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Greece 101-U.S.A. 95

Two observations and a modest proposal.

1. Teams of superior athletes who use pressure as their main defense have a great deal of success until they run into a team of smart passers on a hot shooting night. They they lose. Always. This principle holds from JV girls teams right up through the world championships. Mike Krzyzewski knows this perfectly well, but pressure is also the easiest defense to teach an All-Star team because it's the most fun to play.

2. The US can no longer afford to pick a team based on wishful thinking about image, marketing or coachability. Distasteful as it may be to all concerned, that means Kobe and not Lebron should've been on the '06 squad. By '08 it might be a different story.

3. If this nation is going to take international competition seriously (I know we're not, but humor me), there's one idea too obvious to overlook. How about changing our rules to theirs? How about playing prep, college, and NBA games under the international rule book. The differences aren't all that great, but adapting to new guidelines once every two years HAS to be a competitive disadvantage to our country. We don't insist on running the 100-yard dash in track anymore, why not use the rest of the world's three-second zone and three-point line?

posted by Michael Gee @ 10:16 AM