The Washington Post’s Mike Wibon has seconded my opinion of the NBA.
Anybody who wanted to see this defeat coming could see it as clear as an onrushing train. Teams from San Juan to China have spent the past 12 years creating clever strategies and exploring every nuance of the game’s fundamentals, while Americans obsessed over dunking and reassured each other we were keepers of the global game.
Well, apparently not this time, not this tournament and not with this team. The Puerto Ricans didn’t just win, they were better. The U.S. players and Larry Brown talked predictably afterward about not wanting it enough, about being flat at the beginning of the game. And it’s all such a bunch of junk. It’s just easier to use that excuse than to face the fact that the other team is better, that its pieces fit better and function with a smarter purpose.
…The U.S. team’s problem isn’t lack of effort, it’s lack of skill.
And he continued today.
It should be more obvious than it is to some that the quality of play in the United States has declined. Players come from high school to the NBA without having any knowledge of fundamental basketball….