Well the Mexican players are a team but how many games did they play together before they played vs the US ? As far as I understand and if I'm not mistaken they just played Puerto Rico, Cuba and the US in this first phase of WC Qualifying. Before these three matches I don't know when was the last time they played together and who they played against.
Mexico stuns US in Basketball 97-88
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But at the same time the list of players called up is pretty consistent as well. These countries, although they may play often as everyone else they have a much smaller pool so their rosters are usually consistent.
I remember the US used to send college players to the Olympics but when they started losing to other countries that's when they started sending NBA players or Dream Team. If I'm not mistaken that was like around the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The FIBA World Cup should be taken more seriously by the US.
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Everyone thinks that USA Basketball forced the IOC's hand to allow professional basketball players at the Olympics because our amateur teams could no longer dominate elite international teams, and was heavily criticized at the time for the Dream Team's inclusion in the 92 games. The truth is that USA Basketball fought FIBA and the IOC for years, trying to keep the amateur status for international basketball. When the decision was made to include professional athletes in the Olympics, of course we sent our best, and that original Dream Team was head and shoulders above everybody else.
To answer your question, the only international basketball competition most American sports fans care about is the Olympics. No one cares about the FIBA World Cup, especially enough to disrupt the NBA and/or NCAA Basketball seasons to field a team. Hoops fans in this county value NCAA Tournament Championships and NBA Championships above all other basketball titles. I can guarantee you that well over 99% of basketball fans in this country had no idea the FIBA World Cup was happening, or even that it was a thing. I didn't until you started posting about it.
That is exactly why I don't read El Paso Times, or USA Today etc, because they lack so much information. El Diario is way better, sometimes even with things that happen in El Paso.
I'd subscribe to El Diario if there were an English version. EP Times is basically USA Today lite, and both are trash.
I agree. International basketball doesn’t hold the level of prestige as soccer. They’re not on the same level and they probably never will be. An NBA Championship defines a player’s legacy FAR more than any international championship. The NBA used to send a team to the McDonald’s Championship which featured club teams around the world, but that tournament was discontinued in 1999. I would like to see something like that again, but the issue will always be whether or not NBA players or teams find it worth their while. They’re making TONS of money staying home why go abroad?
Not quite right.
NBA players were prohibited from playing in international competitions, since they werent amateurs. Players from other professional leagues were allowed to compete for their countries. International stars such as Oscar Schmidt, Arvydas Sabonis and Drazen Petrovic played professional basketball in Europe and were allowed to compete in the World Championships and Olympics. In 1988 when the US lost to the USSR, the top Soviet players were 23-26 years old. They also had few guys close to 30.
Good read:
