European Basketball Catching Up
USA Players Need to Focus More on Fundamentals
Team USA hasn't fared too well in recent international competitions, which has exposed the country's weakness of not teaching its players fundamentals and team play.
To say that European basketball has completely caught up to American basketball is a bit unfair. For starters, in the recent international competitions, Team USA has not been able to produce its best basketball players.
Sure, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade and some others are some of the top players in the league, but a true USA Dream Team would include all of America's best. Players like Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and many others are completely missing from the equasion and would have likely made for a completely different outcome. In fact, in the last Olympics, Team USA produced a roster that looked a lot closer to a true "Dream Team" in the preliminaries the summer before the actual Olympics. That team dominated the competition, and even embarrassed eventual Gold Medal winner, Argentina. The next year, all but two players (Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson) dropped the squad and USA had to pool players together just two weeks before competition began. The new roster was full of young players who mostly played the same kind of slash-to-the-hoop type of game. Also consider that these young players, many of whom were not even the best players on their respective teams, had to learn European rules, which are completely different from NBA rules. For example, the ball is smaller and goal tending is allowed. The point is that coach Larry Brown was in a no-win situation.
A truer Team USA "Dream Team" might look something like this (with a couple more players):
- Shaquille O'Neal
- Amare Stoudemire
- Tim Duncan
- Kevin Garnett
- LeBron James
- Carmelo Anthony
- Kobe Bryant
- Tracy McGrady
- Ray Allen
- Jason Kidd
These are not excuses, but it's disgusting that American basketball fans can't better support their most recent team that took the Bronze Medal in this summers' FIBA World Games. That team played with class and pride and worked their butts off. The international game has gotten better and USA is still unable to put its best veterans on the international court. The biggest reason for this is because of pressure put on players not to play by owners paying them millions of dollars. They're afraid that their investments will get injured, much like the Pau Gasol incident where he missed half the season due to an injury that occurred during the FIBA Games.
It's frustrating that USA isn't winning the Gold year after year like they used to, but it's good for the game. It should push American players to better their games and focus on fundamentals over flash, shooting touch over slams and team mentality over individuality. Moreover, the fact that a large majority of the top European stars play in the NBA should provide more diverse role models for younger up-and-coming phenoms.
What's very frustrating is that the rest of the world isn't giving Team USA or its fans much mercy. After years of being accused of egotism by the rest of the world, America isn't being given much sympathy, even though its been a farely gracious and respectful loser. Yet, that's the nature of competition and though it should drive Team USA to work harder to get the Gold Medal back, it should also bring a lot of excitement for basketball fans. Increased international interest in basketball will only further improve the quality of the game and make for more entertainment for fans.
