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How Did USSR Beat USA in Olympic Basketball in 1988?

yes i know it wasnt nba players, but we had robinson, majerl...
cream coiffed parlor
  08/19/16
Coach Bobby Knight /thread
Cyan Affirmative Action
  08/19/16
huh?
odious reading party church building
  08/19/16
...
cream coiffed parlor
  08/19/16
more like Coach John TTThompson Knight had nothing to do ...
Hideous trump supporter
  08/19/16
Reagan's Amerika
Fighting multi-billionaire
  08/19/16
You seriously don't know this story inside out? Are you tro...
contagious stead
  08/19/16
(low iq schtick) i think you're confusing the infamous 72...
cream coiffed parlor
  08/19/16
1988 =/= 1972
Massive goal in life
  08/19/16
...
vibrant library
  08/19/16
according to Steve Alford in his book, Arvydas Sabonis would...
odious reading party church building
  08/19/16
hmm, interesting. but the soviet team lost by 13 to yugoslav...
cream coiffed parlor
  08/19/16
88 Yugoslav team was pretty good, dude
misunderstood mind-boggling azn
  08/19/16
http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/games/1988-09-1...
odious reading party church building
  08/19/16
ty
cream coiffed parlor
  08/19/16
Petrovic would have been the first GREAT foreign player if n...
maroon immigrant spot
  08/22/16
Yeah, they were just better than us.
misunderstood mind-boggling azn
  08/19/16
wikipedia says: "The United States was a major favor...
cream coiffed parlor
  08/19/16
Yes. Odds makers were Americans. Look at the Yugoslav team...
misunderstood mind-boggling azn
  08/19/16
cr, odd makers are setting odds for a US betting public whic...
odious reading party church building
  08/19/16
this is bizarre. did we not, like, have any scouting info on...
cream coiffed parlor
  08/19/16
I think we were overconfident. When we lost we knew the res...
misunderstood mind-boggling azn
  08/19/16
i guess. but rest of the world catching up to us saved the n...
cream coiffed parlor
  08/19/16
what was up with Puerto Rico? Beat Yugoslovia, lost to USSR ...
Hideous trump supporter
  08/19/16
Pro NBA players were barred from playing in Olympic basketba...
greedy kitty
  08/19/16
keep in mind that the foreign players were basically pros an...
Hideous trump supporter
  08/19/16
cry me a river they weren't basically pros because they wer...
beady-eyed school
  08/19/16
looking at it I guess USSR boycotted the 84 games in LA ...
odious reading party church building
  08/19/16
another good point.
cream coiffed parlor
  08/19/16
I guess college teams would occasionally tour over there and...
odious reading party church building
  08/19/16
XO, a pretty decent source of chill, intelligent, level-head...
cream coiffed parlor
  08/19/16
Sabonis was awesome
Pearl organic girlfriend church
  08/19/16
roids
Awkward pink bawdyhouse rigpig
  08/19/16
the amateur rules in existence before 1992 seem totally murk...
odious reading party church building
  08/22/16
fwiw USSR http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/teams...
odious reading party church building
  08/22/16
Maybe the amateurs only rule was self imposed by the US.
pearly police squad whorehouse
  08/22/16
yeah, that's all I can figure
odious reading party church building
  08/22/16
It was an outdated and unenforceable rule that everyone flou...
Olive aromatic hell useless brakes
  08/22/16


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Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 5:01 AM
Author: cream coiffed parlor

yes i know it wasnt nba players, but we had robinson, majerle, reid, anderson, richmond, manning, etc. on this team. how did are ncca players lose to the commies?

http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/games/1988-09-28-USA-URS



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31220825)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 6:27 AM
Author: Cyan Affirmative Action

Coach Bobby Knight

/thread

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31220897)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 7:59 AM
Author: odious reading party church building

huh?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31221001)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 12:49 PM
Author: cream coiffed parlor



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222692)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:05 PM
Author: Hideous trump supporter

more like Coach John TTThompson

Knight had nothing to do with that team

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222833)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 6:51 AM
Author: Fighting multi-billionaire

Reagan's Amerika

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31220905)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 7:00 AM
Author: contagious stead

You seriously don't know this story inside out? Are you trolling?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31220919)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 12:50 PM
Author: cream coiffed parlor

(low iq schtick)

i think you're confusing the infamous 72 game for the 88 game.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222700)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 12:50 PM
Author: Massive goal in life

1988 =/= 1972

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222703)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:18 PM
Author: vibrant library



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222939)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 8:03 AM
Author: odious reading party church building

according to Steve Alford in his book, Arvydas Sabonis would have been an NBA MVP caliber player before he hurt his knees

Sarunas Marciulionis was a pretty good NBA player when he came over too

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31221009)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 12:52 PM
Author: cream coiffed parlor

hmm, interesting. but the soviet team lost by 13 to yugoslavia, i see. they couldnt have been that good.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222712)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 12:53 PM
Author: misunderstood mind-boggling azn

88 Yugoslav team was pretty good, dude

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222723)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:00 PM
Author: odious reading party church building

http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/games/1988-09-18-YUG-URS

http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/games/1988-09-30-YUG-URS

lost one, won one against a Yugoslavia team that had

Drazen Petrovic (who was really good in the NBA before he died in a car accident)

Divac

Dino Radja

and a young Toni Kukoc

----------

they were really good too

and, of course, they didn't all go to the NBA and become ineligible once they turned 22 like the US players

they also had a lot more experience playing together than the US team did, they weren't thrown together as a team a month before the Olympics like the US team was

they were legitimately more experienced and better than us



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222784)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:02 PM
Author: cream coiffed parlor

ty

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222805)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 22nd, 2016 12:52 PM
Author: maroon immigrant spot

Petrovic would have been the first GREAT foreign player if not for that car accident.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31242706)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 12:52 PM
Author: misunderstood mind-boggling azn

Yeah, they were just better than us.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222716)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 12:56 PM
Author: cream coiffed parlor

wikipedia says:

"The United States was a major favorite to win it all with odds at -850."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_at_the_1988_Summer_Olympics

was the soviet team just underrated then?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222745)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 12:58 PM
Author: misunderstood mind-boggling azn

Yes. Odds makers were Americans. Look at the Yugoslav team that the soviets beat by 13 in the gold medal game. Dino radja, drazen petrovic, Toni kukoc and Vlade divac.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222770)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:01 PM
Author: odious reading party church building

cr, odd makers are setting odds for a US betting public which probably didn't have any idea how good those teams were

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222794)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:01 PM
Author: cream coiffed parlor

this is bizarre. did we not, like, have any scouting info on the commie teams back then and not know who any of these guys were?

edit: odds geared for idiot americans would make sense.,

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222795)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:05 PM
Author: misunderstood mind-boggling azn

I think we were overconfident. When we lost we knew the rest of the world had caught up to us and foreign players were just starting to enter the NBA. Thus, four years later, we had the dream team.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222839)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:06 PM
Author: cream coiffed parlor

i guess. but rest of the world catching up to us saved the nba in the 2000s when we realized we could import whites from abroad when the nba was filled with thugs and had a bad rap

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222850)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:11 PM
Author: Hideous trump supporter

what was up with Puerto Rico? Beat Yugoslovia, lost to USSR in OT and then got crushed by USA in playoffs

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222886)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:14 PM
Author: greedy kitty

Pro NBA players were barred from playing in Olympic basketball up until 92.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222908)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:17 PM
Author: Hideous trump supporter

keep in mind that the foreign players were basically pros and playing against college kids. USSR guys were 24-30 years old, while USA guys were 20-22. That's significant. One of our guards was only 6 feet and 149 lbs.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222928)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 2:22 PM
Author: beady-eyed school

cry me a river

they weren't basically pros because they were older.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31223313)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:23 PM
Author: odious reading party church building

looking at it

I guess USSR boycotted the 84 games in LA

and of course they hadn't played eachother in 80 because the US boycott

its not obvious when the last time before 88 that the USSR had matched itself up against US competition

so it was probably hard to put in context how good they were

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222986)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:24 PM
Author: cream coiffed parlor

another good point.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222991)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:29 PM
Author: odious reading party church building

I guess college teams would occasionally tour over there and play them in the summer

that was the source of Alford's assessment, I guess Indiana went on a world wide summer tour in something like 85, one of the games matched them up against Sabonis, and Alford was blown away by how good he was

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31223027)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:24 PM
Author: cream coiffed parlor

XO, a pretty decent source of chill, intelligent, level-headed sportsmos. thx guyz. 180 thread.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31222994)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:31 PM
Author: Pearl organic girlfriend church

Sabonis was awesome

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31223038)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 2:23 PM
Author: Awkward pink bawdyhouse rigpig

roids

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31223317)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 22nd, 2016 12:40 PM
Author: odious reading party church building

the amateur rules in existence before 1992 seem totally murky

from the Dream Teams wiki:

Background[edit]

Before the 1992 games, only amateur players were allowed to play on the men's Olympic basketball team. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, the United States national basketball team, made up of college stars, finished in third place.[6] The defeat increased calls for professionals to be allowed to play in the Olympics. Borislav Stankoviæ of FIBA advocated for this for years.[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_United_States_men%27s_Olympic_basketball_team#Background

yet, that seems totally wrong - check out the Spanish roster (so it wasn't just a 'there are no paid professionals in communist countries')

http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/teams/ESP/1988

by my math ages on the team are 20, 27, 25, 26, 29, 33, 22, 20, 23, 29, 30, 24 (308/12 = average age 25.67)

for context, US team http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/teams/USA/1988 (21, 20, 20, 22, 22, 22, 22, 20, 23, 23, 20, 23) (258/12 = 21.5)

second leading scorer for Spain in 88 was Juan Antonio San Epifanio who was 29 at the time

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Antonio_San_Epifanio tells me had been playing for FC Barcelona since 1979, and was Mister Europa in 1984

relatively certain you don't play for free for FC Barcelona, so why was he even eligible for the Olympics?

it appears that amateur basically meant 'not in the NBA'



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31242637)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 22nd, 2016 12:51 PM
Author: odious reading party church building

fwiw USSR http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/teams/URS/1988

29 + 29 + 23 + 28 + 24 + 24 + 31 + 23 + 23 + 30 + 23 + 24 = 311/12 = 25.91 average age

Marciulionis and Sabonis (the two best players) were 24 and 23, or 2 of the youngest guys on that team

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31242704)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 22nd, 2016 12:55 PM
Author: pearly police squad whorehouse

Maybe the amateurs only rule was self imposed by the US.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31242715)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 22nd, 2016 1:11 PM
Author: odious reading party church building

yeah, that's all I can figure

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31242733)



Reply Favorite

Date: August 22nd, 2016 1:22 PM
Author: Olive aromatic hell useless brakes

It was an outdated and unenforceable rule that everyone flouted. By the mid 80's the top track athletes were making millions to run races.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3326482&forum_id=2#31242794)