That’s way off topic, but my point is, the worldwide standardization of the rules in soccer have made it very easy for fans to understand whatever game they’re watching. Unlike international B-ball.

The NBA is beginning to gain a more extra-American identity, but thus far the huge majority of the players in the L come out of American colleges. Can you imagine an NBA player giving up NBA competition to play in Europe for the purpose of building the sport (as Beckham did with soccer)? I guess if the paycheck was right some would, but there’s not enough of a market for B-ball to generate the money required to get LeBron over to Madrid.

I think the fans don’t take international play as seriously because there is a perception that we have been dominant in the past, and that the only reason we have ever failed to win gold is because we weren’t making an effort. By “an effort” I mean that some of the most talented players have chosen not to compete, and the second tier stars haven’t gelled.

Also,there’s a lot of talk about how the rules affect the style of game, both for basketball and for hockey. Does anyone know if the different soccer leagues have rules that vary from World Cup rules?

Okay, I’ll never be critical of anyone for a long post again. If I do, call me Craig and meet me in the bathroom, cuz I’m a hypocrite.

However PDX, while I’m rarely one to be succinct, I will say that it’d be nice if basketball fans treated international ball with the same reverence that soccer fans treat their international game.

Why did Mahorn call you LawyerBoy?

Often a player will show absolutely no remorse to a club teammate who is his opponent in the World Cup. Can you imagine if Amare committed a “send a message” foul to Barbosa upon him driving the lane? We’d all be shocked. It happens all the time in soccer. And the FIBA Americas is the precursor to the Olympics, where, as the fields get smaller, the disparity in talent narrows (not unlike the World Cup), so perhaps the Americans are trying to take it seriously (especially if they’re worried about getting cut). I say good for them. As Pistons fans, perhaps we’re inclined to only care about the NBA season, but maybe a little (assuming you’re an American Pistons fan) USA spirit isn’t a bad thing. As much as I hate the Lakers, I find it necessary to root for Kobe in international play and I genuinely hope he does well for the American team.

This all being said, I haven’t really watched much of the tournament. I don’t even care about the FIBA Americas as much as I care about the World Cup qualifying rounds. Hopefully by the time the Beijing Olympics roll around I (we American basketball fans as a whole) will have developed a strong interest in this squad and their quest to reclaim dominance. Hopefully it’ll make sense to care as well.

PS: In an attempt to clear up the glut of people who use part or all of their actual names, I feel it’s time for me to change my posting name. After this post I’m going to be switching to LawyerBoy, it’s a name (LONG ago) that was given to me by Rick Mahorn, so it couldn’t be any more appropriate to use than here.

It doesn’t change the fact that even though I only saw a REPLAY of the injury and already knew Prince was “day to day” I couldn’t help but think of Shaun Livingston…..

Also, and I swear do NOT quote me on this ever because I’ll be forced to deny it but yeah…..Kobe has been freaking unbelievable on the defensive end. Who knew he COULD do that aside from maybe his mom? Seriously impressive.

As for rooting for Lebron, I’m kinda with Matt C… I personally find his taunting and weird “faces” a little embarassing. I keep hoping Jason Kidd will pull him aside and explain that he’s representing his country on international TV.

Realistically though I really would prefer these tournaments be played with “real” rules. International basketball is about as close to the NBA game as the And1 Tour is…. maybe less so because slow white 7 foot stickman Euro’s who can periodicially drain three’s don’t have a place in And1 either. It’s just really hard for me personally to care about these games when their played under a set of rules that promotes catch and jump shooting and games in the 60’s…

That having been said, yeah sure who can argue that Tay and Chauncey don’t deserve the right to persue this once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country (though realistically Tay could do another Olympics after that if he’s still really good).

So I will disagree, PG4L, but respectfully.

Otoh we are talking Bill Walton here, for all we know that could be code for “I have no clue what’s going on during this game right now and will be paid regardless of what I say here”…

And I can ignore the allure of winning a gold medal because the NBA is a better game than olympic basketball by about a million miles. All I care about are titles baby.

I felt this exact same way last All Star game. I’ve been crossing my fingers and saying “Oh christ just don’t let him get hurt” for two years now every time this nonsense comes up.

I’m not asking Tay or Chauncey to turn down the Olympics (though at least 10 players have opted out of this tournament citing the need to stay healthy for their NBA employers) but you can’t blame me for missing the time when the Pistons were focused completely on winning NBA titles. Why isn’t Tim Duncan playing? Because he’s got his priorities straight.

All-Star Games and Olympic Qualifiers are for guys like Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter…. It just somehow seems un-Piston like to be losing focus on what matters to go play in some crappy bullsh*t basketball exhibition played under house league rules officiated by blind biased foriegners who absolutely hate us.

Let Jason Kidd take home a custom designed gold medal…… Detroit Basketball is about Larry O’Brien’s and nothing more.

Further, he doesn’t panic when he gets in trouble, and doesn’t take bad shots when he gets in trouble. So perhaps you could say it is a combination of timing and demeanor.

Oh, and one rebound for every three minutes from a wing should tell you a little about why he got PT (and the roster spot).

And I promise to never post twice about Tiago Splitter ever again. Unless, in a few years, we’re all ranting about how we should’ve picked him instead of Afflalo.

He’s another big-ass Spur who can grab those long rebounds, so get ready to hate.

But maybe not for a couple of years, since the Spurs finally got around to signing their 2005 draft pick, 6′11″ Ian Mahinmi.