[Kobester]

YES YES YES YES, GOD DAMN YES!!!!!!!!!! USA won. Finally. I am so proud of Kobe. Made good game, some very good and impresive shots in the 4th quater. He missed some 3pts but scored some very good. Well Kobe get gold medal with usa, 1 step closer(to show that he is better) to Jordan

[Vilius]

Certainly one of the best game in basketball history. I wanted a close game. Spain did very well. If Americans wouldn't be shooting so well from 3-point range it could have been much more difficult for them.

I was really surprised that Spanish players were able to play the game at the same with USA. They were letting in so many points and I said that I doubt they can play like that for 4 quarters. But they did. It was a nice comeback in the end but USA defended well.

In the end Spain gambled and left Americans open. They used their chances.

[Kobester]

well i watched the 4th quarter and i liked it, but i didn't understand 1 thing why the hell USA left a lot of time unmarked player. Spain scored 2 or 3 or more 3 points cause nobody was guarding them

[Vilius]

Either way expected for a player to miss or it was a set play to leave a player open. Spain did the same in the end.

[kanijo]

Well guys, we had our chances but USA did a great game from long range and killed us. I'm very proud of our players, the did their best and faced USA when almost anybody expected that. This game will be a classic in the history of our sport, probably the best Olympic Final.

USA was better yesterday but they must play at 100% to win. Two questions for future events.

Will referees call travelling in next tournaments? It's quite embarrasing to see NBA stars doing 2-3 steps before releasing the ball in almost every play. (Two last technical fouls to Spain was for that reason).

Will top NBA players play with USA at next events? Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Melo, Howard and so on, won their gold medal, but the will do again or prefer spent their summer resting?

[Vilius]

kanijo, on 25 August 2008 - 09:08 AM, said:

Will referees call travelling in next tournaments? It's quite embarrasing to see NBA stars doing 2-3 steps before releasing the ball in almost every play. (Two last technical fouls to Spain was for that reason).

Will top NBA players play with USA at next events? Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Melo, Howard and so on, won their gold medal, but the will do again or prefer spent their summer resting?

We saw this throughout the tournament. My guess is that FIBA "advised" them to ignore travelling because it's hard to believe that none of the referees had enough braveness to call it. Rules are rules and everyone must stick to them. There are situations where travelling doesn't have any impact on the game. It's still against the rules but at least you can have some explanation. But in most cases travelling gave advantage to USA. Because making a few steps before the ball touches the floor makes you faster. Simple as that. Defender is waiting till you start dribbling and you just start moving without doing that. With the speed of Americans they can escape their defender by travelling. We saw tons of fast breaks by Americans and there were probably a few that didn't involve travelling. That's what made their fast breaks so dangerous. There is a good video example for that here. It leaves no chance for the opposition to try to catch the player and block the shot from the back.

From the player quotes that I've read, it looks like they will be coming again. Not sure about Kobe (if we speak about London Olympics) but the other expressed their desire to play and they are still young.

[kanijo]

Vilius, on 25 August 2008 - 09:29 AM, said:

We saw this throughout the tournament. My guess is that FIBA "advised" them to ignore travelling because it's hard to believe that none of the referees had enough braveness to call it. Rules are rules and everyone must stick to them. There are situations where travelling doesn't have any impact on the game. It's still against the rules but at least you can have some explanation. But in most cases travelling gave advantage to USA. Because making a few steps before the ball touches the floor makes you faster. Simple as that. Defender is waiting till you start dribbling and you just start moving without doing that. With the speed of Americans they can escape their defender by travelling. We saw tons of fast breaks by Americans and there were probably a few that didn't involve travelling. That's what made their fast breaks so dangerous. There is a good video example for that here. It leaves no chance for the opposition to try to catch the player and block the shot from the back.

Yes, I think that could be the reason because these same referees (Lamonica, Pitsilkas, Jungerbrand, etc.) call travelling in Euroleague all the time in movements not as flagrant as NBA travelling. I knew that video, we discussed about it in other spanish forums and was the same conclusion, although they didn't call travelling neither Spain nor USA, americans can take advantage of this rule. Spain couldn't do an effective full court pressure because USA eluded the defense running, not dribbling. Anyway, this isn't the reason for USA victory, they played a great game, but it's a point to fix in next events.

[Straight Faced]

I'm not sure about internationally, but in America you can take two steps before a lay up.


I see that in the NBA too though, guys take three steps and stuff, but I guess I didn't notice it as much because that's all I watch.

Anyways, it was a good game.

Sadly I had to listen to it on the radio though because I was out of town.

[kanijo]

Straight Faced, on 25 August 2008 - 05:02 PM, said:

I'm not sure about internationally, but in America you can take two steps before a lay up.


I see that in the NBA too though, guys take three steps and stuff, but I guess I didn't notice it as much because that's all I watch.

Anyways, it was a good game.

Sadly I had to listen to it on the radio though because I was out of town.

Here you can see the rules about travelling in NBA:
http://www.nba.com/a...nav=ArticleList

Section XIV -Travelling:

f. In starting a dribble after (1) receiving the ball while standing still, or (2) coming to a legal stop, the ball must be out of the player's hand before the pivot foot is raised off the floor.

You can't move the pivot foot before release the ball, in NBA referees usually overlook this in order to to a more dinamyc play (I suposse...) but is travelling. As I said, I think USA did a really great game and trying to blame referees it's somewhat foolish but it's necessary to do something about this rule. We will see again in Turkey 2010

[Straight Faced]

Um, I know for a fact that you are allowed to take up to two steps before a lay up.

But anyways, I see what you guys are saying, it was a good game.

[Kobester]

Straight Faced, on 25 August 2008 - 05:02 PM, said:

I'm not sure about internationally, but in America you can take two steps before a lay up.


I see that in the NBA too though, guys take three steps and stuff, but I guess I didn't notice it as much because that's all I watch.

Anyways, it was a good game.

Sadly I had to listen to it on the radio though because I was out of town.

bad luck. and yeah u can do 2 steps and lay up. I know that too. left, right, jump from the left foot. But i have watched some NBA videos(vince carter and etc.) where u can see them doing 3 steps and then jump and dunk, wow the referee didn't say anything.

[rikhardur]

Congrats to USA, they came back to their best days. Dominant team through the tournament, I guess their victory offers no dispute, even if some criticise their game and the refs. Everything balanced, they were indeed the best team. I'm yet to watch the game (oh yes ).