Thoughtfulness | I thought that I could win the championship by playing casually, and the dream of the American men's basketball team dominating the world should wake up
Due to the rapid progress of countries around the world, the US men's basketball team, although it still has an advantage, has become smaller and smaller. Although Kohl said after the game that the American team deserved a championship, can you say that teams like Germany and Serbia do not deserve a championship? Gone are the days when basketball was a sport ruled by Americans, and you could win the championship by playing casually.
Written by丨 read the hills
Editor丨 Feng Xiao
The U.S. men's basketball team lost again, losing to Germany led by Lakers "abandoned" Dennis Schroeder. The reason for this is not only because they lost to Lithuania just a few days ago, but also because they have failed to reach the final of the World Cup for two consecutive times.
The German men's basketball team beat the United States to reach the World Cup final for the first time
Once upon a time, the United States was the largest basketball in the world, and since 1992, when Barcelona allowed professional players to participate, the "dream team" was born, winning 40 or 50 points at every turn, turning the game into a fan meeting.
Although after "Dream One", the phenomenal superstar combination of Jordan, Magic, and Bird has not reappeared, but with a strong strength base, for a long time, Americans can still sweep the world by picking a few all-stars, and have an absolute dominant position in FIBA.
2002 became the "dream awakening" of the American men's basketball team, in Indianapolis, the so-called "dream five" led by Paul Pierce, Reggie Miller, Byron Davis, Ben Wallace, Elton Brand and other second- and third-rate stars, encountered Waterloo at home, lost to Argentina in the group stage, lost to Yugoslavia in the quarterfinals, and finally only finished sixth.
That year's World Championships became an important watershed in the evolution of the world basketball pattern, and the defeat of the United States did have objective factors such as insufficient attention, and later several dreams represented by the "Redemption Team" also found a passing scene on the Olympic stage, but the days of "basketball is a sport ruled by Americans, and you can win the championship by playing casually" has never returned.
It is precisely for this reason that the loss of the US men's basketball team to Germany is not at all unpopular, and it should not be shocked by this.
The U.S. men's basketball team lost to Germany in the semifinals
For a variety of reasons, the basketball world doesn't pay much attention to the World Cup than the Olympics, and even so, when the U.S. men's basketball team, which had its worst record in team history (seventh place) four years ago, announced its lineup for this year's World Cup, it was a big disappointment.
It's a young team with an average age of less than 25, and the oldest player on the team, Bobby Portis, can't even start at his own club, and the biggest stars are All-Star fringe figures like Brandon Ingram and Anthony Edwards. And whether Austin Reeves, Walker Kessler, Cameron Johnson, Josh Hart, including the aforementioned Portis, is even a "star" is debatable.
Against this backdrop, the team's performance under the pinching of the coaching staff led by Steve Cole is actually quite remarkable.
Compared with the simple star patchwork of previous editions, this American team pays more attention to the combination of player types, they have simple scorer Edwards, pass-first playmaker Halliburton, best defensive player Jalen Jackson Jr., Nets twins Bridges + Johnson such "3D" representatives, there are gold oil Reeves, and pure role player Hart who does everything except scoring...
In a word, this American team, although not star-studded, is more like a team. So they started their four-game winning streak in the group stage, losing to Lithuania in the second round, and then beat Italy 100-63 in the quarterfinals by 37 points.
Even in the two lost games, the US men's basketball team has no shortage of highlight moments: the loss to Lithuania, they lost the inside line, once trailing by 21 points, but in the second half, led by Edwards and Bridges, launched a Jedi counterattack, once chased only 4 points, if not for two consecutive mistakes at the key moment, success or failure is unknown.
The U.S. men's basketball team lost to Lithuania and suffered its first World Cup defeat
In the semifinals against Germany, the two teams put up a big fight, the opposite hand exploded, shooting 13 of 30 from three-point range, shooting 43.3%, and the three of the team scored 20, not including Schroeder, who scored 17 points and 9 assists. As a result, the U.S. team trailed by double-digit points and didn't go back and forth until the second quarter.
In the third quarter, Theis, Wagner and Schroeder took turns to give Germany a 10-point lead again. In the final moment, Reeves once again transformed into a "wonder boy", three-pointers, throws, free throws, dunks, and baskets, scoring 11 points in a row, almost leading the turnaround. But when the U.S. team pinned its hopes of winning on the fact that such a physically gifted white man lost the draft, it was not surprising to lose.
Compared with the immature American team, the German men's basketball team has Schroeder, the organizational core with outstanding personal ability, Wagner, who came from a lottery show and has begun to play in the Magic, and experienced veteran Tyse, plus years of mutual running-in in the competition, facing a tough battle, more calm, clearer, and more able to adapt to such a game atmosphere and rules, so from beginning to end to grasp the initiative of the game, and resist the pressure at key moments, by Schroeder a pass and a shot, seal the victory, and successfully laughed to the end.
In fact, in the battle with Germany, the United States team lost not ugly, especially on the offensive end, they shot 48% from three-point range, Edwards, Reeves, Bridges, Brunson and other players played remarkably, and they still had a chance to win at the end of the game. It was only in the decisive moment that Schroeder defeated his Lakers teammates and allowed Germany to "fluke" advance.
Schroeder helped Germany advance to the final
Speaking of which, the reason why the American team frequently "rolls over" is already obvious: the former American team members are idols that opponents can only worship in front of the TV screen on weekdays, and they are the existence of high mountains. And now, they are familiar opponents who often make moves, teammates who get along with each other day and night, and even "little brothers" in the mouth of the other party.
Due to the rapid progress of world powers, the US men's basketball team, although it still has an advantage, has become smaller and smaller. Although Kohl said after the game that the American team deserved a championship, can you say that teams like Germany and Serbia do not deserve a championship?
The U.S. men's basketball team can regain its strength after the last round of troughs and continue its 10-year reign, mainly based on two points: First, the level of outstanding talent, after all, the mass base of American basketball is still unique, and the NBA is still the highest level of professional league in basketball. This ensures their talent renewal and replenishment, raising the ceiling of the team;
The second is the concept of space basketball that is ahead of the times. Behind the withering of American basketball interior talent, is the trend development of modern basketball, the traditional pile-type center is gradually replaced by a faster, more flexible, more powerful projection forward group, the rise of the Warriors dynasty is not accidental, the earlier Heat with the Big Three is actually the prototype of space-based play.
In the 2008, 2012, 2016 Olympic Games, the American men's basketball team with Kobe, James, Wade, Anthony, Durant and other superstars as the core also pursued this set of space concepts, and based on this, determined the lower limit of the team.
Now the world powers are following the trend and understanding the mystery of space basketball, the lower limit of the American team has also lost its guarantee, plus the most talented player has not come, the upper and lower limits are lost at the same time, and the failure is naturally reasonable.
The American men's basketball team with superstars such as Kobe, James, Wade, Anthony, and Durant as the core
It can be expected that after the failure of this World Cup, next year's Paris Olympics, the US men's basketball team is bound to send their strongest team to try to wash away the shame and regain hegemony. But even so, they dare not say that they will definitely win the championship.
As discussed earlier, the era of American basketball has long become history, as strong as the redemption team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the final was forced into a cold sweat by Spain, and it was up to Kobe Bryant's score at key moments to finally seal the victory.
Two years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, although the United States team finally won the championship, they lost to France in the group stage, faced Spain in the quarterfinals, and met France in the final Although they successfully took revenge, they only won by 5 points (87-82).
In this year's Men's Basketball World Cup, the United States did not send their strongest team, but why not the opponent? Serbia lacks Nicola Jokic, Greece lacks Giannis Antetokounmpo, Lithuania lacks Sabonis Jr., and the new MVP Joel Embiid still retains the theoretical possibility of joining the French men's basketball team...
In the past few years, the NBA MVP battle has basically revolved around several foreign players - the aforementioned Jokic, Alphabet Brother, Embiid, and Doncic, who came to Manila but was suspected of being targeted by the referee, represent the top individual combat power in today's basketball, if everyone plays with the strongest team, it may not be the Americans.
Of course, to this day, the United States is still the world's number one basketball power, and as long as the US men's basketball team prepares for the tournament, it will always be the number one favorite for the championship. But their beautiful "dream" of dominating the basketball world has already been achieved, and it is time to wake up.