True it was a shitty performance.

But we got hosed a good deal by the officials too in the second half.

examples: The offensive foul on Jason Kidd - not even close. Clearly a block but they called a charge.

The foul on McDyess on the 3-pointer at the end of the game - the shot was well into the air.

The touch foul that fouled Alonzo Mourning out.

Possibly the worst = Payton stripped a Lithuanian guard that wouild ahev led to a layup - instead a bullshit foul call created a 4 point turnaround. No one is better at stripping the ball from opposing gurads than Payton. It was clean.

There are others I saw that were fucked up too, which I can't remember.

You as a former ballplayer know the frusatration that comes with a series of bad calls. NBA guys are no different.

If those are caled NBA style, it's a 15 or 20 pointer and no one says a word.

Excuses? Maybe. But legitimate ones.

Also worth mentioning that Shaq, Kobe and Tim Duncan are not there. The phrsae "dream team" doesn't really apply the way it did with Jordan, Magic and Bird.

peace kb

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"pain is something the average person spends a lifetime trying to avoid"
"pain is something that we elite seek out and thrive on"

"modus operandi"

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Weights before dates

Bros before Hos

Gotta give it up to the women though. They kicked Australia's butt and the Aussie women were kicking everyone else's butt until that game.

Matt-I hear what your screaming but thats not going to cut it, the NBA should be able to send the 12 worst players and have their way with whomever, it was a pathetic display regardless of the calls with that talent they have the score should of been a constant 15-20 point lead after the first 12 minutes, what a bunch of assholes, most were playing at 80% it looked like and their egos were playing the other 20%, disgraceful performance, OK I will shut up now. Peace

The first Dream Team was unlike any that will ever be assembled again. Jordan, Magic, Bird all on the same team simply cannot be duplicated. These men were truly legends.

Shaquille O'Neal is the most dominant player in the league today. Whether you like him or not (most don't) he simply destroys everybody.

Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter are young and super talented - they should both become superstars in the next decade.

Tim Duncan deserves to be mentioned here too - his upside is limitless.

But even if these guys all live up to all their potential, they simply will not be able to match the charisma of that first team.

There are no players in the league these days who will change the game the way those 3 legends did. Those players were the highest manifestation of the game, and no matter how good Vince or Kobe or Duncan gets, no matter how many records Shaq breaks, they will never be like that team in 1992.

And this ain't a dream team. Jordan, Magic, Bird, Malone, Ewing, Stockton. Now that was a fucking dream team!

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my wrestling/video game/bb zone

1. Zone defense. NBA players haven't seen this since college. Simply put, they have forgottne how to attack it. When was the last time ZO faced a zone. Garnett never even played in college - he doesn't know from zone.

2. Questionable officiating. In the first game against France, France shot 38 free throws in 40 minutes, the US 15.

3. Most importantly, these teams play together far longer in preparation than the US does. We don't put much preparation into it - instead it becomes a slam dunk contest for Vince Carter and Garnett and crew.

If we sent an NBA TEAM over, their cohesiveness would make a huge difference and we'd win all the games by 30. But these "thrown together" squads are disjointed, and it shows.

Matt

"What this Olympics demonstrated is that the competitive level of international basketball has improved -- more so than casual observers of the game understood," NBA commissioner David Stern said.

The U.S. team scored 95.0 points per game and won by an average margin of 21.6 points -- a number that was inflated by a 47-point win over China and a 46-point victory over New Zealand.

All the other games were closer than anything the Americans had seen at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics -- with the exception of the 1996 gold medal game against Yugoslavia.

The Americans went more than nine minutes without a field goal in the first half as the officials were busy calling 36 fouls -- 18 on each team.

The tedious pace silenced the sellout crowd and made the game seem somewhat boring, although that was likely a welcome relief for the Americans after having to fight for their Olympic lives in their previous game.

I believe it said 18 fouls on each team so can you please stop crying now!

85-75 over guys who eat crossiants for breakfast...congrats boys!