There are a number of reasons why other countries are catching up to the US Men's National basketball team. The most basic reason is that basketball, more so on the men's side, leans not so much on the concept of "team" as on individual skill. While the women's game is reaching towards the rim, it's geared more towards the team concepts of "boxing out" to grab those rebounds and letting teammates know when the opposition is cutting towards the basket. While there's no doubt that the US athlete has the facilities to train year round and the US game is geared toward speed, the US athlete has forgotten some of the fundamentals of the game. The US game is geared more towards the "me first" mentality: dunking, alley-oops, and behind-the-back passes. Team concepts as rebounding, working for the open shot and communicating with teammates on defense are lost in the battle to see who can shatter the backboard with the greatest force. There aren't many fundamentally sound US players at either the college or pro level (can anyone think of someone other than Tim Duncan?).

The world is catching up also because there are more international players in US colleges and professional teams. These players are mastering the US game and bringing these methods back to their native countries when the US season is over.

Another point to consider is that in many other countries the players have been playing together for their national teams for years. These national teams are in many cases professional teams, whose main job is to train together and play other professionals. The US national teams are often comprised of a mixture of professional and college players who have perhaps only played together for a matter of weeks, due to other obligations (be it school, NBA or other league obligations). Gathering a group of people together for a few weeks does not allow enough time to build a cohesive unit. Likewise, the coaches are also picked almost at random (depending on who can fit it into his/her schedule). The coaches may have different coaching styles and only have a finite time to learn to mesh.

It's similar to making the transitional jump from high school to college, or from college to pro. It's easy for an athlete to become overwhelmed when making this transition, say, for a high school or college athlete to adjust to college life (having to manage your time between studying and practice), or professional life (being on the road all the time, managing your time between practices and games). Also, the transition from being a star on the high school or college team to being surrounded by personnel who are just as talented (or more) is a biggger jump than some athletes can take.

I'm not saying there aren't any fundamentally sound US players. They just need more than 5-6 weeks to practice and play together as a team, and learn the concepts of the international game.

Learn more about this author, Karla Granger.
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