# Team USA v.s. Team Turkey



## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

I'm gonna be at this game, and needless to say I AM PUMPED!!!!!! Will share pics and analyis when I come back tomorrow night.

Anyone know if Hedo made the trip with Team Turkey? I haven't heard anything on him, and he wasn't mentioned in the advertisements for the game.


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

Hedo is on the roster so I'm assuming he made the trip.

Ersin Görkem 
Ersan İlyasova 
Ümit Sonkol
Engin Atsür 
Sinan Güler 
Ender Arslan 
Kerem Gönlüm 
Oğuz Savaş 
Ömer Onan 
Semih Erden 
Cemal Nalga 
Cenk Akyol 
Hidayet Türkoğlu 
Kerem Tunçeri


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Yao, are you just attempting to do everything this summer Porn_Player wants to? 

Definately share pics and post game analysis!! ... Have fun


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Who is the starting PG for turkey?I really liked Engin Atsur when he was at NCSU.He was probably one of the most underrated players in college basketball.Of course he was a physically limitted player and he had some nagging injuries.I don't know what he's done as a pro.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Atlanta Hawks drafted Cenk Ankyol in the second round a few years ago, not sure if they still hold his rights or if he wants to come to the NBA.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

31-30 after the first quarter, but the US has pulled ahead here in the second quarter.

I'm usually defending the US, but they look awful in the halfcourt. Their defense, including their pick and roll defense has been sensational, but they the only offense they have has come off turnovers. I've never seen Kobe turn the ball over / miss so many passes.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

By the way, it looks like Chris Paul will be this team's PG. Kidd wasn't very good in the limited minutes I saw... Paul with a drive and score - it's a 17point game at the half.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

After a show first quarter this has become a serious game although Turkey has also slowed down since, they can't play at that helter skelter pace too long.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

TM said:


> By the way, it looks like Chris Paul will be this team's PG. Kidd wasn't very good in the limited minutes I saw... Paul with a drive and score - it's a 17point game at the half.


Listening to Kamla and the other guy it seems like Kidd is going to be the starting point guard for sure...


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## Wade2Bosh (Mar 31, 2004)

Paul needs to start. We started getting easy baskets once he came in.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

croco said:


> Listening to Kamla and the other guy it seems like Kidd is going to be the starting point guard for sure...


Who's Kamla? The guy calling the game?


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## Wade2Bosh (Mar 31, 2004)

TM said:


> Who's Kamla? The guy calling the game?


Yeah, Rick Kamla.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

He's a moron. Does he call anything else?


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

TM said:


> He's a moron. Does he call anything else?


He is working for NBA TV and does a lot for them, also fantasy basketball and such. I guess you're not browsing through nba.com often


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

haha... that would be correct.  He gets too excited for me.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

"Who is the big three?" <- case in point. What a retarded question.


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## Wade2Bosh (Mar 31, 2004)

What a play by Kobe to Dwight for the dunk


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## Wade2Bosh (Mar 31, 2004)

Another nice feed by Kobe to Dwight for another dunk.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

Lebron is just amazing... I don't see why Howard can't get 3-4 dunks off pick and rolls from 12' away and in. All you have to do is throw it 13' in the air and he'll get it.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

I hate TV. Basketball should be a priority... :sad:


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## Wade2Bosh (Mar 31, 2004)

Sweet pass by Wade to Lebron


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

haha... Lebron is the man... international basketball is a joke. those "screens" are NFL blocks.


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## Wade2Bosh (Mar 31, 2004)

Turkey is worn out. Its becoming a highlight show.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

i hat ewhen games get this far spread and then the USA starts acting like it's a streetball game on offense. then they gamble on defense... just play. the highlights will come if you play hard..... case in point -> wade to howard.


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## Wade2Bosh (Mar 31, 2004)

Holy ****. D-Wade!


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## aussiestatman (Dec 12, 2006)

TM said:


> haha... Lebron is the man... international basketball is a joke. those "screens" are NFL blocks.


yawn


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I haven't looked for a boxscore,but it seems like coach k has really shortened his rotation.Prince has barely got off the bench and it doesn't seem like bosh has played as much either.Looks as though Deron Williams has mostly played off the ball too.I don't think he was alone at the point more than 4 minutes so far


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

aussiestatman said:


> yawn


early start time affecting you? go get some sleep.


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## pG_prIDe (Jun 23, 2002)

^
I believe the sun has set from where he's from.

My thoughts on this game can echo what many have said in this thread. Depth won out at the end and the pick and roll defense wasn't bad. However, I'm pretty sure the USA got outrebounded offensively by Turkey (even though I dont have the numbers in front of me), and it wouldn't surprise me if the USA got outrebounded overall by Turkey. Just something to think about. Also, I'd like the USA to work more on its halfcourt game, on both ends. Lots of isolations and 1-on-1's in this game on the US part.


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## Wade2Bosh (Mar 31, 2004)

Here's a boxscore. I dont know how reliable it is cause it has Paul down for only 3 assists and I could have sworn he had many more..

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/basketball/men/boxscore?gameId=726


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

pG_prIDe said:


> However, I'm pretty sure the USA got outrebounded offensively by Turkey (even though I dont have the numbers in front of me), and it wouldn't surprise me if the USA got outrebounded overall by Turkey. Just something to think about.


My favorite part of the game was when Lebron was playing the 5.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I saw that box...It doesn't seem possible that Paul had that few assists,but the scorers in FIBA games can be very stingy with assists.It seems to me that he had at least five lob passes that should have been assists even in the strictest scoring.A bunch of other plays when he was passing ahead for layups.That box doesn't include turnovers or minutes so it may be totally wrong.


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## pG_prIDe (Jun 23, 2002)

TM said:


> My favorite part of the game was when Lebron was playing the 5.


Ha! I remembered that. Despite that, I think it came during the second quarter when the USA played their best defense in the game, in which they held Turkey to seven points (according to Wade2Matrix's box score).


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## Wade2Bosh (Mar 31, 2004)

This game recap has Paul down for 6 assists. That sounds closer to the true number.

Link


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

> Early going in the *Team USA*/Turkey match-up, the game looked more like the Elite 24 than an international contest. For a serious clip, both teams were outletting the ball after made baskets, trying to fast break on _everything_.
> Neither team was getting back in transition defense - the first quarter finished up 31-30 in favor of Team USA. *Coach K* can’t be happy about letting up 30 points in a quarter to the Turkish squad that doesn’t have *Mehmet Okur* or *Hedo Turkoglu* on the floor. (Hedo is in uniform on the bench but he’s just there for moral support).
> But anytime the Americans wanted to get a bucket, or a number of buckets for that matter, they did so. *Chris Bosh* got a couple of transition hoops off of passes from *Kobe* and *LeBron*. After an 8-0 Turkish run, *Dwyane Wade* hit a Turkish guard with a mean cross on the wing, and came back on the next possession with his own rendition of *Manu Ginobili*’s go-to transition move to open himself up for a lay-in.
> With Wade, *Melo*, *Dwight*, LeBron and *Kidd* in the game to start the second quarter, Team USA had their best lineup of the game. And no, Kobe was not on the floor. It seems like when he gets the rock in the half-court offense, the ball stops moving in his hands and the flowing pick-and-roll offense becomes stagnant.
> ...


http://dimemag.com/2008/07/live-look-in-as-team-usa-takes-on-turkey/#more-2944


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Just don't like how we keep coming to these world tournaments undersized. Looks like Turkey before they wore out was getting a ton on the offensive boards


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

Pioneer10 said:


> Just don't like how we keep coming to these world tournaments undersized. Looks like Turkey before they wore out...



The end of the second quarter... 

I don't understand the "lack of size" stuff. They have just as many bigs as many of the other teams. And if I'm not mistaken, the knock on 2004 was we focused on big men (ie Tim Duncan). So do we need big men or not? And please stop looking at just height in terms of feet and inches. Some of those guys with their 8' winspans and 40+" vertical leaps make up for 2 inches... Rebounding is about getting after it and positioning. Let's not act like its just having more big men.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

I think the type of big men we send is at times a little ponderous. Things will even out once Oden is ready. A Howard/Oden frontcourt will balance things out just fine. It's just now, Chris Bosh is one of our key big men, and really, he doesn't play much better in the paint than Melo does. I would have brought a more physical presence to the team instead of Boozer or Bosh. One of those guys doesn't need to be there. Probably Bosh. Bosh just doesn't fit in well with the team we have I don't think.


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## Wade2Bosh (Mar 31, 2004)

Here's the official boxscore

http://www.usabasketball.com/seniormen/2008/08_msnt_exh_02_box.pdf


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## argusa (May 7, 2008)

Pioneer10 said:


> Just don't like how we keep coming to these world tournaments undersized. Looks like Turkey before they wore out was getting a ton on the offensive boards


I didn't look at the boxscore, but it seemed like the US got out rebounded. I liked the small line up with LBJ at the 5. Turkey looked decent. They are going to have a good team in 2010.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

oh are you guys gonna hate me after this..... I'll split my recap into 3 sections: pre-game, game, and post-game

*Pre-game:*
Some of you may remember my experience running into the Cavs and Magic players last year:
http://www.basketballforum.com/nba-forum/379376-cavs-magic-macau-my-encounter-players.html

So I arrived to the Venetian early again hoping to run into some players. Low and behold, 1/2 hour in, I see Dwight Howard again! While wandering around I spotted him in a shop chatting up some people. I managed to catch him on the way out, and this time I was finally able to get a pic with him (will post pics in next post). Dwight is an awesome guy, can't say enough good things about him. 

A pic with Superman has already made my day.... but I had a lot of time to spare, so I ate at a restaurant near the venue. Awhile later, I spot another familiar face: Jason Kidd!!! He was in a rush and wasn't really up for photos but me and some other fans managed to catch him for some pics anyway. Wished him good luck for the game, and that was that. What a start to the day, and its still 3:30 in the afternoon!

I went to walk around at the mall, and noticed a few unusually tall guys in red track suits. Yep, they were the Turkish team players, none of whom I recognized other than Hedo... but I took a picture with one of 'em anyway (I remember seeing him as a sub later in the game but can't remember his name) EDIT: I believe he is Cemal Nalga, correct me if I am wrong. 

Later on I caught a huge line of people lined up making a path, obviously they were expecting the players to pass by there. After waiting for a bit, I saw Coach D'Antoni, Dominque, and finally, Dwight again and the Black Mamba himself. 

*Game*
First 2 ppl I saw in the shootaround were Deron Williams and Redd. Bosh and Dwight would later take over. After shooting around for a bit, both of them decided to have a 3pt shooting contest... from the sideline. Needless to say the results weren't pretty. Dwight then played around with the fans for a bit. Like I said, great guy.

Hedo was running around, but didn't play obviously. He seemed to be quite popular with everyone (most likely because he's the only one everyone knows from the Turkish team).

Ok, finally, the game.... I watched the same game as all of you, just from a different angle. Watching Team USA live in action is priceless... all the stars pulled off their signature moves - Kobe's windmill jam, Wade's drive, Howard's monster slams, LeBron's alley oop finishes, Deron's crossovers... even Boozer's 2-handed slam. I can't believe I got to see everything in one game, simply an amazing experience. 

My thoughts on the team:
- Dwight IS the most important player on this team. His inside presence on both ends is the difference maker for the team. Bosh can not hold his on at the 5 spot.
- Wade is a lot of fun to watch. Who said his game's not suitable for the International game?
- A line-up of Paul/Deron/Wade/LeBron/Melo??? I thought they'd get killed in the inside but surprisingly LeBron and Melo held their own fighting the bigs. You can tell Wade's not used to playing SF, he was walking to the backcourt during a FT and was like "oh crap, I gotta rebound?"
- CP3 is officially a consistent 3pt threat

*post-game*
Went to grab a McDonald's, and just so happens the guy in front of me won the contest during the intermissions, and got a bunch of Big-Mac coupons. So he gave one to me, and I got a free Big-Mac as well, talk about good luck!

While lining up for the shuttle bus, I overheard the guy behind me talking about writing on tonight's game. I asked him who he writes for, turns out he's from the Denver Post. We had a chat (he says the ppl in Denver are not happy about the Camby trade, obviously), and he was a really cool guy. After doing some research just now turns out he's Anthony Cotton, for those who know him. He'll be following the team for the rest of the Olympics.

Anyway, its 330am now, tired as hell, but needless to say this was definitely worth it.... oh, I'll upload the pics in the next post. Enjoy!


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

I've got some videos too, will share once I get'em up on Youtube


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## Wade2Bosh (Mar 31, 2004)

Awesome recap and pics. Thanks for posting them.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Aww man that really is awesome. Dwight makes you look super tiny :laugh:

You lucky son of a gun :biggrin:


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Damn, Dwight is super huge.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

TM said:


> The end of the second quarter...
> 
> I don't understand the "lack of size" stuff. They have just as many bigs as many of the other teams. And if I'm not mistaken, the knock on 2004 was we focused on big men (ie Tim Duncan). So do we need big men or not? And please stop looking at just height in terms of feet and inches. Some of those guys with their 8' winspans and 40+" vertical leaps make up for 2 inches... Rebounding is about getting after it and positioning. Let's not act like its just having more big men.


Tim Duncan was FINE in 2004. But having one star big doesn't really do much when we brilliantly put him guys like Matrix and Odom next to him at the PF and get pushed around. Duncan was the only true star big we had and he ended up getting in foul trouble against argentina: his minutes were limited and we lost. Tim Duncan was not the problem with USA 2004 he was one of the few guys who actually played well

And you can have all the hops you want, a big man leaning against you inside and setting picks causes troubles. Go back to Greece in 2006 when that fat Baby Shaq cuased havoc because Coach K was too damn stubborn to put in Howard or change the D.


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

This game is being replayed on ESPN2 right now.


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

The ESPN guys called Omer Asik the Turkish Ben Wallace. All those people who laughed at my Ben Wallace comparison on draft night probably feel a bit dumb. (And this isn't form ESPN talking heads, quality announcers are doing this game).


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

I like Fran Fraschilla, especially when he's doing international work. He's very knowledgeable. Turkey has always been a country I like watching play in national team competition, tending to be pretty uptempo and offensive-based. This one is no different. Akyol is a pleasure to watch, and I've already loved Ilyasova for years. Too bad there's no Kutluay, Turkoglu, etc. It could be better.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

Pioneer10 said:


> Tim Duncan was FINE in 2004. But having one star big doesn't really do much when we brilliantly put him guys like Matrix and Odom next to him at the PF and get pushed around. Duncan was the only true star big we had and he ended up getting in foul trouble against argentina: his minutes were limited and we lost. Tim Duncan was not the problem with USA 2004 he was one of the few guys who actually played well
> 
> And you can have all the hops you want, a big man leaning against you inside and setting picks causes troubles. Go back to Greece in 2006 when that fat Baby Shaq cuased havoc because Coach K was too damn stubborn to put in Howard or change the D.


Cool your jets, Chris Sheridan. I wasn't calling out Tim Duncan. The problem was running everything through him. He was the best player on that team. International ball doesn't start with inside play.

By the way, getting killed by the pick and roll and "being too stubborn to change defense" are two separate things. I'd like to hear how changing the defense would have helped at that point. They'd have still gotten beat. Plus, I also love how people want a coach to change to defense that his players aren't used to doing and expect that to solve all the problems. Go coach a team. See how easy that works.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Porn_Player said:


> Aww man that really is awesome. Dwight makes you look super tiny :laugh:
> 
> You lucky son of a gun :biggrin:


Yah when the guy helped us take the picture I was afraid he'd cut off either one of our heads :laugh:


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

I caught it from the third quarter, but the team really looked good. Quick hands, ran the break well, defense was stingy and lots of highlights. Wade is back


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

TM said:


> Cool your jets, Chris Sheridan. I wasn't calling out Tim Duncan. The problem was running everything through him. He was the best player on that team. International ball doesn't start with inside play.
> 
> By the way, getting killed by the pick and roll and "being too stubborn to change defense" are two separate things. I'd like to hear how changing the defense would have helped at that point. They'd have still gotten beat. Plus, I also love how people want a coach to change to defense that his players aren't used to doing and expect that to solve all the problems. Go coach a team. See how easy that works.


Sure having AI and Marbury didn't help but the thing the US was winning till Duncan got in foul trouble. If that team had KG they would have still won. The US has simply not sent it's best and it's often the big men who haven't been have chosen not to come. Guys like KG and Duncan actually work very well in the international game because of there midrange game.

You have to be kidding about changing the D. When one guy keeps killing you on the same pick and roll play and you don't do anything about it for an eternity and that's ok? There's lot of ways you can attack the pick and roll: change the defenders (i.e. put in Howard) to protect the paint and tell the player to go over the pick to prevent the jumpshot would have been one way to start. I guess all these NBA players have never seen a pick and roll though


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

Pioneer10 said:


> There's lot of ways you can attack the pick and roll: change the defenders (i.e. put in Howard) to protect the paint and tell the player to go over the pick to prevent the jumpshot would have been one way to start. I guess all these NBA players have never seen a pick and roll though


I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but do I understand it it right - basically you wanted Howard (or a big guy) in the game? So what happens when he and others stays in the lane to "protect the paint" while their men are pick-and-popping for wide open 3pointers? Because, if I'm not mistaken, the US got beat by like 99% 3pt shooting that game, not pick-and-rolls and drives to the basket.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Lucky you. I didn't bother this time cause I knew they were gonna be expensive. If you get the cheap seats you might as well watch it at home but the more expensive ones are really expensive. The tickets I got last year were free.

Damn you took pics with Dwight Howard, Jason Kidd and Jameer Nelson! 

I got a pic with me and Vlade somewhere...


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Yeah what can I say, it was a helluva day 

As promised here are some exclusive videos for everyone to enjoy:

Close encounter with Dwight and Kobe:
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Dwight and Bosh shoot-off from the sideline (they kept doing this for a few minutes, I only recorded a few shots):
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Team USA hits the court:
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I have some action clips as well but since it's the same as what everyone saw on TV there's really no point of uploading them


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

TM said:


> I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but do I understand it it right - basically you wanted Howard (or a big guy) in the game? So what happens when he and others stays in the lane to "protect the paint" while their men are pick-and-popping for wide open 3pointers? Because, if I'm not mistaken, the US got beat by like 99% 3pt shooting that game, not pick-and-rolls and drives to the basket.


 I'm not really what your talking about as Spanoulis had only 3 3pts out of his 22 points and Greece shot 8/18 from the 3 pt line. There whole run was based on running the stupid pick and roll with Spanoulis and Shortisiantis (sp?) The US kept freakin going under the screen and when they were able to get to the ball that fat baby Shaq guy ended up cleaning the mess. I suggest you look thru game/post game thread and rewatch the game to see what I'm talking about


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