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Lithuania, Serbia, Greece, Spain, Australia, etc have been able to compete with the US despite populations that are a fraction of the US.
Take Spain for example - population similar to California yet they were within a few buckets of beating the US despite not having their best player Marc Gasol.
What about Australia with a population similar to Texas? They were in a 2-3 point game against the US until Melo hit a couple 3s. Could the Texas all stars pull out a victory against team Australia?
Gotta wonder - if Europe was broken up into states instead of countries, would they torch the US in a team game behind guys like Marc/Pau, Jokic, Dirk, Porzingis, Dragic, etc?
imo it is mostly due to they keep the same teams more or less. the us every olypics is a mish mash of allstars basically. Spain, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, france, these teams mostly build around the same core. in nba terms they build a team like the spurs (or the spurs built their system like the euros/south americans) with a core and intermingled pieces. they play "team ball" instead of "ok this time around lets take lebron, cp3, curry, cousins, leonard,.... etc and make them practice/play together for a couple weeks."
looks at the spurs foreign players, as a spurs fan, we have been complaining for years that manu, and tony (and others, but mostly them) should rest in the summer instead of playing international ball. you dont get that with american born players, so they dont build that chemistry and core like the foreign teams.
1. Foreign teams have more continuity.
2. US doesn't field it's best team possible.
3. The Olympic 3-point distance and a few other rules aren't as big of an adjustment for some of the Euro teams.
The other thing worth noting- it is a lesson in all sports- you don't have to be the better team you have to be the better team over the course of a 2-3 hour period. Case in point 1980 US Hockey, Middle Tenn over MSU last year, Florida Gulf Coast over Georgetown, Bucknell over Kansas
If basketball is a team game and other countries play better as cohesive units - can we really say the best basketball is played in the US? The ability to play that way seems more important than having awesome ball handling or a 50" vertical.
Like I mentioned before, if national teams around the world were to be matched up against the best from STATES with similar populations - would the state(s) representing the US be the odds on favorite to win every year? Obviously, team California would be competitive, but team Texas, Georgia, Michigan, etc? I could see the US mostly losing...to teams chocked full of players 99.9% of us have never heard of.
If basketball is a team game and other countries play better as cohesive units - can we really say the best basketball is played in the US? The ability to play that way seems more important than having awesome ball handling or a 50" vertical.
Like I mentioned before, if national teams around the world were to be matched up against the best from STATES with similar populations - would the state(s) representing the US be the odds on favorite to win every year? Obviously, team California would be competitive, but team Texas, Georgia, Michigan, etc? I could see the US mostly losing...to teams chocked full of players 99.9% of us have never heard of.
there is a huge difference between team usa and an nba team.
basically other countries are putting their version of a "nba team" where we are throwing an allstar team out there.
think about it like the spurs (who play a very euro type of game with a lot of euro players), they have had a core of players for years. a decade+. they keep the core and rotate role players around them. euro teams do the same, they have a "system" built around the team. if you take those teams and put the spurs, warriors, cavs, raptors etc up against them the nba team would imo win regularly
the best basketball is played in the nba, by guys with 50" verticals and awesome ball handling. the euros are catching up, and have guys with 49" verticals and awesome ball handling themselves.
there is a huge difference between team usa and an nba team.
basically other countries are putting their version of a "nba team" where we are throwing an allstar team out there.
think about it like the spurs (who play a very euro type of game with a lot of euro players), they have had a core of players for years. a decade+. they keep the core and rotate role players around them. euro teams do the same, they have a "system" built around the team. if you take those teams and put the spurs, warriors, cavs, raptors etc up against them the nba team would imo win regularly
the best basketball is played in the nba, by guys with 50" verticals and awesome ball handling. the euros are catching up, and have guys with 49" verticals and awesome ball handling themselves.
How or why can the US team not play as a TEAM? It sounds like an excuse. After the embarrassing bronze metal game the US was looking to build a better teams. And heck, look at team USA's roster - Klay, Green, Barnes and Thompson play with each other ALL YEAR. The same goes for Derozan and Lowry. All the US players play in the same league so they each other A LOT more during the 4 years between Olympics. How often do guys like Marc, Pau, Rubio, Mirotic, Ibaka, etc get to play with Euroleague players? Basically never.
Actually team USA has a whole lot more to choose from, and while 1-2 guys play all season together, they only practice as team USA for a couple of weeks before the tournament.
The euro guys almost all (especially in younger years) go play with each other every off season from the NBA. They practice the same style of play with the same guys year in and year out.
Actually team USA has a whole lot more to choose from, and while 1-2 guys play all season together, they only practice as team USA for a couple of weeks before the tournament.
The euro guys almost all (especially in younger years) go play with each other every off season from the NBA. They practice the same style of play with the same guys year in and year out.
How exactly are you not understanding this?
Some of the best international players play in the NBA so they aren't playing with their countrymen. Do you really think the Grizzlies are sending Marc Gasol off for a significant amount of time to play in Spain with guys that play on teams in Euroleague? Those that don't play in the NBA don't play together anymore than say Lebron plays with Westbrook. How could they...they are on completely different teams during the regular season.
You really think all the Aussies or Spaniards or Greeks come together and practice hard for the Olympics during the off season? I guess they get zero time off from basketball, right?
As far as style, isn't that part of how we judge who plays better? The Americans perfect their style during high school, AAU, college and pros. When thrown in international competition the American style of play isn't as good as one would assume.
As a Spurs fan, we've been watching our players go EVERY SINGLE off season to their respective countries and play international ball with their home countries.
Yes Marc and Pau used to go every off season back to Spain, tony Parker and Boris draw, and batum go back to France, many and the argebtines, splitter, nene back to Brazil, and so on.
Yes they also leave their euro teams in the off season and play with their home countries, and those playing in euro league are easier to get to their home countries.
Again they have the same players playing in the same systems year in and year out.
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Those that don't play in the NBA don't play together anymore than say Lebron plays with Westbrook. How could they...they are on completely different teams during the regular season. 
