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Who can stop Team USA?

July 12, 2012

This one goes out by request to BallinEurope’s Lithuanian agent Y. … with Team USA coming together to play the Dominican Republic today – with or without Chris Paul – BiE tries to answer the question “Who [if anyone] can beat Team USA?”

Good one.

A few gauntlets have been thrown by the Americans already, the least of which is certainly not the roster itself. That roster, one more time, is the following.

Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)
Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks)
Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers)
James Harden (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers)
LeBron James (Miami Heat)
Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers)
Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Deron Williams (Beşiktaş JK/Brooklyn Nets)

Said James: “Our speed is one of the best [among the Olympic teams], and also how dynamic some of the lineups can be, [guys] being able to play a lot of positions … [Kevin Durant] can play 2-5 if he has to, I can play 1-5 if I have to. Iguodala can do it as well and Melo can play multiple positions and the list goes on, so it should be fun. … If Coach K wants to get freaky or unique with the lineups, he has the ability to do that.”

Said Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski: “It’s a more versatile team than 2008.” – when the Red-White-and-Blues ran the table at 8-0 in 14 days with hardly a serious challenge, mind you. “Although we don’t have the center, that team didn’t have Durant or Westbrook. So it’s a different team, and we’ll see if it becomes better, but it can be. It could be.”

Says BiE: That’s pretty much it, in a nutshell. What will it take to take out Team USA? Speed and length and the ability to draw fouls on Blake Griffin probably, Tyson Chandler definitely. And above-average shooting will definitely help.

If any weak links exist on this side, one might maybe just possibly have to concede Griffin and Chandler. In contrast to his play in transition, the Dunkmaster’s post game remains predictable pre-therapy with Coach K and his free-throw shooting remains abysmal: just over 52% in 2011-12. How to slow down a Team USA that wants to fly? Hack-a-Blake!

Chandler certainly isn’t a bad choice for center, if you’re not going with Dwight Howard or Andrew Bynum, but sheesh, he’s the only true center on this side. Now the same argument might’ve been made about the 2008 edition of Team USA, but even ardent Chandler backers can admit that Howard to their guy is a bit of a comedown. Then again, as Krzyzewski reminds, Durant’s aboard, so just slide LeBron into the 4 spot. Or the 5 if Love’s not in the game.

As always, the difference-maker for the US’ opposition will be about drawing out the big men from underneath. While bringing little to the center position paradoxically helps neutralize this concern for Team USA – if Anthony is playing at power forward, for example, what other no. 4 in the world has such range? – this would have to be the sole strategic chink in the red, white and blue armor.

In short, BiE counts three Olympic teams that have the theoretical tools to take down the yankees: Russia, Spain and Brazil. However, if correct, this supposition would indicate a 5-0 run to start the ‘Games and some nice momentum for the knockout stage, as all three would-be upsetters are in Group B. In fact, ultimately no proper way to judge the correctness of the claim will ever be had, since Team USA could play a maximum of two of the three – incidentally, further increasing the USA’s chances of extending its 18-0 international run right through to the podium.

Within Group A, BiE supposes challenges could come from Lithuania, Argentina and France. On paper, the former two are outclassed by Team USA; Team Lithuania appears to be in a baton-passing phase with old-guard guys like Sarunas Jasikevicius and Robertas Javtokas handing over the reins to Jonas Valanciunas, Donatas Motiejunas (someday soon, hopefully) and their ilk. Linas Kleiza has been performing excellently in friendlies, but Jonas Maciulis’ injury brought bad news to a team not exactly deep in the 3 spot.

As for Argentia, BiE’ll simply say that one should never underestimate a team with Manu Ginobili.

Team France brought their best team ever to the Eurobasket 2011 tournament and proved worthy of its second-place finish. Perhaps BiE is overestimating the importance of Joakim Noah to Les Bleus’ success, but damn does the Bull’s absence appear to create a huge hole in the French rebounding game. BiE hasn’t seen the critically important Tony Parker play since recovering from the notorious eye injury he recently suffered, but can’t believe he’ll be at 100% in this tourney. And France needs Parker at 100% against the USA – look what happened when, healthy, Tony managed just 26-of-68 (38.2%) overall shooting in those final four NBA games against 25% of Team USA.

So BiE’s assuming a 5-0 start for Team USA. Among the contenders in the group stage…

For Team Russia, Andrei Kirilenko has the potential to be a one-man distraction to the likes of Anthony or Griffin in drawing the big men, leaving opportunities for Timofey Mozgov and Sasha Kaun. The question would then become one of backcourt play: To wit, can Alexei Shved, Anton Ponkrashov and Vitaliy Fridzhon stop a frontcourt driven by guys who can beat most isos thrown at them (D-Will, Westbrook) and the playmaker with perhaps the best court vision in the tourney (Chris Paul)?

Without Ricky Rubio, Team Spain still boasts a backcourt rife with experience and talent, with Jose Calderon, Fernando San Emeterio, Victor Sada, Sergio Llull, Rafa Martinez and “La Bomba” Juan Carlos Navarro among the ranks. And while these six in particular (as well as the entire team in general) enjoy the advantages earned in playing together so long, here’s a possible key stat for Los Rojos to consider heading into the Olympics: Age. No wonder Sergio Scariolo eschewed the naturalized Nikola Mirotic for a sixth guard: BiE figures Spain’s backcourt rotations will be deep and its substitutions frequent.

The other reason Mirotic couldn’t crack this roster? A frankly amazing frontcourt loaded with NBA all-stars in Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and block machine Serge Ibaka, plus ACB studs Victor Claver and Felipe Reyes. Like all other podium hopefuls, Team USA will have to fight for boards against Los Rojos.

But BiE doesn’t believe this side has the speed of recent Europe-dominating Teams Spain; Rubio’s absence hurts here, and Mirotic might’ve helped marginally as well. Can the top-scoring team of Eurobasket 2011 force Team USA into a half-court game? Can Scariolo confound Coach K? These are big wait-and-sees.

Finally, there’s Team Brazil or, as BiE’s thinking of them, the X factor. It’s clear that the Brazilians are among the cream of the Group B crop, but just what might this team be capable of? BiE caught the final game of the Torneio Eletrobase de Basquete tournament against Greece and was impressed by – echoes of the USA – the versatility and athleticism Brazil brings. (Further echoes! Said Leandro Barbosa in assessing his roster: “It’s a very strong selection which has a bit of everything in every position.”)

Tiago Splitter and Anderson Varejao are again demonstrating, for lack of a better description, classic European-style big man offense of enviable range plus aggressive NBA-like physicality that both break out in these tournaments while showing such sporadically in the big league. In the Greece game, Splitter and Varejao provided brilliant distraction that wreaked havoc with Greek zone Ds as they opened up jumpshot after jumpshot for Marcelo Magalhaes and Marquinhos Vieira.

And BiE hasn’t even mentioned Nene and Marcelinho Huertas … nice roster here.

Whatever happens to Brazil before/if they meet Team USA in the tournament, it’ll certainly be interesting. One thing is for certain, however: No Olympic team can play the Americans’ own game like these guys – not France, not Russia and not even Spain. The question of course is whether they can *beat* the US at that game. They did come close in 2010…

Jul 12, 2012ballineurope
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Comments: 33
  1. Gabe
    10 years ago

    The main reason Nikola Mirotic didn’t make the Spanish roster is that teams are only allowed one nationalized player.

    ReplyCancel
  2. Yosh
    10 years ago

    Precisely. And to compete with Ibaka isn’t quite the easiest thing to do.

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  3. Gabe
    10 years ago

    Just checked the odds of Team USA on the online betting site I use. They are -1000 to win gold. Which means I have to risk losing $1000 only to win $100! Or bet $100 to win $10! Oh well, this isn’t American football and I don’t need to bet to make it more exciting, I will just watch for nationalistic pride, I am definitely not going to risk money with those kinds of odds.

    Other teams that are listed are:
    Spain +$600 (bet $100 to win $600)
    France +$2,000
    Brazil and Argentina +$2,500
    Australia + $10,000

    I’m surprised they were no odds for Russia or Lithuania, I bet they would be better than Australia’s odds of betting $100 to win $10,000! I guess it hasn’t been updated since the qualifying tournament.

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  4. mike
    10 years ago

    I saw a bit of the US-Dominican Republic game. Looks like Anthony Davis will fill in for Blake Griffin. It’s a shame if this pushes thru since the world would have loved to see “must see BG” , as Dennis Scott likes to call it on NBA-TV, in the London games.

    How ’bout Kobe saying the 2012 team could pull off a victory from the ’92 team. Pippen was interviewed during the US-DR friendly, and he of course believed the ’92 team would demolish the ’12 team by 25 points. Can you believe that? Let’s not forget that the ’92 team defeated Croatia by 32 points only in the ’92 Gold Medal game. One thing for sure, this ’12 team ain’t Croatia.

    Kobe should focus on Spain and Brazil, before ruminating about theoretical match ups with the original Dream Team. Also, Durant still feels bad, he admitted, every time he sees Lebron due to the NBA Finals loss. Durant did great though against DR with his usual 3 point sniping.

    ReplyCancel
  5. Leo
    10 years ago

    You must be about 10 years old the way you talk about 92 Croatian team.

    ReplyCancel
    • Gabe
      10 years ago

      But the 92′ Croatian team is not the 12′ USA team. Are you serious?

      As for the match-up, who knows. The 92′ team had much better bigs but one can argue that today’s players are much better athletes. This is an argument I always make when comparing historical teams to today’s teams. If you look at racers (one of the few sports where time is the only measure) today’s athlete’s are a lot better. So 2012’s team would be a lot more athletic. Would that lead to a win against some of the great? Who knows?

      ReplyCancel
  6. David Cooper
    10 years ago

    Wow, great article, incredibly concise. Looking forward to the games, should be real interesting

    ReplyCancel
  7. Vincent
    10 years ago

    I saw every game of the 92 Dream Team and this present day squad is no dream team. Let Kobe win the gold medal first in London and then we will see but it seems a little premature.

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  8. Kyle
    10 years ago

    Honestly I still think the Redeem Team were better than this 2012 team, though the 2012 team looks better than the “B team” from 2010. Of course if Durant remains impossible to guard like he was in 2010 and was last night, I might have to change that position.

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  9. mike
    10 years ago

    Gabe, what I meant was, since Croatia lost by “only” 32 points to the ’92 team, and Pippen was predicting a 25 point margin of victory over the ’12 team, the ’12 team isn’t just 7 points better that Croatia. Absolutely no way. In fact, this ’12 team can probably defeat that ’92 Croatian team with the same 32 point margin, if they really wanted to.

    However, the ’92 team was more balanced, I believe. Depending on what rules they use, FIBA or NBA, could determine the outcome. Yes, the ’12 team has better athletes in their prime, but the ’92 team could probably slow down the game and pound it inside with Olajuwan, Malone, and Ewing.

    ReplyCancel
  10. Vincent
    10 years ago

    Hakeem wasn’t on the 92 team, he was on the 96 team

    ReplyCancel
    • Gabe
      10 years ago

      Yeah I think he meant Robinson, Malone and Ewing.

      ReplyCancel
  11. Aros
    10 years ago

    92 Croatian team was leaps better than 2008 Spain team.

    Is obvious no one here even watched 92 Olympics.

    ReplyCancel
    • Phileus
      10 years ago

      … k

      ReplyCancel
  12. mike
    10 years ago

    Sorry guys, my memory completely failed me. I had to check Wikipedia, and you’re right, Hakeem “the dream” Olajuwan was not a member of the ’92 team. I could have sworn he was a member since he entered the NBA in 1985 or ’86, I believe. But my point stands, the original dream team would be able to slow down the pace, and pound it inside, and if it’s close, they still have the best closer in basketball history in their back court. Need I mention his name?

    ReplyCancel
  13. John
    10 years ago

    Extremely impressed with Huertas he had a great game.

    ReplyCancel
  14. Jeff
    10 years ago

    Huertas is probably the 5th best point guard in the Euroleague. For comparison, Rubio was somewhere around 20th best, or lower.

    Jennings and Lawson even lower than that.

    You have to be incredibly good to get into the top 5 point guards in Euroleague.

    ReplyCancel
  15. mike
    10 years ago

    I’m impressed with Huertas too. but Rubio is a more talented player capable of playing very good defense, and he can change the game with his steals. Offensively, he i still developing, but he is already a great passer.

    Huertas is more limited and has reached the peak of his abilities. BTWt, Jeff, is this the same Euroleague we ‘re talkin’ about where Spanoulis is the hero? Last I saw Spanoulis couldn’t beat a 2nd rate African power named Nigeria.

    Face it, the Euroleague is a minor league, and may soon be supplanted as 2nd best by other leagues.

    ReplyCancel
  16. Jeff
    10 years ago

    Yes Mike. The same Euroleague where Spanoulis is the top player.

    The same Euroleague where Rubio was nothing more than slightly above a scrub.

    Same Euroleague where Jennings and Lawson were scrubs.

    Same Euroleague where guys like Vesely and Casspi were nothing but hustle and energy role players.

    Same Euroleague where in any given year, 3 or more NBA rotation players from the previous season go and become among the worst players in the entire Euroleague.

    Yes, that same Euroleague.

    I would never EVER if I were you mike associate myself to Gabe ever again, which is all you are doing with this Spanoulis talk. Clearly you never saw Spanoulis play even once.

    Get a grip. After I just saw Gabe say about how leagues in Belgium, PR, France, wherever were at the same level as Euroleague it is clear to me that everything any “Euro trolls” said about him is totally true.

    That statement by him is a 1000 times crazier and more ridiculous than anything ever said in this site by ANYONE.

    If he really believes that then he is totally insane and nuts. If not, then he is the greatest troll of all time to have the balls to say it.

    You are obviously just following him in whatever he says, which is why you always rag on Spanoulis. You need to stop before you go as nuts as Gabe is.

    Huertas is a great player, he’s probably not even half as good as Spanoulis is.

    Huertas is good enough to carve up USA twice. Here is how he fares against Spanoulis, the top player on the European continent in a head to match:

    http://www.euroleague.net/main/results/showgame?clubcode=OLY&gamecode=186&pcode=JUO&seasoncode=E2011

    Spanoulis dominates Huertas, who dominates guys like Chris Paul.

    Of course, no shock there as Spanoulis > Huertas > Paul

    I’m as big an NBA fan as anyone. I just am sick of Gabe and people like you and your stupid dumb ass shit filth all over this forum.

    Spanoulis versus Chris Paul head to head just so you know:

    http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/06_wcm/scheResu/p/eventid/3507/gamename/A/groupname/75/langlc/en/roundid/5152/fe_scheStat_boxScor.html

    Spanoulis would instantly be the top point guard in the NBA the moment he signed with any NBA team.

    I’ve been coaching basketball in the US for 15 years and I say with all honesty, that people like you and Gabe are a damn disgrace with all the bull shit you spew here.

    ReplyCancel
  17. RJ
    10 years ago

    Spanoulis couldn’t beat Nigeria? I didn’t know he was playing them on his own.

    Huertas is one of the best point guards in Europe. Just that this year he’s just suffered under the same shackles as Rubio did under Xavi Pascual, who kills the confidence and creativity of every point guard he has, with his tedious style of basketball. Huertas would be a high quality NBA point guard.

    Nobody’s going to stop team USA but as Brazil showed last night, they might have the best chance to at least make it interesting.

    ReplyCancel
  18. mike
    10 years ago

    Jeff, relax a little. Your fury reveals all your Euro inferiority complex.

    I think Gabe has discussed the statistics of the NBA vis a vis the Euroleague, and the NBA rotation players who have played across the pond.It has been discussed here on this site many times, and the Euro guys always end up with the short end of the stick because you are clearly biased and not open to accepting the truth. Most of the time your facts are just clearly wrong.

    Hopefully will Gabe answer your other clearly mistaken views, but here are a few observations I have off hand of your comments:

    1.Jennings was a talented player from high school who was in development mode in Europe. Players develop, my friend, and Patrick Ewing was not a great college scorer, and experts were surprised he scored a lot in the NBA.. there are many examples of this.No one in his right mind will say the NCAA was tougher than the NBA. Will you? Style of play and the rules of the league matter as well. Rubio is benefiting with a more wide open offense with Adelman, and he is passing to far more athletic players.

    2. Kirelenko, an NBA role player, was last season’s Euroleague MVP, right? I’m not even sure if he was ever an all star in the NBA. Once I think. This blows your NBA rotation player argument out of the water. There were other players and Gabe will hopefully answer them.

    3. With Spanoulis, I have seen him play many times. Many times. Against USA. In the NBA. In Eurobasket. In the Euroleague and in the Olympic qualifiers last week. There’s really no need to speculate about Spanoulis in the NBA. He tried it, and he failed miserably.He’s a nice player, but he didn’t make it with the Rockets, and he was terrible generally in the NBA. He played poorly vs the US in 2008, and he wasn’t good enough to lead Greece to the Olympics. He had 2 chances to take Greece to the Oly,mpics, in the Eurobasket, and last week’s qualifiers, but he blew it both times. Greece is really a declining power really.

    4. Also as Gabe has mentioned, the core of the Greek NT is Olympiacos(the Euroleague champs) and they lost to Nigeria. so what does this say about the Euroleague? Huh? If you’re really a fan of the NBA, you would know this, but I have one question for you, why do you love Spanoulis so much?

    ReplyCancel
    • Phileus
      10 years ago

      Apollo’s obsession with Spanoulis is really creepy. That comment aside though, guys, don’t feed the troll. Just stop taking him seriously and ignore him! By now you should know that his conclusions are always the same (SPANOULIS IS SECOND COMING OF CHRIST) and the discussions just aren’t worth it.

      Good game all around by Brazil, led by a smart coach who knows how to beat the US. I had more than a few flashbacks to his legendary Argentina squad beating the US. This was definitely a moral victory for them, giving players the knowledge and confidence that they are capable of winning by dominating the USA style. On the US side, ouch. At least we know LeBron’s hero ball can singlehandedly win games?

      Mike, Rubio is clearly not capable of putting on a performance like Huertas did last night. If you meant that Rubio eventually will surpass that level as he grows and matures, then I can believe that, but for now he’s still just a promising young PG around Lin’s level.

      Also, don’t invite another Euroleague v. NBA flame war please 😛 Apollo was just banned yet again from another forum and is begging for a chance to let out his pent up flames. DON’T FEED THE TROLL!

      ReplyCancel
  19. Gabe
    10 years ago

    Wow. I thought this Euroleague vs NBA conversation would be over when Greece lost to Nigeria. And again I never said teams from Belgium, PR, France, wherever were at the same level as Euroleague but I said they were close. Probably closer in talent to Euroleague than Euroleague is to the NBA. The great thing about Nigeria’s victory over Greece is not only does it silence the argument about Greece basketball being a top basketball nation it also ends the Euroleague being a top league conversation. The Greece NT was basically Olympiacos. It had the finals mvp, the leading scorer of the final, the player who hit the winning shot, not to mention a few others, and they lost to a team with one nba bench player and a bunch of players from Belgium, PR, France, etc…

    Okay and to reply Jeff (Apollo). Comparing Spanoulis and Paul with that one game in 2006 is not relevant. That was after Paul’s rookie year and a couple years before he was an all-star so it is not the Chris Paul of today. Same goes for the Jennings argument. That was his first year out of high school in Euroleague, he would have been a rookie in college, it’s not like he came over in his prime. And to say Huertas dominated Chris Paul last night is a little bit far fetched. Huertas team lost by 11 points. If Chris Paul was the best player on his team his numbers might have been different, but he was playing with Lebron James so he didn’t need 10 assists to win, plus he played almost 8 minutes left.

    So again I mention Spanoulis and the core of the Euroleague champions were eliminated from the Olympics by a team with one NBA scrub and a bunch of players from PR, France, Belgium, Portugal, etc…That shows the level of Euroleague. Thank you

    ReplyCancel
    • Phileus
      10 years ago

      Gabe why do you insist on feeding the troll :/

      That aside, what you’re saying is fine if you’re willing to accept the argument that the NBA was inferior to the Euroleague from 2004 to 2008. I wouldn’t make such broad conclusions based on a one-game sample.

      It’s different to say that S. American and African basketball is catching up with European basketball (maybe true for S. America, but a generation premature for Africa in my opinion) and to say that the domestic leagues the NT players play in are catching up (which is plain wrong).

      ReplyCancel
      • Gabe
        10 years ago

        Inferior no. But after 2006 I was like wow, Euroleague is catching up to (not caught up and certainly not surpassed) the NBA. So now I am like, wow, those domestic leagues are catching up to Euroleague. IMHO I think those domestic league are closer in talent to Euroleague than Euroleague is to the NBA.

        I mean the Greek national team was basically the Euroleague champion losing to Nigeria. Can you imagine in a 100 years the Miami Heat (give or take a couple role players) losing to Team Nigeria!

        ReplyCancel
        • Phileus
          10 years ago

          The Euroleague is by definition a league composed of the best teams of the best domestic leagues in Europe. Would I acknowledge that some teams outside of the Euroleague can play at that level? Matbe – I don’t know enough. There is certainly competitiveness in terms of individual talent. But that’s still a far cry from a whole league-on-league comparison.

          The best analogy I can think of is saying: Kirilenko plays for a Euroleague team, and was once an All-Star in the NBA. Therefore, all Euroleague players can be All-Stars in the NBA too. That’s how your reasoning appears to me.

          I’m excited to see the game improve worldwide too, but let’s not jump to hasty conclusions based on a few games!

          ReplyCancel
  20. mike
    10 years ago

    Phileus, you might be right about “Apollo” or “Jeff”, whoever he is. If he has been banned on several sites, then he deserves to be ignored.

    About Rubio, don’t forget Rubio played well against the US in 2008, and he’s even better today because of his experience and swagger having completed a successful first team rookie year in the NBA. Huertas, while he could probably play in the NBA, is unproven on an 82 game NBA season. It’s one thing to play a good game or two against NBAers, it’s another to be scouted for 82 games wherein others will analyze the weaknesses in your game.

    This is why many rookies hit a “rookie wall”, not just being tired, but also scouts have zeroed in on your weaknesses. I’m a big Rubio fan, as you can tell, I am betting he will be a great PG in the NBA in the mold of a Jason Kidd.

    ReplyCancel
  21. Goran
    10 years ago

    3. With Spanoulis, I have seen him play many times. Many times. Against USA. In the NBA. In Eurobasket. In the Euroleague and in the Olympic qualifiers last week. There’s really no need to speculate about Spanoulis in the NBA. He tried it, and he failed miserably.He’s a nice player, but he didn’t make it with the Rockets, and he was terrible generally in the NBA. He played poorly vs the US in 2008, and he wasn’t good enough to lead Greece to the Olympics. He had 2 chances to take Greece to the Oly,mpics, in the Eurobasket, and last week’s qualifiers, but he blew it both times. Greece is really a declining power really.

    who the hell do you think you are kidding here? you have never seen Spanoulis play.

    ReplyCancel
  22. Goran
    10 years ago

    Wow. I thought this Euroleague vs NBA conversation would be over when Greece lost to Nigeria. And again I never said teams from Belgium, PR, France, wherever were at the same level as Euroleague but I said they were close. Probably closer in talent to Euroleague than Euroleague is to the NBA. The great thing about Nigeria’s victory over Greece is not only does it silence the argument about Greece basketball being a top basketball nation it also ends the Euroleague being a top league conversation. The Greece NT was basically Olympiacos. It had the finals mvp, the leading scorer of the final, the player who hit the winning shot, not to mention a few others, and they lost to a team with one nba bench player and a bunch of players from Belgium, PR, France, etc…

    Okay and to reply Jeff (Apollo). Comparing Spanoulis and Paul with that one game in 2006 is not relevant. That was after Paul’s rookie year and a couple years before he was an all-star so it is not the Chris Paul of today. Same goes for the Jennings argument. That was his first year out of high school in Euroleague, he would have been a rookie in college, it’s not like he came over in his prime. And to say Huertas dominated Chris Paul last night is a little bit far fetched. Huertas team lost by 11 points. If Chris Paul was the best player on his team his numbers might have been different, but he was playing with Lebron James so he didn’t need 10 assists to win, plus he played almost 8 minutes left.

    So again I mention Spanoulis and the core of the Euroleague champions were eliminated from the Olympics by a team with one NBA scrub and a bunch of players from PR, France, Belgium, Portugal, etc…That shows the level of Euroleague. Thank you

    I think you are a really sick person.

    ReplyCancel
    • Gabe
      10 years ago

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGuhZvO1DKg

      ReplyCancel
  23. Phileus
    10 years ago

    That was the best possible response. I now feel like a better man for having watched that video.

    ReplyCancel
  24. mike
    10 years ago

    Yeah! Great video, and Deron Williams and Carmelo just rocked Great Britain with high % 3 balls. Looks like the US is priming up to play Argentina and Spain in the next couple of days!

    ReplyCancel
  25. Erik
    10 years ago

    This isn’t a site for Americans to act ugly to all other nationalities. Grow up you ignorant creeps.

    ReplyCancel
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10 years ago 34 Comments FIBA, More, NBA/NCAA2012 Olympic Games, Alexey Shved, Anderson Varejao, Andre Iguodala, Andrei Kirilenko, Andrew Bynum, Anton Ponkrashov, Beşiktaş JK, Blake Griffin, Brooklyn Nets, Carmelo Anthony, Chicago Bulls, Chris Paul, Dallas Mavericks, Deron Williams, Donatas Motiejunas, Dwight Howard, EuroBasket 2011, Felipe Reyes, Fernando San Emeterio, James Harden, Joakim Noah, Jonas Valanciunas, Jose Calderon, Juan Carlos Navarro, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Kobe Bryant, Leandro Barbosa, Lebron James, Linas Kleiza, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Marc Gasol, Marcelinho Huertas, Marcelo Magalhaes, Marquinhos Vieira, Miami Heat, Mike Krzyzewski, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA, Nene, New York Knicks, Nikola Mirotic, Oklahoma City Thunder, Pau Gasol, Philadelphia 76ers, Rafa Martinez, Robertas Javtokas, Russell Westbrook, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Sasha Kaun, Serge Ibaka, Sergio Llull, Sergio Scariolo, Team Brazil, Team Dominican Republic, Team France, Team Lithuania, Team Russia, Team Spain, Team USA, Tiago Splitter, Timofey Mozgov, Tony Parker, Torneio Eletrobase de Basquete, Tyson Chandler, Victor Claver, Victor Sada, Vitaliy Fridzon
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Winning is a habit and Bonn’s players like it
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BallinEurope.com was founded in September 2007 by Christophe Ney (who now runs the excellent scouting-themed website European Prospects) and Tobias Seitz, both then bloggers for FIBA.com with over 10 years’ worth of experience in the professional basketball world each. The mission then was to “provide a very unique perspective of Basketball in and about Europe.”
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