US Team

[Pony_Fan]

from ESPN.com -

Good article about fundamentals and US Bball. Where have all the good shooters gone?

Aside from the Michael Redd omission, I can't be too critical about the makeup of our Olympic team. The selection committee was hit with so many withdrawals and no-thank-yous that it doesn't feel right to second-guess too much. Those folks had enough trouble just getting 12 players to accept invitations.



Brent Barry was second in the NBA in three-point shooting, hitting 45.2 percent.
I am also prepared to accept the idea of Team USA coming away with a silver (or worse) in Athens. If the old guard of world football can say the United States legitimately outplayed Germany in the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, and deserved to beat the Germans, I can applaud Argentina or Lithuania or Serbia and Montenegro later this month if they deny us what used to be an automatic gold.


What I will never accept is the fact that, beyond Redd, the names of shooters who could have helped Larry Brown's squad don't quickly pop into one's head. Ray Allen said he needed the summer off for family reasons. Rip Hamilton likewise declined. Allan Houston is recovering from an injury. Reggie Miller is, well, somewhat past it.


And sadly, as Rusty told Danny Ocean in "Ocean's Eleven": "That is the list."


Seriously. You really have to scour your cranium to come up with pure shooters in the Stojakovic/Nowitzki class. If you keep scouring, you're probably naming Brent Barry and Brian Cardinal as the most sensible options after the aforementioned five.


No matter whom you submit as the next few candidates, there can be no debating: We've got a serious shortage of dead-eye marksmen in this country. Sickens me.


There are a lot of things wrong with the development of American basketball players, and I remain convinced that the restrictions on coaches at all levels are a huge slice of the problem. I said so after the Indianapolis debacle two summers ago, and I'll say it again now: Instead of those AND 1 Mix Tape auditions known as the AAU circuit, it would be wonderful if the best 50 or 100 teen prospects could be invited to a camp every summer where each of the NBA's 30 teams has at least one coaching representative. That's how they do it in every other basketball-playing nation around the globe: The most talented kids are exposed to the best coaches at a young age. They don't ignore fundamentals until they get to the pros, like our best kids do.


In the meantime, while I wait for that pipe dream to materialize, I have only one request from all the American NBAers who will be watching their Team USA buddies struggle to overcome a collective lack of shooting, size, chemistry, defensive harmony and international experience.


Go shoot. Now. Take 500 extra jumpers every day before the season starts. Please.


This means you!


There's no rule that says we have to dominate the sport forever ... but it's beyond embarrassing how bad Americans look from the perimeter as a people

[SWC2010]

PonyFan, you're right. This team is horrible. But in the same breath I have to say it is a reflection of the NBA. Check the stats- few NBA players can shoot. Save & except dunks, & hard drives to the bucket, there is little scoring talent in today's game. Check 2004 scores vs 5 years ago. Playoffs games were 110+-- now neither team can score 90.

How many FT down the stretch did the Dream Team miss? They could not hit a FT with a gun up their A$%. Same speaks for 3's. Team defense: void. Team offense: non-existent. It's 5 1v1 games. Puerto Rico? It's an embarrassment.

But I don't blame the players- the NBA is showtime not basketball. The hunger is lacking in NBA players & rightfully so- they make too much money to risk injury representing their country. It's time to get the best Top 10/20 basketball players in the US-- not a bunch of prima donnas...