I’m sure that many of you were not even aware that the World Championship of basketball was underway. Since the tournament is taking place in Japan, the games are televised in the US during the early morning hours.
In prior years, the US has been greatly embarrassed by its performance. It wasn’t too long ago that the US team — composed of NBA players — came in sixth place when the tournament was held in Indianapolis! Well, this was the year that the US had targeted to become the dominant team again. Unfortunately, the US had to settle for third place.
There is no question that the US has the best athletes, with top NBA players such as LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmello Anthony. However, it occurs to me that they still don’t understand the concept of playing a complete game. I watched one of the early morning games and the US team played like it was an NBA all star game — that it, defense optional. Wade and James had some spectacular moves on offense, but they let average players from Greece and Argentina drive freely to the basket.
When the US players decide that playing defense is as important as flashy dunks, the US will win the gold again.