Team USA

zentner_1122 · 07-30-2008, 12:07 PM

As the 2008 OLYMPIC games draw closer, the more exited i get. I am a huge fan of the OLYMPICS and i have just a few question for people. What is your favorite OLYMPIC sport? Also what do you guys think about the new swimming suit, that will be used by some teams in the OLYMPIC

But my main question is how do you think the USA senior mens basketball team will do? I am of a rare breed that loves NBA basketball and one thing that I have always loved about it is that it is one of the only league in the world that the best players form all around the world play in the same league. I like watching the Olympic team because I think you get to see how allstars play with other allstars in a competitive game. I think it shows a lot about the players, like Lebron James andDwyane Wade who I think those two players pretty much blew the world championships for Team USA. Both extremely good player but not necessarily good when playing with a group of allstars. But I wish them all the best and hope we bring home the gold.

Just looking for questions or comments.

**Ty Stromquist** · 07-30-2008, 06:34 PM

I too love the basketball. Nothing still compares to the 1992 Dream Team. Wow was that just insane.

Hopefully this year the US can play together better and take home that gold.

And bring back Olympic baseball for christs sake!

LundLover · 07-31-2008, 08:11 AM

The Dream Team was AWESOME. I still have their olympic cards with all the players and a team shot. Would sell, of course, for a ridiculous price.

As for this year, seems our current superstars never want to play like a team, so we'll see. I think that if you took any playoff team to the Olympics they would win. But throwing together a bunch of all-stars just doesn't seem to work anymore.

As for the rest of the Olympics, I usually don't watch anymore. Not unless something Big is happening.

gwhunter · 07-31-2008, 10:15 AM

Liked it better when the college kids whooped up on everyone.

CanoeGuru · 07-31-2008, 12:03 PM

I've always been a track & field fan. I just like the concept of individual athletes training themselves as close to perfection as they can get and then competing one-on-one against other highly trained athletes. I was into track in high school, where I competed in four different events. When it's just you against others, you have to be in the best shape you can possibly be in in order to really be able to compete. There's no one else to help you or to ease the burden - you have to be at the top of your own game. If you lose, you have to train harder. If you win, it feels SO good, and then you have to keep training to maintain that edge.

wneb.fisher · 08-04-2008, 04:38 PM

I am a huge fan of the swimming and diving events, but thats just cause I grew up in a pool. I can look at the athletes techniques and use them to help my kids on the swim team here that I coach.

The one sport I really admire though is Gymnastics. I can't imagine all of the training and discipline it takes to get the human body to do the things that those people do. Simply amazing the way they flip and turn and how high in the air they can get. I wish I had that kind of strength.

NE_Sportsman · 08-04-2008, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ty Stromquist

And bring back Olympic baseball for christs sake!

Baseball - The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

uglymike · 08-05-2008, 07:13 AM

If the bball team is allowed to run up and down the court, it's gold for USA. If they're forced to play slowed down, half court bball, they've got problems. Also, D Howard is the only center on the team, if he's in foul trouble, BIG problem. C Anthony can score against anyone, but can't/won't play defense. The game will be won/lost depending on our guards playing well.....

NE_Sportsman · 08-05-2008, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uglymike

If the bball team is allowed to run up and down the court, it's gold for USA. If they're forced to play slowed down, half court bball, they've got problems. Also, D Howard is the only center on the team, if he's in foul trouble, BIG problem. C Anthony can score against anyone, but can't/won't play defense. The game will be won/lost depending on our guards playing well.....

I agree for the most part with ugly mike. I only have a few additional comments. They probably wont be running up and down the court. If it is like NBA they will be jogging, unless there is a chance to dunk it and be on sportscenter. Carmelo isnt the only one that cant/wont play defense, most of the rest of the team wont either. Its a shame that Team USA doesnt win all the championships, Olympics and others, They definitely
have more talent then the rest. Then again they probably have more money then the rest too.

zentner_1122 · 08-05-2008, 03:46 PM

I don't know how many of you have acually watched team USA play in the Diamond tournament but here has been what i have seen and yes i did wake up at 2 in the morning to watch them play Russia and at 7 this morning to watch them play Australia.
Carmelo Anthony good defensive player "yes". Carmelo Anthony good NBA defensive player "no". If you have seen him play in International play compared to the NBA you will see he plays much harder in international play. I think it cause he doesn't have to work as hard on offense as he does in the NBA. If you watched the Australia game he probably set 3 times as many screens as anybody on the team. He was being a real team player.

As for the not having another center playing I agree if you look at the top 4 centers in the NBA 3 of them play of other countries (Boget, Gusal, Ming) ( Didn't think I spelled there names right but oh well). We do have two centers on the team Howard and Bosh. And if we didn't have Bosh we would be in real trouble because if you notice most international centers can shoot from out side and Howard is to big of a center to try and guard a center out on the perimeter.

Other then that i agree and think the fast the pace game the better team USA will do.

Oh and NE Sportsman when is the last time you have acually watched a NBA game?

NE_Sportsman · 08-05-2008, 08:47 PM

zentner_1122, I cant bring myself to watch an NBA game......and you know that. Maybe I can force myself to watch a game or two during the Olympics. Are you a Carmelo fan?....I cant tell

. Here is an oxymoron for you...NBA defensive player of the year.

By the way, you should really find somthing better to do in the middle of the night instead of watch team USA. Sleeping comes to mind.

dlwilson · 08-06-2008, 12:44 PM

I've always enjoyed the olympic boxing, but to be honest I'm not really sure if that's a winter or summer event- could be done at either I guess. In that sport, usually you get a few very good fighters that come out and have very good careers. I'll watch swimming and the major track/field events but not much else. Since they started using pro athletes in basketball I don't watch. Same as hockey, it was much better when you had college kids and amatures competing. It's just my opinion that the pros don't seem to care as much. If they win it's awesome, if they lose it's was just used to fill up some time before the season starts. Besides the original dream team, USA basketball has fallen way short of accomplashing anything worth while. I won't be shocked if the choke again this year but it looks like they are pretty solid so far.

danager · 08-07-2008, 12:22 AM

Having one true center on the roster (Howard) and one power forward that can fill in (Bosh), this caught my attention right away. I am guessing, probably not correct, that the guys putting this team together realized that they will play an overwhelming amount of time with 3 forwards and 2 guards. The European style of game is to have a big man that is agile, can shoot with great range, and is more finesse than physical. Our US team did not have alot of guys with those intangibles to choose from. As already mentioned, alot of those guys like that in the NBA are foreign and playing for their national team.

I think this year's team will do well. I don't know if they will win gold though. Since '92 other countries have learned alot. They are able to have their teams selected very early, practice alot, and put in great systems. Our US team does not have near the time together that the other teams do. Maybe a month or two prior to the Olympics.

If they buy into tough defense, control the opponents perimeter shooting, and maintain an outside presence themselves, watch out! Michael Redd is a big key!

I hope they do well and will be rooting for them!

chuck87 · 08-07-2008, 11:51 AM

I agree with you 100% danager. How do we expect to guard let alone win against the likes of Germany, Greece or a Spain team. They really dropped the ball by only selecting one center to go. Sometimes it seems like when the Olympics roll around that the US team always is "putting on a show" instead of slowing down and running a strategic offense set. Although now with only one center it was almost like they planned on not having an offense and just hoping that we could run up and down the court to try and beat a couple teams to finish in the medals. Don't get me wrong I hope they win but seems like since the dream team our efforts have been a little more Globetrotter style. All SHOW and no GOLD!!

Chuck

chuck87 · 08-07-2008, 11:53 AM

P.S. a 11 point win against an Australian team that really isn't worth a crap is a little depressing. Besides Shawn Redhage who I went to high school with at Lincoln East is on the team.

zentner_1122 · 08-07-2008, 01:11 PM

I agree totally that Redd will be a huge factor because he has a great shoot from the international three point line.

And another thing i got to thinking about is scouting. I don't know for sure but i'm willing to guess that the internaional players watch the NBA a little more the NBA players watch international basketball players. That could be a big help as well

Fishingnerd33 · 08-09-2008, 10:30 AM

I really enjoy watching the swimming, track, & gymnastics. All three I absolutely enjoy because they're individual sports, showcasing one-on-one talent against the best in the world.

As far as the basketball team, it's no surprise that defense is a major issue (among other things). Obviously the defensive issues stem from their over-paid careers in the NBA. I won't watch NBA games anymore because it's not basketball....well, not team basketball anymore. It's all about which superstar is going to rally the rest of the team around his personal hopes to be the MVP. There is little/no emphasis on team basketball, except in the case of the Pistons & Celtics, the rest is just all individual.

It's frustrating because they don't stress good, fundamental basketball anymore. Just because they get paid ridiculous amounts of money to play basketball shouldn't mean that they can walk all over the floor (no travelling anymore apparently) and have these gorilla matches in the paint to see who has more leg strength.

It's sad, growing up watching Jordan, Magic, Malone, Stockton, etc. in the dream team and in the NBA. I think the biggest mistake the USA basketball program made was putting NBA players on their roster instead of college players.

Sorry about the NBA-bashing comments, didn't mean to stray off topic. All that being said, I will be cheering on the star-studded "team" in hopes that we save at least a little bit of our dignity in the sport we invented...

dlwilson · 08-09-2008, 05:12 PM

To be honest, I don't think we should even be over there competing and it rang true today as 2 innocent americans were stabbed because of political protest and one of the men died along with the cowardly protestor who killed himself after doing it. It will only continue as it has almost everyday leading up to the games. I know we are over to show off our world class athletes but it's time to really take a lot at the importance of this whole thing. I think lives are a little more important than gold medals.

magnusthebigbrownlab · 08-09-2008, 10:58 PM

I'm a fan of swimming due to the indescribable hotness of Amanda Beard.

magnusthebigbrownlab · 08-09-2008, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlwilson

To be honest, I don't think we should even be over there competing and it rang true today as 2 innocent americans were stabbed because of political protest and one of the men died along with the cowardly protestor who killed himself after doing it. It will only continue as it has almost everyday leading up to the games. I know we are over to show off our world class athletes but it's time to really take a lot at the importance of this whole thing. I think lives are a little more important than gold medals.

There are stupid people everywhere, man. Do you remember the bombing at the '96 Atlanta games?

07-30-2008, 12:07 PM	#1 (permalink)
zentner_1122 Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Shubert Posts: 68 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Team USA As the 2008 OLYMPIC games draw closer, the more exited i get. I am a huge fan of the OLYMPICS and i have just a few question for people. What is your favorite OLYMPIC sport? Also what do you guys think about the new swimming suit, that will be used by some teams in the OLYMPIC But my main question is how do you think the USA senior mens basketball team will do? I am of a rare breed that loves NBA basketball and one thing that I have always loved about it is that it is one of the only league in the world that the best players form all around the world play in the same league. I like watching the Olympic team because I think you get to see how allstars play with other allstars in a competitive game. I think it shows a lot about the players, like Lebron James andDwyane Wade who I think those two players pretty much blew the world championships for Team USA. Both extremely good player but not necessarily good when playing with a group of allstars. But I wish them all the best and hope we bring home the gold. Just looking for questions or comments.

07-30-2008, 06:34 PM	#2 (permalink)
Ty Stromquist Moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: in a treestand Posts: 3,787 Thanks: 44 Thanked 13 Times in 11 Posts	I too love the basketball. Nothing still compares to the 1992 Dream Team. Wow was that just insane. Hopefully this year the US can play together better and take home that gold. And bring back Olympic baseball for christs sake! __________________ How can I be lost...... if ive got no where to go. Unless your going to eat the horns or mount it, let that buck walk by. Shoot a doe

07-31-2008, 08:11 AM	#3 (permalink)
LundLover Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Lincoln, NE Posts: 3,847 Thanks: 30 Thanked 15 Times in 14 Posts	The Dream Team was AWESOME. I still have their olympic cards with all the players and a team shot. Would sell, of course, for a ridiculous price. As for this year, seems our current superstars never want to play like a team, so we'll see. I think that if you took any playoff team to the Olympics they would win. But throwing together a bunch of all-stars just doesn't seem to work anymore. As for the rest of the Olympics, I usually don't watch anymore. Not unless something Big is happening. __________________ A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

07-31-2008, 12:03 PM	#5 (permalink)
CanoeGuru Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Lincoln Posts: 1,143 Thanks: 2 Thanked 7 Times in 6 Posts	I've always been a track & field fan. I just like the concept of individual athletes training themselves as close to perfection as they can get and then competing one-on-one against other highly trained athletes. I was into track in high school, where I competed in four different events. When it's just you against others, you have to be in the best shape you can possibly be in in order to really be able to compete. There's no one else to help you or to ease the burden - you have to be at the top of your own game. If you lose, you have to train harder. If you win, it feels SO good, and then you have to keep training to maintain that edge. __________________ "Survival depends on being able to suppress anxiety and replace it with calm, clear, quick and correct reasoning..." -Sheck Exley

08-05-2008, 08:47 PM	#11 (permalink)
NE_Sportsman Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Dawson, NE Posts: 34 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	zentner_1122, I cant bring myself to watch an NBA game......and you know that. Maybe I can force myself to watch a game or two during the Olympics. Are you a Carmelo fan?....I cant tell . Here is an oxymoron for you...NBA defensive player of the year. By the way, you should really find somthing better to do in the middle of the night instead of watch team USA. Sleeping comes to mind. Last edited by NE_Sportsman; 08-05-2008 at 08:52 PM.

07-31-2008, 10:15 AM	#4 (permalink)
gwhunter Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Washington County Posts: 326 Thanks: 2 Thanked 5 Times in 2 Posts	Liked it better when the college kids whooped up on everyone.

08-04-2008, 04:38 PM	#6 (permalink)
wneb.fisher Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Chadron, NE Posts: 142 Thanks: 2 Thanked 14 Times in 5 Posts	I am a huge fan of the swimming and diving events, but thats just cause I grew up in a pool. I can look at the athletes techniques and use them to help my kids on the swim team here that I coach. The one sport I really admire though is Gymnastics. I can't imagine all of the training and discipline it takes to get the human body to do the things that those people do. Simply amazing the way they flip and turn and how high in the air they can get. I wish I had that kind of strength.

08-05-2008, 07:13 AM	#8 (permalink)
uglymike Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 53 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	If the bball team is allowed to run up and down the court, it's gold for USA. If they're forced to play slowed down, half court bball, they've got problems. Also, D Howard is the only center on the team, if he's in foul trouble, BIG problem. C Anthony can score against anyone, but can't/won't play defense. The game will be won/lost depending on our guards playing well.....

08-05-2008, 03:46 PM	#10 (permalink)
zentner_1122 Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Shubert Posts: 68 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I don't know how many of you have acually watched team USA play in the Diamond tournament but here has been what i have seen and yes i did wake up at 2 in the morning to watch them play Russia and at 7 this morning to watch them play Australia. Carmelo Anthony good defensive player "yes". Carmelo Anthony good NBA defensive player "no". If you have seen him play in International play compared to the NBA you will see he plays much harder in international play. I think it cause he doesn't have to work as hard on offense as he does in the NBA. If you watched the Australia game he probably set 3 times as many screens as anybody on the team. He was being a real team player. As for the not having another center playing I agree if you look at the top 4 centers in the NBA 3 of them play of other countries (Boget, Gusal, Ming) ( Didn't think I spelled there names right but oh well). We do have two centers on the team Howard and Bosh. And if we didn't have Bosh we would be in real trouble because if you notice most international centers can shoot from out side and Howard is to big of a center to try and guard a center out on the perimeter. Other then that i agree and think the fast the pace game the better team USA will do. Oh and NE Sportsman when is the last time you have acually watched a NBA game?

08-06-2008, 12:44 PM	#12 (permalink)
dlwilson Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Ralston, Ne Posts: 185 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	I've always enjoyed the olympic boxing, but to be honest I'm not really sure if that's a winter or summer event- could be done at either I guess. In that sport, usually you get a few very good fighters that come out and have very good careers. I'll watch swimming and the major track/field events but not much else. Since they started using pro athletes in basketball I don't watch. Same as hockey, it was much better when you had college kids and amatures competing. It's just my opinion that the pros don't seem to care as much. If they win it's awesome, if they lose it's was just used to fill up some time before the season starts. Besides the original dream team, USA basketball has fallen way short of accomplashing anything worth while. I won't be shocked if the choke again this year but it looks like they are pretty solid so far.

08-07-2008, 12:22 AM	#13 (permalink)
danager Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Next To The Lake/Stream/River Posts: 194 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Having one true center on the roster (Howard) and one power forward that can fill in (Bosh), this caught my attention right away. I am guessing, probably not correct, that the guys putting this team together realized that they will play an overwhelming amount of time with 3 forwards and 2 guards. The European style of game is to have a big man that is agile, can shoot with great range, and is more finesse than physical. Our US team did not have alot of guys with those intangibles to choose from. As already mentioned, alot of those guys like that in the NBA are foreign and playing for their national team. I think this year's team will do well. I don't know if they will win gold though. Since '92 other countries have learned alot. They are able to have their teams selected very early, practice alot, and put in great systems. Our US team does not have near the time together that the other teams do. Maybe a month or two prior to the Olympics. If they buy into tough defense, control the opponents perimeter shooting, and maintain an outside presence themselves, watch out! Michael Redd is a big key! I hope they do well and will be rooting for them!

08-07-2008, 11:51 AM	#14 (permalink)
chuck87 Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I agree with you 100% danager. How do we expect to guard let alone win against the likes of Germany, Greece or a Spain team. They really dropped the ball by only selecting one center to go. Sometimes it seems like when the Olympics roll around that the US team always is "putting on a show" instead of slowing down and running a strategic offense set. Although now with only one center it was almost like they planned on not having an offense and just hoping that we could run up and down the court to try and beat a couple teams to finish in the medals. Don't get me wrong I hope they win but seems like since the dream team our efforts have been a little more Globetrotter style. All SHOW and no GOLD!! Chuck

08-07-2008, 11:53 AM	#15 (permalink)
chuck87 Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	P.S. a 11 point win against an Australian team that really isn't worth a crap is a little depressing. Besides Shawn Redhage who I went to high school with at Lincoln East is on the team.

08-07-2008, 01:11 PM	#16 (permalink)
zentner_1122 Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Shubert Posts: 68 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I agree totally that Redd will be a huge factor because he has a great shoot from the international three point line. And another thing i got to thinking about is scouting. I don't know for sure but i'm willing to guess that the internaional players watch the NBA a little more the NBA players watch international basketball players. That could be a big help as well

08-09-2008, 10:30 AM	#17 (permalink)
Fishingnerd33 Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Chadron, NE Posts: 928 Thanks: 71 Thanked 21 Times in 15 Posts	I really enjoy watching the swimming, track, & gymnastics. All three I absolutely enjoy because they're individual sports, showcasing one-on-one talent against the best in the world. As far as the basketball team, it's no surprise that defense is a major issue (among other things). Obviously the defensive issues stem from their over-paid careers in the NBA. I won't watch NBA games anymore because it's not basketball....well, not team basketball anymore. It's all about which superstar is going to rally the rest of the team around his personal hopes to be the MVP. There is little/no emphasis on team basketball, except in the case of the Pistons & Celtics, the rest is just all individual. It's frustrating because they don't stress good, fundamental basketball anymore. Just because they get paid ridiculous amounts of money to play basketball shouldn't mean that they can walk all over the floor (no travelling anymore apparently) and have these gorilla matches in the paint to see who has more leg strength. It's sad, growing up watching Jordan, Magic, Malone, Stockton, etc. in the dream team and in the NBA. I think the biggest mistake the USA basketball program made was putting NBA players on their roster instead of college players. Sorry about the NBA-bashing comments, didn't mean to stray off topic. All that being said, I will be cheering on the star-studded "team" in hopes that we save at least a little bit of our dignity in the sport we invented... __________________ In Christ alone I place my trust, And find my glory In the power of the cross. In every victory, Let it be said of me, My source of strength, My source of hope, Is Christ alone.

08-09-2008, 05:12 PM	#18 (permalink)
dlwilson Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Ralston, Ne Posts: 185 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	To be honest, I don't think we should even be over there competing and it rang true today as 2 innocent americans were stabbed because of political protest and one of the men died along with the cowardly protestor who killed himself after doing it. It will only continue as it has almost everyday leading up to the games. I know we are over to show off our world class athletes but it's time to really take a lot at the importance of this whole thing. I think lives are a little more important than gold medals.

08-09-2008, 10:58 PM	#19 (permalink)
magnusthebigbrownlab Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Omaha Posts: 1,442 Thanks: 39 Thanked 53 Times in 41 Posts	I'm a fan of swimming due to the indescribable hotness of Amanda Beard. __________________ On a cold winter morning in the time before the light, in the flames of death's eternal reign we ride towards the fight. When the darkness has fallen down and the times are tough alright, the sound of evil laughter falls around the world tonight.

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