“Basketball is not just about dribbling and shooting”

So said the coach of the Greek National Team today after beating the US World Championships Team in the semifinals.

The US has failed to win Gold in 3 international competitions since the 2000 Olympics. To me this is just unfathomable considering USA basketball has some of the most gifted athletes in the world. They can run, pass, shoot, and do things in midair that astonish. What they can't do my friends, is play defense, and for that I place the blame directly on the NBA. The NBA, or Not Basketball Anymore, has made a market selling a sport where two teams race up and down the court pouring in shot after shot with only token defense applied. It makes for a pretty boring spectacle to watch in my opinion, especially when the teams can't shoot the ball that well, which is what happened to the US team against Greece.

Players hoping out of college early miss the skill development it takes to learn to play solid defense, and lets be honest, defensive players are never going to pull in the big contracts like the flashy stars. You can keep it all. College basketball is 10 times more exciting, and they could probably hold their own in world play. Keep the pros at home, they just make us look embarassing.