Nitro

There's 3 reasons that quickly came to mind. I can really analyze and break it down, but the first 3 things that popped into my head are... 1) Talent. The world has caught up to the US in terms of talent, and the gap isn't as large as it once was. The US still clearly has the greatest talent pool in basketball, but the rest of the world has gotten stronger, more athletic and more skilled since the Dream Team steam-rolled through Barcelona in 1992. It doesn't help that in the last 20 years the US has gone away from basic fundementals in the high school/AAU systems, and more geared towards overwhelming the opponent with athleticism. Those European teams are very fundementally sound, and that creates some major issues for the US when they face teams with somewhat comparable talent like Spain. 2) Chemistry. This area is a two fold; first, most FIBA teams have been together for years, while most of the US teams of the last decade have been put together in the matter of weeks. That should be no surprise and needs no further explanation. I mean, it took the Miami Heat all of training camp, preseason and the first 20 regular season games before they started to hit their stride, and the same applies to Team USA. Secondly, when Team USA was having lots of problems, they were building teams with little to no balance. Just a cluster[expletive] of random players and athletes that didn't fit with each other. Marbury and Iverson on the same team...really?!? Not a single 3pt shooter on the same 2004 Olympic team? Having Larry Brown, one of the worst coaches ever when it comes to coaching young talent, being assigned to coach LeBron, Melo, and Wade the summer after their rookie season's, and Okafor the summer before his rookie season?!? When Colangelo came in he understood that the US would no longer be able to destroy opponents solely off athleticism and talent, so he put an actual TEAM together, with balance good enough to get by. Also, he made the 2 years between the FIBA Championship and the Olympics a time for the team to gain chemistry and identity, with each player being forced to make a multi-year commitment to the team. This has greatly enhanced the chemistry and overall level of play for the team. 3) The FIBA floor. I agree that the rules are a major adjustment for NBA players, but I feel the actual floor is just as big of a detriment. Most NBA stars, which are who we tend to send overseas, rely on their athleticism to beat their opponent off the dribble. However, in FIBA, the court is smaller, and the 3pt line is shorter. Because of this, there is far less spacing for players to operate. In the last few year's, with Colangelo running the show, the US has done a good job of putting in a lot of players capable of hitting that short 3pt shot. However, back in like 2002-2004, the idea was that the US would throw a bunch of elite athletes out there and they would simply overwhelm the opponent. That failed miserably. As dominant as our athletes are, without NBA spacing, mixed in with looser rules regarding physicality, and we start to look like amateurs out there. It also doesn't help that most of our players don't know how to move without the basketball, allowing the defense to load up on slasher, which makes things that much harder.

Haha close...I got 12 for that post But that's pretty cool, didn't realize I had so many reps.

Wait...Bird never averaged over 11RPG in a season. So, it hasn't been since at least the early-mid '70's where a rookie has averaged at least 21/12/3 for a season. And Griffin's numbers are only climbing, as now he's at 22PPG and almost 13RPG. With the way he's passing, he might crack 4APG as well by season's end. He definitely deserves to be in the game this year. His production has been unbelievable, he's been efficient, he's been the most consistent rookie I've ever seen (his double-double and 20pt streak are crazy), and he's the most exciting rookie to enter the league since LeBron. There's no doubt he should be there.

Listen, in principle, you are right. Players need a chance to prove themselves before they can be labelled a failure. However, what you're not realizing is that regular season minutes are just a fraction of the way for a player to prove himself worthy. Summer league, training camp, pre-season, regular season and practices are all ways for a player to prove himself. Randolph, theoretically, has the tools to fit in D'Antoni's system well. However, in 11 games in November he shot 27% from the field and looked COMPLETELY lost. I am not talking about the kind of lost where a player needs to learn the playbook and shake off rust. I'm talking about the kind of lost where when you watch him, you are shocked that he is even on the active roster and not in the D-League. And honestly, his skillet and talent ain't as high as people pump them up to be. He's a very overrated prospect. Also, as Blasco said, this isn't the first time he's been a system that should, in theory, make great use of his talents. Yet, Don Nelson gave him the exact same treatment as D'Antoni is.

Exactly...in D'Antoni's head, that person is Wilson Chandler

2 crazy stats from this game: -Wade and Rose combined to block 8 shots :o -EDDIE [expletive]ING HOUSE grabbed as many rebounds as Joel Anthony (you know, the Center) did...in 14 less minutes.

Rose was showin' up Wade, so Wade just went ape-[expletive] and hit 3 straight 3's, putting the Heat up by 1 Like 45 seconds left, let's see what Rose can do.

Bosh is on fire after the 3-12 start. Keeping the game very close with Wade out essentially this entire quarter.

Chicago on a 17-0 run to start the 3rd, with Rose straight up beasting. Wade has 4 fouls already.

Interesting game so far. Chicago got out to a double digit lead, and the Miami offense was looking absolutely awful. However, the Heat's defense started to clamp down, Miller and House started to hit 3's, and Wade took over. Looks like Miller is finally starting to get his groove. He hit his first 2 3's of the year in the first half, and he's the only player on the Heat besides Wade/Bosh/James with a multi-faceted floor game. Once LeBron gets back he should really look to be more aggressive shooting the ball, but he's starting to find his game again.

I got the pump, but it still wasn't enough. I can only nut when it's a straight-up [expletive]. And I was a little burnt from smoking a blunt in the afternoon, but as I said, it happens pretty much every time to me.

Got head tonight for the first time in months...but didn't bust <_< That's the one bad thing about blow jobs, just not enough friction for the girl to get a nice, creamy prize. Anyone else have this problem? I've only busted once ever from getting head and it pisses me the [expletive] off.

He'd definitely work on Boston, and he could play point-forward when Nate is in the game instead of Nate. The Bulls desperately need a SG so he'd fit in there too. He'd also fit nicely with the Lakers as a backup wing.

Kobe, Deron, CP3 and Westbrook are all locks to get in at the G positions in the West. If they include another G, it will be between Ellis, Gordon, Nash, Parker and Ginobili. I'm too lazy to look up how many roster spots each team has, but the main G's and plethora of great F's will make it hard for a 2nd tier G's on losing teams like Ellis make the cut. He probably deserves it though, he's been tremendous.

Yeah T-Mac looked good tonight from the highlights I saw, including a vintage blow-by and dunk. This month he's averaging 12/6/5 on 50% shooting, and all those numbers went up after tonight. I'll be very disappointed if some contender doesn't make a move for him at the deadline. He's definitely capable of playing an important role on a team that can advance past the 1st round.

Griffin extended his double-double and and 20pt streak tonight. Kid's amazing.

Family Guy is the [expletive], I remember watching the show every week back before it got cancelled. When it came back like 5 years later it wasn't quite the same (got more l-o-l funny, but it lost some of its magic), but I still love the show to death.

Ha thanks. That was 3 years ago and my toe is still [expletive]ed up from that. I'll post a real pic of me sometime this weekend, I got nothing since I was in high school. EDIT: Actually, since I pawned my camera, idk when I'll be able to post a new pic, so below is a pic of me the summer after my senior year, rockin' the air-freshener high as [expletive]: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y143/tripreports/045.jpg

Here's my big toe after I dropped a 45lbs weight on it: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y143/tripreports/P1010060-1.jpg ENJOY!!!!

No, I just feel that consistency should be defined by a mixture of volume and efficiency, and not exclusive to just one area.

Oh [expletive]...I'm black?!?! Damn, why did no one tell me!!!!

Lol WTF was that by JR? I mean it looked awesome, but he shouldn't have gone for the 360.

Dampier and Z go out, Joel comes in, and the Heat get raped on the boards. Seriously, this is gonna cost Spo's job if he keeps this up in the post-season. The Heat will not win a championship with Joel playing significant minutes against good frontcourts. I cannot stress this enough. No words can describe how unbelievably stupid his love-affair with Joel is.

http://sports.yahoo.com/video/player/news/Graham_Bensinger_InDepth/23682253;_ylt=Avotp27mhZr8lMyynzo.roM5nYcB#news/Graham_Bensinger_InDepth/23682253 Thought it was a pretty interesting video.

+1. Same here. I was freaking out when I heard it's only for people born after 2009.