hours ago, katisha said:

If the team are out to lunch to that extent, surely it gives a more motivated, invested team (cough*Boomers*cough) a real chance at beating them.  The NBA is surely the best competition in the world so you'd think even a fourth-rate team of even only some of its stars should be able to wipe the floor 

Australia has one member of the last 3 NBA champions:  Dellavadova (2016 Cavs), Bogut (2015 Warriors), and Mills (2014 Spurs), so they should medal.

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katisha

katisha

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On 16/08/2016 at 5:16 AM, roamyn said:

Australia has one member of the last 3 NBA champions:  Dellavadova (2016 Cavs), Bogut (2015 Warriors), and Mills (2014 Spurs), so they should medal.

From your mouth to God's ear! :)

Meanwhile, still cannot work out what happened with the Opals. That was a team which should have medalled by rights. They must have caught the team suckitude virus which is apparently spreading like wildfire amongst the Australian camp.

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biakbiak

biakbiak

9 minutes ago, xaxat said:

DeAndre, it's great that you are truly enjoying your Olympic experience, but no, a Olympic gold medal is not better than an NBA title.

Well to be fair he doesn't know what winning an NBA title is like!

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roamyn

roamyn

I'm bummed we're not playing Aussies for the gold. 

I would've loved to see Bogut & Klay and Delly & Kyrie play against each other again.

But this way I can root for both teams to win - tho it would be okay to see another country win the BB gold.

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katisha

katisha

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45 minutes ago, roamyn said:

I'm bummed we're not playing Aussies for the gold. 

I would've loved to see Bogut & Klay and Delly & Kyrie play against each other again.

But this way I can root for both teams to win - tho it would be okay to see another country win the BB gold.

If Serbia play like they played today they are going to be tough to beat even for the USA, in my humble opinion.  We beat them in the pool game by about 15 so clearly they held quite a lot back for the medal rounds and had us beaten in the first quarter.  It was a total thrashing and I don't think anybody expected it to be that much of a walkover for them.  And yes, the Boomers made a gazillion errors that didn't need to be made and nobody's shots were dropping, but it was more how well Serbia played than how badly WE played, if that makes sense.

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AimingforYoko

AimingforYoko

Beautiful display by the women today, the gap is as large between the U.S. and the rest of the world as it is between UConn and the rest of Division I. Geno got a little choked up, I guess it was coaching all those former Huskies.

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FrenchCheese

FrenchCheese

21 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Beautiful display by the women today, the gap is as large between the U.S. and the rest of the world as it is between UConn and the rest of Division I. Geno got a little choked up, I guess it was coaching all those former Huskies.

The gap in size against France in semi finale surprised me. It looks like you were playing against little girls. I think everyone one of our player was at elast 10cm smaller thant their direct opponent. And in addition to being taller US women had also better personal skills. Very big gap indeed.

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Elsydeon

Elsydeon

So one interesting fact I found out today- That infamous 1972 gold medal game with the time shenanigans that the commentators re-played footage of? Apparently the timekeeper for that game was disgraced FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Which would explain a lot.

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biakbiak

biakbiak

(edited)
2 hours ago, Elsydeon said:

So one interesting fact I found out today- That infamous 1972 gold medal game with the time shenanigans that the commentators re-played footage of? Apparently the timekeeper for that game was disgraced FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Which would explain a lot.

Does John Oliver know about this?!?

Edited by biakbiak
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redpencil

redpencil

Man, Carmelo's interview after the game was awesome. Say what you want about him as an NBA player, but I really admire his commitment and dedication to Team USA over the years. He didn't have to keep going back. He could have decided he did his duty once or twice and been done (especially after the 2004 debacle). But you can tell it really, truly meant something to him. It was always about the Olympics and dedication to Team USA and representing his country; it was never about himself. I think he goes down as an all-time Olympic great.

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rippleintime17

rippleintime17

I didn't get to catch many games but I did watch the final yesterday and man, DeAndre Jordan was just having so much fun. I can see why Clippers fans might be annoyed by his comment but I don't completely doubt that it's genuine. Of course, whenever I see him, I also think of "my rings were stolen!" "you ain't go no rings!!!" But his energy and excitement was refreshing, especially amongst a group of seasoned pros, many of whom are used to winning and being the best. 

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KenyaJ

KenyaJ

12 hours ago, redpencil said:

Man, Carmelo's interview after the game was awesome. Say what you want about him as an NBA player, but I really admire his commitment and dedication to Team USA over the years. He didn't have to keep going back. He could have decided he did his duty once or twice and been done (especially after the 2004 debacle). But you can tell it really, truly meant something to him. It was always about the Olympics and dedication to Team USA and representing his country; it was never about himself. I think he goes down as an all-time Olympic great.

It was amazing to see how much it meant to him to play for Team USA. A lot of the players from the last three Olympic teams have expressed similar sentiments, but I loved how emotional Melo was about it.

And as a Duke grad, I hope Coach K called some recruits after the game. LOL.

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