RssNothing. Really, I don’t care. My point is there is no point–this is sports evaluation nihilism, stop reading you idiot. Glad Steph made the team, enthusiastic about him existing in the presence of basketball greats like Tyson Chandler, thrilled about all the legal offensive goaltending, but…there just isn’t much to be learned about NBA basketball here. I do love these moments, though:
And I am addicted to whining about how Rondo should be on the squad, how Kevin Love doesn’t play enough, how–on slow possessions–I can watch Chauncey Billups age like a fern unfurling in time-lapse. But this is an exhibition to us ugly Americans. Let’s treat it like that, and only take away what entertains. Like this:
Sports are all trivial, but subconsciously, we know the score: We understand that an NFL game featuring giant dudes you’ll never meet is IMPORTANT; a preseason NFL game featuring those same dudes is an expensive waste of concussions. To generalize, Americans don’t really care about the World Championships, and that’s why the best NBA players don’t care about the Worlds either. That’s why the Miami Heat could school this particular 2010 USA grad school team. That’s why Curry is on the team in the first place.
I’ve seen hand-wringing over Steph’s shaky play, an understandably overreactive pose in the NBA’s Winter (Summer). But Eric Gordon is playing like an NBA Jam character, and Gordon spent all of last year not improving. Perhaps this is a Tunisian-infused small sample size, and perhaps Gordon’s learning curve actually lives in Turkey. Either way, my analysis of that player is unbudged–he still falls short of Stephen Curry.
So enjoy the tournament, don’t scout it. Watch Kevin Durant appear like he’s moving slower–while moving faster–and playing better than everyone. But don’t email me on how this “exposes” Curry, that his ceiling is limited and falling through the floor. To do that would be to put more thought into this tournament than most NBA superstars did. I hail the day when the World Championship becomes basketball’s true World Cup. Until it gets there, I refuse to take it seriously. It’s still basketball, though, and basketball is fun to watch. Just like Summer League.
Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SherwoodStrauss
The fact that somebody invented a game doesn’t make them the owner of the game. Look at English; they invented “soccer” but they only have one world cup trophy.
By the way Dr Naismith was Canadian.
I didn’t make duragotary comments against US Hoops. I like the team they sent to the tournament. I actually enjoy it more than their olympic team. However, I have a problem with the people’s view towards international competititons.
NBA is not the only basketball competition in this country. Rules of NCAA are different than NBA also. Why don’t you have a problem with that? Do you think they have those rules to be unfair to the players who wants to move to pro ball?
Lastly. “world cup hoop” is not unimportant to the Team USA who is representing this country. As I said before; your top team went to this tournament 4 years ago and lost in semifinals to Greece who didn’t even make it to the quarter finals this year. It is however unimportant to those people like you who have more fun watching a “sport” in which 500 pound 18-22 year old guys push each other and jump on to each other in front of a drunk obese crowd!
Question?….”our love for the game”…..the country you talk so much about….USA….invented the very sport that the whole world (that you think we are unaware of) has decided to love more than us…so wy don’t you play the game like we play it? Because its not fair. You can’t do it. Your refs are shameful at best…your crowds think its a soccer…oh sorry football game. You are perfectly within your rights to not like the US, but any derogatory comments against USA Hoops is simply blastfemy hence why the world cup hoop game is unimportant to the creators of the sport. We should not even play in this crap and just host it every year like the Creative geniuses that we are, but no. We are humble enough to at least send a lifeline of hope to the world game in the form of a B team that every team THINKS they can beat because they are not the NBA’s top crop. Guess what? Each US player would dominate every league in the world…and they aren’t that great…stop talking and get your game up WORLD!
I’m glad that you are intimidated by my “knowledge” of worlds population. I expected as much from you americans who think they are the only ones in this planet!
The difference between football and basketball is that NBA is separate from the rest of FIBA while MLS is part of CONCACAF (A subdivision of FIFA). I’m really happy that you forget to mention that only some of the NBA players refuse to join their national team in this tournament. By the way even though US has sent a “B” team to this tournament. In 2006 they were in Japan with pretty much the top 5 players (minus Kobe) from NBA. http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/06_wcm/teamPlay/team/p/eventid/3507/langlc/en/roundid/4744/teamnumber/379/fe_teamPlay_teamRost.html
I didn’t shred the article. By mentioning money I was merely reminding you that even though you people are so eager to watch players who are getting paid millions of dollars you fail to realize that they can also compete when there is no money on the line.
Well maybe you are right. Maybe the US should go back to sending college players to these tournaments and you americans should stop interfering with our love of this game by trying to undermine our competitions.
Boss, glad you’ve decided to show off your intimidating knowledge of the Earth’s population. Of course the FIBA World Championships are basketball’s equivalent of the FIFA World Cup. For starters, look how similar the names are (FIBA / FIFA)!!!! Not only that, but all the big names from each competing nation are participating courageously, such as Didier Drogba in this year’s Copa Mundial. Oh wait a tick, Spain’s best player Pau Gasol is sitting this one out, because the tournament is so important that they need him playing his ‘moral support’ role in the Spanish rotation.
Also, (let me remind YOU) last time I checked, Team USA doesn’t pay players for participation. Next time you decide to try and shred someone’s article, try doing some research you unintelligible halfwit.
For the rest of the world (around 6.3 billion people) this tournament is the world cup of basketball. Believe it or not everyone is trying to show up their skills. And let me remind you that those players are not getting millions of dollars to play for their national team. The rules are slightly different but so are the rules of NCAA, I don’t see anyone complaining about that.