USA OLYMPIC BASKETBALL

I want to see the very best compete in the Olympics so I'm all for seeing pros participating! However, what the Americans did to Nigeria was embarrassing for the Americans. You never try to embarrass your opponent and that's what the Americans tried to do last night. I've been on both sides of the equation. When you have a comfortable lead you should let up. Just like the Canadians did in their quarter final hockey game in 2010 vs Russia. They could have easily scored 13-14 goals that night instead concentrated on defense and shut the game down when it got out of hand. The final was 7-1.

What USA basketball did last night was disgraceful!

-Erik-

Yeah, but "letting up" isn't as easy in basketball as it is in sports like hockey or football. You can't just try to run the clock out. You have to take a shot every 24 seconds. And what kinds of shots do you take when you're not trying to twist the knife? Low-percentage shots, like 3-pointers. But when the U.S. shoots 63% from behind the arc, it just makes things worse. What do you want them to do? Miss on purpose? It's not like the super-super-stars were playing much, either, especially by the end. Kobe only had 2 points after the first quarter. L. James sat the bench for how much of that game? They were having fun, for sure, but I don't think they were trying to crush the Nigerians' spirit. I think they were pleasantly surprised by their own accuracy that night and enjoying it. They couldn't miss. There might have been a more tactful way to beat Nigeria, even when shooting so well, but the rules of basketball don't exactly facilitate holding back when you're destroying someone.

Remember, too, that this is a team that was pretty roundly criticized for their previous two games. They won both of those handily, too, but had slow starts and everyone was talking about how surprising it is to see the Americans playing so poorly. With all that talk can you blame them for starting so strongly? Then once you've racked up that lead it becomes difficult to do anything but defeat your opponents by a large margin.

Let 'em play. Nobody criticizes other Olympians when they break records.

edit: Reading back through this my post seems kind of snarky, but that wasn't my intent. I'm not trying to be rude here. I'm also not saying they didn't try to run up the score - maybe they really were trying to do that. I just wanted to balance the conversation a little

Umm... they were trying to run up the score. They weren't driving to the net at all. They just stayed outside the arc and kept taking three after three after three after three with only a hand full of seconds ticked off the shot clock. Classy! In game like this you start working on other aspects of your game. You start treating at as a practice. What the US did was embarrassing and unsportsmanlike.

And don't tell me that taking out Kobe and Lebron means anything. This is an all-star team of the very best players from the NBA. You take out one all-star and you put another one in.

As for starting strongly... I have no problem with that. You play to win. You have to establish your game right off the bat but they had the game under wraps after the first friggin' quarter. Once you are up by six thousand points the ridiculous amount of points they put up in the third and fourth quarters was a clear demonstration that they were going to annihilate and embarrass one of the weakest teams in the tournament. No one wants to see this just like no one wants to see what happened in badminton.

Anyway, I would be far more impressed with records and hot shooting if this was done against a team with much better skill and in the gold medal match where it actually means something.

-Erik-

PS - You talk about world records. When are they usually broken? When it means something. For instance, the 100 metre record is usually broken not in the first heat but in the final heat when gold is on the line!

No surprise