As the United States cruises through the FIBA Americas Championship, apparently headed for a huge matchup with Argentina, is it safe to say that USA basketball is back?
I don’t think so. It’s taken a lot of thought and a tremendous amount of dedication from the top down to get the US back on firm footing in this qualifying tournament. From all accounts, Kobe Bryant has been phenomenal and totally focused on playing defense.
Chances are, that’s what it will take from here on out for the United States to put in solid showings in international competition. I think the days of picking a group of stars, throwing on uniforms and dominating the world are gone for good.
Or am I way off base?
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2 Comments:
I don't think the days of throwing stars together and winning championships is over at all. If you put together the talent the NBA has to offer it would not be a problem. The problem is that nobody wants to play for the United States anymore. The NBA stars take to much pride in themselves and not enough in playing for their country. The 2003 FIBA Americas Championship team was full of stars and they dominated, but afterwards 10 of the 12 players dropped out for the Olympics which makes it difficult to win. If this team stays intact for the Olympics they should have no problem winning the gold.
There's no shortage of American talent in the NBA for a team like this. The question is, do these NBA stars care enough about competing and have enough pride to put the effort into playing as a team and winning when it's not directly tied to their mammoth NBA paychecks?
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