Women's Hoops Blog

Inane commentary on a game that deserves far better


Sunday, April 04, 2010

Some interesting developments on the gentlemen's side of USA Basketball:

As Team USA dropped from its basketball perch, many pointed to a lack of desire in representing the country from the N.B.A.’s star players as a prime component. The losses and prodding from USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo helped firm up flimsy commitments, a reason the United States won the gold medal at the Beijing Games.

Two years later, for this summer’s world championships in Turkey, Team USA once again may be without part of its core, most of whom will be coming off of long seasons, some of whom will be handling their free agencies.

**

As before, Colangelo stressed that players must be firmly committed to be considered for the 2012 Olympic team that will play in London.

The King is upset

“Everyone in the United States of America understands the commitment these guys have made, including myself, since 2003,” James said Sunday. “I’m not trying to bash Jerry because he’s a good guy and I really respect him. But if he came out and said that, I don’t respect that because of the commitment we’ve given to the United States with a three-year commitment off the bat. We didn’t second-guess it at all. So if we are jeopardizing the opportunity to be on the team in London, I mean, what can we do? What can we do?”
Yah, I know the money is different and there as some life choices being made, but can you imagine what Lisa Leslie would do if Taurasi or Catch said something like that?