Team USA is Saving American Basketball

There is a reason that I don't watch or write about the NBA and stick to the college game. I think NBA players are spoiled, I hate watching a bunch of guys who are so supremely talented and athletically gifted walk through an 82 game season, and I despise watching a sport that has become so much about money and business as opposed to the actual game itself.

But watching this olympic team play has made me question my hatred of NBA players.

Don't get me wrong. I highly doubt that the Beijing games are going to inspire Zack Randolph to play defense or make Shawn Marion realize he was a moron for bitching his way out of Phoenix, but it really has been a great experience for me to watch this USA team play. They play hard, they play scrappy, they actually play defense. Take D-Wade as an example. He is a guy who is just two seasons removed from an NBA championship and Finals MVP trophy. But in these olympics, Wade has completely bought into his role as Team USA's hustle guy. He is everywhere - causing havoc on defense, making plays in the open floor, getting offensive rebounds. Remember, we're talking about a 26 year old that is already a four time all-star and three time all-NBA selection.

For me, there really is nothing more enjoyable then to watch basketball played the right way, and it only gets better when the players involved are the absolute best in the world. And the American demolition of the Spaniards yesterday was exactly that. Two plays stand out in my mind from these olympics. The first was when an american player got beat baseline against Greece, and LeBron James came from help side (he was outside of the lane on the other side of the court) and blocked a lay-up, got the ball back, and pushed the ball up the floor leading to a picture perfect fast break and a bucket. The other was Dwayne Wade deflecting a pass in transition, chasing the ball down before it goes out of bounds on the sideline, and in one motion grabbing the ball as his momentum is carrying him out of bounds and throwing a beautiful alley-oop to Kobe for a dunk. Both plays took incredible athleticism and ability, but were also textbook fundamentally. If you don't enjoy watching that, then you are not a basketball fan.

Before these Olympics, I was afraid that American basketball and American players had gotten to the point where we were no longer the best in the world, that too many And 1 mixtapes and too much summer and AAU basketball had killed the skills of our best players. I really hope that guys like Lance Stephenson and John Wall are watching these games, and that they are taking in what they are seeing, because if our country's young talent can emulate the way this team is playing instead of the way Eddy Curry does, then I don't see our country coming home decorated in anything less than gold for a long time to come. Continue reading...