Sunday, August 15, 2004

Can anybody tell me where I can get my hands on a Carlos Arroyo jersey?

What does it all mean?

The US got beat. I don't want to hear, "they didn't beat us, we lost the game." No, you got beat. Plain and simple. And the final score should not have been as close as it was.

This is not a punk US team deserving the whupping they got. There's a misconception that any team of NBA pros has got to be full of egotistical lunkheads. That can be true, but it really isn't in this case. With the exception of Iverson, this is a team of quality character players. And say what you will about AI, but considering how many other elite players couldn't find the courage to represent, he deserves at least a slap on the back for going to Greece.

The best players in the US have really lost touch with some of the fundamentals (shooting a jumper, especially) of the game. There are still some players in the US who value the jump shot (Rip Hamilton, for one), but increasingly, it seems this is a mostly lost art. High school kids jumping to the pros without learning these fundamentals from college coaches is not helping, either. But that's a whole other rant.

All of that being said, international competition just isn't as close as the events of the last few weeks (and the sports columnists spreading the word) would indicate. Without taking anything from any of the other countries, let's face facts: they are not facing Shaq, Kobe, Garnett, Vince Carter, etc. I'm sorry, but I've yet to see any team--international or otherwise--that has an answer for Shaquille O'Neal. And as much as the rest of the world has raised their game, I find it hard to believe that any team on Earth could hang with a starting five of Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Ben Wallace and Allen Iverson. Maybe some international coalition of all-star players (Nowitzki, Yao, Stojakovic, etc.), but not one individual country. But the fact is, those players are not here, and the US did not raise the level of their game to match the expectations and reputation surrounding "US Basketball" on an international stage. It's one thing to say you're good (Los Angeles Lakers), it is something else to go out and prove it (Detroit Pistons).

Much love for Puerto Rico. They showed what being a tenacious, fundamentally sound team can do. I hope they go far.