US Men's Olympic Basketball

[TiMSport]

What an embarrassment. They got their asses handed to them by France. Durant was a joke. France went on a 16-2 run to finish the game and made the US look like amateurs. Pathetic.

I can see the US not even getting a medal in this Olympics which would be shameful.

[ASAP]

I think this just more of a sign of how the NBA completely lacks fundamentals and super team setups ruin true basketball... can anyone imagine this happening in 1992 or 1996?

If you even look at modern NBA players, they are more celebs than anything, I don't even think anyone wanted to play of the Olympics team... its honestly crazy.

[Bongoxxx]

There will only ever be 1 Dream Team.

[TiMSport]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I think this just more of a sign of how the NBA completely lacks fundamentals and super team setups ruin true basketball... can anyone imagine this happening in 1992 or 1996?

If you even look at modern NBA players, they are more celebs than anything, I don't even think anyone wanted to play of the Olympics team... its honestly crazy.

It's been that way for a while now. These guys are millionaire athletes and figure they can breeze through against opponents but the problem is, teams like France are also made up of several NBA players. Fournier destroyed them. They've also been playing together much longer but that's still not an excuse. Some of the US players are the best of the best.

On top of that, you've got Popovich coaching them. He said they'd been preparing for France for 2 years. This is what they came up with.

But to your point, yes fundamentals often times are lacking. Players are of such a high level of athleticism that it can often compensate for lesser fundamental skills. The US team still has solid players with strong fundamentals like Holiday, Booker, Durant, etc. This was a head scratcher though. Exhibition games were probably a sign of things to come.

[EDWYER]

What a joke this team is and KD. Never mention KD in same breath as Bron. LOL

[pikkagtr]

Greg Wokepovich lost it after TD left the Spurs
He has not been the same since
Started to Inject politics into the sport
That's when I stopped watching
Hard to leave after following Timobili Parkovich for 20+yrs

[hellrotm]

Have not watch one second of the olympics.

[TiMSport]

This is what I was thinking.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...ce/8086604002/

[G3min1]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I think this just more of a sign of how the NBA completely lacks fundamentals and super team setups ruin true basketball... can anyone imagine this happening in 1992 or 1996?

While I agree super teams do ruin true basketball, look who won the NBA finals. ... It wasn't a super team. What has actually ruined true basketball is all the rule changes that have gone into affect since the mid 90's. Wanna know why people can't play defense? Touch fouls and players exploiting movement rules (i.e. hardens double step away jumper, trae youngs foul on the back move)

Originally Posted by ASAP

If you even look at modern NBA players, they are more celebs than anything, I don't even think anyone wanted to play of the Olympics team... its honestly crazy.

I agree they are more celebrities than anything because they, like all celebrities nowadays, know that money rules everything. Protect your investment. They invest in their bodies so they can make more money. So if something comes up to where you can potentially get injured for a prize you don't even care about, for a event you don't care about, representing a country you don't care about, why would you do it?

• Why Risk getting hurt and missing out on a multi-million dollar contract or worse career ending?
• A lot of people don't support the Olympic committee anyways. This is also true for a lot of African American athletes throughout the years.
• They feel the NBA title is the more prestigious title.
• Considering the recent NBA BLM events, why would they want to represent a country that has shown time and time again that they are not equals.
• After the NBA finals this is when a lot players get to rest and spend time with their families. Why travel away again?

As much as the fanboi in me wants to see all of the US's best in the tourney I agree with not wanting to be there.

Its almost why you don't see the best soccer players in the Olympics. There are tournaments and trophies that have more prestige than an Olympic medal.

[shiftdnb]

People acting like you can just throw some basketball players together nowadays and you now have a great team. It's a damn team sport, of course I expect nations that are playing together for years that talent isn't that far off from NBA to beat a team of players that are just good but we just assembled and they haven't had any time to run zone defenses together or any kind of elaborate offensive setup plays.

[TheWatchGuy]

Originally Posted by G3min1

While I agree super teams do ruin true basketball, look who won the NBA finals. ... It wasn't a super team. What has actually ruined true basketball is all the rule changes that have gone into affect since the mid 90's. Wanna know why people can't play defense? Touch fouls and players exploiting movement rules (i.e. hardens double step away jumper, trae youngs foul on the back move)




I agree they are more celebrities than anything because they, like all celebrities nowadays, know that money rules everything. Protect your investment. They invest in their bodies so they can make more money. So if something comes up to where you can potentially get injured for a prize you don't even care about, for a event you don't care about, representing a country you don't care about, why would you do it?

• Why Risk getting hurt and missing out on a multi-million dollar contract or worse career ending?
• A lot of people don't support the Olympic committee anyways. This is also true for a lot of African American athletes throughout the years.
• They feel the NBA title is the more prestigious title.
• Considering the recent NBA BLM events, why would they want to represent a country that has shown time and time again that they are not equals.
• After the NBA finals this is when a lot players get to rest and spend time with their families. Why travel away again?

As much as the fanboi in me wants to see all of the US's best in the tourney I agree with not wanting to be there.

Its almost why you don't see the best soccer players in the Olympics. There are tournaments and trophies that have more prestige than an Olympic medal.

TBF, the super teams got injured.

The olympic team is being hurt by the rules in the NBA though. All the soft foul calls they get in the NBA, they arent getting in the olympics. Refs allow a little more contact in the olympics, and its throwing these guys off.

And yes, back in the day, you didnt see many NBA players on other teams, so the USA could just toss a team together and were no match for other teams. Now, most of the good olympic teams have at least 1 NBA starter and several bench players. And, as we have all seen in the NBA, bench players can get hot and be stars when given the chance.

[GERMAN M3]

In the meantime, Luka drops 48! Yes Sir!

https://www.espn.com/olympics/basket...ener-argentina

[TiMSport]

Is it kind of fucked for people that don't have Peacock? I have it but I'd rather not have to stream in order to watch the US men's team play. Kind of a weird choice as you'd think there would be plenty of viewers interested in watching them play.

[tcphoto]

The coverage of the Olympics is a cluster…who wants to click on :30, 1:00 or even 3:00 highlights? Why not offer single sport coverage or packaged highlights? I watched a few days ago and they repeated the same package three times, I may just read stories online or skip it all together when Paris comes around.

[EDWYER]

Originally Posted by tcphoto

The coverage of the Olympics is a cluster.

Sure is. Back in the day there was no stream, just a TV and you watched the damn Olympics. Complete BS.

[tcphoto]

I remember watching the Munich Games and it was what you saw is what you got. You would think that someone could track the schedules and make a streaming schedule available so we can watch what we want and limit the “coverage to resume shortly” graphic that I’m currently looking at now.

[TiMSport]

Seriously. It's the most unorganized mess of a schedule strewn across multiple channels/platforms I've ever seen for the Olympics.

[TheWatchGuy]

yeah its trash this year. this is the first olympics i havent watched more than an hour or 2 of.

[Germanauto]

I don't think I've watched a minute of the olympics this year, can't seem to figure out why.

Olympic basketball seems to really have taken a nosedive in significance. NBA players really don't give a damn about their own league as evidenced by all the team hopping and diva-behavior on social media. Why would they care to play in the Olympics and represent their country?

I get it, playing in the olympics is an injury-risk, but I really feel like players nowadays really don't value the game the way they used to. Time changes behaviors. There's more money on the line and players have a lot more say in their personal brand.

[LaVitaEBella]

Originally Posted by hellrotm

Have not watch one second of the olympics.

So as I, I'm only updated because of the news that read on social media.

[mjr24]

Originally Posted by G3min1

While I agree super teams do ruin true basketball, look who won the NBA finals. ... It wasn't a super team. What has actually ruined true basketball is all the rule changes that have gone into affect since the mid 90's. Wanna know why people can't play defense? Touch fouls and players exploiting movement rules (i.e. hardens double step away jumper, trae youngs foul on the back move)




I agree they are more celebrities than anything because they, like all celebrities nowadays, know that money rules everything. Protect your investment. They invest in their bodies so they can make more money. So if something comes up to where you can potentially get injured for a prize you don't even care about, for a event you don't care about, representing a country you don't care about, why would you do it?

• Why Risk getting hurt and missing out on a multi-million dollar contract or worse career ending?
• A lot of people don't support the Olympic committee anyways. This is also true for a lot of African American athletes throughout the years.
• They feel the NBA title is the more prestigious title.
• Considering the recent NBA BLM events, why would they want to represent a country that has shown time and time again that they are not equals.
• After the NBA finals this is when a lot players get to rest and spend time with their families. Why travel away again?

As much as the fanboi in me wants to see all of the US's best in the tourney I agree with not wanting to be there.

Its almost why you don't see the best soccer players in the Olympics. There are tournaments and trophies that have more prestige than an Olympic medal.

The Olympics came at a bad time. Most of these players just got done playing a shortened off-season and late season and will go into next year basically with another shortened off-season since they want to start the 21/22 season like normal (not to mention they were locked in a bubble last year). I just don't think a lot of guys wanted to go.....not to mention to a country where no fans are watching in person anyways. These guys give like 75% in effort in the Olympics versus what they do in the NBA, too.

[TiMSport]

To be fair, I think they've changed their tune. Absolutely NONE of them want to return home without a gold medal, otherwise it would be a huge embarrassment to them and the country. They definitely don't want that hanging over their heads so I expect they'll win it all. But I agree, timing is bad and it's a shame COVID has ruined these Olympic games.