That's not true. Boozer, Duncan, Iverson and the rest left everything they had on the floor (well, not Duncan all the time b/c the refs kept calling phantom fouls). They dove after every loose ball and showed a lot of hustle. Team USA's effort was not lacking. The fundamental skills and emphasis upon teamwork demonstrated in previous NBA eras was, however.

Some maybe, but guys like Tim Duncan and Richard Jefferson have a great deal of pride.

I know they tried and I know they cared, but I'm still giving them a three, because they didn't try or care enough. They treated this like an NBA preseason. The Olympics are, or at least should be, bigger than the NBA finals. If you win the NBA finals, you're national champions. If you win the Olympics, you're INTERNATIONAL champions.

I think that they played hard and cared about winning. They just couldn't break their mindset of the way they play the game, and adapt to the International style. The NBA is NOT the be-all and end-all of basketball; the college game is a far superior product, because the TEAM concept is stressed, instead of the one-on-one, dunk and pose style of the NBA. Nothing like it was in the 60's, 70' and even the 8o's. As for the Olympics, it is the greatest spectacle in sport, hands down. The TV ratings and interest back that up.

Some of them played hard. Some of them played hurt (Iverson) But everyone who saw those games would believe that as a collective team- they really didn't give a s#$t. They only became interested in defense at the end of the 3rd and 4th quarters.

I thought they played really hard, and played with passion. I don't blame the players' effort one bit for what happened.