Is the USA basketball team a "Dream Team"
I had to admit it, I was astonished last Sunday night, when Puertico Rico was taken good care of USA in basketball. However, I guess it was a result everybody was expecting, sooner or later. Maybe not against Puerto Rico and not in the first match of the competition but all the alarms were on when the USA lost against Italy in a friendly match earlier this month.
The causes of the defeat are not only in the low team spirit of the group and their arrogance as being the best but we need to look much further into the roots of the NBA. I am 31 and the good NBA I remember was not only about show business but it was about team work and effort, rivalry in the court, not in the media and players devoted to the game not great athletes.
The level of the NBA has been decreasing since then, allowing more people not American to join the league. I don´t mean that the level in the rest of the world has not increased significantly but if Arvidas Sabonis, cripple and at 38 was still a valuable piece for the Blazers that were willing to pay him around 7 million dollars for one season, then something is going wrong.
Even the great Michael Jordan made the mistake to play with the Wizards for his own benefit not to teach his team mates the magic of basketball and we all know how everything ended and that he is not in the team management anymore.
Good players, not stars, do not go through College to complete their techniques. Most of them have a great physical shape but no fundamentals: no shooting, no defence skills
When I was living there in 1991, I was suprised that most of the people liked College basketball because it was really competitive, there winners and loosers but there was competitivines and emotion. NBA was more a show until the play-offs come. And it still is.
Therefore, no wonder that they have lost last Sunday. They can still win the Olimpyc title, but it will take them years to regain international prestige sometimes more important than medalls.
The solutions start probably by not allowing players without a College experience and for not Americans, older than 22. Maybe changing the competition system to make the regular season more competitive.
And when it comes to international competitions, send players that are really motivated to play for their country, no matter what their names are if they are stars or not.
The causes of the defeat are not only in the low team spirit of the group and their arrogance as being the best but we need to look much further into the roots of the NBA. I am 31 and the good NBA I remember was not only about show business but it was about team work and effort, rivalry in the court, not in the media and players devoted to the game not great athletes.
The level of the NBA has been decreasing since then, allowing more people not American to join the league. I don´t mean that the level in the rest of the world has not increased significantly but if Arvidas Sabonis, cripple and at 38 was still a valuable piece for the Blazers that were willing to pay him around 7 million dollars for one season, then something is going wrong.
Even the great Michael Jordan made the mistake to play with the Wizards for his own benefit not to teach his team mates the magic of basketball and we all know how everything ended and that he is not in the team management anymore.
Good players, not stars, do not go through College to complete their techniques. Most of them have a great physical shape but no fundamentals: no shooting, no defence skills
When I was living there in 1991, I was suprised that most of the people liked College basketball because it was really competitive, there winners and loosers but there was competitivines and emotion. NBA was more a show until the play-offs come. And it still is.
Therefore, no wonder that they have lost last Sunday. They can still win the Olimpyc title, but it will take them years to regain international prestige sometimes more important than medalls.
The solutions start probably by not allowing players without a College experience and for not Americans, older than 22. Maybe changing the competition system to make the regular season more competitive.
And when it comes to international competitions, send players that are really motivated to play for their country, no matter what their names are if they are stars or not.
4 comentarios
Jordan Flipsyde -
nike shox o'nine -
Carmen -
Fernando Tomás Casado -
Suerte en Chile!