Universal Love TRTT Part 8: Random thoughts also sack Hinkley

Status
Not open for further replies.
The U.S. men’s basketball team suffered its first global tournament loss in 13 years, beaten by France 89-79 in the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday. The U.S., which was bidding for the first World Cup three-peat, will leave worlds in China without a medal.

The Americans had won 58 straight games with NBA players among the Olympics, World Cup and FIBA Americas since its last defeat in the 2006 World Cup semifinals to Greece. The Americans, led by Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (29 points), battled back from a 10-point, third-quarter deficit to lead by seven early in the fourth. But France, with Rudy Gobert (21 points, 16 rebounds), went on an 11-point run in the fourth to retake the lead. A full box score is here.

“I don’t know how to describe,” Gobert said on ESPN2 of France’s first-ever win over the U.S. after nine losses between the Olympics and worlds and 21 losses when including the U17, U19 and World University Games levels. “I’ve been dreaming about this for a long time. … It’s probably the kind of game you’re going to talk about in 20 years. We’ve got to take it all in.”

This U.S. team was deemed vulnerable after every NBA superstar withdrew from World Cup roster consideration. What was left was a roster, under new head coach Gregg Popovich, with two 2019 NBA All-Stars (Kemba Walker and Khris Middleton) and one player with Olympic experience (Harrison Barnes).

...................................


The U.S. men’s basketball team has lost 10 games in major international competition since NBA players began participating in the Olympics with the Dream Team in Barcelona in 1992 …

1. Lithuania 84, U.S. 82 — 1998 FIBA World Championship
The U.S.’ first loss in the Dream Team era, after it had won the 1992 Olympics, 1994 Worlds and 1996 Olympics with undefeated marks. The Americans dropped their second group-play game at worlds in Greece, but they didn’t have any NBA players amid the lockout. The roster included Duke star Trajan Langdon and Michigan Fab Fiver Jimmy King.

2. Russia 66, U.S. 64 — 1998 FIBA World Championship
Russia relegated the U.S. to the bronze-medal game when Sergey Panov dribbled the length of the floor and made a lay-up with four seconds left. The U.S. went scoreless for the last 3:08, and the defeat forced it to go to the FIBA Americas to qualify for the Sydney Olympics.

3. Argentina 87, U.S. 80 — 2002 FIBA World Championship
The U.S.’ first loss with NBA players in an international tournament, ending a 58-game win streak. The U.S. never led and trailed by as much as 20 to a team that included Manu Ginobili, playing before his rookie season with the San Antonio Spurs.

4. Yugoslavia 81, U.S. 78 — 2002 FIBA World Championship
The U.S. gets knocked out of medal contention at worlds in the quarterfinals against a team lead by Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic. NBA superstars including Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett declined to play for Team USA at this event in Indianapolis.

5. Spain 81, U.S. 75 — 2002 FIBA World Championship
The U.S. blows a 13-point, fourth-quarter lead in the fifth-place game for a humiliating end to worlds as the host nation. ”The money and greed of the N.B.A.: does that have an effect on our competitive nature?” U.S. coach George Karl asked. ”Yeah, you can write that.”

6. Puerto Rico 92, U.S. 73 — 2004 Olympics
The Athens Games began with a stunner — a defeat to lowly Puerto Rico in the opening group-play game for the Americans’ first loss at the Olympics since they used college players in 1988. This U.S. team also lacked O’Neal, Bryant and Garnett, but not even Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson could reverse the curse of 2002. Utah Jazz backup point guard Carlos Arroyo had 24 points for Puerto Rico.

7. Lithuania 94, U.S. 90 — 2004 Olympics
Four years after nearly beating the U.S. in Sydney, the Lithuanians followed through in group play behind sharp-shooting Sarunas Jasikevicius. Fireworks thundered above the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, after the game, and cheering fans poured into the streets, singing and waving flags.

8. Argentina 89, U.S. 81 — 2004 Olympics
No Olympic gold for the U.S. Argentina, again led by Ginobili, beat the U.S. in the semifinals en route to its one and only Olympic basketball title. Duncan was limited to 19 minutes by foul trouble. “You can’t just show up at a basketball game and feel that because you have USA across your chest you’re going to win the game,” Iverson said.

9. Greece 101, U.S. 95 — 2006 FIBA World Championship
A Greek team with zero NBA players hands the U.S. what would be its last major loss until 2019. This U.S. team had some stars, from LeBron James to Dwyane Wade to Dwight Howard, but it was its first tournament in a new era with Mike Krzyzewski at the helm. “We have to learn the international game better,” Krzyzewski said. “We learned a lot today because we played a team that plays amazing basketball and plays together.”

10. France 89, U.S. 79 — 2019 FIBA World Cup
France ends another U.S. 58-game win streak with NBA players in international tournaments. This U.S. roster had zero NBA superstars, just two 2019 All-Stars and one player with Olympic experience. The U.S. gets knocked out of the tournament in the quarterfinals, failing to earn a medal for the first time since 2002.
 
Mitchell and Gobert are gonna hit the season like runaway trains, get on the Jazz if u don't have a team, before the bandwagon needs expanding!!
 
Mitchell and Gobert are gonna hit the season like runaway trains, get on the Jazz if u don't have a team, before the bandwagon needs expanding!!
GO PELS!
 

Relativity

Premiership Player
Oct 28, 2007
3,263
3,242
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Other Teams
Port
Head dropped for Mitch fecking Marsh. I wonder, after 31 tests of abject failure, why the selectors think the 32nd test is going to be any different? Has there ever been any other player in Australian test history gifted so many chances to forge a test career?

Edit; David Hookes only played 23 tests.
 
Head dropped for Mitch fecking Marsh. I wonder, after 31 tests of abject failure, why the selectors think the 32nd test is going to be any different? Has there ever been any other player in Australian test history gifted so many chances to forge a test career?

Edit; David Hookes only played 23 tests.
Some of the guys in the 90s that dominated at Shield level and could not crack a test run must be pulling hair (if left) out.
 

NoddyHolder

Norm Smith Medallist
Mar 2, 2014
8,025
29,742
Tralfamadore
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Head dropped for Mitch fecking Marsh. I wonder, after 31 tests of abject failure, why the selectors think the 32nd test is going to be any different? Has there ever been any other player in Australian test history gifted so many chances to forge a test career?

Edit; David Hookes only played 23 tests.
He was unlucky Davey Warner managed to turn his form around just in time

...oh wait
 
Not sorry.

FB_IMG_1568267422097.jpg
 

Magpiespower

Cancelled
10k Posts A Star Wars Fan
Dec 16, 2004
12,302
32,313
Salisbury
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
This Serco bus smelt like an old Red Hen.

Talk about a public transport time machine coz I’ll be damned if I didn’t travel back in time.

I was a teenager in the late 80s, riding with the doors wide open, watching kids with a death wish swing in and out of the carriage using the hand rails, ducking from glass shrapnel after some little bastards rocked the train on its way to Gawler Central.

Then some dickhead slapping and screaming on the 415 doors as it pulled out of the Parabanks stop snapped me back to 2019 and grim reality.

The bus driver opened the doors to see what old mate was going off about.

“MATE, YOUR F@%KEN BUS IS ON FIRE!!!”

The bus driver sprung off his seat, jumped off the bus and checked out what excited af old mate was pointing at.

“JESUS!!!”

Panicky, he jumped back on the bus and shouted:

“Everybody! Off the bus! Now!”
“What the f@%k for?” the old cat lady barked from the seat in front of me.
“LADY, IT’S AN EMERGENCY!!!”
“For f@%k’s sake,” she muttered as we got off by the middle doors. “Emergency, my arse.”

Thick smoke billowed from under the front tyre, totally debunking my theory that Serco cleaners had stumbled across some old STA detergents and disinfectants in storage.

So now I’ve missed my connecting train and I’m gonna be late for work and I ring up my dopey boss to let him know.

“Yeah, I’m running a bit late.”
“Why, what’s up?”
“MATE, ME F@%KEN BUS WAS ON FIRE!!!”

The campaigner didn’t believe and has got the sh!ts rn, lol...





EDIT: Boss Man having the sh!ts might have something to do with half his staff walking off the job to line up for free donuts at the Krispy Kreme pop-up store, mother f@%kers be grabbing boxes of that glazed sh!t, just a lil’ taste ahead of Saturday’s grand opening, the relative calm before the absolute sh!tstorm, lmao...
 
Last edited:
This Serco bus smelt like an old Red Hen.

Talk about a public transport time machine coz I’ll be damned if I didn’t travel back in time.

I was a teenager in the late 80s, riding with the doors wide open, watching kids with a death wish swing in and out of the carriage using the hand rails, ducking from glass shrapnel after some little bastards rocked the train on its way to Gawler Central.

Then some dickhead slapping and screaming on the 415 doors as it pulled out of the Parabanks stop snapped me back to 2019 and grim reality.

The bus driver opened the doors to see what old mate was going off about.

“MATE, YOUR F@%KEN BUS IS ON FIRE!!!”

The bus driver sprung off his seat, jumped off the bus and checked out what excited af old mate was pointing at.

“JESUS!!!”

Panicky, he jumped back on the bus and shouted:

“Everybody! Off the bus! Now!”
“What the f@%k for?” the old cat lady barked from the seat in front of me.
“LADY, IT’S AN EMERGENCY!!!”
“For f@%k’s sake,” she muttered as we got off by the middle doors. “Emergency, my arse.”

Thick smoke billowed from under the front tyre, totally debunking my theory that Serco cleaners had stumbled across some old STA detergents and disinfectants in storage.

So now I’ve missed my connecting train and I’m gonna be late for work and I ring up my dopey boss to let him know.

“Yeah, I’m running a bit late.”
“Why, what’s up?”
“MATE, ME F@%KEN BUS WAS ON FIRE!!!”

The campaigner didn’t believe and has got the sh!ts rn, lol...





EDIT: Boss Man having the sh!ts might have something to do with half his staff walking off the job to line up for free donuts at the Krispy Kreme pop-up store, mother f@%kers be grabbing boxes of that glazed sh!t, just a lil’ taste ahead of Saturday’s grand opening, the relative calm before the absolute sh!tstorm, lmao...

The Parabanks stop is like a 5 minute walk from the train station ya lazy campaigner.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back