Tokyo 2020 Men's Olympics Basketball Tournament

[add1ct3dd]

The thing about Luka has always been about how he really enjoys it, like dude is having fun out there and that shows which means that yes he is a superstar but I think the only people I can remember really enjoying being a superstar could be Giannis or maybe Wade.

We usually do not see people who are like always smiling and all, we see the "killer mindset" type of players, MJ wasn't laughing when he played, he wanted to eat your heart, Kobe always worked before you and after you, Lebron spent millions on his body and always cried like a baby, I can continue with this but "happy"? We rarely see happy players on the court, yeah sure they are happy outside obviously, but while playing?

This is the thing about Luka, he could be the best player who enjoyed the game most, I do not think that I have seen anyone in history of this sport that played better than him while enjoying it more than him both at the same time.

[LTU_btc]

This thread just caught a virus from Luka's magical smile. Ain't there anything else?
How about Luis Scola with his silvered-haired grandpa look making the 4th rank of all-time total leading scorer in the Olympics Men's Basketball with 548 points
Above him at 3rd place is Pau Gasol (Spain active) with 623 points. 2nd is Andrew Gaze (Australia) 789 and Oscar Schmidt (Brazil) at the top 1093 points.

I really enjoyed watching Spain - Argentina game, 41 old grandpas Gasol and Scola playing at highest level. The Last Dance.
And how good Ricky Rubio is, but because of Doncic, nobody talks about him. I remember hevwas bad at 3-pointers, but how he improved it in recent years. 5 from 6 3pt shots - performance of elite shooter.

[coinlocket$]

Tomorrow team USA will play again and to be honest it is the only team besides Italy I care about.
Still shocked at how they lost their 1st game, now they need to win the last game or they will be out it is most unlikely but who knows.

Still mad at them since we can't see Lebron

I think he never played in the games while some other athletes do everything they can to be there.

[Botnake]

Tomorrow team USA will play again and to be honest it is the only team besides Italy I care about.
Still shocked at how they lost their 1st game, now they need to win the last game or they will be out it is most unlikely but who knows.

Still mad at them since we can't see Lebron

I think he never played in the games while some other athletes do everything they can to be there.

Lebron already did his part, he already brings gold to the country, and he is not getting any younger so the NBA is just giving their young players who are also capable and still hungry at the same time. I'm sure USA will win in their next game.

[danherbias07]

It was a blowout win, sorry man, just bounce back next time.

Slovenia has proven that they are too much against Japan, and Luka still had another great game in this run.

Maybe it's not a good idea to bet against Slovenia, Luka is too hard to handle.

Yeah, that was a sad choice.  I thought it really looked good at +18.5 but damn Luka just keeps on getting better and better.
I am going underdog again with Nigeria ML versus Italy for tomorrow.
They played well against the Germans in a close game. While the Germans also lose against Italy but just at 4th quarter. All are close games so I think there's still a chance for Nigeria to win it. Fingers crossed. They are also hungry to obtain at least 1 win.

[harizen]

The USA now is not anymore a dream team, they are not composed of the best players in the NBA so other national teams has a big chance of beating them. They lose against France and we know France is not even the top favorite to win, so will see with their upcoming games.

They are still composed of the best players in the NBA. That's the issue as always as because it's "TEAM USA" they are expected to always win.

It's not with the USA itself but other countries are improving. Can we just give credit to those countries that beat the USA (2 in the exhibition, 1 in the preliminary) instead of saying the current US team is not the same as before why they lose? That was discrediting the effort of other countries.

Still mad at them since we can't see Lebron

Mate, you have to understand that he's graduate from that although he can still play. At 36 years of age, he's now more of keeping his body to stay healthy to keep up with the NBA regular season. I understand they should play for the country and it's a call of duty but the NBA has a wide variety of players that are always ready to play for them.

I'd rather see players in their prime rather than hire the service of a post-prime player and now reaching the veteran level.

[gagux123]

I was thinking to myself...

What do you think about the level of the teams in these Olympics? I realize at these olympics in Japan, the teams are very balanced.
Do you believe the USA team level dropped a lot? Or was it the level of the other teams that increased?

By the way, did Luka receive any punishment for participating in a clandestine party? Or nothing happened?

[robelneo]

What do you think about the level of the teams in these Olympics? I realize at these olympics in Japan, the teams are very balanced.
Do you believe the USA team level dropped a lot? Or was it the level of the other teams that increased?

They just beat Iran, and they showed power by beating them with a wide margin but this team already have three losses including the exhibition games, we will only know this if they face another strong team again like the Czech Republic, Spain, or Slovenia, they have the momentum now they are now blending well but well only know if they can handle the pressure against a strong team from other groups.

[Botnake]

What do you think about the level of the teams in these Olympics? I realize at these olympics in Japan, the teams are very balanced.
Do you believe the USA team level dropped a lot? Or was it the level of the other teams that increased?

They just beat Iran, and they showed power by beating them with a wide margin but this team already have three losses including the exhibition games, we will only know this if they face another strong team again like the Czech Republic, Spain, or Slovenia, they have the momentum now they are now blending well but well only know if they can handle the pressure against a strong team from other groups.

Team USA although is not perfect in this tournament, they are still the favorite to win the gold, they have to win the succeeding games and thus far, they showed how good they are and probably they already learned from their big mistake in the first game.

next game will be on July 31, 2021
https://www.usab.com/mens/national-team/schedule.aspx

July 31, 8:00 am EDT
USA Men vs TBD (Saitama, Japan)

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

What do you think about the level of the teams in these Olympics? I realize at these olympics in Japan, the teams are very balanced.
Do you believe the USA team level dropped a lot? Or was it the level of the other teams that increased?

They just beat Iran, and they showed power by beating them with a wide margin but this team already have three losses including the exhibition games, we will only know this if they face another strong team again like the Czech Republic, Spain, or Slovenia, they have the momentum now they are now blending well but well only know if they can handle the pressure against a strong team from other groups.

Yes, the biggest test for US is to face a good team with NBA players. Not discounting Iran, but they are only good in the Asian region, so it's not a good yardstick to say how good team USA because they have lost already. In their group is Czech Republic, so this is a good test for team in the next game to see if they really blend already. And this is a make or break for US, they don't have the luxury to lose this one.

[Questat]

What do you think about the level of the teams in these Olympics? I realize at these olympics in Japan, the teams are very balanced.
Do you believe the USA team level dropped a lot? Or was it the level of the other teams that increased?

They just beat Iran, and they showed power by beating them with a wide margin but this team already have three losses including the exhibition games, we will only know this if they face another strong team again like the Czech Republic, Spain, or Slovenia, they have the momentum now they are now blending well but well only know if they can handle the pressure against a strong team from other groups.

Yes, the biggest test for US is to face a good team with NBA players. Not discounting Iran, but they are only good in the Asian region, so it's not a good yardstick to say how good team USA because they have lost already. In their group is Czech Republic, so this is a good test for team in the next game to see if they really blend already. And this is a make or break for US, they don't have the luxury to lose this one.

Well, USA will not give up their goal to win the gold easily, they have been dominating so the current roster will have a bad reputation if they lose. According to the betting odds, it looks like it's another easy win by the USA.

The current odds are;

ML - USA 1.01  / Czech Republic 20.00
Point spread is -22.5 for the USA.

[carlisle1]

Yes, the biggest test for US is to face a good team with NBA players. Not discounting Iran, but they are only good in the Asian region, so it's not a good yardstick to say how good team USA because they have lost already. In their group is Czech Republic, so this is a good test for team in the next game to see if they really blend already. And this is a make or break for US, they don't have the luxury to lose this one.

They need to blend and realize that carrying each other inside the court is very important stop passing

the ball and aggressively attack the basket, that loss with France shown weakness with the team efforts.

In fairness to them after that loss, beating Iran with very high deficits, good enough to bring the winning streak back to their system.


 

[Hypnosis00]

The USA now is not anymore a dream team, they are not composed of the best players in the NBA so other national teams has a big chance of beating them. They lose against France and we know France is not even the top favorite to win, so will see with their upcoming games.

They are still composed of the best players in the NBA. That's the issue as always as because it's "TEAM USA" they are expected to always win.

It's not with the USA itself but other countries are improving. Can we just give credit to those countries that beat the USA (2 in the exhibition, 1 in the preliminary) instead of saying the current US team is not the same as before why they lose? That was discrediting the effort of other countries.

Understand that, but sorry I just have to be biased as I really believe that the old lineup is better than the current. Of course, we give credit to those who can beat the team USA, but we cannot hide our opinion regarding the current roster. I also have the same feeling when a good team loses in the NBA playoffs, like, the Lakers loss because Davis was injured.

[SquallLeonhart]

They are still composed of the best players in the NBA. That's the issue as always as because it's "TEAM USA" they are expected to always win.

It's not with the USA itself but other countries are improving. Can we just give credit to those countries that beat the USA (2 in the exhibition, 1 in the preliminary) instead of saying the current US team is not the same as before why they lose? That was discrediting the effort of other countries.

Understand that, but sorry I just have to be biased as I really believe that the old lineup is better than the current. Of course, we give credit to those who can beat the team USA, but we cannot hide our opinion regarding the current roster. I also have the same feeling when a good team loses in the NBA playoffs, like, the Lakers loss because Davis was injured.

You are definitely right, this team is not "the best team" from NBA, I mean it is not "let's get every great player on the team" type of situation. Where is curry? Where is lebron? Where is AD? Where is Harden? Where is Kawhi? Where is Butler? Where is Irving? I am not saying that you can get all of them, maybe you like one better than the other, and there could be some other names as well.

However in a roster where you do not even have Lebron and Curry, just those two additions to this team would have turned this team into an insanity, add in a few more and you got yourself a team that nobody can even imagine to stop.

Now they have Durant and that is great and cool, but Durant lost to Giannis in NBA itself, which means all by himself Durant means nothing, Dame have failed to move above first round for nearly a decade man, so I really think that this wasn't the "best NBA players" at all, there are few I would keep, but I would probably change like 8 players with better ones if given the option.

[Joca97]

The USA now is not anymore a dream team, they are not composed of the best players in the NBA so other national teams has a big chance of beating them. They lose against France and we know France is not even the top favorite to win, so will see with their upcoming games.

They are still composed of the best players in the NBA. That's the issue as always as because it's "TEAM USA" they are expected to always win.

It's not with the USA itself but other countries are improving. Can we just give credit to those countries that beat the USA (2 in the exhibition, 1 in the preliminary) instead of saying the current US team is not the same as before why they lose? That was discrediting the effort of other countries.

Understand that, but sorry I just have to be biased as I really believe that the old lineup is better than the current. Of course, we give credit to those who can beat the team USA, but we cannot hide our opinion regarding the current roster. I also have the same feeling when a good team loses in the NBA playoffs, like, the Lakers loss because Davis was injured.

The USA is currently really far away from being a dream team like they once were. A lot of huge players didnt come to the olympics and they are left with superstars from weaker NBA teams i see a lot of other countries making a bigger impact for the best medals

[goinmerry]

Iran vs France later.

Iran is clear the underdog here. I placed a fun bet for them as they are eager to get a win before being eliminated.

France already secures a slot next round so they don't need to force a win against Iran. It's expected that they will sideline or minimize the playing time of their stars to keep them healthy the next round. A "slight advantage" for Iran as France bench players are also good.

[boltz]

Iran vs France later.

Iran is clear the underdog here. I placed a fun bet for them as they are eager to get a win before being eliminated.

France already secures a slot next round so they don't need to force a win against Iran. It's expected that they will sideline or minimize the playing time of their stars to keep them healthy the next round. A "slight advantage" for Iran as France bench players are also good.

Good underdog here as Iran had nothing to lose and most likely will go all in. On the other side , France has the necessary points as far as I know so they won't go hard tonight.

I only saw a couple of games and I must say that for me , Slovania looks the team who could snatch the gold from USA Team because Doncic kinda looks like an Gold Medal Olympic Athlete right ? and most certain he plays like one.

[gagux123]

They just beat Iran, and they showed power by beating them with a wide margin but this team already have three losses including the exhibition games, we will only know this if they face another strong team again like the Czech Republic, Spain, or Slovenia, they have the momentum now they are now blending well but well only know if they can handle the pressure against a strong team from other groups.

This is true, we need to see how the US will perform against strong opponents.
Only time will be able to give us the answer.

The US players in these Olympics are very weak compared to previous teams. But even so, the USA are the gold medal favorites, but for that happen, the team needs to play really well!!

Ohhh, I almost forgot, another important factor that makes the difference is the coach, there is no coach better than Gregg Popovich, I think he is the best option today!

[danherbias07]

Another loss for me. Nigeria cannot handle the strength of Italy. They are 0-3 in Group B. USA hammering Czech Republic now with 24 point deficit and the game is not over yet. They need this win to qualify and I think they will. Tomorrow, Spain versus Slovenia. This is going to be a fun game to watch live.
Who will you bet for? The Gasol brothers or to the new kid in town Luka?   I'll bet for the new kid of Slovenia with -3.5. @2.00
Update: USA won, 35 point lead against Czech Republic.

[Harkorede]

Another loss for me. Nigeria cannot handle the strength of Italy. They are 0-3 in Group B. USA hammering Czech Republic now with 24 point deficit and the game is not over yet. They need this win to qualify and I think they will. Tomorrow, Spain versus Slovenia. This is going to be a fun game to watch live.
Who will you bet for? The Gasol brothers or to the new kid in town Luka?   I'll bet for the new kid of Slovenia with -3.5. @2.00
Update: USA won, 35 point lead against Czech Republic.

Quite unfortunate for the Nigerian team, they had another decent lead going into the forth quarter but they blew it all in the Quarter, but I think the Olympic games still happened to be a good exposure for the team.

Czech Republic still have a decent chance to qualify for the next round, they're currently the 2nd in best 3rd-placed team, so it's all the dependent on the result between Argentina vs Japan.