Originally Posted by
flyingdutchdevil
I will absolutely agree with you that Brazil was the best team between 1994-2002 and that torch has now been passed to Spain. But I will not say that Brazil nor Spain won those tournaments easily. As a matter of fact, both teams went to numerous penalty kicks, which is equivalent to flipping a coin. Look at Team USA in 2008. They beat their opponents by an average of 28 points!!! I call that winning easily. Yes - Spain put up a great fight, but even when it was close, I didn't hesitate for a second.
In 2004, that team was talented no doubt. But why did they bring in Jerry and Coach K? To find better talent? Absolutely not. They brought in the staff to manage egos and play to the team's strengths. If you couple talent like the US has with great management, you have a winning formula. And Team USA knows this. I'm sure Coach K always refers to 2004 and tells the team that you are the most talented team in the world but talent without structure is meaningless. And I'm sure the team buys into that, which is why they're crushing it in international play. Other teams have that coaching ability (Spain, Argentina, and Brazil all seem to have great coaching), but no one compares to Team USA's talent. And because of that, Team USA won in 2004 by 28 points. I will happily make a wager that Team USA doesn't win a game by less than 10 points.
I agree with almost everything you say here and my point was not that Brazil or Spain won the tournaments that it was favored in easily, just that it is not easy to win even if you are the favorite. Brazil did not win a few championships where it was the favorite to begin with. I also agree with you that the difference between Brazil at that time and #2 is much less than the current difference between the US and the #2 basketball country.
The reason that I would gladly take your final sentence wager is not because of talent, but that there is more than talent involved in individual games; sometimes, teamwork, familiarity with teammates and the international game and how it is officiated, chemistry, luck, etc. can affect an individual game (see the Olympics examples I have cited and unfortunately Duke-Lehigh, upsets happen.)
Basketball, while growing in popularity internationally, is still dominated by American athletes. You cannot say the same thing about soccer or rugby or sports where there isn't one truly amazing team but a collection of amazing teams.
I agree, though New Zealand rugby usually only has a few competitors that can match it, was favored in the past however many world cups, but only won the last one, even though their talent level exceeded other teams in the previous 3 World Cups.
“Those two kids, they’re champions,” Krzyzewski said of his senior leaders. “They’re trying to teach the other kids how to become that, and it’s a long road to become that.”