File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
I have a big problem with the NBA champions (whoever they turn out to be) being called the WORLD champions. The NBA is not a WORLD organization. If America can't even beat Argentina in the World championship, then why would an individual team call themselves World Champions? How about this, let the NBA champions get put up against another country's champions and THEN I might call you World Champions. Just because you have a handful of international players in your association doesn't make you a world association.

In the NFL, I can understand. Very few (ie, NONE outside of Canada) countries practice and play American football (or Padball for all the haters).

This problem is also apparent in the MLB. I don't mind the championship games being called a "World Series", but "World Champions"?
>> Anonymous
USA WON FIFA USA WON FIFA USA WON FIFA
>> Kilgamayan !2BklmILFiE
The NBA Champs would probably fare better against an international team than an All-Star team thanks to a better build and team chemistry.
>> Anonymous
Same with the NHL.

BTW, Austria rules european american football since the NFLE went belly up FUCK YEAH.
>> Anonymous
>>165853
Well, if the United States concentrated a little more on international play, we could have an even better build and team chemistry on the MNT
>> Anonymous
Biggest problem with the USA team is that it tries to concentrate on picking the best talent, but ignores the physical play needed to kick the crap out of other teams. The U.S. team doesn't have a guy like Kendrick Perkins to clog up the middle and punch a guy in the gut when needed. Not to say Perkins should be on the team, but when your starting center is likely KG, who doesn't even try to make shots in the paint, it just isn't the same.
>> Anonymous
USA=WORLD
>> Anonymous
FIBA rules are kind of annoying:

Shot clock doesn't start until a team "established control in bounds". WTF? Room for interpretation much?
Zone defense


Cool things about FIBA:

Coach has to call timeout and it can't be used as an OH FUCK SAVE ME thing like it wasn't intended to.
Zone defense
Center can dribble as much as he wants with the back to the basket.
>> Kilgamayan !2BklmILFiE
>>165857

The difference in play style isn't the problem, it's being really fucking stupid with building teams. Remember the year we picked up the Bronze in the Olympics? That was because Richard fucking Jefferson was our best outside shooter. Yeah.

Team USA needs to build a team with stars and roleplayers. They also need to lay off the offensive black holes. Get Carmelo's ass out of there, and kick DH12 out with him.

Given what we have in the US right now, my ideal starting lineup would look something like this:

PG: Jason Kidd
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: LeBron James
PF: Kevin Garnett
C: Chris Kaman

Suddenly, superstars AND roleplayers! Kobe and LeBron can concentrate on scoring (despite not being black holes - at least not as bad as Melo and Howard are), relegating Kidd (who has no business shooting the ball on an All-Star team anyway) to ball handling and defense. KG can score when necessary, but he'd be the third option, and he's much more valuable as a rebounder and defender. Kaman is basically doing Kendrick Perkins's job as outlined in>>165867except he's better than Perkins in pretty much every facet.
>> Kilgamayan !2BklmILFiE
The bench should be focused on stars that can play as roleplayers. I'd like something like this:

PG: Chris Paul, Deron Williams (ball handling with some defense attached)
SG: Ray Allen or Michael Redd (outside scoring)
SF: Ron Artest, Josh Smith (defense, rebounding)
PF: Chris Bosh (quality scoring big, rebounding)
C: Marcus Camby (defense, rebounding)

It hurts me to leave Pierce off the bench list, but everything he does is already covered elsewhere. Maybe take Deron off to add him in since I don't know how much playing time he'd get behind Kidd and Paul.

And yes, that is Paul on the bench and Kidd starting. Paul is a better all-around than Kidd, but Kidd is better than Paul in the areas the team would need a PG to be good at with the other starters already on the floor. Paul's scoring ability is meaningless if he plays alongside Kobe and LeBron, whereas it would be much more useful if he's on the floor with Artest, Smith and Camby.

Camby and Kaman are probably interchangable in retrospect.

I also forgot Arenas in my list of offensive black holes that need to get the hell out.
>> Anonymous
I would LOVE IT if any World Champion got a chance to test their title against any international all-star team.

The Red Wings, the Celtics, the Red Sox, it doesn't matter...any one of those teams would absolutely destroy any and every team from any and every country in the world. It wouldn't even be close to competition.
>> Anonymous
If it means anything, the Americans kicked the crap out of Argentina in our last game.
>> Anonymous
Teams have already started using NBA champs instead of world. Spurs did it in 05'.
>> Anonymous
AGREE

NBA IS NOT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

STUPID AMERIFAGS
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>kick DH12 out with him.
>> Anonymous
http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/even/rank/p/openNodeIDs/999/selNodeID/999/rankMen.html

We're number 1, we're number 1 etc.
>> Anonymous
>>165911
I would LOVE IT if America realised that the only sport the world cares about, is football(soccer). Everything else is no more than a sport for the ones who aren't good enough to play football.
>> Anonymous
>>165850
lawl OP. NBA<Euroleague you say?

The NBA by far has the best players in the world. So if your team wins the NBA, it is considered the world champion. NBA=/=USA any more.
>> Kilgamayan !2BklmILFiE
>>165926

When DH12 learns how to not be an offensive black hole and a turnover machine he can come back in. Until then, get him out.
>> Anonymous
>>165895
You still have to consider the difference in playstyles when building a team.

When a center can keep his back to the basket forever he can push any international player around. The problem is that the NBA now is totally concentrated on DRIVE DAT BALL.

I wouldn't start Le Bron. Play the inside-out/picknroll game for the first half. Keep all our superstar drivers until the middle of the third quarter then DRIVE DAT BALL. Instant foul trouble and pointses.
>> Anonymous
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:NBA_Europe_Live_Tour

In terms of NBA franchises against other league teams around the world, NBA teams have been beaten in "friendlies" with Euro teams.

Euro teams put out their best and played it like a championship game. NBA teams approached it like it what it is, a preseason game, and played their 12-20 players who are playing for a roster spot. And on top of that, the CLIPPERS and 76ERS were the reps for the league.
>> Anonymous
>>165928
>I would LOVE IT if America realised that the only sport the world cares about, is football(soccer).

We do realize it. We just like other sports more. Maybe it's because soccer is perceived to be a little kid's game? I don't know.
>> Anonymous
>>165925
0/10

LAZY
>> Kilgamayan !2BklmILFiE
>>165938

Who would you started instead, then? Artest?
>> Anonymous
>>165928
is english your first language?
>> Anonymous
>>165939
Another interesting list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NBA_vs_FIBA_games
>> Anonymous
Why is it then that FIBA rules are slowly emulating to the NBA? Why do rejects in the NBA always go overseas?

The rest of the world has more finesse but when you have stackloads of athleticism and talent in the NBA you might as well build a league that embraces it.
>> Anonymous
>The only NBA team to lose on their home court was the Toronto Raptors to Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2005.

CANADAAAAA
>> Kilgamayan !2BklmILFiE
>>165952

TETSUOOOOOO

Also, the idea of a Kidd/Smith/Artest/KG/Camby lineup just occurred to me. We could make a team that would legitimately turtle its way to wins.
>> Anonymous
>>165952

The Raptors are mostly Euros, too (much to the chagrin of Torontonians, goddamn it hire a black guy for fucks sake it's basketball)
>> Anonymous
>>165944
Move Bryant to SF and toss up a pure shooter to play inside out with whoever has the biggest post up inequality.
>> Kilgamayan !2BklmILFiE
>>165956

Sounds like a job for Michael Redd.
>> Anonymous
everyone seems to forget we already got mike miller as a pure shooter in the team along with redd
>> Anonymous
>>165955
Brian Colangelo seems to want to Europeanize the team (Which, of course, is the wrong thing to do, since niggers play better basketball).

WE NEED BETTER DEFENDERS!!
>> Anonymous
>>165973
Changes were made since FIBA Americas.

Article in
>>165861
>> Anonymous
>>165922
That was an equivilent to an international friendly. USA would never do thisunder other conditions based on the fact that most of their team superstars are foreign. Can you imagine the Spurs taking on a good international team without Ginobli and Parker?
>> Anonymous
>>165850
You know that NBA teams are made up of more than Americans, right?
>> Anonymous
>>165928
>>165928

yeah imagine with all the freak athletes that are in the NFL, NBA and putting their ability in soccer.

FIFA dynasty anyone? imagine lebron james as a striker
>> Anonymous
>>166053
Agreed, but it's not like they took the best in the world and assembled them in one association. These championship teams have never even took the floor against any South American team or Europe team.
>> Anonymous
>>166108
It's close. I understand that scouts aren't going to go all around the world, but when they hear about someone, they're going to go look.