TEAM USA BASKETBALL WINS OVER REST OF THE WORLD

We are going to kick your arse!
source: Espn

Computer simulation shows Team USA beating Rest of the World in a best of seven championship series:

Once again, both squads were thrown into an NBA Championship-esque best-of-seven series using NBA rules. When the dust settled, the Olympic men had triumphed again with the most common result revealed to be a Team USA victory in 6 games. The Americans won the series 70% of the time, with an average 9 point margin of victory. Manu Ginobili broke out as the best World performer, earning Player of the Game honors in the majority of the international team's simulated victories (19% of total games). Yao Ming and Dirk Nowitzki also received POTG honors in many World victories. Similar to the Series with the Celtics, however, LeBron JamesKobe Bryant (34%) were most often awarded the Player of the Game honors; with Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard also receiving some significant attention...For Comprehensive Analysis

Too bad the computer can't calculate the heart. As what happened yesterday against Australia - a determined and courageous team can avoid being blown off the court by Team USA (sans Andrew Bogut). A speedy point-guard and almost flawless three-point shooting created problems for the Redeem Team but their athleticism and talent prevailed. The resulting 11 point victory is still not enough for some basketball experts in the States. Reality check! If they were expecting a 30-40 point blow-out most of the time then it won't happen - get use to it. This isn't 1992 when Team USA routed most of the opposition and the smallest lead was 38 points against Puerto Rico.

Some experts call this a wake up call (What another one? Just how many wake up calls does it take to awaken these millionaires?) since a team like Australia without its superstar exposed USA's weaknesses and had them beat in set plays. Maybe the players had their egos boosted after destroying Canada, Lithuania, and Turkey. There were a large number of fist pumping and praise release from US media after its team 's destruction of the mentioned Euro squads. Even Kobe Bryant's self-described nick for himself made headlines (he is now the Dobermann after stopping Lithuania's Point Guard Jasikevicius). Now the press turned 180 and is now advising caution. It is an advice worth heeding if you are the member of Team USA.

USA is still the favorite and the most talented team in the tournament of course but to expect other nations to just get buried 30-40 points is ludicrous.

Past Revisited (not the Constantino book)

The Americans are in China to win the gold medal -- not to dominate every quarter, as they once spoke of, and not to restore American invincibility, which is never coming back.

They're human, they're vulnerable, they've got structural flaws, and they're going to learn at some point that this gold-medal quest is going to be a rough ride at times.

Maybe that's what they learned Tuesday on an evening when they entered the arena feeling bold and self-assured and left it pondering why they were made to look only slightly above-average against a mediocre team missing its only NBA player.

Yes, the U.S. is still considered the favorite. But they now know that the road to the gold is really only just beginning, and there will be potholes along the way.

They need to play smarter, they need to play better, and they need to get a grip on the fact that there are going to be nights when mistakes, hubris and failed defensive execution are going to put them in grave danger.

But better they learn that now instead of 10 or 12 days from now.

They still have work to do, and they're not going to be feared. If they're smart, this night will go as a lesson learned, a night when an ugly win woke them up to that reality...full story

Gee all it takes is one bad game for all the triumphalism from the US press to vanish! Haha....they won the game, right? It seems they still expect too much from their basketball team!

By the way, Australians take their sports seriously. They play with heart whether it is just an exhibition game or not. They play for the country's glory that's why they tend to overachieve. On paper there are other teams much stronger than Australia but it doesn't matter to them. Maybe the Americans should try it.