Posted on 09/12/2010 1:51:44 PM PDT by Big Bureaucracy
USA vs Turkey. It is not time for thanksgiving dinner yet. Team USA gobbled Team Turkey at the World Basketball Championship finale 81:64.
The last time the US won the title was 1994 when the Dream Team led by Shaquille O’Neal, Reggie Miller and Dominique Wilkins became world champions in Toronto.
If the 2008 US Olympic Team was the Redeem Team that brought the gold home, the 2010 US World Championship team is more like ‘US: The Next Generation’ Team. Legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, (Duke University) came up with a bunch of rookies instead of super-stars. Lamar Odom and Chauncey Billups are the only players on the roster with NBA Champion rings.
President Obama did not ask Team USA to lose the final against Turkey to make the Muslim world feel better. So the young American team used all their weapons on the basketball court (including Kevin Durant).
The curse of the new FIBA trophy was broken. The International Basketball Federation came up with the new cup design in 1998 and since then Team USA did not have any luck getting their hands on it… until today. The name of James Naismith, the creator of the game is written on the lotus shaped trophy in Latin, Chinese, Arabic and hieroglyphs. What does ancient Egypt has to do with basketball is beyond me, but somebody in NASA is probably working to find a connection.
It has been fascinating to observe the American reaction in each loss at the FIBA World Championship for the last 16 years. One would expect something like the ‘Shame’ headlines we saw in England and France after the Soccer World Cup.
Just the opposite. The reporters and observers remained calm, thankful to the players for responding to the invitation to play at the event that does not even make them rich. Everybody seemed understanding to the decision of the super-stars staying home having rest between the two NBA seasons. Imagine what would happen in Europe if the soccer stars Cristiano Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney decided to have a summer vacation instead of going to South Africa to compete.
Americans are not so forgiving of the NBA guys when they play for their clubs. Fans demand performance from the multimillionaires and make sure they give efforts to their club for every cent of their gigantic salaries.
Despite the American losing streak on the world stage the number of foreign players in NBA continued to grow. This translated into higher quality and even better college basketball competition since the youngsters had to compete for a place in the NBA with players from all over the world.
This resulted in today’s ‘US: The Next Generation Team’ that won the World Championship without defeat.
The credit goes to Mike Krzyzewski and all the managers who create the future stars in the high schools, colleges and universities and to the professionals in the NBA that keep the best basketball in the world in America.
It is official: Team USA is the World Basketball Champion in the 2010 tournament in Istanbul. ‘Thank you!’ to the golden boys: Chauncey Billups, Stephen Curry, Eric Gordon, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Danny Granger, Lamar Odom, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler.
Say, say, USA!
I think it’s all a joke. The Olympics and similar events used to be amateurs only. Gee, professional NBA players win the gold. What a shock.
Wow, it took team players.
I sense a real lack of enthusiasm for our national triumph. Turkey had pros and NBA players too.
Well since 1994 the professional NBA players were not able to win the World Cup - so it is a big deal. Plus, coach K brought mostly rookies.
Plus the crowd in Turkey booed our national anthem, so I am double happy we won.
They did look like a team. They were great. Plus the gold gave the USA automatically a spot for the Olympics - which means they can rest next summer.
Do you think if Poland invaded Turkey from the rear Greece would help
The crowd in Turkey booed us big time.
I thought with Zero as our president the rest of the world loves us now?
How could this be?
YAY!!!!
This must be a typo. I'm sure I read that it was invented in the Middle East by a Muslim. Somewhere around 40 BC.
/s
Yeah- double wow. The article doesn’t seem to realize that: (i) Kevin Durant is an absolute beast, (ii) Coach K. is a damn good coach, was in the US Army and even got into it with the Russians about 1972, (iii) Durant went on a rampage on 9/11 as an honor to those who died, and (iv) most importantly, this was assembled as a TEAM. God bless em. USA, USA, USA!!!!
Should also mention that coach K is an ‘R’.
Dean Smith is a ‘D’.
No, that was “head in a basket”, a pre-Islamic Arab game. You burn his sacred scroll of papyrus, and he cuts your head off as a reprisal. Fun game.
Most Basketball players are blacks. Why would he ask brotha' to lose against Muslims?
Kevin Durant is already the best basketball player in the world, period. Better than LeBron, and IMHO better than Kobe. He is going to be an absolute monster.
Dear friend, I am a Turk and I am dead sure they did not booed your national anthem. They all booed the Turkish PM and his government dignitaries because the backward Islamist PM has been trying to convert Turkey into a second Iran or Egypt with his islamist policies. We basketball spectators and fans do not hate the USA, nor do we hate your great players like Kevin Durant. We just did not want to see the PM and his ministers stage a show there. Rest assured about that. BTW, The USA deservedly won the gold medal. Congrats.
Dear friend, I just talked to my friend who was the commentator for the Bulgarian TV for the game - he confirmed they booed the politicians, but they also booed the anthem at the beginning. I trust the guy and he was there. Turks did booed the anthem, but also booed their own politicians.
The last time the US won the title was 1994 when the Dream Team led by Shaquille O’Neal, Reggie Miller and Dominique Wilkins became world champions in Toronto... Legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, (Duke University) came up with a bunch of rookies instead of super-stars. Lamar Odom and Chauncey Billups are the only players on the roster with NBA Champion rings. President Obama did not ask Team USA to lose the final against Turkey to make the Muslim world feel better. So the young American team used all their weapons on the basketball court (including Kevin Durant).Or, maybe he didn't do it publicly, and they told him where to stick it.
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