Olympics Game 4: USA vs. Spain

[CoolD]

GUys I am extremely disappointing by Team USA. They didn't put any effort in to the game, all we took were simple practice jump shots, committing fouls left and right, Our bigs sucked arse. Oh well, if you win. all is good right.

BTW, by how many points did we beat spain by? u know the champions?

I don't know if you are being sarcastic, but fouling is part of the game. I rather see 50 fouls shots taken, than 25 layups.
We played great.

[aroba]

CONGRATULATIONS to highly SUPERIOR USA team. You guys are much better than 2 years ago. Gold is yours.

Looked like a training for spanish players, no defense, no intensity. why do you quit so soon?. Coach Reneses didn't play a single 1-3-1 zone defense yet, as we talked earlier, maybe they were saving efforts. We understand, but fans in Spain want a little something more. Quitting as much as they did on defense is embarrasing. It becomes a dunk contest and 119 points says it all (we were allowing 66 pts a game).

If USA keeps shooting treys like that, game over. No matter wich zone defense.

I'm more worried about missing open shots than allowing easy baskets. You can always be more intensive on D, but missing open treys and layups means they're not focused. I hope things start to change when they're playing for the medals.

CONGRATS again, USA. See you in the final game.

[GuyverX]

Actually, Spain pretty much has next to no shot against the U.S., you just got beat by 37.

But they weren't trying, they didnt really care really that has to be the reason why they lost by 37 not that they actually sucked.

I'd like to think it was both.

[CircleCitysportsfan]

All I am saying is..

Spain > every other team USA has played, yet they lost by the largest margin.

Doesn't quite make sense does it.

Hey I saved a quote from you from last year. Any comment?

LOL @ these americans being so happy the brought home gold, can't wait for the Olympics, so you can all experience being in third place again, after this weak tournament, all of you guys think you are back at the top, and the dude who thought this team is unbeatable can't wait till Spain, Greece and the full Argentina Team play you guys.

September 2nd 2007

[TrueRain]

All I am saying is..

Spain > every other team USA has played, yet they lost by the largest margin.

Doesn't quite make sense does it.

Hey I saved a quote from you from last year. Any comment?

LOL @ these americans being so happy the brought home gold, can't wait for the Olympics, so you can all experience being in third place again, after this weak tournament, all of you guys think you are back at the top, and the dude who thought this team is unbeatable can't wait till Spain, Greece and the full Argentina Team play you guys.

September 2nd 2007

[CoolD]

Actually, Spain pretty much has next to no shot against the U.S., you just got beat by 37.

But they weren't trying, they didnt really care really that has to be the reason why they lost by 37 not that they actually sucked.

I don't believe it one bit. They stop trying because they couldn't do anything to stop them. So they took the easy route, and quit on the game. That don't sound like a Champion to me. Or gold medal winner in this instance.

[Sedale Threatt]

Ouch...

To quote Marv Albert: Yes, Circle City with...the facial.

[NG15]

GUys I am extremely disappointing by Team USA. They didn't put any effort in to the game, all we took were simple practice jump shots, committing fouls left and right, Our bigs sucked arse. Oh well, if you win. all is good right.

BTW, by how many points did we beat spain by? u know the champions?

I disagree, I thought our bigs played fine. Howard played well on both ends, even Doug Collins said this was his best game thus far. I felt Bosh was superb on defense always being active, he also had 8 rebounds. In addition, I saw Boozer play with a lot of energy which translated to positive results.

Btw, Tayshaun played fabulous.

[The Eminence]

All I am saying is..

Spain > every other team USA has played, yet they lost by the largest margin.

Doesn't quite make sense does it.

Hey I saved a quote from you from last year. Any comment?

LOL @ these americans being so happy the brought home gold, can't wait for the Olympics, so you can all experience being in third place again, after this weak tournament, all of you guys think you are back at the top, and the dude who thought this team is unbeatable can't wait till Spain, Greece and the full Argentina Team play you guys.

September 2nd 2007

Pwned.

Actually, Spain pretty much has next to no shot against the U.S., you just got beat by 37.

But they weren't trying, they didnt really care really that has to be the reason why they lost by 37 not that they actually sucked.

I don't believe it one bit. They stop trying because they couldn't do anything to stop them. So they took the easy route, and quit on the game. That don't sound like a Champion to me. Or gold medal winner in this instance.

Sarcasm.^^

[cb4_89]

Think about the, if Spain is indeed the 2nd best team in the tournament, is it even possible that they lost more to the US then the other teams?

Its obviously Spain is just messing around for this pointless game.

USA screwing around > Spain Screwing around

Team USA missed open 3's at an appalling clip in earlier games. If they're focused and hitting those shots at a decent clip like today there is nothing ANY team can do about it. I thought it was supposedly Spain's strategy to sag and hope that team USA beats themselves from beyond the arc anyways. Spain is not good enough to control their own destiny against Team USA. Dwyane Wade and Lebron James have been the best players in this tournament hands down, both play on Team USA, and that is an immense X-factor in addition to their superior overall athleticism.

Spain, Argentina, or Greece better beat Team USA in this year's Olympics because the impending rule changes will open up the game and be advantageous to the teams possessing speed and power (that would be the U.S.).

Agreed. The rule changes will make team USA impossible to beat (not that they already aren`t). At least now you can hope to do everything great and have the US suck and have a chance to win by 1 or 2 points but then you can play perfect and US can play crappy and the best result you will get is a 10 point loss.

[Black Milk]

All I am saying is..

Spain > every other team USA has played, yet they lost by the largest margin.

Doesn't quite make sense does it.

Hey I saved a quote from you from last year. Any comment?

LOL @ these americans being so happy the brought home gold, can't wait for the Olympics, so you can all experience being in third place again, after this weak tournament, all of you guys think you are back at the top, and the dude who thought this team is unbeatable can't wait till Spain, Greece and the full Argentina Team play you guys.

September 2nd 2007

Le smack down.

[Airness_ACB]

Oh! I've got to say that I enjoyed how your guys attacked the zone, by playing with LeBron in the free throw area and continously passing the ball so quickly. It was pretty obvious that this team knows how to attack a zone. Great point to coach K and his staff.

[M.Balla]

Actually, Spain pretty much has next to no shot against the U.S., you just got beat by 37.

Never say never.

Scenario:
- USA is not hitting outside jumpers. Opponents plays a hard zone defense, USA keeps missing jumpers, and it gets worse and worse. They're fustrated and turn the ball over and over. Spain/Another team is creating off those turnovers , and they're hitting their treys at a 50~60% clip

That's probably a lost game by USA. The chance is so slim, but in sports, anything is possible. It's not like it doesn't happen before...

But the USA team is clearly more focused, more experienced, not 100% balanced but not bad at all and playing with a chip on their shoulder. The ball is on their court, and they should crush the competition.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

I just said never, it's not happening.

[senfono]

I'm interested to hear some of the Spanish fans thoughts on the way coach Renesesis handling the rotations. It's so random, and theres no set pattern. Why was Raul Lopez starting the second half? It just seems so scattered.

Spain were kind of lifeless, they seemed so emotionless and were going through the motions.

Not a game to take conclusions, I'm sure he didn´t want to show his cards. But anyway he always does that strange things in his teams, and he gets results. But it's not the same working all the season with a team, that doing that for a three weeks championship. Even more when he's been Spain's coach only for a month. I´m sure he'll be very critized if Spain fails in the knockout rounds

[Cavsfan4lyfe]

Great performance by the US. Hopefully we don't get overconfident though. It's a single elimination tournament and anything could happen from here. One lazy performance and we could miss out on gold again.

Also, props to many Spanish fans in this thread for being classy about the loss.

[GuyverX]

Never say never.

Scenario:
- USA is not hitting outside jumpers. Opponents plays a hard zone defense, USA keeps missing jumpers, and it gets worse and worse. They're fustrated and turn the ball over and over. Spain/Another team is creating off those turnovers , and they're hitting their treys at a 50~60% clip

That's probably a lost game by USA.

Even if they're not hitting their outside jumpers, they would still beat Spain by 20. I don't see how not hitting outside shots is going to make you so frustrated that you turn the ball over that much. They'll just go to the basket...with ease. LeBron has been doing that every game this tournament. He's not exactly killing people from outside. If they're able to steal the ball and ignite the fastbreak (like they've done against every team so far), that's really all they need to beat teams on most nights.

[Copperhead]

I think Michael Redd may need to get on the floor a little earlier to get warmed up to knock those 3's down. He's supposed to be the best 3 point shooter on Team USA but he doesn't get in the game until garbage time. Imagine if he were hot early on.

[aroba]

Oh! I've got to say that I enjoyed how your guys attacked the zone, by playing with LeBron in the free throw area and continously passing the ball so quickly. It was pretty obvious that this team knows how to attack a zone. Great point to coach K and his staff.

Spains 2-3 zone defense sucked... they were'nt closing the paint, no pressing shooters, not helping on D to open man, nothing. Just looking.
Just the way a zone hasn't to be played.

Another thing that worries me a lot is, despite they were not defending with effort, Marc Gasol was fouled out. When the game matters that will be an issue.

[G35]

I would say that Melo was the guy that got the Team off to the good start. His shooting in the first half broke the game open. Like I said before he is our 2nd best mismatch on the floor after Lebron. Teams can't lock everyone down and if teams want to pack the lane he's gonna get open shots.

I'm giving the game ball to Melo....