2012-2013 NBA Season

[thrill]

It's kind of not USA's fault that a) limiting starter's minutes doesn't exactly take the pressure off because it's just all-stars replacing all-stars when they substitute and b) Nigeria didn't adjust their defensive strategy once during the course of the game. It was what it was. I'm sure Nigeria enjoyed being there.

[JackofDiamonds]

Didn't help that we were still hucking 3's in the fourth.

[thrill]

Didn't help that we were still hucking 3's in the fourth.

why? its a low percentage shot. you'd rather they just dunk on them?

[MrSaigon]

Can you score 156 if you start letting the shot clock run down to a few seconds every possession by, maybe, mid-third quarter or so?

I'm not seeing much negative response from the media or anything. Maybe I'm way off on this. But it sure doesn't seem like greatness to me.

[thrill]

Can you score 156 if you start letting the shot clock run down to a few seconds every possession by, maybe, mid-third quarter or so?

So protecting the egos of the Nigerian team and your already admitted bias against the USA stars has led you to the conclusion that it would be more important to live up to some subjective level of sportsmanship rather than put on a great show for the viewing public and the attendees who shelled out wildly inflated prices to attend the event in person just because Nigeria's coach wouldn't install a more aggressive full court press or pull his team out of their crazy, deep lying zone? London basketball fans don't get a chance to see Kobe Bryant, LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony in person on their continent. I'd rather those people get to see what basketball at it's highest level is like than Nigeria not feel bad at how [expletive] they are.

[MrSaigon]

Can you score 156 if you start letting the shot clock run down to a few seconds every possession by, maybe, mid-third quarter or so?

So protecting the egos of the Nigerian team and your already admitted bias against the USA stars has led you to the conclusion that it would be more important to live up to some subjective level of sportsmanship rather than put on a great show for the viewing public and the attendees who shelled out wildly inflated prices to attend the event in person just because Nigeria's coach wouldn't install a more aggressive full court press or pull his team out of their crazy, deep lying zone? London basketball fans don't get a chance to see Kobe Bryant, LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony in person on their continent. I'd rather those people get to see what basketball at it's highest level is like than Nigeria not feel bad at how [expletive] they are.

In so many words, yes--though I can respect other opinions. The Olympics is certainly an entertainment industry, but entertainment isn't supposed to be the bottom line. If people want to drop all their quid on a layup drill (or shooting drill, in this case) I'm not going to feel sorry for them if NBA superstars step off the gas a little at some point (and I bet they would have gone home just as happy if they had). It's not right to treat basketball like an individual event, IMO.

If sportsmanship is a thing at all, and I believe it is, an 83-point win in an Olympic game is certainly beyond most any objective level of it.

[longhornbaseball]

I want to see them score 200 points and win by over 100. There is no competition, so that's the only kind of entertainment to hope for.

[BW23]

I'd like to see it go back to no pros, so whatever has to happen for that to take effect, that's what I'm hoping on.

[jim]

Didn't see the game but every sport has a way of playing when leading by that much without taking a knee. Football keep the ball on the ground and in bounds. Baseball it's base to base, no stealing. Basketball I would guess no 3's, no fast breaks unless you can't help it.

[MrSaigon]

So, I'm not at all happy that Nic Batum--he of the recent huge contract that I'm also not especially happy about--punched a guy in the nuts, but I sort of love his quote afterward:

"I wanted to give him a good reason to flop."

I'd love to see that quote after most soccer games. In the nuts, though? Lame. Oh, well. Hasn't damaged Chris Paul an awful lot.