I recently saw a few games between the 88 and 89 Pistons/Lakers teams. Either of those teams would kick any of the teams' asses today. They had the most talent, played as a team, but most of all - had fundamentals.
The teams across the world don't have the talent for basketball we do in our cities, but the fundamentals aren't there as much as before.
Talent carried us for a few years, but the rest of the world now has top athletes playing basketball as well as soccer - and they are catching up - and they will bring their A game against the US. It would be like beating Kenya in long distance running, Brazil in Soccer, or Canada and Russia in Hockey
True, but I see it as an attitude more than a "lack" of fundamentals.
I don't watch NBA basketball any more because they don't play basketball.
After attending a few games and watching the floor through binoculars, I see stuff that would have gotten us ejected from the game when I played it in high school. They travel all the time, very few of them even have a legitimate dribble and the amount of physical contact is criminal.
They need a new name for NBA basketball - something like "Cross Country Bear Wrestling," or "Full-Body Contact Handball." Whatever it is, it ain't "basketball!"