For those that stayed up late to watch our guys dismantle the Argentina junior varsity team, Team USA offered quite a few treats. The Carmelo Anthony dunk over two defenders ranks just below Vince Carter leaping over a seven-footer in all-time great Olympic dunks.
Jason Kidd is showing once again just how valuable a great point guard (i.e. not Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, and for the time being Chris Paul) is in influencing a game. The failed alley-oop attempt to Lebron James off the glass in a half court set was just creative genius and still deserves a look on the highlight reel despite the botched dunk.
Indeed, if I ran Gatorade I would immediately look back to the edited moments in sports history advertising and show Lebron finsihing the play with the statement: Is it in you: if only Lebron drank Gatorade.
Because the presence of Kidd and Kobe Bryant, this may be the best team since the David Robinson, Shaq, and Hakeem patrolled the frontlines. All this being said, does anyone else but me feel cheated during this tournament?
What defines a great team, with the exception of the Dream Team, is the level of competition it faces. Staying up for last nights game, I had hoped to finally catch a spark of adversity for our guys. The Argentines have perhaps the best run international team in the world and have hit a perfect storm of coaching and players at the right time to become a world power in basketball.
Even last night we saw Scola and his group exploit some of the weaknesses in Team USA, namely any big guy with a pulse (Suns fans, STAT is still horrible on defense), and teams that are proficient in running high post plays and backdoor cuts.
Make no mistake, Bryant and Anthony destroyed team Argentina. But the South Americans also got a lot of clean looks at the basket which simply did not fall. If you look at their dismal shooting percentage, one would assume that the Americans contested every three point shot. But in watching the game, they missed a lot of open looks.
What's of more concern is that our defense, despite some great pressure, still allowed the offense to get deep into the paint. Fortunately none of the players last night are nowhere near as proficient as their missing teammates in finishing contested layups.
While enjoying the win last night, realize that the open looks given up last night are only going to multiply when the real Argentina team returns. And with Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni, and Walter Hermann taking the shots we can bet that they are more likely to go in.
And that's why I feel cheated. Team Argentina is probably the most cohesive team in the world, and normally a true test for us. But with the third string in last night, and Luis Scola in foul trouble, we missed an opportunity to witness great basketball. Even the addition of Ginobili would provide Team USA with one player that they couldn't guard straight up. And for those absences, and to see how far we have really come, I feel robbed.
I posted within a minute or two of you on the same subject. Taking our different styles into consideration our feelings remain very similar. I was disappointed in the level of defense shown against the argentine scrubs.
You said on my blog Kobe might not be the right person to guard ginobli for fear of foul problems. how would you see the USA defensive assigments with Argentina in the Olympics going assuming the lineups are as exected?
I think many people are underestimating team USA. This is not the same team who got beat in the olympics 2 years ago when they're only real veteran player was Allen Iverson. Mello has matured. Lebron has matured. and now with Kidd and Kobe this team is gonna be hard to stop offensively even with the different style of play.
okay my friends,the standings will be at the final as fallows:usa vs. argentina final game/ brazil vs.puerto rico consolation game., then if usa team do not make the defensive adjustments,block the inside line, boxout aggresively & dominate the boards, it could be along night for the usa squad.even a shocking one
This article is highly irrelevant.. First off, This tournament is being played NOW and with the current players suiting up for their country!!! you can't cry just coz some of their stars didn't play. When team USA played and lost to those tournaments before i bet you nobody from those teams who bested them ever felt cheated coz KG, Kobe, Shaq, Kidd, etc.., didn't play.. Secondly, this US roster won't even gonna be the same for the Olympics. USA will send better players to play for the GOLD. and Third, Clearly the game last night, as early as the second quarter had already been won. At any competiteve level the US squad played they would have still beaten the argentines.. This piece of article is horrible. Can't believe i wasted my time reading this.
W=W
You don't think every other nation with a decent chance isn't gunning for the U.S. of A!!! Screw Argentina and their disco uniforms. Both will advance to the Olympics.
Slashndice... I concert. It's not our fault that some of the Argentine player's didn't play, just as you said some of our best player didn't play as well but we're not complaining. Some night the US TEAM are not going to play the same. They will have a night off, but they got the WIN and that's what counts. Folks always have something NEGATIVE to say instead of praising them for their effort. I agree the article was terrible!
I do kno 1 thing. Carmelo Anthony is the most unstoppable offensive force I've seen in a long time. I get excited every time I see him catch the ball. Straight electricity. He had a bad game last night and he still had like 18 points in like 20 minutes. No one is gonna stop him from gettin off and if they slow him down a little, Kobe's gonna get 25 and LeBron's gonna dunk the confidence right out of whoever the opponent is. It's pretty funny to me.
People are talking about the players that Argentina is missing, yeah they are missing some big time international players. You have to remember that Dwayne Wade isn't playing for the U.S. either. Someone will be expendable, most likely Mike Miller. I think they are all set up front with Stoudamire, Howard, and Chandler. The game is setup more for guard play. Just imagine team U.S.A. with a spark like Wade off of the bench. He can match Ginobli's energy and then some. Anything but gold shouldn't be acceptable.
I read your comments, hopefully all of you will read mine...
I am not saying that the only reason that TeamUSA won is because Argentina was missing players. I'm not one of those people that think everything is wrong with American basketball. But watching 30 point victories is not great basketball.
I am a basketball fan, and if you really are too then you would want to see our guys challenged. Argentina, with their full amount of players, are capable. I'm just saying that I feel robbed of seeing our guys have to step up their game and see what they are really made of.
It's not an excuse for Argentina losing, it's me hoping to see a great game.
Just a ridiculous article, through and through. May I remind everyone, that the REAL Argentinian team got beat by 16 with Kobe-less US squad in the World Championships. Ginobili, Nocioni, Oberto and Herrmann were all there, and by all assessments, that U.S. squad was somewhat lesser than the present one. QUICK STAT: US is 32-2 versus Argentina in senior men's competitions.
I think the U.S. played very "vanilla" and wasn't overly concerned with the quaterfinal game, and honestly, Argentina was never in the game. The Americans led by at least 20 the whole game, and the Argentinians made it look closer during garbage time. It's like , say, the Celtics losing by 20 the whole game to the Heat, but when you pick up the paper in the morning and see a 10 point spread, you think it was close when in reality, it was a blow out.
The U.S.'s only serious challenge will come from Spain in Beijing, but even that I don't see being feasible.
As for Sunday's final (given Argentina can get past Brasil, who should've beat them in thier last game in O.T.), look for the U.S. to dominate even further.
USA 108- Argentina 74
You know we have a lot of TEAM USA haters here....NOBODY gives the USA credit for what we did....there are alot of ppl that want to see TEAM USA lose, lose and lose. Doesn't anybody remember that last year we beat Argentina full strength??? So why would it matter that their stars weren't there?? Ya ppl shouldnt call yourself americans, ya nothing but traitors. People who never looks for the positive always the negative and never gives credit when we are doing something great, maybe cuz TEAM USA is composed of mostly black players....maybe if there were white ya would have something good to say.
Again, one of my points goes completely unnoticed. I am not rooting for the United States to lose, nor do I believe they are an inferior team. I simply want to see a great game. Argentina, when on top of their game with their starters, provides that.
But no, criticize or point out shortcomings in anyway (even if valid) and you are a traitor and somehow a racist?! That kind of thinking is why our program fell in the first place.
Moreno, you are and #### and a mook. At what point did I ever mention race? Running around screaming your a racist, he's a racist, your mom's a racist, it's cause they're/we're/I'm black....get over it.
Simply put for all you tools/mooks/idiots: I am rooting for TeamUSA. I feel they are the best team in the world, and the best American team since Shaq/Dream/Robinson were our starting frontline. In fact, TeamUSA is so good that the games are boring. I feel cheated because Team Argentina normally provides a challenge and the other night they had no chance without all their players.
It's like getting geeked for a Yankees-Red Sox game and only Derek Jeter shows up with the Yanks AA team. If you are a fan of the game, that cannot excite you.
It's like watching the Suns-Spurs series in the semi-finals only to get the Cavs -- a completely inferior team -- in the NBA finals.
But then, you might be the kind of fan that roots for all the other teams stars to get hurt just so you can see your guys win it all. Or the kind that boot up Live or 2k8 and trade for Lebron, Kobe, STAT, Shaq, Duncan and every other future Hall of famer so you can win by 80 on rookie.
I like challenges and watching good basketball...but that is stupid, irrelevant, and racist?
As far as that racist remark I made, I don't have concrete evident if race has anything to do with it but it's just my opinion. Even though ppl saying that there going for TEAM USA that's not impression I'm getting because if they were to lose I bet that you would be just as harsh. But like I said everythning I say is just my opinion it's not concrete. I'm basing my opinion off the article written and everybody else's opinion on what they have to say. I'm all TEAM USA and even though I see flaws myself I'm not here to blow flaws out of porportion as if there is no solution to the problem like every reporter seems to do.
SOUNDS TO ME LIKE JUST ANOTHER WAY TO BASH THE U.S.A. , BUT DOING IT IN A BACKDOOR TYPE OF WAY , LIKE, OH THE AMERICANS ARE GOOD WITH SOME SPECTACULAR DUNKS BUT i FEEL CHEATED AND THEIR DEFENSE SUCKS AND TO SAY WE HAVE NOONE TO GUARD GINOBILI IS IDIOTIC, DOES THIS PERSON EVEN FOLLOW BASKETBALL , IS GINOBILI EVEN A STARTER OR DOES HE COME OFF THE BENCH? AND I ALWAYS THOUGHT GINOBILI WAS A STREAK PLAYER WHO EASILY GETS OUT OF CONTROL OR TAKES WILD SHOTS SOMETIMES, YEAH GINOBILI , HE'S GONNA SAVE THE DAY, GIVE ME A BREAK AND JUST QUIT FOOLIN AROUND AND BASH THE U.S.A. STR8 UP AND QUIT TRYING TO GIVE SOFT EXCUSES
YOU KNOW WHAT UBLANJ YOU #### , go back to canada, this is going to be the best olympic team since "the dream team", teeam U.S.A. will win the gold easily and you will pout and have nothing but backward negative comments on how and why they did it. Media in a whole has went str8 downhill into gutterville , along time ago when there was just newsprint and regular t.v. , media coverage /sports coverage was real and if it was about something like olympic coverage it was mostly positive , unlike all the backward and sometimes in your face U.S.A. bashing. love your country for crying out loud or shut up.
Okay, listen up you bass ackwards people. I am rooting for the success of Team USA. I love the direction, especially with Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant (never thought I'd say this) on board to provide leadership. Quote to me anywhere in my blog where it bashes Team USA. Where does it say I am rooting against them? I state that I merely wanted to see a great game, and USA vs. Argentina's B team was a disappointment to the potential matchup it could be.
Never did I bash our guys. Also, never did I say that world kicks our 'black' way of basketball...so quit implying that I am racist. Reading is more than letting your eyes stroll left to right, top to bottom over the words. It means taking it through that thick head, and then understanding what was written. I recommend trying it. Go Team USA.
My only suggestion to you guys would be that reading is more than letting your eyes glance over the words from left to right, top to bottom. It also entails letting them sink in as a whole, and then understanding everything written. I recommend trying it.
Because nowhere in my blog did I bash Team USA. If you feel otherwise, find it and quote it for me. In fact, I wrote that this is the best baketball team since the last one that had Robinson/Shaq/Hakeem on it. All I put was that I would like to see the team get challenged and a great basketball game. USA vs. Argentina is normally a great matchup, and I feel cheated because the other night it wasn't -- given the missing starters. Never did I write that USA only won because other people were missing. READ.
ublani... In my comment yesterday I said that sometime the US TEAM will not have that dominant game every night, they will have an off night. The key to the game is they got the WIN. Now if the game was boring to you then that's on you. Every game that I see the US TEAM play is exciting to me because they are getting closer to the GOLD. I don't dewell on there weakness as some folks do because I'm sure they know what there weakness are and try and work on that in practice, but I concentrate on the POSITIVE ONLY! I'm behind the US TEAM 100% because they are REPRESENTING MY COUNTRY AND I DON'T FIND THEM BORING AT ALL!!
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE FELLOWS! BRING HOME THE GOLD!
BROWNSUGA
If I come across like I am blaming TeamUSA for a boring game then I am being misunderstood.
"While enjoying the win last night", "Team USA offered quite a few treats", "Best team since..."
Let me ask you: Did you find the Rookie-Sophmore game enjoyable during All-Star weekend when both teams stopped playing in favor of a dunk contest? Opposing players were throwing each other the ball to dunk it.
It is not our guys fault that they have been so much better than everyone else. But still, I wish the Argentines were here to provide a better game and more entertaining basketball. When you watch the NCAA's, do you get off on Duke or UNC blowing out a 16 seed? No.
As far as pointing out deficiencies, I'd love to see Argentina field a team that can exploit these in hopes of seeing how we react. There is nothing unpatriotic about hoping to see our guys challenged and have to overcome. I still root for our teams, enjoy the wins, but still wish I could see a great game. Otherwise I'd be content with just reading a boxscore in the morning.
ublani... hopfully in the near future the US TEAM will be able to give you a competitive game that you will enjoy, but after reading your comment I understand where you coming from. You want some form of competion for the US TEAM. Is that what you are saying?
Exactly what I am saying. Look, we still have the best basketball players in the world. Kobe, Kidd, Lebron, Carmelo...those cats are better than any you will ever find. But I enjoy seeing other teams challenge us, if just to make the victories more exciting.
The world is catching up. Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola would easily play significant roles for Team USA if they were playing for us. Manu off the bench and Scola (in international play only) is better than STAT or Dwight. And that's a good thing. First and foremost I love basketball. I want good games. I root for our guys, but I'd like to see a team step up and make us work for it.
Team USA just finished playing P-Rico and they got their but kicked real bad, 135 to 91.Now give them their props they went out there and did their jobs.They will be going to the 2008 olympics and they will be going for the gold and they will bring home the gold. I'm proud of them for going out and winning all of the games they did.To keep on playing day after day that takes a lot out of you but they went out and gave it all they had.GO TEAM USA YOU MADE ME VERY PROUD
Whoa man! U gotta stop it with this Manu and Scola stuff. Dwight and STAT are ALL NBA players. I'm not even sure if Scola starts for his team in THE LEAGUE. Manu can only go left and NBA players haven't seemed to figure that out yet. Please don't make people actually start to believe that those guys would even see the floor on the US Team. Carmelo's new name is MR. KING UNSTOPPABLE. U heard it here first. Real talk.
Last edited by realtalk1 on September 2nd at 12:03 AM.
ublanj
All the flashiness in the world won't make it a game in Beijing. As that's not what's going to win games there once the Olympics begin. It'll be about the concept of playing team basketball and that's where previous teams have failed so miserably at the last couple of Olumpic games. That's what they've got to remember and that's what Krzyzewski has been trying to instill into this team above all else. 'melo has been great but it has been Kidd who's been the sppon that stirs the pot. The guy is definately a future Hall of Famer in my books !
I think some of ublanj's criticisms are valid. Aside from improving the defense, rebounding and not wasting possessions are two other areas that Team USA needs to improve upon. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the way they played, and although it would have been more interesting, I'm not so sure the outcome would've been any different if Argentina had brought their "A" team.
Getting to moreno78's point about racism, I don't think it's racist to critique this team just because it happens to be predominately black. Those who truly want Team USA to succeed next summer aren't focusing on the race of the players, they just want to see the US return to glory in a sport we should excel at. Most criticisms with this team and the NBA in general are borne out of frustration following the failures ('02--sixth @ Worlds, '04--bronze @ Olympics, '06--bronze @ Worlds) of the last 7 years.
Last edited by MandibleStar on September 2nd at 3:20 PM.
Having said that what I stated above, there's no question that there are certain elements, both American and non-American, throughout this forum and others on the internet that have a gross disdain for these players, to the point where their hostility manifests itself into an underlying bigotry. I've read terms on this forum that describe Team USA or the NBA as "####", "thug" or "egotistical". It sort of reminds me of Don Imus' quip about the Rutgers women's basketball team when he described them as "nappy headed hoes," knowing full well he was referring to black women. The same applies here. Terms such as "thug" or "egotistical" have become either perceived or synonymous with today's black athlete with a very negative connotation attached. Add to the fact that this generation of young black athletes is more aligned to "urban" culture—since most have roots in urban America, both in terms of appearance and sensibilities, therefore creating a culture gap in which the paying or viewing public (predominately white) has trouble relating to the product on the court (predominately black). The fact is, there are an awful lot of white folks in America that detest urban/hip-hop culture and all the things associated with it, an as a result, NBA players (whether some embrace urban culture or not) who are perceived as being apart of this trend are having hostility directed at them.
Last edited by MandibleStar on September 2nd at 3:35 PM.
(Continued from above) And so when NBA-led American teams started struggling in international basketball, which is an entirely different style of basketball than they normally function in, then all the critical exaggerations about multi-millionaire thuggish NBA players with showtime dunks and no fundamentals started being drummed up. Since '02, the closet-####s on the internet have given their full support to the likes of Spain and Argentina to teach, in the words of late Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott, our "million dollar n*****" a thing or two about how to play basketball.
1.) I am one of those blacks who thinks the thugrap generation is without value. Having said I that I wonder who it is on team USA that someone would consider a thug? Perhaps Melo for his length of the court suckerpunch/his pot bust/his prior sulking and bad attitude in his first two years from time to time? Possibly but I'm not losing sleep over it. who else? I don't see it on this team.
Hold your ground Uba. No matter what you say today if you don't like someone or something about a team or whatever, if there is a black person involved someone will call you racist. I could write a book about how these people are causing more racism than they are stopping it and certainly causing people to turn a deaf ear to real racism. this is what thugrap "i be a killa" minds have to come to. Brain dead from 200lbs of weed in 5 years, 5,000 40oz of malt liquor a year and dropped out of school and these people wouldn't know a racist if he walked up and squatted on their face and took a dump. It's just the battle cry of people without a future and no drive to get one.
Last edited by OneLastOutlaw on September 2nd at 3:40 PM.
I don't like thugs be they Crips, La Familia, Tongs or Skinheads. those people don't represent blacks, mexicans, chinese or whites anymore than the Mafia represents all Italians. But they use the word "racist" in order to make people duck their heads. BRAINDEAD is the true color of their skin.
Team USA is the best out of the last 3 but they still have problems all along the baseline and in the paint defensively. and yes this include brons and Mello's lack of defense when both are on the court at the 3 and the 4. Amare and Howard are hardly defensive giants. But we have a year. we'll see
Last edited by OneLastOutlaw on September 2nd at 3:45 PM.
and I would add this final comment on Manidables explanation of why people think our USA team are thugs just because they are black. The NBA has gone to great lengths to ensure thugs are not on this team. Iverson was left off twice now because of nothing less than his comments about being a thug and his constant image run in's with society. but you have to understand that when blacks go into the stands, blacks get involved in several strip club shootings, fiascos, dogfighting, fistfights with their wives blah blah blah it paints a bad picture. as I said the other day, I tried to think of what white athlete other than JJ Reddick drunk driving that has occurred during this last couple of years. I'm sure there's some but we blacks bring a lot of it on ourselves by defending the thug rap image. I commend the NBA and the NFL for finally stepping up. Team USA is not a thug team.
The USA has no control over who (on other teams) shows up to play. The job of Team USA is to blast anybody and everybody who gets in its way, and for the most part, they have (except for the subpar game against Mexico). One thing I have noticed is that Krzyzewski has rarely used full-court pressure (something he does quite often with Duke). Hopefully the U.S. is 'playing possum' and when the Olympic medal rounds come around next year, come out in a 40-minute full-court press, and lay a couple 192-98 scores on the world, just in case anybody's wondering who is still the world's best in basketball.
Whether you claim to be black is irrelevent (you could be white for all I know, since the internet offers complete anonymity), that's neither here nor there. I'm not exactly sure what you are responding to to make you bring up "thugrap." What does thugrap have to do with any of my points about how sociology plays a role in the perceptions whites and blacks have developed in the context of race, specifically in how race plays a role in NBA and USA Basketball perceptions? There is very real bigotry in America veiled as legitimate "points." Criticism of Team USA is fine, to which I'm apart of, but people cross the line when they intentionally use terms that they know are value judgements or politically loaded.
Last edited by MandibleStar on September 2nd at 4:44 PM.
You sound like one of those blacks--if indeed you are-- that feels embarassed by the behaviors and actions of other blacks and feels compelled to apologize to whites for black wrong-doings. We're only accountable for our own actions as individuals, so when I read a statement like "but you have to understand that when blacks go into the stands, blacks get involved in several strip club shootings, fiascos, dogfighting, fistfights with their wives blah blah blah it paints a bad picture" you sound like you're unconfortable in your own skin. When whites f*** up, it's not a negative against all whites, so why do blacks have the burden of feeling ashamed when some brotha f*** up? That's ignorant, faulty thinking.
Last edited by MandibleStar on September 2nd at 4:47 PM.
what are you talking about? How can you equate the entire black population to the generation spawned by thugrap music? do you really think that all blacks are like a 50 cent video?
You don't think those things I mentioned which involved only thugs and yes I consider artest, Jackson etc to be thugs and I don't support them whatsoever. I don't think I'm being "apologetic to whites" whatsoever. I support non violence and role models for kids in sports.
I'm not saying anything bill cosby hasn't said and I'm saying not anything Malcom X didn't say after returning from Mecca when he said "my eyes were opened. It's not just the black man who is placed in virtual slavery etc".
Last edited by OneLastOutlaw on September 2nd at 5:10 PM.
furthermore, I AM embarassed by blacks who say "tim duncan is boring but my boy Iverson is a real thug" and nonsense like that. If you can't see the difference in good and bad then that's your problem but you're not going to call me a racist against blacks because I don't support the "bling bling hate" of the thugrap culture and tell me to bow down.
and finally what is it about my final statement of my last post which says "team USA is not a thug team" that you don't understand?
Last edited by OneLastOutlaw on September 2nd at 5:09 PM.
I've been trying to think about where I went wrong in writing this post that would lead everyone to believe I was rooting for us to lose. To set the record straight, here goes:
I love this version of TeamUSA. Finally we have a great American point guard (Jason Kidd) as opposed to the flawed lead guards (Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, a very inexperience Chris Paul) we have thrown out in the past. We even have the PG of our team's future (sorry Chris Paul) in Deron Williams. Kobe has been great and for whatever reason Carmelo Anthony is a beast in international play. Even Lebron seems to have fixed his biggest flaw (shooting). We are heading in the right direction.
When I say I feel cheated, understand this, I have never said it was because of our guys. How could I be disappointed in Team USA? I felt cheated because we didn't get an opportunity to go against the best the Americas has to offer (could have said the same thing about Nash in Canada or a Virgin Islands team that I wish had Duncan to team with Bell). And if you are a true fan of basketball, you would have wanted to see Argentina's very best out here too...or Brazil's for that matter.
Also, notice I have never said: USA sucks, we're lucky that the other guys didn't show, or we still play selfish basketball.
True, I despise the street, isolation basketball that the NBA had turned itself into. The flaws of that style reared its ugly head the past few international tournaments. It's just bad basketball plain and simple.
Our wings and guards are finally where we need them to be. The criticisms that I do have. They are valid. But I don't bring them up to be negative, only to point out that we still have room to improve. Our bigs still leave much to be desired, but I still expect us to win in the future.
To address my comments about Scola, Manu, and the missing Argentines. In international play Scola is better than Dwight or Amare right now. I doubt coach K would hesitate using him over Stat if given a choice. And Manu is one of the best all-around guards in the NBA.
I am disappointed because we didn't get the best from other countries. Scola demands a double team from our bigs, which opens things up for shooters. And Manu is undterred by pressure defense. Nocioni and Herrmann can shoot. Pepe Sanchez is a better ball handler. And Fabricio will do a much better job running a hi-low game with Scola.
You obviously can't read or choose not to. I made no reference to equating an entire generation of blacks with a 50 cents video. My original point was that there are elements in our society that are hostile toward these NBA players representing our country for nefarious reasons, one of which stems from perceptions that young black millionaire athletes come from a culture they dislike, and terms such as "thug" and "egotistical" are used to disparaged these players even when clearly they don't represent those things. To deny that the majority of black NBA players come from urban backgrounds and aren't influence by the very environment that created hip-hop culture that SOME (not all) embrace, is absurd. Love it or hate it, many of these players are a product of that environment, and the baggy paints, gold chains, and rap music are apart of it. This culture exists because America is what it is, a diverse nation of innovation and differing lifestyles. If there is something morally wrong with hip-hop culture, than people have a right to object to the negative things the music/lifestyle promotes. However, that doesn't mean it should disappear just because you don't like certain aspects of it. My point was never in favor of or against the negativity that accompanies hip-hop music. You're the one that injected "thugrap" into the discussion, not me, so you never followed my point in the beginning.
Last edited by MandibleStar on September 2nd at 6:26 PM.
If you're embarrassed by the opinions of other blacks, than that says more about your own insecurity than anyone else’s. Just because your sensibilities are hurt by the mere thought that Iverson is more "accepted" than Duncan doesn't mean that they're wrong for thinking that way. They're entitled to their opinions just as you are to yours. Whatever your background is, comments are typical of someone posing as an informed black to make some absurd point. I don't know a single black that likes Iverson because he's a "real thug," which has nothing to do with basketball. Did it occur to you that perhaps AI's flashiness on the court, play hard mentality or personality is the reason he is respected by so many, black and white? You just assume that it's thuggishness that makes him popular, which is the same monolithic, ignorant thinking that free minded people should dispute.
are you actually daring to state Iverson is widely respected over tim duncan because of substance? That's absurd.
secondly you say others are entitled to their opinion yet you have found every possible way in everything I say to dismiss MY opinions. In what way is "everyone entitled to their opinion" without me having the right to dispute their opinion yet you have the right to do so to mine?
Let me give you some facts buddy. From 1983 when rap went mainstream and black kids were catching up to white kids in high school graduation rates until today when black kids only graduate at 44% less than half from high school and you don't think a culture of pro violence, anti female, pro drugs, pro GANGSTA decade or two of BRAINWASHING music saying it's OK to be a criminal has not affected our society?
And MY point was that the USA team is NOT a team of thugs with arrests rap sheets a mile long and with the single exception of Melo not one of them has been involved with violence by that themself has resulted in a conviction or suspension of any length. and I commended and continue to commend the NBA for going with "good guys". This is not the same image of some of the previous teams. I was defending this team in terms of the "thug label" being appropriate to them and simply trying to explain why SOME may paint wrongly with a far too wide of a brush. YOU learn to read. Uba and I both see defensive problems with this team but as I have said a dozen times since qualifying began, we have a year, we'll see.
Last edited by OneLastOutlaw on September 2nd at 7:51 PM.
I'm not daring anything. Certain quarters like AI over Duncan, so why should that surprise you?
At what point did I say you were wrong to hold the opinion you have? If you are going to dispute something I wrote, than at least have the sense to respond to ACTUAL points that I have introduced instead of going off on a tangent about your dislike for the morally low activity of black lifestyles and hip-hop music, which has absolutely nothing to do with the points I made earlier.
Those are not FACTS you're stating. There's no way to measure how the introduction of rap in 1983 (actually 1979, and gangsta rap didn't exist) had an effect on black graduation rates or other aspects of black life. You can't draw any conclusion based on empirical evidence that can't be qualified. Your argument is getting stupider by the minute.
Last edited by MandibleStar on September 2nd at 6:48 PM.
There you go again, clearly stating "the morally low activity of black lifestyles".where do you get off man? Do ever watch the people gainfully employeed who are interviewed on everything from politics to the market on tv WHO HAPPEN TO BE BLACK? What is your problem? Once again you CLEARLY equate the rap culture to being "the black culture" it's not. Not only do less than half of black kids graduate from high school when you take out the girls, less than a third of black guys graduate. Now if you, as a black man don't find this to be totally embarassing to our race then you need to rethink your priorites sir.
why should it suprise me that "certain quarters like AI over duncan?" it doesn't. flash over substance, brag over actual accomplishment, winning over showboating is a staple of the thugrap culture today. Not suprising to me at all.
I am a 5th year senior at Our Lady of the Lake University. I changed my major from art to journalism (which explains why I'm taking an extra year) half way through. Sports are my thing, play as often as I can. Would be pretty good in fact if it weren't for the fact that I have little athletic ability. Seriously, my vertical leap is tip-toe. So, I decided to try and break into sports journalism, which is hard to do at a university with no sports program. Well, we play community colleges and get blown out all the time, but that's another story.
