Great article about Team USA after their 102-94 win over Spain

Zenithian Legend

Zenithian Legend

Banned
I haven't seen many people hoping team USA loses here, but I know it's going around as the thing to do even in America

The author of this article really calls all those people out.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=whitlock/040826


The criticism of USA Basketball is borderline racist, is definitely unsophisticated and exposes a lot of super patriots as hypocrites. Allen Iverson is wearing our jersey -- our red, white and blue -- and playing the game the way we taught him to play it.

We owe Iverson support when he's representing us abroad. Save the hatred for when he's back home skipping Sixers practices and boring us to death playing a two-man game with Glenn Robinson.


Wow.
 
I totally agree with this article. I've supported this version of Team USA from the get go but, secretly, I want them to lose. Not for the sake of embarrasing the players who are there, or for embarrasing Team USA basketball, but in hopes that such a devastating event would smack some sense of patriotism back into the athletes that SHOULD have been in Athens. Physical injury is the only acceptable excuse. "I don't wanna" means dick.
 
That was a damn good article and I agree with most of it. I also have supported this team, but at the same time didn't think that they were ready for such a spectacle given their relative inexperience.

The only thing I disagree with is that the rest of the world has caught up to us. To a certain extent this is true, but the ohter countries, for the most part, are sending their best to the Olympics. We, on the other hand did not. That is not the committee's fault cause they sure tried. I just think if the team would have been made up of more seasoned veterans (who are also "superstars"), like KG, Shaq, Kidd, etc. these Olympics would have been very different up to this point.

I still expect the US to win the gold. I think losing to Luthuania was a bit of a wake up call (why losing to Puerto Rico wasn't, I don't know) and they came through against Spain.
 
I thought the underlying theme of his article to be pretty ridiculous. To not root for this Olympic team is racist? or excuse me did he qualify it by stating it is borderline racist?
 
Whitlock finally brought the reality of this situation out in the open. It's not even borderline racism--it's flat-out. Even though the team is very flawed, I would NEVER root against them. These are the players that the committee picked and chose to go. For those who don't like it, too bad--times have changed. Now Larry Brown is hated too. If they win the Gold Medal, and give a middle-fingered salute to those who don't like who they are or what they are, I would not blame them one bit.
 
It'd be a blow to the egos of every NBA player in the league and any fan of basketball in the USA if Team USA doesn't win the Gold. I think a lot of people were just afraid to root for a loser, ya know how many people openly support a team that is expected to lose (outside of Boston)?
 
[quote name='BigNick']I want the USA to win the gold. I think it would be a blow to the ego of the players that said I dont wanna go.[/quote]

I disagree. I think they'd say, "See, they didn't need me anyway."
 
[quote name='Lootr2Core']I thought the underlying theme of his article to be pretty ridiculous. To not root for this Olympic team is racist? or excuse me did he qualify it by stating it is borderline racist?[/quote]

I don't know that it is entirely a race issue, but the article made an excellent point in the comparison (albeit in jest) to the the golfers in the Ryder Cup.
 
[quote name='daphatty'][quote name='BigNick']I want the USA to win the gold. I think it would be a blow to the ego of the players that said I dont wanna go.[/quote]

I disagree. I think they'd say, "See, they didn't need me anyway."[/quote]

With their attitudes, you are probably right.
 
flat out racism? What? So because he theorizes that everyone cheers for the US witha super patriotic ferver during the Ryder cup, that means cheering against (or not blistering for) the Dream Team is Racist? LIke anyone gives a crap about the Ryder Cup (which is millionaire versus millionaire). If the Ryder Cup had a surprise team from angola or Puerto Rico that didnt have a pro (or maybe one pro) it would be totally different.

I agree that Americans are put off more by rich black athletes than rich white ones, but I just dont see the lack of support for the Dream Team as an example.
 
I have to admit that I was sorta pulling for the US to lose in the Lithuania game. I felt Lith. was a much better team and deserved the undefeated record.

The US might still win the gold, but next Olympics they better damn well send a solid balanced team so losing won't become a common occurence.

As for the article, I think there is an underlying racial divide in the US that just isn't talked about, and is most reflected in the state of the NBA.

Look at the advertising campaign they had a few years back - Frank Sinatra, Elvis and other rock stars singing on a basketball court. How many NBA players do you think actually listen to that music? Stern is desperately trying to reach out to the older white demographic which has been alienated by the current direction of the league. The criticism of Team USA is only one indirect result of this alienation.
 
So it's racist to not cheer on the USA basketball team? That's news to me, I could see where you maybe called unpatriotic but racist? I mean just cuz I live in the USA doesn't mean I have to root them on either. I mean I live in Indiana, but that doesn't mean I have to cheer for the Colts.

Also it's more like I don't care rather than rooting against them, and race has nothing to do with my not caring. 1st, they don't play a style of basketball I enjoy to watch and never seem to play as a true team, they play too much as individuals. 2nd, They aren't that interesting compared to past olympic teams. However, I certainly don't like all the people who turned it down, it should be an honor to be selected. To be honest, I think we need to go back to sending our top college players instead of NBA players, maybe then we'd see a little more appreciation for the team and the honor to play on the National squad and a little less ego-trips from NBA stars. Plus I'd think it would be a nice reward for college athletes who don't get squat while others make millions off them and incentive to actually stay in school rather than go to the NBA.
 
[quote name='Duo_Maxwell']So it's racist to not cheer on the USA basketball team? That's news to me, I could see where you maybe called unpatriotic but racist? I mean just cuz I live in the USA doesn't mean I have to root them on either. I mean I live in Indiana, but that doesn't I have to cheer for the Colts.

Also it's more like I don't care rather than rooting against them, and race has nothing to do with my not caring. 1st, they don't play a style of basketball I enjoy to watch and never seem to play as a true team, they play too much as individuals. 2nd, They aren't that interesting compared to past olympic teams. However, I certainly don't like all the people who turned it down, it should be an honor to be selected. To be honest, I think we need to go back to sending our top college players instead of NBA players, maybe then we'd see a little more appreciation for the team and the honor to play on the National squad and a little less ego-trips from NBA stars. Plus I'd think it would be a nice reward for college athletes who don't get squat while others make millions off them and incentive to actually stay in school rather than go to the NBA.[/quote]

I agreee with most of this post. I do want the US to win the Olympics, though, and I watch the games when they're on, even though I don't watch the NBA normally.
 
i am hoping team usa tanks and does not medal. it was better when it was the college kids beating everyone and playing a team game. Of course the college kids leave early for the NBA now, so my solution would be OPEN TRIALS for the team usa basketball. we would get all the best park and rec players in the country and could probably field a damn good team.

call me racist, i dont care, i will call you rediculous. the writer of that article is a total asshat
 
I don't care who wins now, I wanted the US to win going in (obviously). They went in with the idea, well were the best so we can just blow this off. That is not an attitude anyone should have when going for a very prized gold medal. Simply put all the other teams are out there giving their all to win, and the US really isn't (or at least wasn't for awhile). So if they win fine, but if they lose I'm not getting mad (which I normally would).
 
Well if you got a bunch of park/rec players that aren't used to 5 on 5 basketball, and it's very organized too seeing as how it's international rules, you probably wouldn't se much of a team game there either.
 
I would like anybody who posts to answer this--what exactly does "team game" mean? The players on Team USA have been playing at the start of their run in a way that they are accustomed to, and it takes some time to adjust to a new format and to each other's tendencies, which they really did not have. I would like to see how the players for these other countries would do if the game was played by NBA rules. Also, why is there such a desire to send to college kids again? I've got no problem with that if they do, but please keep in mind that the other countries are sending professional ballplayers who make a decent amount of money in their respective countries. Plus, a lot of our guys are of college age had they not decided to go pro early. That idea is basically moot. Maybe the problem is jealousy and envy and proof that the almighty dollar rules us all? I don't know.
 
Well the game isn't played by NBA rules, so that doesn't matter, it never will either seeing as how NBA rules are seemingly nonexistant some of the time anyhow. Also, i have faith that many of our top college players are just as good if not much better than the pros the other internaitonal teams have and we probably wouldn't see most of them turn an invitation down. And finally college-age means little to nothing. The players that skip college altogether and just played NBA ball are probably worse off playing in an international game than someone who played at the college level. There's a bigger emphasis on skill in college, just like international games, than NBA games, thus I think they'd be better suited.
 
[quote name='chickenhawk'][quote name='Lootr2Core']I thought the underlying theme of his article to be pretty ridiculous. To not root for this Olympic team is racist? or excuse me did he qualify it by stating it is borderline racist?[/quote]

I don't know that it is entirely a race issue, but the article made an excellent point in the comparison (albeit in jest) to the the golfers in the Ryder Cup.[/quote]

The only reason Whitlock brings up race is because he's an ignorant piece of shit and it's all he knows how to do.
This has nothing to do with race, and it has everything with Americans feeling betrayed (though they shouldn't) by a team that hasn't dominated the way most thought they would. It's about Americans thinking they're better than the rest of the world and being ignorant of just how good the rest of the world has become.
 
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