Cousins should never play for usa ever again

[Eddy Munny]

Probably started to hear the whispers,I was reading a lot of articles in the last number of days,writers were questioning whether they should go back to using College players again.

Link?

[packerd_00]

I still have to give big props to Serbia. I think that country is a little bigger than Houston and they seem to be competing and winning in a lot of sports.

Their pretty good at Volleyball I know that.

[packerd_00]

Link?

http://hoopshabit.com/2016/08/08/usa-basketball-time-send-college-players/

[Mac4Lyfe]

Their pretty good at Volleyball I know that.

water polo, canoe, wrestling, track, Serbia seemed all over the place.

[packerd_00]

water polo, canoe, wrestling, track, Serbia seemed all over the place.

Yeah I don't know how much they invest in their Olympic program,given the country isn't the wealthiest.

[packerd_00]

Shit mate,I think your Serbia bet might be toast,their getting a dream team type pounding know.

[Eddy Munny]

http://hoopshabit.com/2016/08/08/usa...llege-players/

This article is hogwash. The college ranks are watered-down today more than ever before, thanks to early defections to the NBA. So there's not only a dearth of top-shelf talent, but the chemistry and continuity of Team USA would be dealt a devastating blow as well.

Teenagers versus grown-ass men is a mismatch. If the U.S. was to go back to amateurs, they'd never see another medal in basketball again.

[packerd_00]

This article is hogwash. The college ranks are watered-down today more than ever before, thanks to early defections to the NBA. So there's not only a dearth of top-shelf talent, but the chemistry and continuity of Team USA would be dealt a devastating blow as well.

Teenagers versus grown-ass men is a mismatch. If the U.S. was to ever go back to amateurs, they'd never see another medal in basketball.

I knew youd say,you thought I was lying. Obviously not everyone agrees with you,the States invest a ton in the amateur program and youll start to see the results,play everyone else's amateurs up against the Americans,see what happens.

[Eddy Munny]

I knew youd say,you thought I was lying. Obviously not everyone agrees with you.

I didn't think you were lying, I just wanted to read the article for myself to suss out the author's angle. Having read it, I think it's total horse poo... He's probably an undercover Australian or something, trying to pave the way for Aussie gold.

Seriously though, going back to collegians, assuming other nations continued with current protocol, would be an absolute train wreck for United States basketball. They would never sniff another medal. I'm not sure how that's even arguable.

[Mac4Lyfe]

Shit mate,I think your Serbia bet might be toast,their getting a dream team type pounding know.

That bet was dead with a quickness.

Fortunately, I'll make it up and then some with US 2nd half. Wish I would have bet more. Im still down for the week after Diaz choked.

[jizay]

Yeah but like I was saying yesterday,this foreign player phenomenon isn't new,we had stud players in the former Yugoslavia back in the early 90's with Kukoc and Petrovic,guys that could go up against the best in the NBA and compete on their level,those guys were never intimidated.

That's 2 guys. Nobody have 5 starters who were all NBA players. Nobody had 11 current and former NBA players on the roster. The international teams the dream team faced in 92 were utter garbage. They never saw a team close to the level of Spain.

US is still comfortably ahead of everyone, but they really do need to take these games seriously. Scout teams out, play D, etc. It's no coincidence that they exploded today with "second unit" guys on the court - Lowry, George, Butler. They are very athletic and defensive-minded and it disrupts everything the international teams want to do. Trot Melo, Cousins, and Irving out there at the same time, and you're gonna lose one eventually.

[lakerboy]

No pro should be at the olympics at any sport.

[boeing power]

No pro should be at the olympics at any sport.

Agree, they're only there for ratings and money for the corrupt iOC.

[packerd_00]

I didn't think you were lying, I just wanted to read the article for myself to suss out the author's angle. Having read it, I think it's total horse poo... He's probably an undercover Australian or something, trying to pave the way for Aussie gold.

Seriously though, going back to collegians, assuming other nations continued with current protocol, would be an absolute train wreck for United States basketball. They would never sniff another medal. I'm not sure how that's even arguable.

The States aren't getting rid of their NBA players unless everyone else gets rid of their Pro's which is fair enough.

[packerd_00]

That bet was dead with a quickness.

Fortunately, I'll make it up and then some with US 2nd half. Wish I would have bet more. Im still down for the week after Diaz choked.

Follow Da Manster guys killing it

[Mac4Lyfe]

No pro should be at the olympics at any sport.

LB, that ship has sailed decades ago. Usain Bolt will make about $50 million this year, more than most of the guys on the court today. Gabby Douglas made $10 million in 2012 alone. Every track meet in Europe gives out millions to attract the top stars. People have to make a living. You don't believe in capitalism?

[Mac4Lyfe]

Atleast your up mate.

Several accounts locked and loaded for football

[Ghenghis Kahn]

eddy, gap hasn't narrowed. it's all effort. as you can see by today's game. you can keep on trying to convince yourself but the talent and skill levels haven't really changed over the last 24 years. it's more of how much effort these nba players put out.

[Mac4Lyfe]

Wow, Singapore pays over $740,000 for a gold medal, while the US pays just $25k taxed.


2016 Olympic Medal BonusesCountry Gold Silver Bronze
Singapore 741,000 USD 371,000 USD 185,000 USD
Indonesia 381,000 USD 152,000 USD 76,000 USD
Kazakhstan 250,000 USD 150,000 USD 75,000 USD
Azerbaijan 248,000 USD 124,000 USD 62,000 USD
Italy 166,000 USD 83,000 USD 55,000 USD
Hungary 125,000 USD 89,000 USD 71,000 USD
Russia 61,000 USD 38,000 USD 26,000 USD
France 55,000 USD 22,000 USD 14,000 USD
South Africa 37,000 USD 19,000 USD 7,000 USD
USA 25,000 USD 15,000 USD 10,000 USD
Germany 22,000 USD 17,000 USD 11,000 USD
Canada 15,000 USD 11,000 USD 8,000 USD
Based on 08/09/2016 exchange rates and rounded to nearest 1,000

[lakerboy]

Mac did capitalism begin in 1992?

[Ghenghis Kahn]

Well two things about that illustrate my point... if in 1992, the United States sent it's "B-team" to Barcelona (not scrubs mind you, all-star talent to be sure, but not quite first-team NBA) I think the U.S. still runs everyone out of the gym to the tune of 30+ point victories.

Secondly, the team we sent to the 2012 London games were indeed the cream of the crop... players like Lebron, Kobe, Durant, Westbrook, Carmelo, Love, Chris Paul, Anthony Davis etc. Though they largely dominated the competition in those games, you still had a few close games that simply did not happen in 1992. Tune-ups against Brazil and Argentina were tightly contested, as were a 5-point victory over Lithuania in the preliminary round, and a 7-point victory over Spain in the gold medal game.

Facts are facts. I thought I was just stating the obvious when I said the gap has narrowed (that doesn't mean closed, just narrowed to some degree). I didn't mean to incite a full-on debate, but apparently I ruffled the feathers of a few homers in here who insist that the rest of the globe is not allowed to improve at a game that was born in the States. Smh, it's like arguing with a bunch of religious zealots about whether or not wearing jeans is a sin.

yeah i think we misunderstood each other, i just jumped into you and packerd's convo and i think you guys were debating about no nba players should be in the olympics. i just think the nba players that go to olympics nowadays don't give 100% since they don't want to over exert themselves.

i'm just saying, non american players weren't horseshit back in the 90's, that is all, nothing more nothing less. heck i think non american players that played in the nba back in the days were actually better than today's non americans. but like i said before, if the college kids go to these international tourney's they'd get killed. isn't that the reason why the dream teams were formed?

[Mac4Lyfe]

The NBA was totally against sending players to the Olympics. Stern finally gave in and said they'd support it if FIBA insisted. USA and Russia both voted no but every other country wanted to play the best. Stern never could imagine how this impacted the game taking it into the stratosphere but it made basketball one of the most popular sports on the planet.

[Mac4Lyfe]

Mac did capitalism begin in 1992?

I think it was around 1976 when they allowed amateurs to make money.

[IBetYou]

Basketball is too big for the Olympics. Barcelona did it's job. Next step is to make the Basketball WC as big as the Football (soccer) WC -to do that you need to remove the Olympics from the equation so that it's a 4-year cycle. Let the kids play ...for all countries.

[Mac4Lyfe]

Basketball is too big for the Olympics. Barcelona did it's job. Next step is to make the Basketball WC as big as the Football (soccer) WC -to do that you need to remove the Olympics from the equation so that it's a 4-year cycle. Let the kids play ...for all countries.

How would you do it? Just use HS or college kids? US would be a prohibitive fave at any level. I don't think it could get as big as soccer?

[packerd_00]

That's 2 guys. Nobody have 5 starters who were all NBA players. Nobody had 11 current and former NBA players on the roster. The international teams the dream team faced in 92 were utter garbage. They never saw a team close to the level of Spain.

US is still comfortably ahead of everyone, but they really do need to take these games seriously. Scout teams out, play D, etc. It's no coincidence that they exploded today with "second unit" guys on the court - Lowry, George, Butler. They are very athletic and defensive-minded and it disrupts everything the international teams want to do. Trot Melo, Cousins, and Irving out there at the same time, and you're gonna lose one eventually.

It wasn't just two guys actually im just giving you an example of the great talent that was already in Europe decades ago. Like Khan pointed the talent was better then than it is know in a lot of cases. Find me the next Peja Stojakovic in this current generation,or the next Dirk Nowitzki.

Today just reinforced my point,the gap hasn't shrunk much at all,their's always been NBA talent overseas that was never inquestion.

[IBetYou]

How would you do it? Just use HS or college kids? US would be a prohibitive fave at any level. I don't think it could get as big as soccer?

Under 21s I was thinking (in Europe they turn pro at an early age). I agree USA would remain a heavy fav. It would be another window for scouts/ bettors to evaluate the next generation from various parts of the world. Olympics should be for amateurs.

[IBetYou]

Come to think of it an under 21 USA squad with d.booker leading the charge would have been interesting in Rio vs these grown up teams.

[Eddy Munny]

eddy, gap hasn't narrowed. it's all effort. as you can see by today's game. you can keep on trying to convince yourself but the talent and skill levels haven't really changed over the last 24 years. it's more of how much effort these nba players put out.

Agree to disagree. It's easy to point to one game and make a case for anything. On the whole though, it's obvious the world has taken a step forward in the game, especially a few of the really good teams.

It's also a bit of a cop-out to attribute every close game to a lack of effort. If anything, it only demonstrates what I've been saying about the narrowing of the gap, because let's be honest, the original Dream Team could have been up all night partying with Charlie Sheen and still won by five touchdowns the following day.

[Ghenghis Kahn]

Agree to disagree. It's easy to point to one game and make a case for anything. On the whole though, it's obvious the world has taken a step forward in the game, especially a few of the really good teams.

It's also a bit of a cop-out to attribute every close game to a lack of effort. If anything, it only demonstrates what I've been saying about the narrowing of the gap, because let's be honest, the original Dream Team could have been up all night partying with Charlie Sheen and still won by five touchdowns the following day.

how many hall of famers on 1992 team? how many hall of famers on 2016 team?

[Eddy Munny]

how many hall of famers on 1992 team? how many hall of famers on 2016 team?

I'm looking at the big picture, not just one game or even one year. The loaded teams had their close shaves as well.

What's so blasphemous about saying the world has improved? The gap has narrowed, to what degree I never even specified. That is up for debate I suppose, but the idea that the gap has narrowed at all, really isn't imo. The rest of the world was on a different part of the learning curve in 1992, I don't think they just hit a plateau and all development ceased at that point.

Remember, before '92 our collegians were routinely competing for gold against other nations' equivalent of professional players. Doing that nowadays is unthinkable. How can those two dynamics exist absent some kind of gap closure?

[Ghenghis Kahn]

you say collegians were routinely competing for gold but what was the reason for the formation of the dream team? wasn't it because the college kids lost to the international players?

another note, only reason why i say the college kids don't really have a chance this day and age is because all the good players leave after their freshman year. if they were to stay 4 years like they did back in the days, i'm pretty sure they can still compete internationally.

[IBetYou]

They'd compete, they just wouldn't win!

Take for instance, in a good year, an 18yo Anthony Davis vs Pau Gasol. I'm betting Gasol easy. His veteran teammates too. Would have to be 21 & under for them to be favs.

The goal is always to be favs & win, just not -1,000 & win.

[Eddy Munny]

you say collegians were routinely competing for gold but what was the reason for the formation of the dream team? wasn't it because the college kids lost to the international players?

another note, only reason why i say the college kids don't really have a chance this day and age is because all the good players leave after their freshman year. if they were to stay 4 years like they did back in the days, i'm pretty sure they can still compete internationally.

No, it wasn't... Are you kidding me? The United States has always been dominant in international basketball, long before the formation of the Dream Team. The rule change was instituted basically to pique interest in the games and ultimately rake in more revenue. You think the committee would bend the rules at the behest of the United States just so they (the U.S.) could become better?

And no, even if today's college kids hung around for 3-4 years they'd still be overmatched. Seriously, if the current teams are winning squeakers, do you really believe the precipitous talent drop to amateurs would yield such negligible change in the outcomes of the games as to keep the United States firmly atop the basketball echelon?

The current caliber of players we send are NBA all-stars. College All-Americans don't necessarily equate to NBA all-stars. Hell, they don't even necessarily equate to NBA players, period. You're basically saying the equivalent of 12 Christian Laettners would just waltz into the Olympics and clean up the gold like clockwork. That's preposterous thinking in this day and age.

[Ghenghis Kahn]

lol eddy, just let it go pal.

"Before the 1992 games, only amateur players were allowed to play on the men's Olympic basketball team. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, the United States national basketball team, made up of college stars, finished in third place.^[6] The defeat increased calls for professionals to be allowed to play in the Olympics. Borislav Stanković of FIBA advocated for this for years.^[7]"