Olympic Basketball Tournament

[big-shot-ROB]

He shouldn't have moved. Don't give the referees the benefit of doubt.

[koberulz]

If he didn't move, it would have been a foul.

[big-shot-ROB]

If he didn't move, it would have been a foul.

It would have been quite possibly a charge. Charge rules are different in europe. With the time and space he had before "chacho" stepped into that spot, he could have taken a charge.

[koberulz]

The Spanish player sidesteps, Mills had to drop step to avoid a blocking foul. Which he did. There was no contact, the ballhandler was out of control...that's not a foul. Ever. Under any circumstances.



The USF on Motum and the foul on Mills were called by the same ref, who is hopefully unemployable now.

[big-shot-ROB]

The foul is commited with Mill's right leg.

[koberulz]

The leg that never touches the Spanish player?

No.

[big-shot-ROB]

Yes it touches him. Ain't gonna continue arguing in the heat of the moment. It is a very tight foul, but a foul.

[koberulz]

Whatever you say, Steve.

[big-shot-ROB]

The amount of traveling the US does and the referees accept is a disgrace.

[Axel]

Carmelo Anthony: "America will be great again"

Is he voting for Donald Trump?

[zz21]

[koberulz]

As if I didn't feel bad enough about Australia missing out on the gold medal game.

Would've pushed the US far more than Serbia did.

[skoadam]

Referees steal bronze medal for Australia. Last two fouls, first on Gasol, second on Rodriguez shouldnt be called.

[Murat]

Durant was insane against Serbia. He took the game so far away in a few minutes. Unstoppable when he's on the roll.

No doubt that he is the best current player who doesn't own a ring.

[Jeffx]

Sick of all these loudmouths on social media whining about USA dominance. I actually heard some callers to WFAN wanting to change the rules so there's more parity. Give me a break.

Memo to Carmelo Anthony: your gold medals aren't on the same level as an NBA championship. This kind of talk really pisses me off. Us Knick fans want NBA gold!

[Andrew]

The funny thing is, I bet at least some of those same people were complaining about the selection process and refusals of certain players to participate when the US was having a tough run from 2002-2006. If the US is winning easily, they complain. If they're getting beaten they complain. It reminds me of a Groucho Marx song that still rings very true today:

phpBB [video]

[koberulz]

They won their semi final by six. They won pool games by three, three, and ten. That's not competitive? Seriously?

[Andrew]

Yeah, it's a weird complaint. There were blowouts, but it was also one of the most competitive tournaments that Team USA have endured, even with the bigger wins and remaining undefeated. My disappointment in what happened with the Boomers aside, I thought it was a pretty good tournament this time around, across the board.

[koberulz]

China and Venezuala shouldn't even have been at the Olympics in the first place, really, so blowout wins were expected. They both got slaughtered by everyone they faced.

Shame the gold medal game ended up going the way it did, but that's really the only one you can point to - and it was against a team that had a shot on the buzzer to send their pool game to overtime. I didn't bother to watch it, but sometimes teams just have bad games. Serbia were the beneficiary of that earlier in the knockout rounds.

The ten-point margin against Australia also flattered the US; it was a two-possession game with a couple of minutes to go.

[Andrew]

The bottom line is that some people will never be happy unless they're complaining. The USA were given a run for their money at times, but ultimately they kept an undefeated streak intact and won the gold medal. They got the job done; that's all there is to it.

I'd be interested to hear what rule changes those people think will make things more competitive, though. Every other teams' shots count for four and five points, instead of two and three The US is only allowed to have four players on the court? They're not allowed to send professional players while everyone else is? At the end of the day, certain countries historically dominate certain sports, and as long as that's not through PEDs or anything else that's underhanded, that's absolutely fine. The aim is to get better and try to beat them at their own game, not give everyone else a handicap.

[Murat]

A rule change wouldn't change the result. Nobody has the talent that USA Basketball players own. There is no point guard that is skilled as much as Kyrie Irving is. Same goes for Kevin Durant, Draymond Green etc.

[Jeffx]

At the end of the day, certain countries historically dominate certain sports, and as long as that's not through PEDs or anything else that's underhanded, that's absolutely fine. The aim is to get better and try to beat them at their own game, not give everyone else a handicap.

Thank you! There are sports the U.S. does not dominate. No one talks about changing the rules to make us more competitive in soccer.

[koberulz]

Is there a sport that's been dominated this much by one country, though? There are countries that are weak in various sports, but the US was 133-5 or something like that in Olympic history before this tournament.

[big-shot-ROB]

Nobody has the talent that USA Basketball players own.

They do, but they lack athleticism. Quite sure Sergi Rodriguez could do Irving's things with if he had Kyrie's body. Pau would be like 3 Cousins combined if he had his athleticsim. Same goes for other countries. I bet you don't want to face a black Teodosic.

[air gordon]

Imagine if cousins had half of gasols smarts

KD takes the crown from Melo as best US fiba player.

I honestly thought coach K did a poor job this Olympics. The offense didn't have much flow and resorted to too many one isolations. The defense was crap until the last 2 games

Too bad the Aussie team lost. Their offensive scheme would have given them fits