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Originally Posted by powerclown
Larry Brown said it all:
"We've got athletes. They've got basketball players. They play as a team and we don't."
My theory on this is that they sent over this 3rd rate squad so they wouldn't show up the rest of the world so badly. You have to wonder what kind of damage a team of, say, Bibby-Billups-Shaq-Garnett-McGrady would have done.
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Shaq would have the same problem with the officials that they're having now: driving the lane is apprently illegal in international BBall. It's a shame for America to not win gold in a sport that it originated, same with baseball. I haven't seen a single stat for USA baseball this year, did we not qualify? After winning gold in Sydney?
The real question is has the NBA deteriorated due to weak officiating (the scowls and dirty looks from the players just doesn't have the same effect on international officials), showboating, bad attitudes, and cradle robbing (high schoolers going directly to the NBA is common now)? I agree that this years Pistons would have walked away with gold easily but for the same reasons they beat the Lakers--passing, teamwork, etc.--NOT because the international teams are so weak.
I'd like to see an NBA franchise transplant an entire international team into their roster and watch them play the full 84 games. I'm fairly sure, even with the bigger 3pt. arc, that they'd make the playoffs, especially in the fundamentals-free Western conference.