Re: Olympics

[Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

    I honestly don't know what to think about this latest fiasco.

    Rudy T. has done a disgraceful job of preparing his team for zone defenses,
but that alone has NEVER stopped Team USA from winning by 30+ points. We're
watching street ball (call it "gimmietheball") against organized ball, and
determined guys who nail freethrows and open jumpshots against a bunch of guys
with relatively lousy form in both categories. The Yanks didn't show up with the
dominant inside game that Duncan and Shaq would have brought every night, but
more annoyingly their outside shooting is average by Olympic standards right
now, without the presence of former Dream Teamers who turrned distance shooting
into an art form like Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin...

    They better get their act together. The international competition this year
IMO is significantly weaker by far and less experienced than those from previous
Olympic tournaments. With due respect to Lithuania (a lot of respect), what we
saw today from the US was a disgrace. Worse in some ways than the US ice hockey
players trashing their room in the Olympic village two years ago. The selection
committee could have randomly sent one of any of the 29 NBA team rosters (minus
foreign players) to represent Team USA, and they still  would have played with
more of a clue and won by a larger margin. Even Poultrino's Chicken Outbreak
would have got the job done, although maybe I'm pushing it slightly.

--------

Douglas342@aol.com wrote:

>      I wasn't listening very carefully, but heard two comments on the radio
> that go a long way towards explaining the malaise that I am feeling about
> sports and the NBA and on which others have commented.  One player said, "No
> one (on the other team) was even asking us for autographs this year!"
> Another said, "I don't know if we'd show up for a bronze medal game."
>    Ladies and gentlement of the jury, the People rest.