USA in trouble...

[SkinsRaj28]

I understand that it's one game and that anything can happen...but what does that have to do with it being LUCK? In one game, Greece completely outplayed the USA.

I can absolutely agree to disagree on many things...but I cannot and will not agree to disagree that Greece won because they were lucky. They weren't. They outplayed the USA. That was my point from the beginning and throughout this thread. So sorry big guy, you are "SO WRONG." No luck involved the other day. Just like there was no luck involved when Mason beat UConn. On that given day, both teams outplayed their counterparts.

Obviously you just don't understand this is basketball and in one game anything can happen.

Your original point was that Greece was lucky to win. You then proceeded to contradict yourself in every subsequent post by making this one, which I agree with. In this one game, Greece outplayed the USA. Thanks for making my point for me, I appreciate it.

I don't go after you; I go after bullshit. Which is exactly what not giving Greece credit for their W was. Bullshit.

GL this football season.

 

[tyrone]

What in the hell is going on here? Now even, what I thought to be smart people, like Frog are overreacting and completeing being off their rocker. Unbelievable. In ONE game of basketball anything can happen. I suppose George Mason is better than Uconn too. What a bunch of dumbshits. This is so ludicrous it is not even worth discussing. And even dumber yet, are those folks that cannot even dream about figuring out that the USA doesnt even come close to having their best team assembled. To say Greece is better than the USA in basketball is just completely riduclous. Get a clue. You might want to quit this argument Froggie IMMEDIATELY before more people read this complete and utter nonsense. Posts like these will quickly lose ones credibility by anyone with a clue.

hehe what up royal you hit it on the toenail partner with greece losin to spain i think you and gyne was proven correct.

 

[Vancouverfan]

I would completely agree that U.S. has the best basketball athletes in the world, but no way that means they are the best basketball team or country in the world and would beat Greece 9 out of 10 times. Greece just finished winning the European championships beating France in the semi's then dominating Germany in the finals, they weren't exactly a pushover team that won because they had the game of their lives. In the pregame warmup while the U.S. was putting on a slam dunk contest for the fans in their end, at the same time Greece sat there practicing free throws and jumps shots on their half, U.S. then goes on to shoot 59% from the line and loses, what does that tell you. Greece played with great team chemistry (certainly aided by playing together in the Euro championships) and gave the Americans a schooling on solid fundamental basketball, the win was fully deserved. Maybe with some more preparation time the US would of won this tourney, but we'll never know. The only way we can tell right now which country is the best in the world is through the olympics and world championships, and since the last U.S. win in 2000, the rest of the world has started to catch up. The better athletes doesn't always equal the best team. I think the next international competition in 2008 olympics will be a great one as their are about 4 teams with a good shot at the gold.

 

[CHRISG612]

I would completely agree that U.S. has the best basketball athletes in the world, but no way that means they are the best basketball team or country in the world and would beat Greece 9 out of 10 times. Greece just finished winning the European championships beating France in the semi's then dominating Germany in the finals, they weren't exactly a pushover team that won because they had the game of their lives. In the pregame warmup while the U.S. was putting on a slam dunk contest for the fans in their end, at the same time Greece sat there practicing free throws and jumps shots on their half, U.S. then goes on to shoot 59% from the line and loses, what does that tell you. Greece played with great team chemistry (certainly aided by playing together in the Euro championships) and gave the Americans a schooling on solid fundamental basketball, the win was fully deserved. Maybe with some more preparation time the US would of won this tourney, but we'll never know. The only way we can tell right now which country is the best in the world is through the olympics and world championships, and since the last U.S. win in 2000, the rest of the world has started to catch up. The better athletes doesn't always equal the best team. I think the next international competition in 2008 olympics will be a great one as their are about 4 teams with a good shot at the gold.

great post

 

[JackDee]

I ll second that, skinsraj made some very good points too, it's all very obvious to anyone who's not so emotionally attached to their team, and it's fruitless to argue with people who have the mentality (gamblers mentality) to blame luck on their losses and claim competence in their wins, no one can argue with that.

 

[gynecologist]

I ll second that, skinsraj made some very good points too, it's all very obvious to anyone who's not so emotionally attached to their team, and it's fruitless to argue with people who have the mentality (gamblers mentality) to blame luck on their losses and claim competence in their wins, no one can argue with that.

Interesting that you come in here after so long. I never wagered on the USA so your arguement is invalid. I did bet something on Spain when they played Greece cause I knew alot of people like yourself and others put too much into that obviously lucky win versus the U.S.

Not only did Greece get killed in the next game, The United States won their next game by 15 which Closed the case...

 

[JackDee]

I have come here after so long because I ve just came back from holidays, did a search on the game to see the forum's reaction to it. My argument, one of them at least, with regards to emotionally investing on a team, or anything for that matter, does not refer to monetary investment as is self evident.

Fyi i refrained from betting Greece in the final, anyone who's played sports, even at an amateur level, or bet for some time and has any sense, would know that after an impressive, demanding win, and the subsequent prolonged celebrations a team is bound to underperform. Do you reckon that anyone in the Greek team managed to get any sleep that night? Because I don't. Had you beaten a team of a nation 50 plus times your geographical size, and 30something times your population, with a team that could buy yours some 50 times over, and had you deservedly beaten them, would you have been able to get a good nights rest afterwards and be up to scratch in a couple of days? I wouldn't.

A lot of people have gotten into the trouble of attempting to explain it to you, in more detail and better than I have, but you still do not get it. So it's pointless for me to argument on the blatantly obvious any more. The closing sentence in your post, sums up, why it's pointless better than I could.

 

[gynecologist]

I guess we can all agree to disagree. I still say basketball is a sport where shit happens and sometimes the best team gets beat. The Chicago Bulls with MJ lost plenty of playoff games, doesn't mean they the worst team cause they didn't win every game. USA was unlucky to catch Greece on a niight where they played flawless. Include America Rules and Kobe,Duncan,and Garnett and the United States would of destroyed anyone.

I know your from Greece and you love your team. I don't love TEAM USA I just saw them lose a game where they would of won 8 out of 10 times.

 

[JackDee]

don't know if it would have been eight out of ten, but definately 7 out of ten I would say. And I am not particularly attached to my national team, not as much as it would take to render me partial to the discussion.

And of course I am aware that Greece would need to play flawless to win the U.S., it's a matter of size, money, population, let alone the slave trade a few hundred years back that's brought all that black talent in to begin with. What most are saying here though, is that it was no fluke, I 've seen flukes in most games, and basketball let me say is not a particularly streaky game or very prone to bad luck results, because it's the cummulative efforts over an extended period of time that ultimate count, not a freak goal as say in soccer. So, what I and others are saying it's that it was obvious that the U.S. was outplayed in every respect, you can't really accept 101 points at such a high level and say you weren't outplayed, and you could see how greece played better defence, better team offence, more tempo, more tactical game too, and of course had a few shots come their way too, you can't win, i you are the generally regarded as underdog team if some shots don't go your way, that's what sports are like.

But since you mentioned worse and better teams, because that's always such a huge, a perrenial issue in sports, we just have to face it that the better team has to deliver, and can be judged ultimately by the end result. So for the past 6 consecutive years, for whatever reason the u.s. just can't rest on it's supposed laurels of being the better team and yet get kicked around in the last stages, the ones that actually matter, in every major competetion, at what point one can say that they are NOT the better team? So, for me ultimately the better team is the one that ranks higher in a tournie, otherwise we just take the power ratings and rank them before even playing and that would be that.

As for the play off argument, maybe you are mistaking nba mentality here for how basketball is played in the rest of the world, this was a knock out game, they had to win, they didn't, end of story, it was not another game in a series of games. And you know, I always hear, well if we'd brought in this or that player then you d stand no chance, blah, blah...well bring em in. Let's see Kobe try to pull his 52 point a game harlem globtrotter shit against an organized zone defence. And when you bring them in, try to keep them off the steroids and other drugs for a while to cool off, because the U.S. bball team, and this is a scandal for me, but that's the case and the absolute truth, the u.s. bball team are the only team exempted from the olympic games from taking an antidoping test, which just about everyone else competing and their brother take, because of course the olympics want dream team for publicity and the boys are pumped full of medicine. Last but not least, I thought this time you were bringing in the A team, I ve heard left right and center how this u.s. team had worked together, how the coach (which by the way is a class act as he showed by his words and demeanour, no wonder he's not in the nba) had brought the absolute best he could, and tried to work them as a team, and all that.


So, much for not argumenting any more, LOL.