us smash france

[kunk75]

no, i'm hoping they lose cause the US plays a shit brand of basketball i hate.

[Tisswat]

I go nuts every morning when I see that the sun managed to rise yet again. WOOOOOOOOOH!

[LeatherSeatBelt]

I dont know anything about olympics, but when I was watching I think I heard USA not letting kitiima in? If so thats a big fuck you back for winning

[chronoaug]

I don't understand how you can get excited about the US winning gold in basketball. I mean.. isn't it obvious that they have the strongest team by a mile, or am I overlooking something here?

Have you followed international basktball in the past 6 years? US has not been the strongest team whatsoever. If anything they're one of the weaker "teams" but just have a lot of athleticism on their side to overcome it against most teams. Greece is gonna slow it down and make the US grind it out in the half court (which they still can't do). Spain thinks they're hot shit and is probably gonna try to run with the US, which can work because they have good guards and the US can't play team defense for shit.

edit: holy fuck, china has 9 gold medals already?

[salaryman]

^yeah, a lot of political scientists argue that the olympics have long been a reliable barometer of changes in geopolitical power.

[High Monika]

What's the basis? Wealth for training programs? Emphasis on int'l competition and prestige?

[Guest doubletap]

if a country has a large population & is wealthy they will win medals.

however certain countries will always compete & dominate in certain sports due to tradition/genetics. for example:

romania/gymnastics

sub saharan africa/track

bulgaria/weightlifting

etc.

how come professional basketball players are allowed to compete? I thought they had to be amateurs.... I mean you dont see pro soccer players or pro boxers.

[kunk75]

other countries have used pro bb players from the euro league for years and years and NCAA based Us teams could not compete.

although, college players may be better suited to where the FiBA game has gone.

[chronoaug]

You think so? Most college basketball players i see lately have mediocre fundamentals, don't play defense, and are really weak inside. Euro ballers would eat their lunch. It's not their fault really. It's a top to bottom US basketball problem beginning from the way basketball is marketed (all 3s, dunks, sportscenter highlights, and1, etc...) towards the youth, the problem with high school and AAU coaches not nurturing their players fundamentally but simply relying on the athletically gifted guy or 2 to carry them, and then you saw the disaster of the 01 draft with all the high schoolers. I dunno, i think US basketball (from top to bottom) is getting slightly better.

[kunk75]

i think a bunch of college players are sound but not suited for the NBA game. euro teams have lots of good mid-range shooters-nba, not so much cause of the love for the 3 and now guys with 18-20 foots range shoot 3s all the time and end up at like 28% for the season.

i think the only NBA players suited to the international game are the europeans so that's moot.

my son goes to a really good training facility which is basically all fundementals, so there's still some hope, but at 8, he's already in love with deep range shots and no look passes.kijnda hoping he stick with pitching/baseball in general.

and you would not believe the hotdogging on his AAU team. they're in 3rd fucking grade. crazy.

[chronoaug]

Well, euro ball isn't even about midrange shooting. It's mostly all pick and roll, if the shot isn't immediately there, drive hard off the pick, look for the easy pass to the pickman, if that's not there, wait for the help defense, and then kick it out for the mostly open 3. The US can't stop this to save their life. It's the reason the Suns have been scoring 110ppg the past 4 seasons. US players play terrible team defense for the most part. Teams that do play good team defense (celtics, spurs, pistons) are usually atop the NBA.

Man, when i coached 10-12 basketball it was ridiculous with all the kids thinking they were kobe/lebron/wade/melo (although melo seems to be the most popular amongst the kids. maybe something with melo being more "street"?). So fucking annoying when your best ball handler refuses to listen to you as far as running offensive plays or at least not taking terrible layups looking for the foul everytime. So many 3s too. If you haven't hit puberty, it's impossible to be consistent at 3s. Plus, always going for steals on defense. The last season i did i had my spirit broken and haven't been back.

[kunk75]

the no handcheck thing has fucked up a lot as far as i see.

i'm curious to see what becomes of the suns now. can't imagine they'll be as fun to watch.

[arem]

if a country has a large population & is wealthy they will win medals.

however certain countries will always compete & dominate in certain sports due to tradition/genetics. for example:

romania/gymnastics

sub saharan africa/track

bulgaria/weightlifting

etc.

how come professional basketball players are allowed to compete? I thought they had to be amateurs.... I mean you dont see pro soccer players or pro boxers.

Actually, there was a piece last night where they were saying that the Romanians will be lucky to get bronze in gymnastics this year, and Asian countries are dominating the weightlifting so far, so your theory doesn't really hold water.

And pro atheletes have been allowed to compete since the 90's. Basketball players play because it's the off-season for them, and pro tennis players are there as well. But baseball players are busy playing for their MLB teams, and soccer season will be beginning shortly so most of the best players are in training camp or still recovering from the Euros this summer. And pro boxers have too much at stake to risk getting injured competing for free.

[Guest No Handclaps Please]

romanian gymnastics is not what it used to be. years back they dominated, and if you watched this years beam you could see how much the coaching style has changed. a commentator was saying how the girl that fell would never get a hug from the coach afterwards back in the day..

not that its the best way to coach, but romania is a different country these days and their recent performance in olympic gymnastics has def shown how things have changed.

[Tarmac]

God. It's not even fair for that guy to be standing next to phelps. Are they both the same species?

edit: i think tonight, we should all look at our bodies in the mirror, then this picture, then kill ourselves

How come The Black Swimmer Guy isn't in this pic? He just lost like 1 million hoes worth of fame. Was he outside sending a text message or some shit?

[arem]

I was wondering the same thing. He was on the side of the pool by the ladder where he had gotten out. If you watch the replay from the side view you can see him cheering as they get to the finish.

[Guest doubletap]

yes Romanian gymnastics (as well as gymnastics in general) is not what it used to be, but lets not forget tho, the American gymnastic coaches are Romanian & the Americans are coached with the same methods as Nadia... who scored 7 perfect 10s. True perfection if such thing exists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5gR0g8lHIs

[jimmyc]

romanian gymnastics is not what it used to be. years back they dominated, and if you watched this years beam you could see how much the coaching style has changed. a commentator was saying how the girl that fell would never get a hug from the coach afterwards back in the day..

not that its the best way to coach, but romania is a different country these days and their recent performance in olympic gymnastics has def shown how things have changed.

Romania is a freaking mess. Gymnastics is the least of their worries now, trust me. You'll never know how completely warped they truly are until you marry one of them.

[aitsuka]

Actually, there was a piece last night where they were saying that the Romanians will be lucky to get bronze in gymnastics this year, and Asian countries are dominating the weightlifting so far, so your theory doesn't really hold water.

And pro atheletes have been allowed to compete since the 90's. Basketball players play because it's the off-season for them, and pro tennis players are there as well. But baseball players are busy playing for their MLB teams, and soccer season will be beginning shortly so most of the best players are in training camp or still recovering from the Euros this summer. And pro boxers have too much at stake to risk getting injured competing for free.

actually theres a couple of pro players in soccer event

all star guys:

messi

ronaldinho

some other players:

requelime (can't spell)

masachareno

also I heard the rule to the soccer event is you can only have 3 players above 23 yrs of age.

[Guest doubletap]

Romania is a freaking mess. Gymnastics is the least of their worries now, trust me. You'll never know how completely warped they truly are until you marry one of them.

haha... i am one of them. i wouldn't marry one tho, even if they are Bond girl status.

[jimmyc]

Hey DT did you grow up in Romania?? If so were you born after the revolution?

[Guest doubletap]

born there in '79, left to Germany a few months before the revolution... shit got pretty intense. I go back every year. Fun to party, esp. at the beach, but i wouldn't want to live there.

[elosaur]

God. It's not even fair for that guy to be standing next to phelps. Are they both the same species?

edit: i think tonight, we should all look at our bodies in the mirror, then this picture, then kill ourselves

How the hell does Phelps look so much bigger. The guy (Garrett Weber-Gale)

standing next to him is supposed to be 6'2 and Phelps is 6'4. I'm so confused.

[jimmyc]

born there in '79, left to Germany a few months before the revolution... shit got pretty intense. I go back every year. Fun to party, esp. at the beach, but i wouldn't want to live there.

My ex-wife was born there (1978). Been there about 20 times, mostly Bucharest and Constanta (my ex's home town). I guess since I stand out so much people I didn't know were so unfriendly and very confrontational (not with me though). I hated going shopping with my wife and my mother in law because everywhere we went every encounter with every salesperson ended in a huge confrontation.

My wife used to warn me about the gypsies all the time and I finally started listening the third time I got my pocket picked. I'm supposed to go back and visit my wifes family this winter (who I'm still close with) and I don't look forward to it. Don't have to tell you how pleasant the weather will be in January.

How the hell does Phelps look so much bigger. The guy (Garrett Weber-Gale)

standing next to him is supposed to be 6'2 and Phelps is 6'4. I'm so confused.

Phelps is standing on the platform on the edge of the pool. Garrett is standing 4 feet behind him.

[Guest doubletap]

Just got to realize that they only bark, they don't bite. Yes people are confrontational, but its rare... almost never that you see a fight.

i find european youth to be much more confrontational in general.

[azn8oi]

[jayrock]

i <3 internet