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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...
Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot
  08/19/16
Coach Bobby Knight /thread
Floppy Patrolman Stain
  08/19/16
huh?
Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested
  08/19/16
...
Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot
  08/19/16
more like Coach John TTThompson Knight had nothing to do ...
Indecent menage
  08/19/16
Reagan's Amerika
Arrogant nursing home
  08/19/16
You seriously don't know this story inside out? Are you tro...
fluffy queen of the night
  08/19/16
(low iq schtick) i think you're confusing the infamous 72...
Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot
  08/19/16
1988 =/= 1972
blue aggressive parlour
  08/19/16
...
pea-brained den mexican
  08/19/16
according to Steve Alford in his book, Arvydas Sabonis would...
Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested
  08/19/16
hmm, interesting. but the soviet team lost by 13 to yugoslav...
Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot
  08/19/16
88 Yugoslav team was pretty good, dude
puce native
  08/19/16
http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/games/1988-09-1...
Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested
  08/19/16
ty
Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot
  08/19/16
Petrovic would have been the first GREAT foreign player if n...
Elite Impressive School Voyeur
  08/22/16
Yeah, they were just better than us.
puce native
  08/19/16
wikipedia says: "The United States was a major favor...
Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot
  08/19/16
Yes. Odds makers were Americans. Look at the Yugoslav team...
puce native
  08/19/16
cr, odd makers are setting odds for a US betting public whic...
Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested
  08/19/16
this is bizarre. did we not, like, have any scouting info on...
Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot
  08/19/16
I think we were overconfident. When we lost we knew the res...
puce native
  08/19/16
i guess. but rest of the world catching up to us saved the n...
Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot
  08/19/16
what was up with Puerto Rico? Beat Yugoslovia, lost to USSR ...
Indecent menage
  08/19/16
Pro NBA players were barred from playing in Olympic basketba...
henna brethren
  08/19/16
keep in mind that the foreign players were basically pros an...
Indecent menage
  08/19/16
cry me a river they weren't basically pros because they wer...
gay hairraiser trailer park place of business
  08/19/16
looking at it I guess USSR boycotted the 84 games in LA ...
Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested
  08/19/16
another good point.
Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot
  08/19/16
I guess college teams would occasionally tour over there and...
Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested
  08/19/16
XO, a pretty decent source of chill, intelligent, level-head...
Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot
  08/19/16
Sabonis was awesome
wonderful pisswyrm indian lodge
  08/19/16
roids
Fragrant Fighting Space Ladyboy
  08/19/16
the amateur rules in existence before 1992 seem totally murk...
Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested
  08/22/16
fwiw USSR http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/teams...
Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested
  08/22/16
Maybe the amateurs only rule was self imposed by the US.
Shaky Crackhouse
  08/22/16
yeah, that's all I can figure
Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested
  08/22/16
It was an outdated and unenforceable rule that everyone flou...
lake international law enforcement agency
  08/22/16


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Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 5:01 AM
Author: Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot

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: Floppy Patrolman Stain

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: Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested

huh?

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



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 12:49 PM
Author: Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot



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



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:05 PM
Author: Indecent menage

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: Arrogant nursing home

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: fluffy queen of the night

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: Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot

(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: blue aggressive parlour

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: pea-brained den mexican



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



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 8:03 AM
Author: Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested

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: Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot

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: puce native

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: Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested

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: Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot

ty

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



Reply Favorite

Date: August 22nd, 2016 12:52 PM
Author: Elite Impressive School Voyeur

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: puce native

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: Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot

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: puce native

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: Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested

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: Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot

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: puce native

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: Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot

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: Indecent menage

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: henna brethren

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: Indecent menage

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: gay hairraiser trailer park place of business

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: Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested

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: Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot

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: Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested

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: Marvelous Ungodly Cruise Ship Coffee Pot

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: wonderful pisswyrm indian lodge

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: Fragrant Fighting Space Ladyboy

roids

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



Reply Favorite

Date: August 22nd, 2016 12:40 PM
Author: Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested

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: Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested

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: Shaky Crackhouse

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: Bat Shit Crazy Spot Idea He Suggested

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: lake international law enforcement agency

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)