Why did Team USA lose that often this past decade ?

[Oliver P]

Let's face it we were all surprised that Team USA struggled that much against FIBA teams this past decade. As a matter of fact it was really surprising to see a team with NBA stars only struggle against teams who had AT BEST one NBA star and a couple of NBA players (I emphasize PLAYERS). They in fact even lost against teams who had no NBA players (Greece for exampe) whatsoever. As I always root for Team USA (even when they play against France, in fact even more when they play against France lol...) I was the first one to be pissed off by this. So how come a team so much more talented than the others lost so often against them ? And in fact even almost lost against Lithuania in 2000, and against Spain in 2008 ? Many journalists here in Europe did not hesitate to say that some of those Europeans teams were just better than those Teams USA... Or even that the NBA was overrated... Which is totally ludicrous to me. I have a lot of respect for the European players and for what those European teams accomplished but the NBA players are definitely the best in the world and, even if there are more and more talented European players, there is still a HUGE gap between the American players and the rest of the world IMO.

 

The first thing that we have to take in consideration are the rules. As a matter of fact the World Cups and Olympics are played with the FIBA rules. And that makes a big difference. First of all wiith the FIBA rules athlecism means almost nothing and the NBA players cannot use it as much as they do in the NBA. It is impossible to play one on one, plus the zone defense is allowed (the FIBA zone defense has nothing to do with the NBA one, in Europe players can all stay in the paints for as long as they want which is totally impossible in the NBA) which means that you do not need great defenders in your team to succeed. That is why the United States, despite the fact they are way more athletic than any other teams cannot dominate the other teams as they would with the NBA rules.

 

The fact that they play with FIBA rules is a huge advantage for the European teams, there is no doubt about that. I have heavily criticized the Teams USA of 2002, 04 and 06 (this mainly because I was very disappointed they lost..) as it is not acceptable that a team that talented lost against less good teams. They should have won no matter the rules. BUT at the same time I KNOW that if the World Cup and Olympics were played with the NBA rules, I repeat (I want to be very clear about this) I KNOW that Team USA would have won every time. I think that a lot of people fail to realize how different the FIBA rules are and that it is very hard for the NBA players to adapt to these rules. Especially that, as I said, they can't use their main strenght.

 

Also the fact that the 3 pts line is closer to the rim here is another advantage for International players. Players like Spanoulis, Jasikevicius or Macijauskas for example all played in the NBA and, as great shooters as they are (and they are indeed) they were just not as efficient with the NBA 3 pts line... Besides even if the line is closer the NBA players still have to adapt to this line which is certainly not as easy as it might seem...

 

Now we all know that several NBA teams have lost against FIBA teams, well it is very important to know that only TWO FIBA teams have defeated an NBA team WITH THE NBA RULES. The first one was the Maccabi Tel Aviv who beat the Raptors in Toronto in 2005, 105-103 and that year the Raptors were just horrible, one of the 6 worst teams in the NBA. While the Maccabi Tel Aviv was the very best team in Europe. The second one was the FC Barcelona who beat the Lakers 92-88 (it was on the Spanish ground but with the NBA rules). And the Lakers (just like the Raptors) were far from being at their best at this time while the season had already begun for Barcelona... Barcelona barely beat them despite that fact. So this shows how the rules make a HUGE difference indeed.

 

Now another thing that we have to consider is that, contrary to the International teams, those Teams USA were made at the last minute. The NBA players were not used to play together, it's hard to build a chemistry that way... While the international players know each other very well, they've played together for years... That also is a HUGE difference.

 

I want to precise that I'm not saying all this to descredit the International teams though, I mean it is not an excuse for Team USA whatsoever, with the talents that they have they still SHOULD have destroyed every other team nonetheless. Just like they used to in the 90's, but the difference is that at the time, the NBA players all mastered the fundamentals... Those International teams won fair and square and they played a great basketball, teams like Argentina, Spain, Lithuania or Greece were just fantastic... There's no excuse Team USA should have won nonetheless. But it's impossible not to take all that in consideration.

 

All I am saying here is that despite those loses there is still a huge gap between the Amercian basketball players and the rest of the world. The NBA is still the best league and by far. I have no doubt about that.

[YugoRocketsFan]

Europeans are team work oriented, the USA just puts a bunch of all-stars out there, not to mention the fact that USA usually underestimates their opponents.

[Nitro]

There's 3 reasons that quickly came to mind. I can really analyze and break it down, but the first 3 things that popped into my head are...

 

1) Talent. The world has caught up to the US in terms of talent, and the gap isn't as large as it once was. The US still clearly has the greatest talent pool in basketball, but the rest of the world has gotten stronger, more athletic and more skilled since the Dream Team steam-rolled through Barcelona in 1992. It doesn't help that in the last 20 years the US has gone away from basic fundementals in the high school/AAU systems, and more geared towards overwhelming the opponent with athleticism. Those European teams are very fundementally sound, and that creates some major issues for the US when they face teams with somewhat comparable talent like Spain.

 

2) Chemistry. This area is a two fold; first, most FIBA teams have been together for years, while most of the US teams of the last decade have been put together in the matter of weeks. That should be no surprise and needs no further explanation. I mean, it took the Miami Heat all of training camp, preseason and the first 20 regular season games before they started to hit their stride, and the same applies to Team USA. Secondly, when Team USA was having lots of problems, they were building teams with little to no balance. Just a cluster[expletive] of random players and athletes that didn't fit with each other. Marbury and Iverson on the same team...really?!? Not a single 3pt shooter on the same 2004 Olympic team? Having Larry Brown, one of the worst coaches ever when it comes to coaching young talent, being assigned to coach LeBron, Melo, and Wade the summer after their rookie season's, and Okafor the summer before his rookie season?!? When Colangelo came in he understood that the US would no longer be able to destroy opponents solely off athleticism and talent, so he put an actual TEAM together, with balance good enough to get by. Also, he made the 2 years between the FIBA Championship and the Olympics a time for the team to gain chemistry and identity, with each player being forced to make a multi-year commitment to the team. This has greatly enhanced the chemistry and overall level of play for the team.

 

3) The FIBA floor. I agree that the rules are a major adjustment for NBA players, but I feel the actual floor is just as big of a detriment. Most NBA stars, which are who we tend to send overseas, rely on their athleticism to beat their opponent off the dribble. However, in FIBA, the court is smaller, and the 3pt line is shorter. Because of this, there is far less spacing for players to operate. In the last few year's, with Colangelo running the show, the US has done a good job of putting in a lot of players capable of hitting that short 3pt shot. However, back in like 2002-2004, the idea was that the US would throw a bunch of elite athletes out there and they would simply overwhelm the opponent. That failed miserably. As dominant as our athletes are, without NBA spacing, mixed in with looser rules regarding physicality, and we start to look like amateurs out there. It also doesn't help that most of our players don't know how to move without the basketball, allowing the defense to load up on slasher, which makes things that much harder.

Edited January 16, 2011 by Nitro

[Finch23]

1 word.

 

 

GINOBILIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

[Real Deal]

Leadership. Ties in with chemistry a bit, but without leadership, you aren't going to play well as a team, especially against other teams that have been playing together for many, many years.

[YugoRocketsFan]

There's 3 reasons that quickly came to mind. I can really analyze and break it down, but the first 3 things that popped into my head are...

 

1) Talent. The world has caught up to the US in terms of talent, and the gap isn't as large as it once was. The US still clearly has the greatest talent pool in basketball, but the rest of the world has gotten stronger, more athletic and more skilled since the Dream Team steam-rolled through Barcelona in 1992. It doesn't help that in the last 20 years the US has gone away from basic fundementals in the high school/AAU systems, and more geared towards overwhelming the opponent with athleticism. Those European teams are very fundementally sound, and that creates some major issues for the US when they face teams with somewhat comparable talent like Spain.

 

2) Chemistry. This area is a two fold; first, most FIBA teams have been together for years, while most of the US teams of the last decade have been put together in the matter of weeks. That should be no surprise and needs no further explanation. I mean, it took the Miami Heat all of training camp, preseason and the first 20 regular season games before they started to hit their stride, and the same applies to Team USA. Secondly, when Team USA was having lots of problems, they were building teams with little to no balance. Just a cluster[expletive] of random players and athletes that didn't fit with each other. Marbury and Iverson on the same team...really?!? Not a single 3pt shooter on the same 2004 Olympic team? Having Larry Brown, one of the worst coaches ever when it comes to coaching young talent, being assigned to coach LeBron, Melo, and Wade the summer after their rookie season's, and Okafor the summer before his rookie season?!? When Colangelo came in he understood that the US would no longer be able to destroy opponents solely off athleticism and talent, so he put an actual TEAM together, with balance good enough to get by. Also, he made the 2 years between the FIBA Championship and the Olympics a time for the team to gain chemistry and identity, with each player being forced to make a multi-year commitment to the team. This has greatly enhanced the chemistry and overall level of play for the team.

 

3) The FIBA floor. I agree that the rules are a major adjustment for NBA players, but I feel the actual floor is just as big of a detriment. Most NBA stars, which are who we tend to send overseas, rely on their athleticism to beat their opponent off the dribble. However, in FIBA, the court is smaller, and the 3pt line is shorter. Because of this, there is far less spacing for players to operate. In the last few year's, with Colangelo running the show, the US has done a good job of putting in a lot of players capable of hitting that short 3pt shot. However, back in like 2002-2004, the idea was that the US would throw a bunch of elite athletes out there and they would simply overwhelm the opponent. That failed miserably. As dominant as our athletes are, without NBA spacing, mixed in with looser rules regarding physicality, and we start to look like amateurs out there. It also doesn't help that most of our players don't know how to move without the basketball, allowing the defense to load up on slasher, which makes things that much harder.

 

This gets a rep from me, but pretty much a nice summary of why the US isn't as dominant anymore as they once were.

[Real Deal]

Who was the commentator, for the World Championships, that always talked about Team USA being in danger every single game? He always praised the international players, and had a lot to say about each one of them being able to play in the league.

 

Anyway...he brought the court up as being an issue during one of the preliminary games, said it changes the way the USA squad spaces out their shooters and how easier it is to defend us when there's less space to work with, and then he pointed out that the shooters shouldn't mind it because they are used to the long NBA three. Sort of stupid, that last statement. On my old rec team, we had a guy who was launching threes, and he's known for it, ever since I've played ball with him back when I was 12-13 years old. But, he was so used to shooting those threes, he was horrible a foot inside of the three. Every time he had a foot over the line, he'd put too much into it and miss.

 

Most definitely, the court is an issue. Aren't they going to apply NBA rules and court markings for the Olympics, or is that for the next World Championships? I remember them talking about it once before.

[Dr. Feelgood]

Because there is only 1 basketball during games would be my guess...