Basketball

[pcssousa]

Very hard to tell...
First question: the best national teams with all their best players available?

[Lazar.]

What are the best basketball nations? I'm guessing the top 5 would be something like this(no order): USA, Serbia, Greece, Lithuania, Spain?

USA followed by Spain it's a given.

After that every top nation is made of high and lows.

Russia and Argentina are giants but I particularly admire Greece and Lithuania because of their passion for the game, being smaller countries. Greece with their fundamentals and IQ and Lithuania because they are the only european nation where basketball is actually the no.1 sport, above football.

And Serbia of course, who never fails to produce greatly talented guys with the craziest attitude, just like in football.

For guidance only:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIBA_World_Rankings#Men

[Festivus]

Very hard to tell...
First question: the best national teams with all their best players available?

Well yea. But my question is also related to history. What nations are usually the favorites in tournaments and what are the traditional powerhouses, etc.

[Faliro]

Well Greece easily in the top 5 and this WC team is missing Spanoulis, Schortsanitis, Koufos etc

Beat Argentina (who apparently are ranked 3rd in the world) fairly easily this week and won every game in our group. We face Serbia tomorrow.

Game against Argentina was a cracker, you can see the Argentinians started to get violent the more baskets Greece got.. here is the game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6CJhAdJcGw

39.40 one of the fights.

[pcssousa]

Very hard to tell...
First question: the best national teams with all their best players available?

Well yea. But my question is also related to history. What nations are usually the favorites in tournaments and what are the traditional powerhouses, etc.

Well, Yugoslavia won 5 world cups, more than anybody else.

Sure, till recent years the US didn't play with pro players. But even when they played with them they lost a World Cup to Spain (Greece defeated the Americans in the SF) and the Olympics to Argentina.

The Americans won most of the Olympics, though.

[pcssousa]

The amazing night I was referring to:



And another game where history was made:





Hope to see a Spain - Greece in the semi finals.

[Faliro]

Serbia was better. Once again, in a big game Greece ran out of 3 pointers..

[Covenant]

Was a shock for me the result. Greece was on top and Serbia seems weak...

[pcssousa]

It's a shame... But, like Patrício always says, it's time to raise our heads...

From now on, I'm for Spain.

[Covenant]

Spin and France  are aliás my Last choices.

[Festivus]

Spin and France  are aliás my Last choices.

Don't really care for either. And I'm talking about sports in general here.

Brazil is the only NT that I like to see failing.

[Faliro]

 

[Faliro]

Looks like Barcelona losing to Olympiacos in Piraeus...

[pcssousa]

Bad news for Real Madrid, then.

[Faliro]