lynx/wnba

They should have two divisions in Basketball where the lower echelon teams have their own tournament and get three medals as well. This is ridiculous. As far as the "dream team" goes, personally there is no team in sports I would want to see lose more than that one. Please media, spare us the constant accolades. It was much more fun and proper when we had college allstars go up against other nations even if they used pros. These college players are all turning pro, I doubt they would not be highly effective and motivated.

Well, Tootee, when I was speaking of media obsession with accolades I did not make myself clear. I was speaking of the men's team only, same as asking for college players to represent us. With respect to the women's team, I only meant to imply they are so dominant it is not a real competition. The same reason they have elimnated women's softball from the Olympics, the same two or three teams (esp. the USA) dominate every world championship. I think two divisions in women's basketball would make better sense and give these lowly countries / teams more incentive. Not unlike how high school sports have separate tournaments. Media coverage of the USA women's team does not bother me, only all the coverage and "drama" they muster for the NBA men's dream team. That I find unbearable.

Ah ok got it. And understand the point. Thanks for clarifying!

There is a perspective issue here too that we fail to see. The USA basketball teams dominate in this sport, and yes, we dominate in several other sports as well. This is always promoted by the networks because of the commercialization of the olympics. Who is going to tune in to watch the USA athletes get clobbered in a game of whatever? We have a luxury in this world to promote sports and countries like Angola, do their best. The idea of the olympics is/was and always will be to show up to compete, and that is all. Congratulations to Angola for making it there, sending their best team, and for playing the game.

PS. As for the men's basketball team, I have a hard time watching them play the game. I watched their first game for three quarters, and quit watching. I did NOT see one offensive play called or run. It simply evolved into a big game of one on one... clear out... your turn to make a move and if you are a young person just learning to play the game, watch Kobe Bryant, and then do the opposite of what you see. For generations, we have called it being a "ball hog" and it is pretty much his mind set. Back in the days of the miracle on ice, Herb Brooks did not pick THE most talented hockey players; he picked the players that played as a team. Basketball could learn a lot from that. Someday (soon) this arrogant attitude is going to catch up with them.

2 divisions? No offense but that's ridiculous. These are the best each country has to offer, competing against each other. That's what the Olympics are all about. They get to see how they measure up against the best. It's a dream for some of these players to go against legends, their idols who inspired them to take up the game, like Alexey Shved growing up watching the NBA. You can't take that away from them. And you can't take away the potential for another miracle on ice. Go USA! Stomp on anyone that dares to cross your path!

The Olympics should always be the best versus the best. We do not call on to send in their b-squad badminton players. Hopefully, Americans can learn to better at sports we are not so good at (Archery, anyone?) and other countries can aspire to have better basketball players. Look how football (soccer) has evolved for the USA.