The USA team is gonna have a tough test tommorrow when they play the Spain team.
Lemme ask this, if USA does lose to Spain, do they lose their chance at winning the Gold?
Real Test for USA coming up in the morning......
Started by
davriver209
, Aug 15 2008 06:35 PM
17 replies to this topic
#1
davriver209
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Posted August 15, 2008 - 06:35 PM
#2
Mo Rings
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Posted August 15, 2008 - 07:07 PM
No, it is almost meaningless, other than maybe getting a tad easier opponent in the next round.
#3
davriver209
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Posted August 15, 2008 - 07:58 PM
Alright cool. Because I think the Spain team is gonna give them a run for their money.
All I can say cuddy is the USA team better watch out.
All I can say cuddy is the USA team better watch out.
#4
Cookie
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Posted August 15, 2008 - 08:14 PM
with gasol playing like a beast, we just need to hope thee shot is on.
#5
Guest_Chicano_*
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Posted August 15, 2008 - 08:19 PM
For those that aren't too familiar with the Spanish team and what to expect, here's a little preview for you, a breakdown I made:
Players to watch for on Spain as far as can go off & impact the game most:
Pau Gasol (of course) C
Ricky Rubio "Chachi" (sometimes the Spanish Pete Maravich) PG (A VERY VERY likely NBA Superstar in the future, not just all star, but superstar, is only 17 right now, supposedly started playing when he was 14, is about 6'4, very good size for a point guard, tremendous potential, natural star qualities that can't be taught, you either have em' or you don't, one of the toughest competitors you will ever see or know, extremely confident, always moving, always active, extremely good passer, compared to the likes of legends like pete maravich and the still playing steve nash, tremendous court awareness, vision, extremely terrific top of the line ballhandling skills and nifty moves, pesky defender, loves to push the ball for fastbreaks, can get anywhere he wants on the floor most of the time, probably needs to work on his jumpshot a little more, but that'll come with time, could very well be in the NBA right now, but will wait at least a year or two to polish his game just a little more, more than anything consistently making the outside shot, & then will be a guranteed top 5 pick, if not very possibly #1) Can't wait for this guy to go to the NBA, an absolute joy to watch, one of the most exciting guys you'll ever see when he's on.
Jose Calderon PG (NBA player for the Toronto Raptors, a high quality player, does things very well, executes, handles the ball tremendously, runs the system well, has a clutch factor and competitiveness about him as well, likes to take & make the big shots, can hit from the outside, has some nice moves, can penetrate)
Rudy "Smooth Criminal" Fernandez SG (Incoming player this season for the NBA Portland Trail Blazers, very exciting to watch when he's on, can hit from the oustide, very creative, nifty, slithery, super athletic, always moving, husting, extremely competitive, firy)
Other key contributors to watch for:
Juan Carlos "La Bomba" Navarro SG (former NBA player Memphis Grizzlies last year, also spent some time with Pau, now going back to Spain to play, can hit the outside shot, 3pt range as well very deadly, very mobile, can penetrate & create, not the most athletic guy in the world, but still manages to do damage)
Jorge Garbajosa F (former NBA player for the Toronto Raptors before suffering a devastating injury & then settling back in Spain to play, smart player, has range from outside including 3pt range, not afraid to get dirty)
Alex Mumbru F
Marc Gasol C (will be playing for the Memphis Grizzlies this year)
Felipe Reyes C
& other minor threats:
Raul Lopez PG (some solid NBA years with the Utah Jazz before getting injured & leaving back to Spain for good ultimately)
Carlos Jimenez F
Berni Rodriguez SG
Spain has yet another NBA player in Sergio Garcia PG. He has his rookie season last year with the Portland Trail Blazer, still in the NBA, but is not with the national teams for I don't know why.
I've been following this team all olympics, haven't missed a game. They are exciting to watch & very talented, also quite possibly the most overall versatile & athletic team of all the teams second only to the US.
In the end, I still expect Team USA to win this game by most likely a blowout, BUT wouldn't be surprised if they won in the higher single digits or lower double digits, AND wouldn't be shocked either if Spain actually won, but realistically, that's not too likely to happen.
Players to watch for on Spain as far as can go off & impact the game most:
Pau Gasol (of course) C
Ricky Rubio "Chachi" (sometimes the Spanish Pete Maravich) PG (A VERY VERY likely NBA Superstar in the future, not just all star, but superstar, is only 17 right now, supposedly started playing when he was 14, is about 6'4, very good size for a point guard, tremendous potential, natural star qualities that can't be taught, you either have em' or you don't, one of the toughest competitors you will ever see or know, extremely confident, always moving, always active, extremely good passer, compared to the likes of legends like pete maravich and the still playing steve nash, tremendous court awareness, vision, extremely terrific top of the line ballhandling skills and nifty moves, pesky defender, loves to push the ball for fastbreaks, can get anywhere he wants on the floor most of the time, probably needs to work on his jumpshot a little more, but that'll come with time, could very well be in the NBA right now, but will wait at least a year or two to polish his game just a little more, more than anything consistently making the outside shot, & then will be a guranteed top 5 pick, if not very possibly #1) Can't wait for this guy to go to the NBA, an absolute joy to watch, one of the most exciting guys you'll ever see when he's on.
Jose Calderon PG (NBA player for the Toronto Raptors, a high quality player, does things very well, executes, handles the ball tremendously, runs the system well, has a clutch factor and competitiveness about him as well, likes to take & make the big shots, can hit from the outside, has some nice moves, can penetrate)
Rudy "Smooth Criminal" Fernandez SG (Incoming player this season for the NBA Portland Trail Blazers, very exciting to watch when he's on, can hit from the oustide, very creative, nifty, slithery, super athletic, always moving, husting, extremely competitive, firy)
Other key contributors to watch for:
Juan Carlos "La Bomba" Navarro SG (former NBA player Memphis Grizzlies last year, also spent some time with Pau, now going back to Spain to play, can hit the outside shot, 3pt range as well very deadly, very mobile, can penetrate & create, not the most athletic guy in the world, but still manages to do damage)
Jorge Garbajosa F (former NBA player for the Toronto Raptors before suffering a devastating injury & then settling back in Spain to play, smart player, has range from outside including 3pt range, not afraid to get dirty)
Alex Mumbru F
Marc Gasol C (will be playing for the Memphis Grizzlies this year)
Felipe Reyes C
& other minor threats:
Raul Lopez PG (some solid NBA years with the Utah Jazz before getting injured & leaving back to Spain for good ultimately)
Carlos Jimenez F
Berni Rodriguez SG
Spain has yet another NBA player in Sergio Garcia PG. He has his rookie season last year with the Portland Trail Blazer, still in the NBA, but is not with the national teams for I don't know why.
I've been following this team all olympics, haven't missed a game. They are exciting to watch & very talented, also quite possibly the most overall versatile & athletic team of all the teams second only to the US.
In the end, I still expect Team USA to win this game by most likely a blowout, BUT wouldn't be surprised if they won in the higher single digits or lower double digits, AND wouldn't be shocked either if Spain actually won, but realistically, that's not too likely to happen.
#6
lyk13
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Posted August 16, 2008 - 12:20 AM
Beast inside isn't just Pau, Pau+Marc combo will be HUGE.
I have a very odd feeling fouls are gonna go our way....
6hrs to go!
I have a very odd feeling fouls are gonna go our way....
6hrs to go!
#7
Kellz
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Posted August 16, 2008 - 12:45 AM
this will be a real test
for team usa
Gasol is playing amazing
lets see if he keeps it up
for team usa
Gasol is playing amazing
lets see if he keeps it up
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#8
Cookie
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Posted August 16, 2008 - 08:09 AM
USA passed the TEST!
#9
KB24@CL
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Posted August 16, 2008 - 10:32 AM
Indeed Spain got schooled today...it was not close.
I mean everybody knows that USA has at least 3 times as much talent as all other countries together...but they haven't been able to play international basketball and they sure as hell couldn't rely on the fundamentals of simple efficient basketball (how to bust a zone, long range shooting, moving the ball, defending P&R, staying home with the shooters, switch to reduce open looks off the screen and stuff like that)...thats why they lost and couldn't execute in crunch time.... Other teams play together for like 10 years and USA had to assemble a new team every year and a lot of stars declined the invitations in order to rest their bodies in the off-season.
it was and it still is depressing to see guys like Duncan or KG not participate but at least this team has been together for some times and it has some of the best young talents in the league which will dominate and play in this line-up for years to come.
and of course they have Kobe. Even while he hasn't been anything special offensively in this tournament he has brought the leadership and pride that this team has lacked...
worst being 2002 when they were 6th in the world championship IN THE UNITED STATES...guys like Pierce, Jermaine and Mike Finley screwed and it was the start of a failure till 2008. Time to stop the bleeding now and get back to where the USA has been used to, the top in terms of basketball.
I mean everybody knows that USA has at least 3 times as much talent as all other countries together...but they haven't been able to play international basketball and they sure as hell couldn't rely on the fundamentals of simple efficient basketball (how to bust a zone, long range shooting, moving the ball, defending P&R, staying home with the shooters, switch to reduce open looks off the screen and stuff like that)...thats why they lost and couldn't execute in crunch time.... Other teams play together for like 10 years and USA had to assemble a new team every year and a lot of stars declined the invitations in order to rest their bodies in the off-season.
it was and it still is depressing to see guys like Duncan or KG not participate but at least this team has been together for some times and it has some of the best young talents in the league which will dominate and play in this line-up for years to come.
and of course they have Kobe. Even while he hasn't been anything special offensively in this tournament he has brought the leadership and pride that this team has lacked...
worst being 2002 when they were 6th in the world championship IN THE UNITED STATES...guys like Pierce, Jermaine and Mike Finley screwed and it was the start of a failure till 2008. Time to stop the bleeding now and get back to where the USA has been used to, the top in terms of basketball.
Edited by KB24@CL, August 16, 2008 - 12:00 PM.
#10
DeeZee
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Posted August 16, 2008 - 11:44 AM
what a blowout
#11
R0S4l3S<3
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Posted August 16, 2008 - 12:19 PM
true
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#12
phifedogg76
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Posted August 16, 2008 - 01:25 PM
well barring injuries, hopefully some of these guys can give like 6+ year commitments so the team can stay intact
Go Lakeshow!!!
#13
L.A.K.E.R
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Posted August 16, 2008 - 01:48 PM
Indeed Spain got schooled today...it was not close.
it was and it still is depressing to see guys like Duncan or KG not participate but at least this team has been together for some times and it has some of the best young talents in the league which will dominate and play in this line-up for years to come.
Both KG and Tim Duncan have already gone to the Olympics. KG was on the 2000 team and won a gold medal, while TD was on the disappointing 2004 squad that won the bronze medal.
#14
netlord
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Posted August 16, 2008 - 03:04 PM
USA will win gold, but Spain played badly, they didn't play at their level...
#15
lyk13
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Posted August 17, 2008 - 12:12 AM
Actually, what USA showed in this game is unlike the first 2 games and even Greece game...I wonder how much is left in their big luggage of tricks...
#16
netlord
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Posted August 17, 2008 - 12:58 AM
Actually, what USA showed in this game is unlike the first 2 games and even Greece game...I wonder how much is left in their big luggage of tricks...
I think they stepped up a level, passing the 100 points barrier, but I am sure when they get to the final, they will show everything else...
#17
Real Deal
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Posted August 17, 2008 - 03:53 AM
I'm sorry, but Ricky Rubio is not the next Pistol Pete. I don't see the resemblance. Omar Cook played as good as Rubio did before he was drafted, and they were comparing him to Jason Kidd.
I still think our toughest opponent will be Greece, when the smoke clears. They would much rather put us away with real international play, rather than eventually adjusting to us and our game plan after the first quarter ends, and trying to play NBA-style.
I still think our toughest opponent will be Greece, when the smoke clears. They would much rather put us away with real international play, rather than eventually adjusting to us and our game plan after the first quarter ends, and trying to play NBA-style.
#18
lyk13
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Posted August 17, 2008 - 05:42 AM
I think they stepped up a level, passing the 100 points barrier, but I am sure when they get to the final, they will show everything else...
I can't imagine what everything else is for Team USA....Kobe going for broke?
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