Prior to today's game against Mexico I could have somewhat agreed with this. After today's game I fail to see Spain being favored against us. I think Spain is going to have to play perfect in order to be in the game. Our guys are going to be locked in.
On the contrary: I would say that this game exposed two things that could kill us against Spain. The first being our guards' proclivity for going into business for themselves, and take the bigs out of the game, and the second being lack of size among the starting bigs. Against, IMO, better judgement, it looks like Krzyzewski is going to stick with Fareid as the starter all the way down, and Ayon pretty much proved that any big with post moves is going to give Davis problems.
The only thing that I think could push Spain over the top is the refs. Over the span of 5 possessions between both teams Jorge Gutierrez committed one foul and two very obvious traveling violations that the refs magically didn't see. If the refs allow Spain to play by a different, more forgiving set of rules than what they hold the United States to then we'll have a problem. Composure in the face of lopsided officiating is going to be paramount against Spain.
I'm worried about the referees for what I perceive to be an anti-USA bias that the rest of the world has. It's the same reason that the crowd always cheers for whoever is playing against the USA. Even if you try to believe that the refs call these games evenly there's no denying that whoever plays against the USA always gets the benefit of the whistle.
I will absolutely deny it, because I don't actually believe it. With all due respect, it sounds like preemptive excuse making, to me. Just like HereWeVivek claiming that the "breakaway fouls" ruin the game, what you call other teams getting the benefit of the whistle, I attribute to players in other countries being far more familiar with the FIBA rules than we are. I don't feel that you can watch Harden get to the line as often as he does for that "stick the ball out" play that's actually a travel, and then say that we're not getting our fair share of the calls.
Sure, because it worked out so well in Indianapolis.
I thought it was a big deal when he picked up his second, and Krzyzewski didn't pull him, but instead let him play out the rest of his regular rotation. It looked like that paid dividends for his confidence in the second half.
I think there is a good chance that Spain is going to win the World Cup, 'cause Spain is the best team right now.
I don't think so, honestly.
It's the "group of death" for everyone EXCEPT the USA. Australia threw a game to Senegal just so they could avoid us in tournament play. If USA gives a consistent defensive effort with their feet it's an automatic game over for whoever happens to be the opponent.I don't know if I agree that Spain "deserves" gold, but there's no question that they're good enough to beat us.
The "Group of Death" just went 4-for-4 in the round of sixteen. And Spain dominated all those guys. But yeah, I'm sure we're just going to run these guys over...
You're not only wrong, but you're loud wrong. It was called the group of death because of who was in it, not who wasn't. As has already been pointed out to you, we barely beat Spain, on a neutral court, and with a team full of superstars. And Barcelona is not a neutral site, and this team is short about ten superstars. I expect us to win, but there ain't gonna be **** "automatic" about it.
Except the difference is that we're beating the Sisters of the Poor, and Spain is beating real teams.
If these guys were still in there primes I think USA would be trouble but Juan Carlos and some of these other guys aside from Marc Gasol and Ricky (who has always been crap) are kind of past it in terms of being int here primes.
