THE TEAM USA THREAD (5-0, Argentina/Ginobili next)

And again, how do you know that there wasn't a bit of back and forth that led to that? I'm not saying the Boomers' actions were above reproach but to overlook what Team USA did and suggest they've been nothing but saintly throughout the tournament is a bit much. There was a very clear closeup shot of Chris Paul directing a few choice words towards Shawn Redhage (who wasn't responding), yet Carmelo Anthony insists they kept their mouths shut.

Anyway, bottom line is that when the game was over, hands were shaken, the superior team won in style and Team USA is another game closer to gold.

Like Carmelo Anthony can ever be believed on anything. You can hear the USA players talking on most broadcasts. They do it during NBA games, they aren't going to stop for the Olympics once they get into "game" mode.

Although I can't imagine why anyone cares. That one guy on the Canadian team jaws more than Gary Payton on a bender. I assume it's all that nationalism involved. Another reason to stop seperating the athletes by nationality. (Cut basketball from the Olympics, move towards a "World Championship" between the professional teams, Maccabi vs. Spurs, Pistons vs. VICTORIA GIANTS!!!) (Yes, I know they're defunct. Long term meme with Melbourne fans.)

Pretty hard not to name a defunct NBL team these days.

http://au.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/new ... am-sledged

Seems they were sledging Paddy Mills, which is no surprise to me, as I saw a few USA players trying to get into his head (but to no avail)....not that he was too concerned by it....he has made Chris Paul & co look rather pedestrian....and here I was thinking Chris Paul was super fast....the guy at work who use to play state rep bball played against Paddy Mills & said he was unbelievably fast & only one player was able to keep close to him....

anyways, the US needs to stop crying about hard fouls when players go for the ball....they need to toughen up....

Pretty hard not to name a defunct NBL team these days.

It's actually getting pretty hard to name teams that aren't defunct

interested to see what these so-called "reforms" to Australian basketball are

So much for just letting the score do the talking (though it spoke volumes too).

All that being said, I've been very impressed with how Kobe has conducted himself during the Olympics. He has conducted himself as a true Olympian both on & off the court

The game against Argentina will sure be a good one. Two of the best teams squaring off in the Semi's. Really want Argentina to win because of Manu but I think it will be USA vs Spain in the Gold Medal Game.

GO MANU GO!!!

Aren't always two of the best teams in the semis?

Anyway, that what I've seen of the USA team, I really think they can win it all.
I'd love to see an USA-Lithuania final, though I believe Spain will advance.

Aren't always two of the best teams in the semis?

Usually the 2 best teams square off in the Finals/Gold Medal Game.

anyways, the US needs to stop crying about hard fouls when players go for the ball....

They're NBA players...

ok, that does it. go scottland! you have convinced me. afterall its where grandpa is from.....

dirk, manu, yao, parker... these guys dont consider themselves americans. they live here because their teams are here. if they thought of themselves as americans, what team would they be playing for again?

So let me get this straight.

You believe that if Dirk, Manu, Yao and Tony Parker considered themselves Americans that they would be allowed to play on the USA team?

You may be the dumbest poster to ever set foot in the NLSC, and that is not easy to do.

Do they not have American citizenship?

If Chris Kaman can play for Germany, any of the international players in the NBA could play for team USA if they felt they had closer ties with America along with citizenship.

Aren't always two of the best teams in the semis?

Usually the 2 best teams square off in the Finals/Gold Medal Game.

You said two of the best teams.


Just watched the USA-ARG semi-final. Argentina kept themeselves into the game until the half, I wonder how close they could have gone with a healthy Ginobili (Where the hell has he been?).

Can't wait for the Gold Medal game.

Manu re-injured his ankle/foot that he injured in the WCF against the Lakers last season which kept him out of the game.

Bad luck for Ginobili. No, the USA still could not have been beat with him. If they take the Olympics serious and want to win they are unstoppable.

It would be interesting though how the Knicks played against Argentina or Spain.

It's no shame to lose against the USA.

Spain will lose in the finals. Navarro and Calderon have not been that brilliant in the Olympics so far and Pau Gasol is a good player...the US have 10 good and even better players.

The USA will destroy Spain...

What I saw of the game that the Argentina's bench stepped up a lot. I`m talking of Quinteros and Nocioni


By the Way... What a block by Nocioni against Bryant ^^


Take a look:





Niiiiice




Very proud of my Argentina ^^

Yeah, Quinteros had a good game and Bryant was very pissed off because he got blocked and stripped.

Do they not have American citizenship?

If Chris Kaman can play for Germany, any of the international players in the NBA could play for team USA if they felt they had closer ties with America along with citizenship.

I don't believe they have American citizenship. Even if they did, they wouldn't be able to play for the US having already represented their home countries on their national basketball squads. Chris Kaman on the other hand now has German citizienship. He's never represented the US in basketball (and now won't be able to anyway) so there's no problem there.

USA USA USA. the US should man-handle spain on sunday.

They did it. I personally wouldn't have minded if Spain had won and admired their effort. It was a good game. I was shouting "Let Boozer Play" through most of the second half, so I'm glad they let him and Redd play out the last 25 seconds.

nice game from both usa and spain.
i thought officiating was bit more favourable to usa, but overall it was somewhat ok.
props to rudy fernandez & wade. truly awesome performance.
kobe did good in 4th quarter but still found him trying to do too much and looked eager to prove too much. in the end, we saw usual kobe bryant performance tho.

i'm happy for usa redeem team... but not too impressed...

FINAL GRADE: B

FINAL GRADE: B

wtf?!? US had to play out of their skins to win that game....I would give US a grade of A....same for Spain....both teams battled it until the end....US needed a hot shooting night to hold on & win it....

Kobe In the 4th quater showed everyone why he was NBA MVP. He hit a beautiful 4 point play. Then wade hit a 3 pointer to kinda seal the deal. Spain played a hell of a game, they were only down 2 in the 4th. Credit goes to spain for making this game competitive, but the US was just too much for them.

FINAL GRADE: B

wtf?!? US had to play out of their skins to win that game....I would give US a grade of A....same for Spain....both teams battled it until the end....US needed a hot shooting night to hold on & win it....

I wouldn't give US an A with the defense they played
They would get a G for effort but I think B is a good grade for how they played

I could be mistaken but I think X was referring to the game itself and how exciting it was to watch rather than the performance of Team USA.

Somebody showed what's missing in the last 2006 world championships for team USA..