Does this Team USA realise they’re supposed to be representing their country?

 It’s hard to watch when an team like Serbia is overmatched physically and talent wise, run plays and have good basketball and completely outplay the US in the fourth quarter; while the US team just plays one on five and play matador defense. 

 Between Coach Ks last olympics and a bunch of single young NBA All Stars being in Rio.. I dont blame any of these guys coasting.. These guys are clearly having fun.. As long as they bring home the gold and nobody comes back with AIDs.. Consider it Mission Accomplished

I love coach K I really do but…

Paul George pointed out the rubbish that is K’s coaching…or who knows maybe it’s just an inexperienced team not listening, but let’s be honest 14 years coaching this team and they still don’t have even a basic motion offense they run or some go to sets. You would think some of those "close until the 3rd quarter" type games they have been guaranteed to get out of certain teams would prompt some sort of change coming into these games especially with one of his weakest rosters.

Also on the other hand I figured you would mention anything Ausralia related that you could Hype Machine

 It’s simple. This roster does not fit together. I’m not sure if the people constructing the team got scared when guys were pulling out and went for the biggest names, but this roster doesn’t make sense on offense and it doesn’t look like a roster that a coach like Thibs would want defensively. It doesn’t mean they have to panic or won’t win gold.

You can’t change the roster at this point, so it’s going to be up to Coach K to do a better job with his lineups. The starting frontline is Charmin soft. They should really look at benching Durant and Cousins for Jordan and either Butler or Thompson. I know Jordan is limited, but you need to put a rim protector next to Melo if he’s going to play the 4. George hasn’t been great, but I think he will be better with Durant out of the way and he’s more likely to do the things you need from the 3rd guy. Thompson and Butler just need to bring some defense. They will hit enough shots to keep the defense honest. Give Green the ball with the 2nd unit and let him spread it around.

 I can’t stand to watch Kyrie play.  The game finished 3 hours ago and he’s probably still holding on to the ball.  Coack K giving him the Dukie love over Lowry, who on a team with a million scorers only would be the better option at PG for the majority of all games.

 This team really could of used Kawhi Leonard. He always plays hard no soft D and no hero ball from him. 

 Maybe the USA team forgot what country they are playing for and there for don’t care enough to win big.  Maybe they  need you to tell them what their purpose  is there in Brazil.

Isn’t being privileged, entitled and acting better than everyone else how most Americans feel and act when compared to the rest of the world? I’d say they are doing a good job representing their country then. 

It’s because he plays dirty. Bogut too.

Paul George pointing these facts out at the presser after the game wasn’t even among the ten most unsportsmanlike things that have occurred so far at the games. Maybe you didn’t see the Egyptian judoka who refused to shake hands with the Israeli opponent who had just beaten him?

The Boomers took their game seriously (why wouldn’t you its the Olympics on the biggest stage) with some hard tough fouls just like they do in the NBA playoffs.

Boy George and a lot of the USA team are smiling and mucking around, treating this like an all-star game…..

Team chemistry is important – Melonoma, Cousins and Kyrie are hardly pass first (if at all) great teammates to have all the same team…..

 At least they are not going Hope Solo on us

Would have been nice to see them enjoying themselves during opening ceremonies like other athletes 

 Delly is the most dirty player in international basketball history

 usa men’s basketball team are beating there opponents on average 28.5 points I mean where is all the hate coming from these guys are going to win gold again jus like every other year accept 2004.  So what’s the problem are y’all mad because there to good and didn’t blow out a well coached Serbia squad who took lessons from the great Greg poppovich lmao there not gonna lose Plan and simple when they when the gold it’s back to watching actual talent which is the nba this is easy work GO USA

I don’t get the anger in the original post dude. If you’re an Australian fan, shouldn’t you be happy the US don’t seem to be taking the Olympics or their opponents seriously?

I personally find it funny when people call Delly dirty. Sure, he plays with no regard for his own safety and attacks the ball with reckless abandon. Sure, he doesn’t care about looking cool or playing with swag… and will dive on the floor for the ball like a madman.

However… none of those things make him dirty. He solely and exclusively wants to get the ball. Draymond Green kicking nuts is dirty. JR Smith untying shoelaces at the free throw line is dirty. Going hard after the ball isn’t dirty. It’s just unexpected by a lot of American players because guys like Delly don’t care about their image more than they care about going hard for the ball.

The US lineups are a little unbalanced, but their main issue is they aren’t playing defense and they aren’t playing to their strengths. It’s up to the coaching staff to come up with a game plan that takes advantage of their length.

When you’ve got 6’9 Paul George playing the two and 6’11 Durant at the three, you’ve gotta take advantage of their length. I haven’t seen Coach K use one play to take advantage of those mismatches.

I agree it’s not a good look to be joking around on the bench that much when they’re down on the scoreboard, but as an Aussie, I’m not really understanding why you’re so worked up about it Hype!

 Hopefully Kevin Durant shows me something soon… oh well, I am a Grizzlies fan so I hope Bambi On Ice keeps doing what he’s doing…

Shows you how AWESOME LeBron James is.  BY FAR the best all around player in the league.  Shows you how GREAT Steph and Russell Westbrook are.  

I think those are the Big Three of Basketball now…

So, without them, the rest of our "stars" are closer to Euro ringers than we would (and the media) would like to admit.

This isn’t exactly our B team — more like A-, but there is still a lot of difference between these guys and our HYOPTHETICAL DREAM TEAM that we could have thrown out there…

What would I do now?

I like the idea of starting DeAndre Jordan.  Kyrie Irving starts, yeah he can get shot happy but so can Kyle Lowry… at the 2, Klay Thompson: best shooter, scoring 2 guard from deep, good size, really good defender, and halfway decent ball handler.  Why WOULDN’T we start him?

It looks like other teams are trying to bully us inside.  

So, for our last two starting spots… what about going with Draymond Green as a Point 4?  Let’s see what he does… he is MOST effective with the ball in his hands, as a passer and a creator, then on defense as a major interior defender, then as a rebounder on either side of the ball.  

Then at small forward, you gotta go with Carmelo Anthony… or do you?  Ok, let’s go with Carmelo as a proven scorer and mid-range shooter.  Give him the second toughest defensive assignment on the wing.  Let Draymond and DeAndre battle the bigs inside.  Just let Carmelo get some iso’s, some touches on the blocks, and some high percentage (for him) mid-range jumpers.  Then let him get some cheapo rebounds to pad his stats…

6th man?  Duh.  Kevin Durant.  Let him get out there, and come out FIRING!  No passive Durant here.  Get this dude going!  Plus, he gets in there with his new teammates (Dray and Klay).  Let KD do his thing… let him break the other teams’ backs.

I would think he gets subbed in for anyone on that front line… but what about Carmelo?  Save Carmelo for the end of the game.  

Second team: Kyle Lowry, Jimmy "somebody better guard somebody so it better be you!" Butler, DeMar DeRozan, Paul George (the alpha scorer of this group), and Benoit Benjamin, err, I mean DeMarcus Cousins at center.  

So, that is your rotation.  11 guys.  Two full teams and a 6th man, can’t even remember who the other guy on this team is.  That might say something about this team…

 Lol the original post is corny to me and any post that agreed with their behavior is corny too. 

Unless they’re out there trying to just physically harm other teams I don’t think they’re misrepresenting anyone. If a player gets out played, he gets out played. The best he can do is suit up and try to get the next one. To go as far as to say they aren’t respecting their country and all that other mess is just doing to much.

Your post is about the American team, so why are you holding them in comparison to the Australian team…. The one that lost to them. I acknowledge that this team USA team has been playing hero ball and are hurting themselves by making these games close but this enrire post is just too much.

 Carmelo shouldn’t start over Kevin Durant who is a 5 time 1st all nba player and will win more rings then Carmelo but everything else you said is accurate

It’s hilarious that you have the gall to call them entitled when they haven’t lost a game and you’re still pissed. There’s a pot/kettle thing going on.

I don’t really care about their behavior. If they are being unprofessional, they’ll eventually lose.

My only complain is that they are setting a bad example for the young guys. I’m sure there are kids watching these games and now they believe playing iso ball is the way to go.

Cousins and Jordan totally outplayed by 21 years old Jokic and the future C of  Olimpia Milano(!!)… what a shame….

The OP must be hangry… Eat a snickers dude. 

"We knew we were going to get their best. The game got a little out of hand physically early on. We had to adjust. We knew this team had a knack for playing a little dirty." 

That’s what Paul George said… You’re overreacting. Saying he isn’t prepared to win gold is ridiculous. Dude could’ve stayed home and rested his leg and nobody would’ve batted an eye. Instead, he’s playing and sacrificing his body. The play he made vs AUS up 6 with about 25 secs left when he dove out of bounds and knocked the ball off of Delly said a lot. 

Most of your post is just sensitive and full of emotions… No real issues discussed besides your feelings. 

The real issues here are too much iso ball by Irving and Melo. Defensively, they’ve lacked discipline/communication the last couple of games. Players have gotten slammed by screens pressuring the ball. Two guys running to the ball. Too much gambling for hero ball steals. Ball watching. Coach K needs to switch up his lineups/rotations. Cousins can’t defend the rim and he’s getting killed dropping back on high screens… He can’t defend out there depending on certain matchups. Start Jordan, who’s a better fit for Team USA. Play Green more at the five. 

I also think they need to bring either KD or Melo off of the bench and start PG. KD can’t find his offense playing alongside two iso ball players in Irving and Melo. Play Lowry and Butler, who’ve been dogs on defense, more. I’d start Butler at the two and bring Thompson off of the bench. Think Thompson would get better looks off of the bench too. 

I don’t have a problem with Team USA’s behavior either. This group really seems to like each other and they show it on the bench. Embarrasing their country lol? Dude… 

You’re not putting up money on the team that goes undefeated during pool play?

Team USA is coasting in this Olympics, and thank god they are. They win by an average of 30 points if they prepared and played at 100%.