Hi Guys!!!!!
Are you interested in basketball????
If you answer is positive, then you should have heard about the 14th World Cup. It´s going to take place in Indianapolis from 29th August - 8th September

I´d like to begin a World Cup prediction game...
I hope it´s not too late... you know the world cup will begin tomorrow...
Anyway, are you interested?

For you to know:
This is the Competition Format

Groups:

POOL A: Angola, Canada, Spain, Yugoslavia
POOL B: Brazil, Lebanon, Puerto Rico, Turkey
POOL C: Algeria, China, Germany, United States
POOL D: Argentina, New Zealand, Russia, Venezuela

The top 3 teams qualify to a second round. Best 3 from POOL A and POOL B merge into a new group: E
Best 3 from POOL C + POOL D: group F

Then, the usual quarterfinals, semifinals and final match.

Well, this is the system:

First, i´m going to post the entire schedule from the First Round.
Then, you´ll have to place your bet.

An example:

Aug 29, 2002
Yugoslavia vs. Angola

You must choose a winner and a victory margin.
Like this:

Yugoslavia vs. Angola - Yug Wins by 11-15 points

If you guess right (who is the winner) you´ll receive 20 points.
If you also guess right the victory margin: 10 extra points.

In reference to the victory margin, you could choose between:

A) 1-5 points
B) 6-10 points
C) 11-15 points
D) 16-20 points
E) + 20 points


It´s really simple. I didn´t want to create strange or difficult point systems. :D

29th August Games:

POOL A:
Yugoslavia vs. Angola
Canada vs. Spain

POOL B:
Brazil vs. Lebanon
Puerto Rico vs. Turkey

POOL C:
China vs. Germany
USA vs. Algeria

POOL D:
New Zealand vs. Russia
Argentina vs. Venezuela


So, if you are interested just post your predictions ;)

I'd love to, but I don't know enough about the other teams to really handicap them...

I can be fairly accurate when I pick the winner though! :D

Here's my try:


POOL A:
Yugoslavia vs. Angola Yugoslavia by 11-15
Canada vs. Spain Canada by 16-20

POOL B:
Brazil vs. Lebanon Brazil by 20+
Puerto Rico vs. Turkey Turkey by 11-15

POOL C:
China vs. Germany Germany by 6-10
USA vs. Algeria USA by 20+

POOL D:
New Zealand vs. Russia Russia by 20+
Argentina vs. Venezuela Argentina by 11-15

Well, it seems that there aren´t many bastekball fans around :(
Anyway, thanx for your post Flatlander Fox.
If you want me to go on with this predictions, i´ll do it. However, with only 2 guys (you and me)... i don´t know.

My predictions:

POOL A:
Yugoslavia vs. Angola Yugoslavia by 20+
Canada vs. Spain Spain by 1-5

POOL B:
Brazil vs. Lebanon Brazil by 20+
Puerto Rico vs. Turkey Turkey by 11-15

POOL C:
China vs. Germany Germany by 6-10
USA vs. Algeria USA by 20+

POOL D:
New Zealand vs. Russia Russia by 20+
Argentina vs. Venezuela Argentina by 20+

30th August Games:

POOL A:
Yugoslavia vs. Spain
Canada vs. Angola

POOL B:
Puerto Rico vs. Lebanon
Brazil vs. Turkey

POOL C:
China vs. Algeria
USA vs. Germany

POOL D:
New Zealand vs. Venezuela
Argentina vs. Russia

Originally posted by Flatlander Fox
POOL D:
New Zealand vs. Russia Russia by 20+
Originally posted by Academia
POOL D:
New Zealand vs. Russia Russia by 20+Well, I guess you both got that wrong :D

An extract from a NZ paper:

Two weeks ago New Zealand upset world champions Yugoslavia. Add to that a win against China and the Oceania qualifying victory against Australia last year for the right to come to Indianapolis and the Tall Blacks are now regular Davids in a world ruled by Goliaths.

Two weeks ago New Zealand upset world champions Yugoslavia. Add to that a win against China and the Oceania qualifying victory against Australia last year for the right to come to Indianapolis and the Tall Blacks are now regular Davids in a world ruled by Goliaths.

Yes, I know it. But i believed that it was just luck. That´s it.
I saw them yesterday against Russia... what a surprise!!! :eek:

Gosh, not that knowledgable about the World Championships. Not exactly my idea of a competitive sport.

I do like Yugoslavia's team though, they've got a pretty good line-up; could probably compete decently in the NBA.

Canada would have had an interesting team if not for injuries. Of course, no team is as robbed of talent by injuries as the U.S. but that really doesn't matter. Personally, I would like to see the use of proffessional players halted again, I find it kind of tasteless. Reminds me of that terrible McDonalds commercial with Kobe Bryant playing with the grade schoolers. Just painful to watch.

I'm more than amazing with the Spain victories over Canada and Yugoslavia! And Canada has lost her game against Angola, that's amazing too

Gosh, not that knowledgable about the World Championships. Not exactly my idea of a competitive sport.
Not competitive? Have you seen how many international players play in the NBA?

Personally, I would like to see the use of proffessional players halted again, I find it kind of tasteless. Reminds me of that terrible McDonalds commercial with Kobe Bryant playing with the grade schoolers. Just painful to watch.
The gap is closing... be careful US. Don´t be so arrogant. Don´t you remember Sydney 2000? You defeated Lithuania by only 2 points.

If you can´t see the progress of the rest of the world... :rolleyes:

I'm more than amazing with the Spain victories over Canada and Yugoslavia! And Canada has lost her game against Angola, that's amazing too
Yaroslav???? No sabia que tambien estabas aqui!!!

Yes, I'm also here :D

Originally posted by academia
Not competitive? Have you seen how many international players play in the NBA? Of course. And there are some great ones there. But even on the teams where they are the best players (I'm thinking the Mavericks, and perhaps the Grizzlies), they are still few and far between. Especially as far as the 'elite' players in the league are concerned (I think there were 3 or 4 out of 16 all-stars, for example).

Originally posted by academia
The gap is closing... be careful US. Don´t be so arrogant. Don´t you remember Sydney 2000? You defeated Lithuania by only 2 points. The Sydney team stunk. They had no motivation to even put forth an effort. Its one of the reasons I wish pro's wouldn't play; they take winning for granted they don't put much of an effort forth.
But still, unfortunately, its not even our best players representing us. I mean Shaq, Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson... all resting with their feet up waiting for the NBA to roll around. Kinda sad they don't consider this important enough to play at.

And I guess I spoke too soon about Yugoslavia, they just lost to Spain. Go Pau! :goodjob:

They had no motivation to even put forth an effort. Its one of the reasons I wish pro's wouldn't play; they take winning for granted they don't put much of an effort forth.
I agree with you. However, i´m not sure that the college players will eventually play better than them.
What would be their motivation? I mean, what´s the difference?

Kinda sad they don't consider this important enough to play at.
I don´t understand the US NBA players. You are the best!!! Everybody knows that. But, show it please!!!
You are defending the colours of your country, your flag. Please, show enthusiasm!!!

more international players are getting in the nba.. even the first round pick yao ming is a chinese!!!! then there is nowitzki.. stojakovic, nash, gasol..etc... in ten years time there it will be like the nhl... hahahahaha....... maybe by beijing 2008 china will get gold!!!!

The Grizzle's suck, but hopefully they'll get better since they acquired Battier.
I think its good that the US's best players don't play, cause it really REALLY wouldn't be a competition. Not bashing any countries, but here's my starting 5.
Shaq
Iverson
Kobe Bryant
Tim Duncan
Tracey Mcgrady

It just wouldn't be a competition with our best. Remember the original Dream Team? Back when it was our best playing we dominated by WAY too many points. Wasn't fun watching.
Jordan, Barkley and the other greats back then.....its just good that we don't put our best on the US national team

oh and USA will win the Championship! :)

I have no doubt that if you select your best players, it won´t be a competition. My starting five:
C Shaq
PF Duncan
SF Garnett
SG Bryant
PG Kidd

A NEW DREAM TEAM!!! :D

Anyway, remember that you aren´t using your best players... be careful with the surprises!!!! Don´t be so confident...

i'm serious, US will win :) we kicked russia's butt back to the Kremlin :D lol Argentina's next!

Sun Tzu:
Russia sucks!!! And without Kirilenko they are nothing.
Algeria doesn´t exist. China!!! Please!!! Only Bateer and Ming (N° 1 in the draft :eek: :( ) And Germany... well "Team Nowitkzi"

You haven´t faced a real team yet. Like Brazil, Argentina or Spain. Those are the real candidates to the silver medal (gold is yours :D )

I don't see the score being too different. I think the biggest danger to team USA is they get lazy and overconfident. Basketball is one of those sports where a bad team can beat a good team on any given night if the chips fall in the right place.

Which is why I think having George Karl as the coach is begging for an upset. How this idiot keeps his job is beyond me? His own team self-destructs this season and he still gets this job? :eek:

And the team has half a dozen players who will collapse under pressure. Fortunately, Baron Davis & Paul Pierce are two of the best young clutch players. Just watch if it a game stays close in the last 5 minutes, players like Jermaine O'Neal and Shawn Marion disapear into obscurity.

not to disrespect us, but no one is invincible, specially in bball. although us is still the best team even w/ only the second tier nba player, it's still likely that they could suffer their first defeat in this tournament. however, such defeat will not mean as much as academia might suggest, b/c, this is not a real 'dream' team.

nah, most of the guys on this fake dream team are like 3rd rate NBA players, hell i think Ben Wallace is a rookie, not alot of experience on the team, but we'll still beat Argentina ;)

not alot of experience on the team, but we'll still beat Argentina
:( :cry: :cry: :cry:

not alot of experience on the team, but we'll still beat Argentina
i'm serious, US will win we kicked russia's butt back to the Kremlin lol Argentina's next!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry Sun Tzu!!!! Good luck next time!!!!!

VAMOS ARGENTINA CARAJO!!!!!!!! INVENCIBLES!!!!!!!

Let me ask this question one more time:

"Who will win the championship?"

china

:beer:
I hope Disney makes a movie about this! [party]

I almost feel like a prophet... the EXACT weaknesses I pointed out in the U.S. team came to kick them in the ass. Hopefully this will wake up the program and wake it up.

And I fully support a for-life ban of every player and coach on that team from World Basketball competition... I would call for public humiliation but I think they've had enough of that from Argentina.

I couldn´t agree more with you Greadius

Originally posted by Greadius
:beer:
I hope Disney makes a movie about this! [party]

And I fully support a for-life ban of every player and coach on that team from World Basketball competition... I would call for public humiliation but I think they've had enough of that from Argentina.

can't believe that from an american..... :confused:

You know the most forgotten American trait? The propensity to root for the underdog. We FINALLY get to do that again :D

Plus I hate George Karl and half the U.S. team. They were pampered cry-babies and got embarassed. Hopefully this will motivate them to preform on the level their capable of and the level I expect from them, AND motivate better players to put in the effort and join the U.S. team.

A winning streak can't go on forever. And I can't think of a better game, time, and team for that loss to have come.

A winning streak can't go on forever. And I can't think of a better game, time, and team for that loss to have come.
Thanx!!! :goodjob: We´re really proud of being the team that finally defeated you.
However, i´m not blind. I know that you are still the number one. I feel that this proves two things:
1) It´s a fact that the level of FIBA basket has grown. And it will go on improving.
2) USA mustn´t understimate their rivals. They we´ll have to really study their opponents skills and try to kick their ass!!!! YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!! Jump to the court and humillate the other team!!! SHOW YOUR SUPERIORITY!!!!!

Otherwise... :cry:

I was thinking of just 'don't play like its an exhibition game' kind of mentality. And perhaps a few top level players joining the game. I think as much as international basketball has caught up, the U.S. 'dream' teams have become stocked with lower-tier players and put forth less effort. Its kind of like a meeting halfway scheme.

And don't say 'we' lost, that terrible team lost. If I was playing I'd never let the score get that close, I'm too competitive :D

Ooops!!!! Another defeat... sorry guys. See you in 4 years.

Greadius:
Gosh, not that knowledgable about the World Championships. Not exactly my idea of a competitive sport.
Personally, I would like to see the use of proffessional players halted again, I find it kind of tasteless. Reminds me of that terrible McDonalds commercial with Kobe Bryant playing with the grade schoolers. Just painful to watch.

WRONG!!!!! :p

Really guys, USA must play seriously. This isn´t an exhibition tournament. The World Championship is more important than the Olympics for us. It´s obvious that FIBA Temas would give their best...

next time call Burger King, Sprite (aka McDonald) for some chance

:eek: That is just pathetic and embarassing. :crazyeye: I had a bad feeling about having a team so full of clutch imbaciles and players that disapear when the going gets rough. I had no idea they were THAT BAD.
Lifetime ban for the lot of them. And a tar and feather (especially for George Karl).

Greadius:
A picture of your idol ;)

Originally posted by academia
Greadius:
A picture of your idol ;) :mad: I forgot that was in the U.S. too. Perhaps we need to reinstitute public flogging in the case of Mr. Karl. He was an embarassment to basketball long before this fiasco, now his is an international embarassment to America. At least his hair is turning white and he is balding... I get a little satisfaction out of that.

Originally posted by academia
Greadius:
A picture of your idol ;)

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: this is funny. :lol:

Welllll .... Lance Armstrong just ripped off his fourth Tour de France win in a row in a race that's been dominated for a century by Europeans. I'll trade Armstrong's fifth and sixth yellow jerseys for a couple of US tourney losses any day.

Team USA as in

Underachieving
Second-Tier
Arrogant

The mindset of a typical American NBA player will not allow them to remain competitive in international basketball. All they care about is a fat paycheck and a lenient coach. Maybe winning a NBA championship is a factor, but they could really care less about putting forth much effort for a team representing their country. The superstars who refused to play are unpatriotic and the second-tier players who played with the probable assumption of a gold medal are examples of an arrogant mindset. Very similar to USA relay teams - all arrogant when they win, but really they should just be grateful that they did not once again drop the baton. I'm with Franklyn - USA basketball can lose every game it plays for the next century - just allow Lance the opportunity to win numbers 5 and 6.

YES!!!!! ARGENTINA VS YUGOSLAVIA!!!!!!
What a game!!!!!!

Question:
Who will win??? ;)

somebody will, hard to tell
I say yug 65% arg 35%

I say Yug 55% Arg 45% with Ginobili.
Without him... :( Yug 65% Arg 35%

I found this article on the net (ESPN)
I agree with some of his ideas, and i also think that USA Basketball should take them into account.


Solving USA Basketball's long list of problems

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By David Aldridge
Special to ESPN.com


The problem is systemic.


We do not have a national program for international competition. Every U.S. team assembled for international play, from the juniors to the Pan American Games to the Olympics to the Worlds (and it is in that order; more on that later) is cobbled together within a one- to two-month period. Coaches are rotated in and out. Since 1996, Lenny Wilkens, Rudy Tomjanovich, Flip Saunders and George Karl have each coached U.S. teams in major competition. Each has different ideas and philosophies about the game. Even if Karl did not have his finest hour coaching Wednesday night against Argentina's Ruben Magnano -- and he didn't -- you can't blame Karl for not being able to put in his stuff within a fortnight.

By contrast, the Argentine team has played together -- not every day, but for weeks at a time -- over an eight-year period. In addition, many of the team's players grew up with one another. They've been playing with and against each other since they were kids. This year, they practiced for months before coming to the States, and then went twice a day for a week at the Pistons' facility in July before bussing down to Indianapolis. And Magnano is going to spend two more weeks with the Pistons during their training camp to take some of Rick Carlisle's workouts back home with him. (And so that Carlisle can pick Magnano's mind as well.)

There is no national program because there is no budget for one. As sponsorship dollars continue to wane, it will be tremendously difficult for USA Basketball and the NBA to create one. And other factors create problems, too.

"I think it would be difficult to do, with the AAU system and the way the whole thing is structured now," Carlisle said. "It's simply a case of, there's no ideal situation unless you can put together a Dream Team every year of the very, very best players, and then we don't even talk about this."

"The calendar doesn't favor it," said C.M. Newton, the former longtime coach, Kentucky athletic director and president of USA Basketball and current CEO of the World Basketball Championship and member of USA Basketball's senior men's selection committee.

"We did that for our women, and that's becoming increasingly difficult for the women now, because of the WNBA season, and the season in Europe for professional players," Newton said. "I don't think that we would get anybody, particularly out of the NBA, that would be willing to give up playing in the NBA to come and join a national team for an entire year. You wouldn't have anybody from the school and college community that would be willing to do that."

But would you need a year if you had a national coach? A full-time coach could a) have time to scout international teams adequately, on their continents, during their championships; b) be able to put his stamp and philosophy on the program, so everyone knows the style of play he'll want coming in; c) be able to pass his program on to the next coach, so there is continuity from cycle to cycle. This would obviously require hiring someone who isn't a current NBA head coach, who could do it for four to six years at a time.

My choice? Dean Smith. The '76 Olympic coach has the time, he has a system, he has the respect of players from Michael Jordan on down and he has a network of disciples that could succeed him and continue his way of doing things as they retire from NBA and college jobs. For example, Larry Brown isn't likely to stay in pro ball much longer and would be honored beyond words to coach for his country. Waiting in the wings could be guys like Roy Williams, Randy Ayers, Mo Cheeks or Buzz Peterson -- all familiar either directly or through affiliation with members of the Chapel Hill Mafia with the Smith Way. If Dean didn't want to do it, I'd go after Mike Krzyzewski for all the same reasons; under the K Sphere of Influence are talents ranging from Doug Collins to Tommy Amaker.

But the reality is, unless dollars are available to pay a coach and fund the ancillary needs of the program, such an endeavor isn't likely to happen.


We do not give the players enough time to learn one another, nor do we pay them for their time. Everything is relative. Word is the Turkish players received $75,000 for beating Yugoslavia in the European championships. The Argentines, allegedly, are getting less than two grand per player for being here. The point is that, in each of those countries, for various reasons, that's a lot of money. And USA Basketball has to pay a lot of coin to make it worth the while of millionaires to give up their summer. Would $500,000 per player, with additional incentives for winning gold, be a reasonable carrot for some of the L's better players to sacrifice a summer?

But players have to meet USA Basketball halfway. NBA players have demanded less and less practice time in exchange for their participation in international play. That has to change.

"It may sound crazy," Toronto's Antonio Davis said, "but if you get guys to commit four weeks beforehand, so that you can prepare the right way, and do things you have to do, and play enough exhibition games so that you come in here -- you're crisp, you're sharp, and you're ready to go -- then that makes all the difference in the world. I don't think the selection process should change; I just think the preparation should change."

Some players turn down the invites because they say they need time off after what can be a 100-game schedule if they go deep into the playoffs. But the notion that NBA guys work longer hours than their international counterparts is a fiction. Yes, club teams abroad generally play two or three games a week. But once a guy's club season is over abroad, there's the European Championships (or their counterparts, the Central American and Caribbean Games, or the Asian Games), the various club championships, as well as Olympic and Worlds qualifying tournaments when necessary. You add all that up and you're at 70 to 90 games, depending on how far you go, relatively equal to what most NBA players do in a season.

Peja Stojakovic is playing with that same bad ankle he sprained in the Western Conference finals. Pau Gasol is playing for Spain with a bad groin. Yes, they're still relatively young guys, but Vlade Divac dragged his 33-year-old butt out here to play, as did Puerto Rico's 38-year-old Jose Ortiz.


We devalue the World Championships. In this country -- certainly in large part because of the incredible television coverage of the event -- the Olympics are viewed as the "true" world championships. From advertiser dollars to media coverage -- no one cared about this tournament outside or inside Indianapolis until the U.S. team lost; on Thursday, all of a sudden, my cell phone blew up with requests for radio interviews -- the Worlds are dissed. Most of the rest of the world sees it exactly the opposite. The Worlds are the real barometer for who is superior in a given sport, not the Olympics. But when's the last time you saw the World Swimming and Diving Championships on the tube?

"In the U.S., they consider the NBA Finals to be the World Championships," Stojakovic said. And we do. We think the NBA has the best 29 teams in the world. And under NBA rules, they do. But here? Are you still sure?

"The rest of the world views the Olympic Games as an all-sport, multi-sport even that basketball happens to be a part of," Newton said. "They view this as the world championships. For some reason, we haven't gotten that. We don't understand it. We haven't accepted it ... for example, did Divac and those guys play on their Olympic team? The answer's no. Are they here? The answer's yes."

Said Carlisle: "People have got to understand, any time a team like that plays a United States team, it's a game that means everything. It's a game that these guys have dreamed of playing their whole lives. It has great, great magnitude. And it's a little, it's difficult to bring a group of American players together and make them understand the urgency of that."

Fans here have also been blasé about the Worlds, showing up at the RCA Dome and Conseco Fieldhouse in drips and drabs. (One big reason is the outrageously high ticket prices, set at NBA Finals levels in a blatant money grab for corporate bucks by local fathers trying to make back their investments. So instead of having a sold-out Conseco with real basketball fans at $20 to $40, there was a half-empty Conseco last Wednesday, where a few thousand U.S. fans were easily drowned out by a few hundred throaty Argentine supporters. And Thursday's game with Yugoslavia might as well have been played in Belgrade.)

Several U.S. players admitted this week that they just didn't understand how important this was to the rest of the world.


We do not develop fundamentals. Karl and Brown have been railing about this for years. Unfortunately for George, the day our decided lack of skill development came home to roost occurred on his watch. Wednesday, the U.S. team looked like a beer league against Argentina, getting turned around time and again, not staying between the ball and their men, getting screened not once, not twice, but three straight times on out-of-bounds plays that gave the Argentines layups. To be sure, Magnano designed some beautiful sets, and yes, international rules are different. But this was nuts-and-bolts stuff you're supposed to learn in high school.

The problem is not that our kids don't learn it; obviously, Ben Wallace knows how to defend an out-of-bounds play. The problem is that reinforcing those lessons becomes less and less of a priority the closer one's talent gets him to the L. The influence of sneaker companies and their loot on AAU programs has kids learning how to be "pros," not learning how to play. The kid who can break down a defender and elevate gets priority over the less talented but more technically sound player. And that describes most of the Argentine and Yugoslavian players to a T. Some of the young men who defeated the United States this week started learning how to play in bare feet. Their goal wasn't a pro career, but mastering a game that might take them out of abject poverty. While U.S. college players are limited to 20 hours of practice per week, their international counterparts are doing two-a-days, or three-a-days.

In short, they're hungrier than we are right now.

"I think we have good school in Yugoslavia, good coaches," Yugoslavia's Dejan Bodiroga said. "We work hard and we try every day to do better. I think it's, you know, day by day, this difference is small. I think for work and for our philosophy of our school in Yugoslavia, our Yugoslavian school of basketball. In Yugoslavia, I think everybody works two times a day, approximately six hours, three and three. I think young players work very hard ... because they know only one way to come up is to work. To work hard. I think we do the good in Yugoslavia for this."

Said Davis: "Those countries are growing tremendously in a lot of different areas of the game that they haven't been before. They're stronger, they're bigger, they're smarter, and they're learning to play at a young age, and we have to respect that. And our young people today, and our coaches of today, have to go out and teach guys the game of basketball the right way."


We have got to stop picking all-star teams for international play. Right now, our selection process consists of what I like to call The Onion Method. We try to select the perceived "top layer" of players; i.e., the Shaqs and Kobes and Garnetts. If they say no, we go to the next layer of players. And so on. That has to change. Because the overwhelming likelihood is that we won't get the 12 best players in any given cycle. Our future teams are going to look a lot like this one -- talented, but not so much so that it could just horse it over other teams that had talent and toughness as well.

We have to find at least a few players who aren't the most talented, but who would accept an invitation as the honor it is and fit into a team concept smoothly and quickly. You can't have 12 role players; two or three would be enough. Call it the Eric Snow Ideal.

And Newton raised Thursday night what others have been suggesting for a few years. "I think one of the issues is to look at the possibility of involving the school and college community players a little bit more in the process, and still have a predominately professional team," he said.

This is the kind of team I'd have in mind for these Worlds, for example: Andre Miller, Eric Snow and Jay Williams at the point; Paul Pierce, Michael Finley and Caron Butler at the two; Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Mike Dunleavy, Jr., at the three; P.J. Brown and Raef LaFrentz (who I might actually play) at the four; Davis and Theo Ratliff at the five. Of course I would ask my Pick Six -- Shaq, Kobe, Tim Duncan, GP, Kevin Garnett and AI -- if they wanted to play, and if I got one or two of them, I'd figure out a way to work them in. But if I didn't get any of them, I wouldn't be paralyzed.

Oh, and I would do one thing the next time around that this selection committee didn't do.

I'd get Chris Webber's phone number, and dial it.

us lost to spain.....

i think i am getting used to it now. haven't seen sun tzu around lately.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry guys, but the USA basketball team sucks :(
You´ll have to work hard ;)
See you in Athens 2004!!!!

:rotfl:
Argentina 87
USA 80

Yugoslavia 81
USA 78

Spain 81
USA 75

We SUCK at basketball!!! [punch] :splat: [phaser] :spank:

Hopefully we can have a good team in Athens. :cringe:

DAMN!!!!! We lost the final match :( :( :(

However, i´m not sad about the defeat. What really piss me off is the way we lose... well, they way they rob us the game. But it doesn´t surprise me. It happens all the time, referees always help top teams and players. I´ve seen it in basket, football, volleyball, rugby, ....

But i´m not an idiot and i don´t want to go on complaining about that. Come on!! We lost against YUGOSLAVIA!!!! I know their players, their history!!! They won 5 World Cup Titles!!!!
Moreover, Team Argentina wrote a paramount page in our sports history. We returned to a final after 52 years; we were the first team that defeated a NBA team, and i´m tired of hearing and reading articles telling how good this team is.
WE OBTAIN RESPECT!!! Now the world knows about this team.

Ok, we lost the final match, we lost the Gold Medal; but please, remember that we gain the Silver one ;)

AGUANTE ARGENTINA CARAJO!!!!!!!!!

Yugoslavia wins 2nd straight World championship

Argentina settles for silver after loss; Germany takes bronze