There are so many things wrong with American basketball it is hard to know where to start. From an over-emphasis on stagnant, isolationist one-on-one play to selfishness, a glaring lack of fundamentals and a lack of innovation and open-mindedness has allowed the European game to not just catch up with the US - it has surpassed it.

In fact, the only thing that has saved the NBA from its post-Jordan malaise is the influx of European and South American players who have brought shooting, passing and movement away from the ball back into prominence in the league.

When the NBA all but bottomed out with the Allen Iverson MVP year in 2001, the emergence of the Sacramento Kings showed Americans the best and most entertaining way of playing the game again. That the team was powered by European stars Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic and the underrated Hedo Turkoglu was key, as well as Americans who could pass and shoot such as Chris Webber, Brad Miller, Jason Williams and Mike Bibby. And don’t forget the influence of ex-Princeton coach Pete Carril, who brought his passing and back-cutting offense to the NBA.

'Suddenly American teams were losing regularly in international play, and struggling when they do win'


Suddenly American teams were losing regularly in international play, and struggling when they do win.
Cocky and complacent America refused to see that the rest of the world was besting them in their game as they rested more on athleticism than skill, not seeing that high skill, decent or pretty good athleticism and high competitiveness, cohesion and basketball IQ will always beat the American style if the rules such as palming and traveling - staples of the US game - are enforced.

It’s no coincidence that many of the best NBA players now are not American. Non-Americans have won the last three season MVP awards (Steve Nash twice, Dirk Nowitzki last year), and for the first time a European player (Tony Parker) won the play-off MVP last year. Only a bias against non-Americans has kept them from winning more awards as Manu Ginobili should have won the 2005 play-off MVP when San Antonio beat Detroit.

Even some of the very best players thought to be American, such as Tim Duncan (Virgin islands) and Kobe Bryant (Italy), honed their games outside the US with an emphasis on fundamentals. Suddenly the passing of the 1980s that Bird, Johnson, Thomas and Stockton made cool was gone and a one-on-one style of play permeated the major college and pro game in America. In addition, the short college and high school three-point line put an emphasis on the quick home run and eliminated most players working on the mid-range game and foul shooting.

With a dearth of mid-range shooting, defenses learned to sag and clog lanes, and offenses bogged down. America’s over-insistence on individualism hurt its basketball and it became reduced to boring, stagnant isolation or two-man games.

American basketball needs to get back to the basics and realize that the way the game is played and marketed here is flawed. Selfishness, holding the ball, not passing and no movement away from the ball, and poor spacing are ills of the US game. Making simple post entry passes is a lost art as guards refuse to pass and hoist ill-advised three-pointers far too often. They don’t understand the inside-out Euro game that gets everyone involved and opens up driving lanes, post-up space and perimeter shooting. The American concept of the game has, by and large, gone far awry.

Obviously, the NBA regular season should be shortened from 82 games to about 60. Playing 3-4 games a week and traveling constantly leads to players being unable and unwilling to play at their best and give maximum effort. Letting only eight or at most, 12 teams instead of 16 into the play-offs would also make the regular season games more competitive and shorten/intensify the too-long post-season mercifully shorter.

If USA basketball adopted the wider international lane down low, it would promote and necessitate better skill development and less emphasis on just brute size and running over people for dunks after three steps a la Shaquille O’Neal. European big men are almost always more versatile and skilled than Americans, and have much better post moves and perimeter skills.

Why not widen and lengthen the court by a few feet too? Players are bigger and taller now so the court has shrunk due to that. Extending the floor a few feet further under the basket would also introduce some new strategy and possibilities like hockey, which has room behind each net.

And of course, at least in college, the 3-point line should be moved back to at least international distance (20-6 compared to 19-9). The too-short shot has become too integral a part of the game instead of an ancillary one.

Even if the NBA team led by Coach K wins the 2008 Olympics, as it probably will, that doesn’t prove that the U.S. plays better basketball. It just means that a huge country is able to come up with enough extremely tall and fairly athletic and skilled players to comprise one team that can beat others not on skill. The style of play still lags far behind that played by Argentina and the better Eastern European teams, and relatively new power Spain.

Ultimately, a return to an emphasis on shooting of all distances, especially the middle game and foul shooting, better ball movement and more unselfish, crisp passing, and more movement away from the ball, is needed for American basketball to regain its throne. More skill development, versatility and less emphasis on brute strength and sheer leaping ability for its interior players is also needed. A new, open-minded way of seeing and teaching the game is needed.

But until America recognizes its need to emphasize skill, fundamentals, passing and team play over highlight film play and athleticism, it will continue to struggle. And wonder why they continue to lose or struggle against smaller countries, and ponder why the TV ratings continue to sink along with their medal count.