Why england hasn't got a good basketball team?

retired_the gizmo · 09-10-2007, 02:24 AM

I think the lakers won't have a ****ing thing to say if the blazers do or don't.

retired_amadhani · 09-10-2007, 02:28 AM

expectations are very high, we'll have to wait and see tbh.

Bynum>>> Oden btw :cool:

retired_kimmymarlo · 09-10-2007, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by xnellyrx:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Originally posted by Powlay:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Originally posted by xnellyrx:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Originally posted by Daaaaave:
joel freeland :cool:

what a great draft pick he was. unlucky that Oden is a bonafide bust. </BLOCKQUOTE>

define bust, you waste of skin? </BLOCKQUOTE>

well the fact that he will never win in Portland thats for sure. That franchise was single handedly put down by the Lakers </BLOCKQUOTE>xD

retired_-pearl- · 09-10-2007, 02:52 AM

I didn't say Yao Ming meant nothing, he's clearly important. I'm saying he's not the reason that China is interested in basketball, his development is a product of that interest.

retired_google · 09-10-2007, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Champo:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Originally posted by Jeebs:
It's hardly boring.

Yeah cos seeing each team score almost 100 points each game running down a 20 yard court doing the exact same play and with the only stopping being from some person getting touched or a fans rioting in the crowd. :thup:

My mistake real exciting stuff.. </BLOCKQUOTE>

Sounds exactly like how sports writers here describe football.

Minus the scoring, ofc.

retired_google · 09-10-2007, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Puedlfor:
If it weren't for Yao? He's not the most popular jersey sold in China and he wasn't even the most popular Chinese player until Wang Zhi Zhi ****ed on the national team. Yes, it helps that Yao is indeed fantastic at basketball - but I think you are really overestimating his impact. China liked basketball before Yao Ming and they'd still have liked it even if he were a bust in the NBA

whs

Yao just took it to the next level, much like what MLS hopes Beckham will do for football here.

runronnirun · 09-10-2007, 04:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Andrew K:
I think in terms of geographic breadth basketball is firmly no.2 in team sports, but well behind soccer. And it is growing quickly, unlike cricket and rugby which are still only popular in former British colonies and nonexistent elsewhere.

not sure that last sentence is entirely true. both cricket and rugby are growing reasonably steadily, rugby especially with the likes of Argentina becoming a force and minnows like Portugal improving all the time.

retired_autumn · 09-10-2007, 04:47 AM

Powlay, you just embarrassed yourself there. And not just because you got smashed on Smirnoff Ice.

Quote:

Before Yao the intrest was nothing short of minimal, dont use me saying im drunk as an excuse to bottle out and run for home.

Basketball (or rather, the NBA) was hugely popular in China well before Yao Ming burst on the scene, as I can attest to because it was already that way in 1998, when all the kids in Beijing were into Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippin, and that Aoni'er fella from the Hu Ren (3 guesses). I got to watch MJ hit the game winning shot against the Jazz in a department store's TV section. If you wanted to go hang with Chinese kids you didn't walk around with a soccer ball, you went to the courts and joined a pickup game.

Everyone was watching the World Cup, too, fwiw.

And Fungus: The reason China doesn't win all the gold medals is because it doesn't have as much money to invest in athletics as a country like the US. But they've been doing pretty well lately all the same. If they can uncover a few more Liu Xiangs between now and next year, it wouldn't be a shock to see them come in second in the medal count, or grab the most golds.

retired_sera · 09-10-2007, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by super_imps:
No other team sport enjoys the global popularity and reach of football. Second biggest sport on earth would probably be golf, or tennis or boxing. They're played and watched in pretty much every country and few sportspeople have the global recognition of Mohammed Ali, say. It's not so popular with viewers, but pretty much everyone competes in athletics too.

The idea that basketball could be the second biggest sport on earth is laughable, just as laughable as the ludicrous press releases put out by the IRB about the billions of viewers for the Rugby World Cup and the broadcast deals in 170 countries, or the annual Superbowl boasting about "200 countries around the world" watching. People wearing basketball jerseys and knowing who Michael Jordan was doesn't mean people actually watch or care about the sport.

I agree with your sentiments, but you've kind of used the same argument for and against your point.

You say boxing is possibly the second biggest sport on Earth, partly because "few sportspeople have the global recognition of Mohammed Ali".

You then say that even though Jordan has global recognition, it doesn't mean the sport is popular.

retired_sera · 09-10-2007, 05:17 AM

Oh. I didn't realise there was a second page. If someone's already mentioned what I just said, sorry.

Why england hasn't got a good basketball team?

Grab a beer, sit back and relax.

Why england hasn't got a good basketball team?