I love the Redeem Team

W

Wulaw Horn

1,000+ Posts
Or whatever the heck they are calling it.

Those guys played balls out, killed just about everyone, and rose to the challenge in the gold medal game when Spain played excellently.

Not only that, but they were real Olympians, something that our other teams that came before them really weren't. Remember the nonsense with the warm up jersey's in 92 or 96? Some bad sportsmanship on the court and an aloof attitude off the court.

This years version wanted to be there, they worked their butts off, sacrificed ego to be a part of something greater, and they were good sports and good overall (watching the other athletes and venues) team players.

Bravo, Team USA and job well done.
 
It's probably too idealistic to think this, but it would be nice if they took that sportsmanship and pride they showed and brought it back to the NBA. I used to love the NBA. Now, not so much.

Regardless, hats off to those guys. Great performance and classy representation of the sport.
 
You wouldn't know it from watching the olympics in Australia. In all of the USA bball games, the announcers would constantly make comments about how cocky the USA was and how all of the other countries hated them.
 
i say F australia. they are the team i hated the most in the tournament. that floppy haired dude who had no game but was always trying to start crap...hate him. and andrew bogut is an idiot. he's always talking smack about americans and the US. but he sucks.
 
i would have given my left nut to watch in aussie, it was MISERABLE in london with these british hoops announcers (know that's an oxymoron). EVERY POSSESSION, o or d, was greeted with beratement of the officials: "this is getting out of hand," "oh c'mon, the americans are probably good enough to win this without this blatant help from the officials," "these officials are clearly intimidated by the americans and it's ruining the game." and i'll tell you what dwight howard is not a favorite over here, when he's hacked it's "a great way to show the americans they're not backing down," yet when he's physical it "is amazingly cynical and deserves unsportsmanlike foul and ejection." it was unbearable, ended up being the only thing the announers spoke about for the last 3 quarters of the game - they made frigging dave south look like the zenith of intelligent and substantive commentary.

i too love this team and am glad they shot these f british d-bags up...
 
Congrats to the 2008 team, but I'm getting a little tired of the 2004 team bashing and the "NBA players are selfish" label that got hung on those players. If you recall, the majority of the players who were lined up for 2004 bailed because of fear of terrorism and the reported lax security in Athens. As a result, that team wasn't even close to representing the top U.S. talent. Wade, Lebron, Anthony and Boozer keep talking about how they used that horrible experience as motivation, but the truth is that all four of those guys were too inexperienced back then to carry the team. They were closer to the old model of using college players. Other than Duncan and Iverson, and maybe Shawn Marion, the rest of the players hardly constituted the best that the US could offer. IMO, it's not fair to malign them when they weren't given the best opportunity to win. Larry Brown also has taken a lot of heat for that team, but you couldn't rely on that 2004 group, no matter who was the coach.

The 2004 lineup sucked:
Centers: Tim Duncan, Emeka Okafor
Forwards: Carmelo Anthony (20 years old), Carlos Boozer (23 years old), Richard Jefferson, Shawn Marion, Lamar Odom, Amare Stoudemire (22 years old), LeBron James (20 years old)
Guards: Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Dwyane Wade (22 years old)
 
I agree with the OP.

This is first time I can ever remember where it seemed like the NBA guys really wanted to be there and really enjoyed themselves.
 
It's worth noting that, even with all the criticism of jingoistic tendencies made against Americans in general, Mike Breen and Doug Collins were extremely knowledgeable about opponents' rosters/players and refrained from consistently criticizing the other team. They wanted the US to win, but maintained a degree of professionalism that seems to have been lacking in some other broadcasts, according to the examples given.

I also like how the players behaved on the court, generally staying out of confrontations and just playing ball. But, in the end, I don't care all that much if the opponents liked or disliked our team. I found it far more gratifying to see that other American athletes liked the hoops team. Seeing them at other venues, cheering, and showing pride beyond their own games meant more. They were engaged with the whole Olympics experience and that translated well for the fans at home.
 
yeah i loved hearing lezak after the 400 medley relay gold saying he saw kobe and lebron in the stands and decided he couldn't let them down in terms of bringing home the gold. with everything going on, he's noticing kobe and lebron in the stands and using it as motivation (even if he was mostly joking). it's great in general having a powerhouse team like America in the olympics and hearing everyone talk about seeing the other American athletes or wanting to win because some other team did and they didn't want to let everyone down.


and good point by Mitch, it's ridiculous the bashing that 2004 team takes. heaven forbid we recognize that they stepped up when a lot of others didn't to give up their offseason to represent their country. like they purposely decided to let the country down or it was their fault that the team was horribly constructed and throw together and undertalented (compared to this team). those guys played hard but didn't have nearly what this team did in terms of being set up for success.
 
Don't expect the British to show as good sportsmanship as the Chinese did when the Olympics are in London in 2012.
Great job USA!
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I was very proud of the team too. They didn't play great D in the GMG, but they were awesome on and off the floor the whole time. I do not like Kobe Bryant at all, but I cheered every move he made during the Olympics and I thought he & Lebron were great leaders.

Of course, it didn't hurt that Wade woke up right before the Olympics too. He carried us a lot of the GMG.
 
I don't mean to bash the other basketball teams but this year's team really went out and did the job and were really enthusiastic like they were back in college and you could really sense the pride they had in playing for their country. They were seen supporting other athletes too and got with the spirit of the olympics. Well done!
 
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