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  fr0arenas said July 23, 2007

  This is kinda serious man! The rest of the world has caught up already! the u-19 kids lost to Serbia Sunday. We need to to stomp mud holes in these teams REAL EARLY during these games man! EARLY AND OFTEN! A note to coach K: ''Don't let your foot off the gas!'' Winning these games are Very important.

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• 
  mrmossyman84 said July 23, 2007

  The U-19 kids havn't won that tournament in 24 years, so the US has been behind in that department for some time.
  
  We do need to keep the foot on the accelerator during these games, but these should be the easiest opponents we end up seeing. Argentina won't have Manu or many other people from the '04 olympics. Canada is probably without Nash. Nobody in this field really scares me. We should be able to lock up a spot no problem.

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  • 
    Doc319 replied July 24, 2007

    With Kobe and Kidd in the backcourt, Team USA should not have the defensive problems that it did last time. Also, it is true that the field in the Tournament of the Americas will not be super strong. A bigger test for this squad will of course come in the 2008 Olympics.
    
    In general, the U.S. has not placed a big emphasis on winning the U-19 events or even the FIBA World Championship, although it of course became a story when the NBA players failed to win that event last time. Historically, the Olympics is the only FIBA basketball event that most people in the United States really follow; the other competitions only become newsworthy in the U.S. if NBA players participate and the team does not win gold but it would be great to see this version of Team USA stay healthy, win the gold in the Olympics and then win the next FIBA World Championship, too.