Team USA Basketballers Stinking it Up

Is that it, or can you still qualify?

Not sure. But if we looked at it as a matter of bettor’s odds, their chances are in the basement.

Oh well, after many years of following English football I’m no stranger to disappointment. Always a total bummer.

It is not just the loss that is so sad but (at least he is a Celtic) Fournier gets 28 points - he is not even a starter (other than if someone is injured) -- what the heck did Tatum get for points... it is simply sad at the lack of defense and it is a physical game at the olympics - I guess these guys can't get away with flopping and pretending they are getting fouled...they actually have to play normal physical basketball.

They play Iran next and the Czech - if they win both of these they should be going to the quarter finals with still a chance to win it all.

I agree they need to play some defense. They have been getting pushed around and are not moving their feet.

I disagree with characterizing them all as floppers or lazy.

I think they have not taken this as personally as they need to. I think if they react to these losses as a matter of pride, it would make a difference.

To be in the NBA at all, you have to overcome some serious odds to become one of an elite group of 450 players. Getting there takes a lot of hard work and belief in yourself. Talent isn’t enough. So these guys on our Olympic team do have it in them to fight. I just hope they wake up and do that.

I heard this morning that there was concern that they were not seen as showoffs so they were trying to move the ball around instead of taking their shots and the decided they just need to be themselves.

Who cares if they don't? Meh.

I'm not watching any of this stuff... just catch the highlights on the news.

Doesn't prove anything at all. Unless your name is Michael Phelps.

Even Lance Armstrong cheated.

They should have a Trans-Olympics so there's no more controversy in the women's categories. I personally do NOT think a 200 lb buff trans should be in the pool with women. Not equitable. at. all.

What does that even mean?

Did you ever play any organized sports?

Yes, in my youth. Baseball, primarily. Why?

Well, I knew exactly what engineer meant. I would think that anyone that’s played organized sports on any level would understand that stage fright can make you tighten up and play robotically- instead of just relaxing, “being yourself” and having fun - just let things flow from muscle memory type thing.

I think what I was getting at as far as flopping - not saying they are doing that in these games - what I was getting at in the NBA they allow it - here they do not. So they cannot take advantage of being all dramatic like they were fouled as in these games they are not calling fouls for every little thing.

I know what flopping is, and I hate it. The modern supposed “best player in the league”, Lebron James, has made a career of it. It’s just one of the reasons I don’t like the way the guy plays the game. And there are others who ham it up at every opportunity, to try to get a foul called. I don’t think everyone in the NBA - not even all of Team USA - does it.

I think it’s a by- product of the whole ‘soft’ trend that the league has been headed to for the last 10-15 years. The things they call flagrant fouls nowadays would have been no-calls, or maybe one free throw in the days of Magic, Bird and Jordan. The refs try to protect players from any bump or bruise, and it has really damaged the game.

I don’t think it’s all the fault of the players. They just adapted their play to the soft way that NBA games are called. But a lot of these guys came from neighborhoods where you had to be able to fight - they have it in them. They need to hurry up and start playing the game the way FIBA allows players to play - no blood, no foul.

As an aside - there was this one girl even at the young age of 6th grade, on my daughter's AAU team that used to flop all the time. The kicker - the girl couldn't hit a free throw (or at least did not much). She was so bad at it - the coach had my daughter working with her on free throws.

Flash forward another 6 years and my neighbor tells me about one of his daughter's high school basketball games against the high school where this infamous flopper went to. He starts talking about this girl who was flopping so often throughout a game - I named her and he said "yeah, that's her!" Seems she continued her pursuit of this throughout her career.

What's a flopper? Is that like a hockey player diving?

Basically over dramatic acting that makes it seem as if you have been fouled

That's the same as 'diving' then. For a while in the NHL it was prevalent among some players and I believe they actually created a penalty for it.

Well, it was probably not a good test of their mettle right now, but they crushed Iran and the Czech Republic. Tomorrow they get a real test - Spain. Spain has three NBA starters, including the veteran Gasol brothers.

This will be interesting. USA had been finding their pace. Pop has stopped making them run sets from his Spurs playbook and started letting them run and gun. And they’re showing a little pride in their defense now.

So, USA, USA!!!

Apropos of NBA stars, do you wonder about what Kevin Durant would look like if he is truly worried or concerned about something?

I don’t get it.