By Sean Connolly

It’s been two years since the FIBA Championships in which the Greeks picked apart the US National Team to win the FIBA Championship leaving LeBron James and US disappointed. In their first challenge in this Olympics the US National team defeated Greece, holding a Greek team that put up 101 in their last meeting to a mere 69 points.

This victory by the US is more about the Greeks beating themselves than the US beating the Greeks. Greece decided to play a one-on-one type game, a game that is no match to a team that has Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh off the bench. They failed to get going offensively as Wade’s defensive gambling paid off as he had 6 steals in the game. But, is this the true Greece?

After winning the first two games, it seems as if the Greeks will make it past the group stage easily. Now, European teams have been known to do this…under perform, resting their players making it seem as if they are worse than they really are and then when the elimination round comes around, a completely different team shows up. Now, this routine has been argued about as to whether it’s really done, and whether it’s smart, unethical, or just plain stupid. Either way it doesn’t matter if you’re USA.

No team is short of any tom-foolery but if the Greeks truly did this on purpose takes the cake. Whether it will pay off or not is yet to be seen. I like the idea of resting your players for the next round to a certain extent, but to risk putting them in a bad rhythm for the rest of the Olympics is beyond me. One thing’s for sure though, Kobe Bryant, LeBron, and company are playing too well right now to be fooled by this.

So far throughout this Olympics and even exhibition games leading up to them, it seems as though the mantra of the team is not to underestimate any team at all. So I don’t see how they will underestimate a team in the latter rounds. If this move was done on purpose by the Greece national team, it will be a move done in haste as the Redeem Team will have golds around their necks.

Technorati Tags: 2008 Olympics LeBron James, Basketball Rumors Olympics, Beijing Olympics, Beijing Olympics 08 Mens Basketball, Chris Bosh, Chris Bosh 08 Olympics, Chris Bosh Bench, Chris Bosh Bench Olympics, Did Greece lose to USA on purpose?, Duane Wade, Duane Wade 08 Olympics, Duane Wade Basketball, Duane Wade Olympics, Dwayne Wade, Dwayne Wade Defense, Dwayne Wade Defense against Greece Olympics, Dwayne Wade Defense Gamble Olympics, FIBA Championship, FIBA Championship Greece, FIBA Championship LeBron James, Greece, Greece Basketball, Greece Basketball Argument, Greece Losing on purpose basketball olympics, Greece vs. USA Basketball, Greeks vs. Americans Basketball game, Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant 2008 Olympics, LeBron James, LeBron James Olympics, mens basketball olympics fotos, Mens Basketball Olympics Photos, Mens Olympic B-ball photos, Olympics, Olympics 08, Olympics 08 Basketball, Olympics Greece vs. USA Basketball, Redeem Team, Sean Connolly, Sean Connolly Basketball, Sean Connolly Sports, Sean Connolly Writer, Unethical Play Basketball, US Mens Basketball Team, US Mens National Team, USA, USA Basketball, USA Basketball Olympics, USA Basketball Olympics Rumors, USA Mens Team Olympics 08 Gold Medal

Tags: 2008 Olympics LeBron James, Basketball Rumors Olympics, Beijing Olympics, Beijing Olympics 08 Mens Basketball, Chris Bosh, Chris Bosh 08 Olympics, Chris Bosh Bench, Chris Bosh Bench Olympics, Did Greece lose to USA on purpose?, Duane Wade, Duane Wade 08 Olympics, Duane Wade Basketball, Duane Wade Olympics, Dwayne Wade, Dwayne Wade Defense, Dwayne Wade Defense against Greece Olympics, Dwayne Wade Defense Gamble Olympics, FIBA Championship, FIBA Championship Greece, FIBA Championship LeBron James, Greece, Greece Basketball, Greece Basketball Argument, Greece Losing on purpose basketball olympics, Greece vs. USA Basketball, Greeks vs. Americans Basketball game, Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant 2008 Olympics, LeBron James, LeBron James Olympics, mens basketball olympics fotos, Mens Basketball Olympics Photos, Mens Olympic B-ball photos, Olympics, Olympics 08, Olympics 08 Basketball, Olympics Greece vs. USA Basketball, Redeem Team, Sean Connolly, Sean Connolly Basketball, Sean Connolly Sports, Sean Connolly Writer, Unethical Play Basketball, US Mens Basketball Team, US Mens National Team, USA, USA Basketball, USA Basketball Olympics, USA Basketball Olympics Rumors, USA Mens Team Olympics 08 Gold Medal