YET ANOTHER OLYMPIC SHOCKER!!

[Lacrymosa]

OH SO CLOSE!!!

OLYMPIC HISTORY WAS MADE!!!

The U.S. Men's Basketball team almost bites it against Lithuania.

http://espn.go.com/oly/summer00/news/2000/0929/788278.html

[Newbie]

That would have been interesting if Lithuania had actually won.

[MrPoopy]

I don't see why these guys get paid so much if they can't play any better than that. Didn't America get beaten once in basketball in one of the earlier olympics?

[Great Sage]

Originally posted by MrPoopy
I don't see why these guys get paid so much if they can't play any better than that. Didn't America get beaten once in basketball in one of the earlier olympics?

Team USA lost twice in the World Basketball Championships, I believe... Now ask yourself is a 19 year old kid should be paid $90 million before he even plays in the NBA...

Furthermore, Ray Allen says, "I don't know, if we had lost, if we would have come back for the bronze medal game..." What a poor sport. Excuse me Ray, but did you think other countries are content with losing. Ofcourse they’re going to continue getting better and competing... Basketball is afterall a sport.

[RobertG]

Ummm, last I checked we have been kicking the crap out of everyone in the Olympic qualifiers. And that is with a mediocre team missing most of the NBA's top talent (no Shaq, Kobe, Garnett, Webber, Wallace, Payton....). They have frigging Richard Jefferson and Mike Bibby out there. Yeah, like Richard Jefferson showed up for the Finals.

But in any event, the international playing field is almost level. Since a large fraction of the NBA players now are not US nationals it would hardly be surprising if we loose more often.

What is this doing in the BJJ forum anyway? I mean sure, the Brazillian team is in the qualifiers now and they've got two NBA players (Hillario and Barbosa). But I just can't see Nene doing BJJ and it would be a huge waste of his vertical anyway.

[RobertG]

Oh yeah Great Sage--also LeBron does not play for the US National team. Nike paid him the $90 million, not Cleveland. Rookie salaries are capped specifically to prevent teams from giving high schoolers idiotic contracts. Although paying a rookie Kobe, Garnett or McGrady a $90 million contract, in hindsight, would have been sound business. So even if the Cavs did give LeBron $90 (which they will after his rookie contract expires), its not like it would be a poor investment (especially considering how much money he is going to make the team). You are correct, most 19 year olds don't warrant that sort of money. Then again, a great number of high schoolers went in the second round of the draft and will make the rookie minimum (6 figures, not 8).

And Ray Allen is a perennial looser, who cares what he has to say? Blame the US Basketball Olympic Committee for our poor results--they're the one's who pick the players. You pick loosers and you will loose. Pretty simple. Ray has talent but can't win.