This must really hurt: US can't even cut it in Basketball

[mpohl 1]

Greece Shocks U.S. Basketball Team
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 5:01 p.m. ET

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) -- As they warmed up before Friday's semifinal against Greece, the U.S. players put on a jam session for the fans. Dwight Howard dunked emphatically. Dwyane Wade bounced the ball off the backboard, caught it and stuffed. Elton Brand jammed an alley-oop pass. Finally, LeBron James flew down the lane for a tomahawk.

As the crowd roared, the Greeks lined up at the other end and shot free throws. The moment foretold Greece's 101-95 victory in the semifinals of the world championships.

The U.S. has dazzling skill; the Greeks are a dazzling team.

''We have to learn the international game better,'' U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ''We learned a lot today because we played a team that plays amazing basketball and plays together.''

The loss means the U.S. (7-1) will play Argentina (7-1) for the bronze medal Saturday. Greece (8-0) will face fellow unbeaten Spain in the final Sunday. Spain defeated Argentina 75-74 in Friday's other semifinal.

For the U.S., a medal would improve on its sixth-place showing in Indianapolis in the 2002 world championships. But as the grim-faced Americans left the floor, their pain was obvious. They have failed to bring home a major international championship for the third straight tournament.

''Those guys are hurting and it's probably a better thing we have to come back tomorrow and play again instead of sitting on this for two days,'' Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo said.

A victory in Japan would have meant an automatic berth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Instead, the U.S. will have to qualify in the FIBA Americas tournament in Venezuela.

By then, the U.S. will have been together for more than a year. The lack of experience -- and familiarity with each other -- was glaringly obvious against a Greek squad that has been together three years.

''I think we showed everybody that maybe we're not very good athletes like them, but we know how to play the game,'' said Greek guard Theodoros Papaloukas, who carved up the U.S. defense with 12 assists. ''We are clever.''

The Greeks don't have an NBA player on their roster, although guard Vassilis Spanoulis is headed for the Houston Rockets. Spanoulis led Greece with 22 points, Mihalis Kakiouzis added 15 and 6-foot-10 Sofoklis Schortsianitis -- nicknamed ''Baby Shaq'' -- bulled his way to 14 on 6-of-7 shooting.

The U.S. was led by its three captains -- Carmelo Anthony with 27 points, Dwyane Wade with 19 and LeBron James with 17.

''It's hard for one team, if they have so many big players, in one month to adapt to their new roles,'' Papaloukas said. ''All these players are big stars, but you have to do small different things. I think that was the difference: In our team, everybody knew what they had to do exactly.''

The Greeks did one thing beautifully in this game: the pick-and-roll. No matter what defense Krzyzewski tried, the Greeks found open shooters beyond the 3-point arc or open lanes to the basket. As a result, the Greeks shot 63 percent.

''They ran like one play the whole game,'' Wade said.

In the earlier rounds, the U.S. applied defensive pressure to create easy baskets. That didn't work against the methodical Greeks, who committed only 10 turnovers, the fewest by an American opponent.

''They played damn near a perfect game,'' American forward Chris Bosh said.

Here's the worst indictment of the U.S. defense: It gave up more points to Greece than China did.

The U.S. also was done in by inept outside shooting, a problem in other games. The Americans were coming off their worst shooting performance in this tournament. They shot 38 percent from the floor, and 25 percent from beyond the arc, in an 85-65 victory over Germany.

Against the Greeks, the U.S. shot 50 percent from the floor but only 32 percent from beyond the arc. The U.S. also shot 59 percent from the line. Still, the Americans scored 95 points, which would be enough to win most games.

For most of this tournament, the U.S. started slowly and then overwhelmed opponents. Against Greece, it was the other way around.

The U.S. used an 11-2 run to take a 33-21 lead with 6:23 left in the first half. But the Greeks outscored the U.S. 24-8 over the final 6:10 of the second quarter to lead 45-41 at halftime.

''They made some really good plays and sort of seized the momentum there,'' U.S. forward Shane Battier said. ''We did not respond with the composure you need to be a world champion.''

As the deficit grew, the Americans sometimes abandoned team concepts. One glaring example came as the U.S. tried to drain the clock for the final shot of the third quarter. Wade dribbled through four defenders and tossed up an off-balance layup with three seconds to go. The Greeks grabbed the rebound and found Spanoulis for a layup at the buzzer to lead 77-65.

''I think this is the NBA, one against five,'' Papaloukas said. ''It's different rules'' in the worlds.

The U.S. is learning that, one international defeat at time.

Now the Americans have to bounce back against an Argentine team led by Manu Ginobli and Andres Nocioni. A victory would produce a bronze medal, which is what the much-maligned 2004 U.S. Olympic team earned in Athens. For this group, bronze wasn't the goal, but it would be better than nothing.

''I want to go home with something,'' Bosh said. ''Fourth place, I'll be walking home with a sandwich.''

[lawrocket 3]

At least the American players are getting their shit together and figuring out how to operate as a team..

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[JohnRich 4]

The U.S. team has a 7-1 win-loss record.

Do you labor under the belief that basketball has anything to do with representing America's competence as a nation? If things were so bad here, then how come immigrants from around the world risk everything to get here, any way they can?

[kallend 2,135]

Basketball? Who cares?

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[pirana 0]

This happened because the rest of the world still plays professional basketball as a TEAM sport.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[steveorino 7]

Bingo! Call me unamerican, but I've had it with individualist street-ball multi-millionaires.

steveOrino

[micro 0]

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Basketball? Who cares?

This, my friends, is what you call the POTT!*


*Post Of The Thread

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[christelsabine 1]

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Basketball? Who cares?

Hey now, attention please! Don't forget about Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks... he's Europe's best and one of the best in the world, this long tall German!

(My son is his biggest fan )

dudeist skydiver # 3105