FIBA World Cup: America vs. Norway 23:23

Alright people, what on earth is the ESPN headline saying now??????????????????????

boldhound8 said:And then we have this mess today... his little response on national TV right when everyone is celebrating and waiting to hear some "beautifully spoken" nonsense.

It’s just pathetic, honestly—both of them. We’re basically acting like those people from the South just to feel something.😲

He’s totally seizing the moment to give a speech while the whole country is still drunk on that recent victory. And now, does anyone want to be the one to tell him that absolutely nobody in politics actually learned a damn thing from this?😁

What was it like watching our games against the French back in the Good Old Days? 😁

Oh, give me a break...

We scraped by even though we played like absolute garbage, but the only reason we moved on is because those Norwegians were even more pathetic than we were.🙄
Give me a break...

Our wings are totally out of commission—we’re short on gear, and honestly, we can't even trust the guys playing wing right now.

boldhound8 said:Give me a break...

We moved on despite playing terrible, but we advanced because the Norwegians were even worse.🙄
Come on...

Yep. Let's be real. The Norwegians were 🤮

We were all over the place, but they were playing dirty. Even on their own home court.

nimbledriver81 said:Luckily, the Norwegians were even worse than we were, so we managed to scrape by.

I'm with you on that!

Sandra Wilson38 said:Start a thread for the French team! 🙏
I have a feeling those guys are going to have a rough day... 🙏 Plus, they'll be facing the winter chill in Lillehammer... 😁

👍🙏🙏🙏👍

If Omeyer goes absolutely ballistic... and trust me, he will! We are in serious trouble... I’ve said it before, their wing players are elite, they just need little Guigou back in the mix (not sure what happened there), but honestly, Abalo owns that right side—nobody else even touches him on that level (just think about that insane flying goal!!!)... long story short, they’ve got Karabatić and Daniel Narcisse, plus Fernandez on the right... and having Didier Dinart is basically like having our own version of Dominiković😉

Anyway, that's my rant for the day!

rapidbison42 said:Yep. You gotta be realistic. Those Norwegians were 🤮

We didn't have a single clue what we were doing, but they played dirty as hell. And they did it right on our home court too.

For crying out loud...
When we play like trash, we're screwed.
If we beat Mexico by 8, people act like it's nothing because it was "only 8."
If we beat the Poles, everyone claims it doesn't count because they suck anyway.
If we beat the Norwegians, suddenly it's only because they had an off night.

A medal is a two-sided coin.😉
It's not like we played out of our minds, and it's not like those Norwegians were total garbage.

boldhound8 said:Give me a break...

We scraped by despite playing like absolute garbage, but we moved on simply because the Norwegians were even worse.🙄
Come on now...

... if they had actually put their women's team up against us, we wouldn't be sitting here looking at a loss. In my opinion, their women could easily take down these blind idiots playing NBA ball..😍

boldhound8 said:Man, it’s frustrating...
If we play poorly, we're screwed.
If we beat Mexico by 8, people complain because it was "only 8."
If we beat the Poles, people say it doesn't count because they aren't that good anyway.
If we beat the Norwegians, people claim it's just because the Norwegians played terribly.

There are two sides to every medal.😉
It wasn't that we were perfect, and it wasn't that the Norwegians were garbage.

Basically, our tactics were spot on! 😁

mellowcrane41 said:... if they went up against their women's team, it wouldn't even be close. Honestly, I think their wives could take these blind NBA players any day of the week..😍

That's exactly what I was saying! 🤣👍

This is way sweeter than that mess against the US -> (video):USA-Norway

And Filmic and Di Cervar are just straight up cowards 😁

First off:
defense 👍
offense 👎

Secondly:
I think Lino is just echoing Josip Milković’s takes. His comments are spot on, but there's one glaring issue... he rarely mentions anything good about the national team. Today, our defense played brilliantly, even if Kaleb was a little slow to react a few times. But I have to point out again that we didn't switch from that 3-2-1 defense to a 5-1 or 6-0 until twenty-five minutes in!! And it was painfully obvious that the Norwegians couldn't stay grounded against us..
As for the offense... man, if this playing style doesn't give me a heart attack, nothing will..
We had almost as many turnovers as we actually scored, mostly driven by Balić and Metličić (I don't know what his deal is, he looks completely stuck in mud). We barely had a single play to the left wing, and Kaleb was left totally isolated at least four times, if I counted right.
The only way we beat the Frenchmen is if we play our best defensive game and cut our offensive turnovers by at least 50% compared to today.
I honestly don't see how anyone could find Lino likable after watching that mess today.

Leave Lino alone; one ought to show respect simply because the man is a dedicated Republican from the West Coast. 😁

As far as I am concerned, he brought Olympic and World Championship medals to America, and he deserves every bit of credit for that. 🙏 Even if he slips up occasionally, his achievements more than compensate for any minor errors.

Meanwhile, Boban should just stay home and focus on folding laundry with his wife. 😁

Sandra Wilson38 said:Basically, our tactics were spot on! 😁

Yeah, sure we were... fix the score, man.😁

Dammit, those guys absolutely shredded us. Wins don't mean squat right now—what matters is how bad we looked. We were getting picked apart, losing by ten, getting toyed with... Forget all that "tactical" crap. We showed up completely gassed and stumbled into the semifinals with one loss under our belt, just one...

For me, it’s all or nothing. Even if we lose by thirty, I’m still riding with them.🙂

That’s it! Done deal. We’re back in the top four, and honestly, I hope this shuts up the critics for a while. Let’s not forget that out of the three massive tournaments over the next year, this one was easily the least critical—the result wasn't even a requirement. If we can still pull off a win despite all the issues and how limited our offense looked, then we’re actually moving in the right direction. Hats off to the players and the coaching staff, but credit to our opponents too. It was a gritty, unpredictable, and intense game. Fatigue and pressure clearly caught up with us, making the play look messy and error-prone on both sides. At the end of the day, the better team wins the fight for a medal. And this is a very good team that gave everything they had given the circumstances. Now, if I can just sort out my car and get some tickets, I’ll be watching the semifinals from the stands the day after tomorrow. 👋 👋 👋

The coach is a legend! 🙏

Where are all you armchair strategists now? 🤮

Oh, before I forget, did anyone actually listen to the coach during the Norwegian timeout in the second half?
Come on, you guys! Play without the turnovers and actually attack! Just put the ball in the hoop and stop coughing up possessions!
Nice job, Coach.👋
He didn't just find a spark; he opened up a damn volcano...

Justin Ward4 said:plus our offense would actually function if we weren't coughing up 50% more turnovers than we did today.
I don't care how much people try to hype him up, nobody should be acting like he's a fan favorite after that pathetic performance today.

That won't be hard at all. Honestly, I think we've hit a new low...
we probably blew at least 15 possessions right there.😁