[DolanCareParticipant]

I love watching international play, seeing the different styles, players who are stars in their home countries. But let’s be honest, the USA will always win international play as long as they take the games seriously. I’m an American, and I have no problem saying that I would love it if the US lost a FIBA or Olympic game. Maybe even get a bronze medal again like 2004. Why? Because I don’t watch sports to see blowouts. I watch for the nailbiters, for some freaking compeition. 

There are real reasons why the US dominates basketball: The game was invented in the US…. Some of our greatest athletes play basketball at a young instead of soccer etc. On top of these cultural advantages, the USA also has a geographic one. The USA is a massive country. Even if basketball was invented in Lithuania, which upon observation seems like a plausible statement, the country has a small population. Small populations means less individuals who hit the genetic lottery, which is what it takes to play professional basketball. 

My proposal:

What if neighboring countries, especially smaller ones, united their top players into one team?What if it was Team USA vs. Team Balkans… or Team Eastern Europe… Or Team South America? The borders of a team would be hard to define by decree, which is why in this proposal the decision would be left up to the countries themselves. If Croatia wants to be it’s own team, fine. But they have the option of teaming up with Serbia, Bosnia and other neighboring nations. 

Ukraine, Russia and Lithuania could team up and possibly help mend today’s geopolitical tensions! This idea brings compeitiveness and diplomacy!

Canada unfortunatley gets screwed in this concept but they should be fine. The country has a growing pool of young talent and increasingly more habitable land thanks to climate change. I’m sure Winnipeg will have outdoor courts in no time. 

Players won’t be able to  ‘represent their country’ in this proposal, but that’s a small price to pay in my opinon. The playing field (court so to speak) would certainly be more level and the games would be more entertaining.

If hack-a-shaq is so boring that it forces the NBA to change, why can’t routine domination from the US catalyze change in international compeition? Just a thought. 

 

 

 

The Olympics should stay how it is because it’s not about basketball. But I think FIBA should change how it categorizes teams. 

 

 

 

 

[sheltwon3Participant]

 That still wouldn’t change a whole lot because once the US took the international competition seriously they invested in not only players but coaches and now there is not a long adjustment period for the style of game that the US plays.  The US is not even fielding their best players right now.  There are a least 10 top players that would kill it internatonally that are not playing.   Also there are specialist that would dominate in a different style of game where they are surrounded by superstars.

[bimirudParticipant]

… so the world deserves the whipping it’s getting.

But maybe FIBA should re-think its decision. USA dominance is UNREAL. Even if you banned players from every US state except California, here’s your team:

Starters: Westbrook, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler

Bench: Lillard, Harden, Kawhi Leonard, DeRozan, Brook Lopez, Ryan Anderson, Paul Pierce or Robin Lopez

Lillard and Harden might not start for an All-California NBA team. CRAZY.

And to think … the USA women are even more dominant. Haven’t lost an Olympic game in 24 years, and only 3 losses EVER.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[shug94Participant]

 Kevin Love is from Oregon.

[D7H7NParticipant]

 Or the US could just elect to not participate anymore.

[Hype Machine]

So you mean team Australia & NZ.

Hahahhahahahahaha

Maybe you’re not from around here

 

[ThenilonatorParticipant]

 I’m sure the players will disagree with your statement that its a small price to pay to represent their countries. We already have too many players pull out of international tournaments to concentrate on their own leagues (particularly nba) and the biggest carrot that is dangled is to represent your country. Pretty sure all players won’t be sacrificing large club contracts to win a title for the Balkans!!!

[DolanCareParticipant]

 Appreciate what you’re saying. Disagree though. A major reason why players don’t play international is because it’s not that big of a deal. Why risk injury just to get whipped, or to do the whipping? Look at the World Cup, all of the players play, despite the risk of injury, because of the potential to make history. FIBA needs some of this energy, the enrgy comes from compeition. 

 

 

 

[goldie92689Participant]

 What players are NOT playing?You are saying players don’t play, that is completely wrong. Yes there are a few American players that are not playing, but other than maybe Kawhai and Blake all the best American players have tried out for or have played in multiple competitions representing Team USA. That includes, lebron, curry, harden, nthony davis, chris paul, etc, etc.  The players take fiba very seriously, its espn and the sports medi that do not. 

[OhCanada-Participant]

Man…this post is so wrong.

Winnepeg has a summer every year.  The snow eventually melts for a while. Plus professional basketball is played inside. I’m sure they have outdoor courts and a climate change isn’t what helped Canadian basketball. Elfrid Payton is from Winnipeg. Lol.

Ukraine and Russia are in political conflict as are many boardrring countries in the world which ruins your proposal.

 

 

 

 

[DolanCareParticipant]

1) I have family in Winnipeg, no disrespect. My point is that basketball will catch on in Canada more once more kids grow up with the game. Warmer weather helps. 

2) Your Elfrid Payton comment is technically accurate but completely misses my point. He lived in Winnipeg because his dad played in the CFL. He was born in Louisiana and went to school in Louisiana. Payton’s time in Winnipeg is not indicative of the sports popularity in Winnipeg. 

3) You are clearly from Winnipeg

4) Please read my post more thoroughly. I mentioned the tensions between Ukraine and the mother land. My proposal has the potential to reannex Crimea if executed properly. (Can’t get into specifics now). 

 

 

 

[ChoppyParticipant]

I actually laughed at work reading "increasingly habitable land due to climate change". That’s gold. And while it’s true that basketball was invented in America, it was invented by a Canadian. Interesting idea, props for having the guts to put it out there. Don’t really see it being feasible though. The real honour is playing for your country. It wouldn’t be as meaningful if Australian and NZ players represented Oceania for example.  

[he_gets_bucketsParticipant]

 I didn’t realise Canada was a frozen tundra during the 90’s, thank god all the ice has finally melted!

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 They could go back to Amateur Only.

We lost in 1972 with amatuers but probably should have won.

Lost in 1988 — but to a team full of Soviet ringers.  And Hersey Hawkins was hurt or something…

In 1992 our Amateur team would have been one of our best teams EVER led by Shaq, Laettner, Penny, Jamal Mashburn, Calbert Chaney, Allan Houston, and those guys — plus probably Chris Webber and some other Fab Five guys.

Might be more fun.

You can let the pro’s play in the Basketball World Cup.

If I TWEAKED it I would have 2 college guys round out the roster with another college kid as an alternate.  Buddy Hield would have been MY PICK for the alternate anyway…

OR — another thing we can do, which would make sense and would be FAIR — you can only play on ONE Olympic team.  

So, do some pros with some college guys.

You can have 10 NBA players, 2 college kids, and then a non-NBA guy as an alternate (D Leaguer).

BUT, you can only play ONE TIME.

That would give you a team full of younger guys — with some veteran fringe stars to round out the roster.

This team would feature mostly the guys it has now — minus Carmelo Anthony aka the Bill Russell of Olympic Basketball and Kevin Durant.

We would STILL be favored to win it — but we would give new guys more of a shot to play, and there would be more parity between us and the rest of the world.

Then add two college guys plus a college alternate to the team…

So we would have Kyrie Irving, Kyle Lowry, Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, DeRozan, Paul George, Cousins, Draymond, DeAndre Jordan, and Harrison Barnes as our 10 NBA guys.  The other two players would probably be Buddy Hield and Brandon Ingram with the alternate either being a point guard (Kris Dunn) or an extra big man (Brice Johnson).

Still talented, and skewed a bit younger, and the odds on favorite to win it all — but it wouldn’t be as much of a rout by Team USA.

This would give guys more of a chance to play for their country and would be a YUGE opportunity for some draft picks to get a crash course in big time basketball.  I think NBA owners would like it more, sense their top guys would only be playing in the Olympics ONCE EVER (although they might still play in the World Cup every four years).  

I think if we do it this way, we can’t totally rely on superstars, so we have to get some more well-rounded teams.  

Looks like we would MOSTLY have guys under the age of 25 or so…

In 2020 our roster would possibly be even YOUNGER — with some of our roster being made up of guys who aren’t even in the league yet — then you have guys like Mike Conley or LaMarcus Aldridge who might make the teams as semi-star/all star veterans who might not have made a SUPER STAR TEAM.

Possible 2020 Team:

Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Mike Conley, Andre Drummond, Jahlil Okafor, D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Paul Millsap, Joshua Jackson, and Karl Anthony-Towns along with some college kids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[goldie92689Participant]

Karl Town is Dominican, He has been a mainstay on the DR national team since he was in the 10th grade. If your not a fan of Fiba basketball, please stop posting as if you know what you are talking about. 

[HitsterParticipant]

 Olympic Football only allows 3 players over the age of 23, maybe something like that could shake things up a bit. Other countries would probably choose the best 3 overage players they could find, Team USA would probably do it on availability or on where depth is needed that the under 23’s don’t provide.

A lot of players would only get one shot at an Olympic gold, so you’d have a huge clamour for the younger guys to get on Team USA. Getting a gold medal ticks a box on a load of player’s wishlists I’d imagine but once they have one the6y may be less motivated to return for further Olympics.

 

 

[dmo21Participant]

I like this idea, as it would feature the young, up and coming stars as well as make the playing field a bit more even (seems like most international teams are comprised mostly of young players).

I also thought it would be fun to see what a team would look like for this year (using NBA players under 23 (as per nba.com) and 3 players chosen from the current Olympic team). This is what I ended up with:

PG- Irving, Russell
SG- Beal, Booker, LaVine
SF- Durant, Hood, KCP
PF- Anthony, Parker
C- Davis, Drummond, Okafor

Point guard is by far the weakest point for players under 23, which is why I chose Irving. Chose Durant and Anthony as they are veterans of the international game and can play different positions.

Honorable mentions for <23 year olds: MKG, Turner, Randle, Noel.

[Mr. HookShotParticipant]

The thing is that is one of the main sports in the US, which is why they excell at it. This is why all European countries tend to be good at football (soccer). Seeing in football (soccer) that the US slowly catches up, I’ll probably expect the same in basketball with the main difference being that the US has 200+ million people and each European country has anywhere between 5 and 80 million people. 

I see no reason to change international basketball; I mean, there are also other sports were some countries excell (e.g. running: Kenya/Ethiopia, field hockey: Netherlands, rugby: New Zealand, table tennis: China), there is also no need to change those types of sports. 

[2quick4uParticipant]

seriously you should "rethink" your thinking..

first of all the US has been much less dominant than other countries in other sports..so following your thinking we should rethink sports like table tennis, where china is absolutely dominant and play a rest of the worl against china..and same for long distance runing like 10.000 meters with ethiopia..

second, i guess you’re pretty young and you have not seen the US struggling and having a hard time for winning the gold medal..but they actually did.

in fact in 1988(last year they played with college players) they just got bronze with a team full of great players and future stars like david robinson, richmond, manning, hawkins or majerle..they lost against soviet union in semifinals 82-76 where sabonis schooled robinson..

then in 1992 and 1996 the US crushed the rest of the teams but that happened for 2 reasons:

1. the 2 powerhouses in europe at that time, USSR and Yugoslavia, were fractured because of war (cold war and balkans war)..so those "neightboring and small countries" you’re saying should unite, were actually former yugoslavia and former soviet union and they fractured for a reason..so i don’t think they would be very happy if you tell them to reunite again..

2. it happened that in the other hand, the US had the best generation of players they’ve ever had..

I’m not saying that the dream team would have lost, but it’s not the same to play the finals against a small country like croatia than if they had played against the whole yugoslavia, that would have had an amazing team full of nba players like petrovic, divac, kukoc, radja ,danilovic, paspalj or vrankovic..

by 2000 basketball grew up big time in the rest of countries in europe and the US had a hard time winning the gold..before semifinals they defeated lithuania, france and russia by margins of 9,12 and 15 points..in semifinals they played against lithuania again and..jasikevicius had the last shot to win the game..the US won 85-83…remember lithuania is part of former ussr and only has 3’5 mill people…

in 2004, the US got humiliated with a team full of young stars like duncan, iverson, amare, marbury, lebron, wade or carmelo..they lost against lithuania, argentina and puerto rico by 19..and almost lost against spain in quarter finals..the US "just" got bronze..

in 2008, with a team packed with superstars like kobe, lebron, wade, kidd, carmelo or paul they defeated Spain 118-107 in the finals, where spain got robbed because US players were travelling in a way that was just absurd and didn’t get any call..

in 2012 with a superteam with lebron, kobe,durant,westbrook, davis or paul they beat Spain again in the finals 107-100 in a game that was decided in the last couple of minutes..

so as you can see, the US is of course the best team out there but has not been as dominant has you could think..

but who knows maybe you’re right about rethinking sports to make them more fun, and players would just have to pay a "small price" for not representing their countries..

i suggest this one: the US is pretty bad at soccer, so why don’t you guys unite with mexico, cuba and venezuela to be a little more competitive¿? you could call yourselves the united countries of america and could have a new flag full of colors that would look great in your backyard..

P.S: US 98-88 Australia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DolanCareParticipant]

I know this idea is a bit of a stretch, but can we have an open mind here for a second and chill out? 2004 is not representative of the teams the USA has now. It was a trainwreck led by a disinterested Larry Brown and Allen Iverson. Now, the US cleans up without some of the country’s greatest players. The Olympics is taken seriously, more prepared, more composed. 

You’re right that I’m too young to know about the 1988 Olympics, but it doesn’t really change my point about the US dominace. They lost to a great USSR team when the US used college players. Now that professionals can play, can we try to recreate the same level of compeition like the USSR?

My favorite point of yours: The Balkans and Eastern Europe are fractured for a reason, years of bloodshed, imperalism from Russia and general dislike. Why would they decide to team up again? Like I said, banding together would be voluntary. So Kosovo doesn’t have to join with Serbia if they don’t want to. 

My second favorit point: Why not reconfigure Table Tennis and other one-team dominant sports as well? Like I said, the Olympics should stay as is. It’s centered around each country competing in various sports so it wouldn’t make sense to give special rules to a specific event. 

But for non-Olympic events…. absolutely! Pacific Island nations should be able to team up, maybe Cambodia and Laos can squad up as well. What about Brazil and Argentina? It’s just FIBA guys! Maybe we could actually get the arenas sold out if real compeition could be assured. 

 

 

 

 

 

[King CaluchaParticipant]

As a Southamerican let me tell you. There is no way in hell Argentina and Brasil would team up for anything… not even for drinking beers in the backyard. Well, maybe that’s a stretch, but the point is… they like competing against each other. The same could go for several countries in Latinamerica and probably Europe. We don’t care about beating the US in basketball, we’d rather keep our pride.

[2quick4uParticipant]

US 94-91 SERBIA

so… do you still want to send college players or 3tier stars to international competition¿? go head but they’ll probably get raped..because that’s already happened and that’s why the US sends their best players..

[Author]

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