Right, so the USA go undefeated and take the gold and that proves they're inferior? Sour grapes perhaps?

that is an awful long post for a troll isn't it?

Funniest post Ive read in awhile. As a Bulls fan Im offended by your omission of Deng and subsequently, I feel you lack attention to detail.

And we are all dumber for having read GL's "insight"...

Whoops, anonymous beat me to it.

Regardless of how stupid the OP is, their is a valid thought in it. Not that the Euro is better then the US, but that the Euro style is better then the US game.

It's well known that european basketball is a team game focussed on ball movement and smothering Defense whereas the US game was based solely on superstars playing individual basketball.

I think that this european style of game is a better version of basketball, which is why euro teams are able to challenge the US, however if the US including the NBA in general played basketball the way it should be played, their would be no comparison at all.

The Euro game is better version than the US - in what way? The USA go undefeated, all of the spanish starting 5 play in the NBA, the NBA have the biggest audience in the world.

Wow did you forget that USA were missing wade, rose, Howard, griffin (who cares about him though lol), bosh and Aldridge?

Please don't ever say silly things like that again.

I disagree, Charon, to an extent. Watching the offense of a team like last season's San Antonio when they are clicking is superior to anything I've seen in Europe, maybe ever.

While the European game is much slower and rigid/disciplined in terms of the offensive structure, I will always be the first to defend the NBA whenever someone makes the sweeping generalisation that is a league of superstars going one on one.

If you look at other playoff teams like Indiana, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas and Denver, there is very little isolation happening at all.

That said, Oklahoma and to a lesser extent Miami, the two finalists, were very iso-reliant teams, and that's why I found them boring to watch. Miami started sharing the ball a lot more towards the end of last season though and that's why they won it all. Lebron now realises that attacking from the top on every play while everyone stands around and watches will only get you so far. That's why only now is he a great player. Durant/Westbrook will learn that eventually too.

In general though, the lesser teams in the NBA rely more on isolation while the champs are generally ball-movement-centric. Last season was a bit of an exception to the rule.

Great basketball is about striking that balance between fluid ball-movement and improvisational virtuousity. I think both brands of basketball (Euro & USA) can learn something from each other.

An offense run by a French point guard?

You couldn't be more wrong. Pop's knock on Parker early on in his career was that he relied on isolations and couldn't play the team game. He has only now started to fully trust him as an offensive distributor. Not a protypical European player at all, if there is such a thing.

Continental play-offs! Euro all-stars against North American all-stars. That would be quite the spectacle.

Would be great to see a team made up of the Top 10 or 12 players in Europe play against the Team USA.

Ric, I think you're spot on and that’s a point that’s rarely discussed when people talk about this US team. This team is hardly representative of the best the US has to offer in terms of talent. They were missing their two best centres (Howard, Bynum), arguably their best point guard (Rose) and one their top 2-3 shooting guards (Wade) not to mention the other guys you rightfully mention. How many countries would go undefeated and win the gold medal if they were missing 5-6 of their best players that would normally make the team?

What about Asia-Pacific All Stars and South America?

It would be a great four nations tourney.

* Aus/NZ/China/Middle East

* South American Teams

* North America

* Europe

How would you get the players to agree though...

I don't think you could say Euro is underappreciated. Everyone knows full well the high quality of the players, teams, and leagues there; the Americans included. It's the whole reason why they reformed their national program after the Athens "disaster", and why the NBA is full of great European players.

Yeah some mixed up thinking here... I think its fair to say that Europe gets better all the time

Europe isn't a team or a country... doubt they like to think of themselves that way either in sport. There are just as many differences within the europe group as there are between europe and USA, its a strange comparison.

The USA is the best team, has the best players and best domestic league. Team USA is 63 -1 since 2006. This is exceptional, even great teams have bad days, so on their bad days they still only got beat once in 6 years... come on GL - credit is due

A full strength USA team would get up v a europe team anyway.. in a seven game series the euros might pinch 1 or 2 games.

As someone else said the USA Team has done what they need to and won last two Olympics and Worlds. Its crap to say based on this that an all-europe team would get up - The USA Team would lift for that challenge and pick a team to get it done. They won this olympics with no real 4/5 men. Chandler is not much chop, Lebron / durant and company are more 3 men for mine ... shows how good they are

I think it would be more interesting to say USA v rest of the world ...? USA still get the win, but rest of world is getting closer all the time

Better to compare continent to continent. North America, South America, Europe, etc. More countries in Europe, but population isn't miles ahead of North America given the addition of Mexico (100m+), etc.

Europe: 740m
North America: 530m
South America: 385m

US have deep stocks. Bring Howard in for Love or Wade for whoever and it's not a massive step up. A Boomers side would have Bogut pushing out Maric (in retrospect) and that's a strong upgrade.

Given that Spain challenged the US, I think a European team would make for great competition with a North American squad. Would anyone outside of the US make their team? Nash is getting on a bit. Anyone from PR, etc?

Who could Europe put up? Or South America combining Argentina with Brazil and who else of note?

Even just taking Spain and adding Dirk, Parker, Kirilenko would make for a strong rotation.

The claim the OP makes about a combined European team beating the USA team isnt a bad one, because the talent would be similar in FIBA rules.

I doubt Europe would win at the moment though, because this American team has been coming together since 2004 and they know each other well, which is more important than just talent. It would be a great all-star game to watch though, just like when the USA play Spain.

It's a fair argument to make, even it poorly made.

These comments though, deserve all the ridicule in the world!:

"And even that the best Euroleague players are better than the best NBA players.

This tournament convinced me 100% that the Euroleague is the real top league in the world, and not the NBA."

The top teams in the Euroleague are outstanding, but overall the NBA is still the best.

I haven't read the whole post so excuse me if I'm repeating something but you can't just put a bunch of guys together and expect for the whole to be greater than the sum of the parts. The US is a classic example and I think a European team would not have the chemistry of a team like Spain, Lithuania etc who have played together for a while and know each other's games really well. Argentina is another great example where team chemistry seems to provide that extra intangible that you can't get just buy chucking the best players out on the floor. I think that is what the US realised a few years ago and now seem to spend as much effort on getting guys to "buy in" to the chemistry/role player mentality - which is actually cringe worthy to watch at times - so many "fake" high fives and chest bumps going round IMO.

some of the most absurd things i have ever read in this post, the NBA is the best league in the world, thats unquestionable even though euroleague teams are vastly improving and i prefer watching them because they play for fouls alot less they are still a few steps away from equalling the quality that runs throughout the NBA

It is to laugh. OK so from the many countries that make up Europe.. they may make up one that equals Team USA? OK.. Possibly, But so? what does that really prove? doesnt prove that european Basketball is better... your comparing 1 country to like a third of the world you nutcase! how many countries are in Europe? how many leagues? how many basketball players? fact of the matter is... if you made a WORLD team... of all the best players in the world vs USA... USA would still be highly competitive and may even win STILL at most they may lose by 15-20 at very very most. USA Basketball is still well ahead of the world... the world just know hos to make the most of what it has..

I took the initial point of the OP to be that team basketball with offensive structure that moves the ball combined with off-the-ball movement, as well as refined defensive structures, make up for a lack of talent. The talent on the USA team was way superior, but they lacked both offensive and defensive structures, relying on individual brilliance to dominate. The European game -- under FIBA rules -- tends to promote team play more so than the NBA.

In that respect it's not a big statement to say that the European style of basketball is far more suitable to FIBA rules (i.e. superior) than under the NBA rules and playing schedule that favours isolation-dominated structures that breed players with outstanding athletic and solo abilities. The NBA may have cases of outstanding team play, but there are also plenty of examples of NBA teams that rely on individual talent rather than team chemistry.

For this reason, I'd argue that, as dominant as team USA were, they underachieved in this FIBA tournament.

I agree with Ric. How would the European teams go with 3 of their stars out? Not very good at all.

I wanted USA to lose as much as anyone but its sad to see how many people knit pick at them.

I think another point to consider rjd is how a player's level of 'talent' can alter between the two styles of game. For example, Huertas' NBA talent is prob well behind Deron Williams, but his skills make him a more talented player in the FIBA game.

I thought the USA's structure was pretty good. They used spacing to open driving lanes/mismatches and then moved the ball for the open shot. That suited their skill sets well. That's how Spain play against a lot of other teams too.

I'd just add that IMO there are three main factors that make the NBA lean more towards isolation and reliance on individual brilliance rather than the level of team play we see in Euro competitions.

1) the NBA rules that, among other things, open up the key more and rewards individual athletic ability with the ball
2) the longer games combined with a more intense playing schedule that provides less training time and discourages intense, high movement offensive play for the whole season.
3) the higher level of talent whereby the sheer offensive talent of some players makes true team play, well, less advantageous compared with letting your superstar take over.

If the NBA adopted FIBA rules and a shorter schedule, I'd expect the style to become more reflective of the European style.

By the way, the USA talent base is just so much deeper and stronger compared with the rest of the world (perhaps stronger than the rest of the world combined). IMO the American's general lack of familiarity with the style of game that works in FIBA competitions makes it seem like the talent gap is smaller than it really is.

Yeah, paul, you are probably right about that, at the offensive end. It was unsophisticated, but very effective with the talent that they had. I suppose when a team shoots at 44% from the perimeter that relied so heavily on 3-pointers for points production, it well supports your point.

I think the pendulum swung once the US realised they need to play mobile guys who could shoot and drive at the PF spot. Once they did that teams couldnt just pack in the key anymore.

I don't know if you noticed but the US's structure was not existent. Coach K or fan K?

with the talent they have maybe they shouldve beaten teams out by more, fact is.. is they didnt a full credit to the opposition...to say an undefeated team underpl;ayed is really a bit of a joke... theres not a single team in the world with even half the talent USA hasd but what you have is 12 decent teams with good coaching and smart players gunning for them.... If they were around in 92 they would have been close to the dream team but probably not quite.. it would still be 30 point wins all the way around

Anon above: as much as I hated Miami's championship run and their ugly offense, they would sweep a seven game series against any team in Europe.

European basketball is great and always getting better, but it's a discredit to the European game to say it's a better standard than the NBA, because the mere existance of such maniacally hyperbolic exaggeration would turn many casual fans off what is truly a great calibre of basketball in Europe.

Who, pray tell, could possibly guard Lebron James?

ALl this glamour about the greatness of NBA players really takes away just how smartly run NBA offences actually are.

The NBA is full on pick and rolls city, why? Because when you have the right players in the right places on an offense, the pick and roll is the most difficult thing to guard as a defense. Have the correct off-ball movement in correct timing with the pick and roll with the right shooters in their spots and you can always find ways to get good looks.

Yes they use isolations, but it's playing percentages, you run your offense, gain some favourable mismatches by forcing switches and then you can most likely end up with a high percentage look.

Sometimes if people take notice of the bigger picture in the NBA game they will be surprised just how effective their offensive systems are.