Team USA Basketball: Yet Another Dream Team Versus Redeem Team Article

Too many of today's top NBA players rely far more on athleticism than skill.  The classic antithesis of the current NBA prototype is a player like Larry Bird, who at 6'9" could barely dunk the ball—but still managed to post numbers that would be the envy of any player in the NBA today.  Check out his career stats, then look particularly at the numbers he posted in his prime (1984-88).

Compare Bird's shooting percentages (52.7% FG, 41.4% 3P-FG, 91.6% FT) for the 1987-88 season — a year that Bird did not win the MVP award — with the best season from any current NBA player who you may think is better.  Realize that Bird also averaged nearly 30 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, two steals and one block per game that same season. 

How does your favorite player from today stack up?  Now, remind yourself again that Bird was relatively slow and could barely dunk.  Fundamentals, people, fundamentals. 

With so many of today's stars having skipped the college route on the way to the NBA—James, Howard, Bryant—they missed out on the 2-4 years of college coaching which players from the early 1980s through mid-1990s enjoyed. 

College coaching was—and in some programs, still is—dramatically different to NBA coaching.  At the collegiate level, there was/is a much greater emphasis on refining the fundamentals of one's game—shooting, passing, rebounding, dribbling, defensive positioning, movement without the ball, and screening. 

When Olympic commentators questioned why the Redeem Team often struggled to prevent their opponents from getting easy offensive rebounds, struggled to score in half-court sets, struggled to score against zone defenses, the answer was always the same in my mind—a lack of fundamental skills. 

In the open court, against man-to-man defenses, the US players had no problems employing their superior athleticism to gain a scoreboard advantage.  When facing team (zone) defenses, however, they often struggled to score on three or four consecutive possessions.

So, even though we may celebrate the athletic superiority of our US Team, we should mourn the loss of our superiority in the fundamentals of the game.  International teams have shown us in recent Olympic and World Championship competitions that superior athleticism is rarely enough to guarantee victory.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?