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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...
Rebellious toaster library
  08/19/16
Coach Bobby Knight /thread
diverse laser beams
  08/19/16
huh?
Brindle brunch
  08/19/16
...
Rebellious toaster library
  08/19/16
more like Coach John TTThompson Knight had nothing to do ...
Wonderful puce love of her life tank
  08/19/16
Reagan's Amerika
flirting concupiscible rehab
  08/19/16
You seriously don't know this story inside out? Are you tro...
carmine alpha therapy
  08/19/16
(low iq schtick) i think you're confusing the infamous 72...
Rebellious toaster library
  08/19/16
1988 =/= 1972
Misanthropic at-the-ready double fault
  08/19/16
...
yellow masturbator temple
  08/19/16
according to Steve Alford in his book, Arvydas Sabonis would...
Brindle brunch
  08/19/16
hmm, interesting. but the soviet team lost by 13 to yugoslav...
Rebellious toaster library
  08/19/16
88 Yugoslav team was pretty good, dude
Hairraiser Red Hell Mental Disorder
  08/19/16
http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/games/1988-09-1...
Brindle brunch
  08/19/16
ty
Rebellious toaster library
  08/19/16
Petrovic would have been the first GREAT foreign player if n...
Laughsome Territorial Base
  08/22/16
Yeah, they were just better than us.
Hairraiser Red Hell Mental Disorder
  08/19/16
wikipedia says: "The United States was a major favor...
Rebellious toaster library
  08/19/16
Yes. Odds makers were Americans. Look at the Yugoslav team...
Hairraiser Red Hell Mental Disorder
  08/19/16
cr, odd makers are setting odds for a US betting public whic...
Brindle brunch
  08/19/16
this is bizarre. did we not, like, have any scouting info on...
Rebellious toaster library
  08/19/16
I think we were overconfident. When we lost we knew the res...
Hairraiser Red Hell Mental Disorder
  08/19/16
i guess. but rest of the world catching up to us saved the n...
Rebellious toaster library
  08/19/16
what was up with Puerto Rico? Beat Yugoslovia, lost to USSR ...
Wonderful puce love of her life tank
  08/19/16
Pro NBA players were barred from playing in Olympic basketba...
learning disabled ratface plaza
  08/19/16
keep in mind that the foreign players were basically pros an...
Wonderful puce love of her life tank
  08/19/16
cry me a river they weren't basically pros because they wer...
black center
  08/19/16
looking at it I guess USSR boycotted the 84 games in LA ...
Brindle brunch
  08/19/16
another good point.
Rebellious toaster library
  08/19/16
I guess college teams would occasionally tour over there and...
Brindle brunch
  08/19/16
XO, a pretty decent source of chill, intelligent, level-head...
Rebellious toaster library
  08/19/16
Sabonis was awesome
Exhilarant Chocolate Hospital
  08/19/16
roids
comical citrine stag film
  08/19/16
the amateur rules in existence before 1992 seem totally murk...
Brindle brunch
  08/22/16
fwiw USSR http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/teams...
Brindle brunch
  08/22/16
Maybe the amateurs only rule was self imposed by the US.
indecent curious theater stage
  08/22/16
yeah, that's all I can figure
Brindle brunch
  08/22/16
It was an outdated and unenforceable rule that everyone flou...
Overrated doobsian forum
  08/22/16


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Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 5:01 AM
Author: Rebellious toaster library

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: diverse laser beams

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: Brindle brunch

huh?

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



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 12:49 PM
Author: Rebellious toaster library



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



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 1:05 PM
Author: Wonderful puce love of her life tank

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: flirting concupiscible rehab

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: carmine alpha therapy

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: Rebellious toaster library

(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: Misanthropic at-the-ready double fault

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: yellow masturbator temple



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



Reply Favorite

Date: August 19th, 2016 8:03 AM
Author: Brindle brunch

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: Rebellious toaster library

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: Hairraiser Red Hell Mental Disorder

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: Brindle brunch

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: Rebellious toaster library

ty

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



Reply Favorite

Date: August 22nd, 2016 12:52 PM
Author: Laughsome Territorial Base

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: Hairraiser Red Hell Mental Disorder

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: Rebellious toaster library

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: Hairraiser Red Hell Mental Disorder

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: Brindle brunch

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: Rebellious toaster library

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: Hairraiser Red Hell Mental Disorder

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: Rebellious toaster library

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: Wonderful puce love of her life tank

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: learning disabled ratface plaza

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: Wonderful puce love of her life tank

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: black center

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: Brindle brunch

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: Rebellious toaster library

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: Brindle brunch

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: Rebellious toaster library

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: Exhilarant Chocolate Hospital

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: comical citrine stag film

roids

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



Reply Favorite

Date: August 22nd, 2016 12:40 PM
Author: Brindle brunch

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: Brindle brunch

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: indecent curious theater stage

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: Brindle brunch

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: Overrated doobsian forum

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)