OT - NBA players dont want to play in the Olympics.

[cuetipp-migration]

2 are having surgery this summer, ones getting married, one cited security concerns, and 2 had ongoing injuries throughout the season.

 

That said, i think we need to go back to what the olympics should be: the top amateurs competing. There was an editorial in recent Sports Illustrated or Sporting News (I forget sorry) about how we should send the people who truly deserve to go: college athletes, mixed with some high school people, capping it at age 22. These people, as the article said, would go simply for the thrill of going, and the competition, for the most part.

[Murph]

The problem lies in that we'd then be playing it as a "we don't care if we win" scenario, because we obviously don't if we have no intent to send the best possible players available. If we send amatuers, and the other countries continue to send their best. We lose. Period. European players are simply too good now, and these Olympic teams that they CAN put together rival the bad NBA teams. Overseas they teach their guys ALL the positions, regardless of your size. In the end, if we want to watch our team lose.. then by all means, let's send amatuer players so we can have a good "story" if they accidentally win a couple games. If we want to get the gold medal then you send the best.

 

The Pan Am games went very poorly and those guys weren't even amatuers. No amount of practicing as a team is going to get amatuers ready to match up against European teams of professional basketball players.

 

Brian

[PovertyRow]

Just responding to the original poster. The whole "national" thing about the Olympics makes my stomach churn. It is (or was) supposed to be about athletic competition, not about countries. And the idea of allowing professional players to particiapte also makes my stomach churn. Yeah, I am somewhat aware of what goes on in the "Olympics" and understand the current presentaton and concept of "this country" vs "that country" - but to me the ideal Olympics is a place where non-pro athletes compete against each other and they are appreciated for their skills. The modern age can really sucketh.

[fantastic_four]

That said, i think we need to go back to what the olympics should be: the top amateurs competing.

 

Why should it be amateurs? Didn't the ancient Greeks try to get the very best athletes in the known world together to compete in the original Olympics?

[PovertyRow]

Didn't the ancient Greeks try to get the very best athletes in the known world together to compete in the original Olympics?

 

Did the ancient Greeks have pro athletes? Also, I believe, but not sure, that the ancient Greeks competed in the nude. Should we do that too? And on and on.

 

The Olympics as we know them are NOT the Olympics of ancient Greece. They are simply inspired by them.

 

::yah yah - typo edit::

[awe4one]

I agree with most everything you've said Murph....a couple more points....

 

Taking the best college players doesn't mean you get the best anymore due to the increasing influx of undergrads to the NBA. Also, I think the NBA has morphed into another game entirely from international BB in some respects. Players cannot exhibit their normal game due to more stringent rules. Shaq's hook move to the basket, that he's perfected in the NBA and doesn't get called as a foul, would be called every the time in an international arena.....

 

Jim

[shadroch]

Three players from the Nets played on last years qualifying team and all three wore down considerably by the end of this season.Athletes need an off-season to allow their bodies to recover from the beatings they recieve in the long,long season they play.Maybe Basketball should be moved to the Winter Olympics and the NBA could suspend play,as the NHL does.Players are human and to ask them to give up two consecutive off-seasons from their familys is asking alot. Last years team got us into the Olympics,let new players take it from here. Kidd is hurt,Malone is hurt,others are hurting.

It seems like alot of people questioning players patriotism by wanting to skip another two month effort should lead by example. Why not go vounteer for jury duty when you next have a vacation?Come on,you"re not selfish,are you?Your wife and kids can wait til next year to spend some time with you. At least you get to go home after work each night,unlike professional athletes.

Since the Olympics is so keen on professional athletes these days(think TV ratings)when will they restore the honor,dignity and medals they stripped from Jim Thorpe?

The Olympics can make for great drama,the Miracle on Ice,Olga Korbut,Sarah Hughes,but does it really matter to you,me,or anyone if USA Basketball fails to win it all?

[awe4one]

The Olympics can make for great drama,the Miracle on Ice,Olga Korbut,Sarah Hughes,but does it really matter to you,me,or anyone if USA Basketball fails to win it all?

 

It hurts the pride....

 

Jim

[shadroch]

Jim,

Were you prouder to be an American when Sara Hughes won the gold?Less proud when Olga Korbut did?Did those clowns who won the relay race and then abused the American flags make you proud?I was happy for the first two because I witnessed history and saddened by the last example because all of their years of training and hard work wil be forgotten but their juvenile behavior will be remembered. None of them made me more or less prouder than I was before the event.People remember Tommy Smith and John Carlos for their black power salute and disgraceful behavior during the Anthem but don't know that their 400 yd.race is considered one of the biggest upsets in track history.

[awe4one]

Sure there are ups and downs in regards to how the athletes act at the Olympics but that's not the issue we are talking about.

 

There's the perception, right or wrong, that the US has the best BB players in the world in a game originated in the US. So, yes, seeing them lose at international competitions hurts the pride some....

 

Jim

[goldust40]

Jim,

People remember Tommy Smith and John Carlos for their black power salute and disgraceful behavior during the Anthem but don't know that their 400 yd.race is considered one of the biggest upsets in track history.

 

Not that I want to turn this into a quasi-political WC thread, but what those two athletes did is actually relevant to this topic, i.e. wanting to play for your country.

 

Yes, they wanted to win, badly (presumably) but the message behind those black power salutes and their "antics" was that they felt that although they were representing their country, on a social, political and economic level, their country was not representing THEM. It's stating the obvious, but you have to put everything into context, and see things from the athletes' perspective.

 

They knew where their loyalties lied. And yes, the old chestnut about keeping politics out of sport is one thing, but in the late 1960s (the most turbulent decade in American history) that would've been impossible.

[Red Hook]

Well, sports and politics are definitely enmeshed, even the site choices have political shadings. But I learned my lesson, and am staying as far away from politics as I can around here!

 

But back to B-Ball!

 

I do have to agree with Murph and Carrot that the rest of the planet is catching up to US basketball. No doubt about it. But I still think that if the latest version of the Dream Team dedicated themselves to teamwork and truely focused, no one else would have a chance. I'll watch it this year, and see what happens. I just think it would be interesting to try a little imagination in fielding the team. I really think interest has really dropped off in the DT concept especially with the recent problems fielding the team.

 

What was it, Christian Lattner (sp) was the only college player one year? Kind of silly. I think it would really be FUN (you know, fun) to have a team composed of six pros, and six college players. Make it three NBA veterans and three NBA rookies, and six college guys. Or any mix of those three. I think it would capture the public's imagination.

 

Part of the problem I have is with the general attitude of some of the pros. ESPN had a little piece on Old School / New School attitude among players. A little humility would be nice,.... a little sense that they really think it's important to represent the US, a little sense that they are interested in teamwork and a little sense that they respect even those Olympic opponents that are badly undermanned. What I mean is, when it comes down to it, as long as the pros showed some real passion, and showed some class on the court, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with whoever they send out there.

 

As for amateur vs professional, POV, I'm sorry but that toothpaste is well out of the tube and you can't go back and put it back in. True amateurism has been long dead, and it's better now that the money is at least out on the top of the table and not being passed around under it. On a related matter, I think the restrictions against college athletes receiving, in essence, pay-to-play is also very hypocritical at this juncture. What I mean is, they SHOULD get it, since they generate such incredible income for the universities. The whole system is pretty screwed right now.