All the American Heavies are playing Football/Basketball

[Check_hooks]

Only until recently, after they decided that wasn't going to work anymore. Before that all sorts of the player/team development programs didn't exist. And even now that they do guys don't really want to play.

Just think about that, an Olympic gold, something some people train their whole lives to attain. Guys turning it down to go to the beach/relax in the summer, they could easily get 10+ gold medals, that'd be sick.

Some of them are turning it down cuz there owners don't want them to risk injury which is exactly what happened to Paul George.

What I'm saying is if they took the 15 best players in America and the 15 best players in Europe and played, I would bet on the European players. More team oriented and better fundamentals. All of them can shoot, handle the ball, shoot ft's, and pass.

Basketball is a team game, the best TEAM wins everytime

[Sweet Pea 50]

I disagree that they don't even try. They have try outs and players have to make the team. Then they practice for months. The difference is they have a way deeper pool of good players to chose from. Players that have been playing competitive basketball since middle school.

And to the guy who brought up China and India. Basketball is relatively new to those countries and they already produced one of the greatest NBA players all time in Yao Ming.

Some of the best basketball players I've played with are asian and I'm in Texas btw. Give it 20 years and China will be the most dominate basketball country in the world based on numbers alone

Awesome.

In 20 years, I can sit here and b1tch and moan about population statistics, and P4P country achievements.

[Mr Ehrmantraut]

This logic is a compelling argument for the mental ******ation of the average American.

[Elroy1]

This logic is a compelling argument for the mental ******ation of the average American.

Brilliant!

It really is. Concrete evidence actually.

[Sweet Pea 50]

This logic is a compelling argument for the mental ******ation of the average American.

Told you to pull out.

Don't go crying in the footie thread when the Colts get spanked.

[bojangles1987]

Here's the thing though bojangles, do you want to deny the best Russian/British etc athletes don't box?

I don't know why this argument makes so much sense to US posters but when you apply it to other countries their ears close like it doesn't exist.

I swear they're just bouncy-ball, helmet-bashing fans gassed up on their other heroes.

Do US posters think Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury are the best athletes out of the UK? Are Povetkin and Ustinov the best athletes out of Russia? hell no

Newsflash: boxing isn't a dominant sport anywhere, most often you're just not going to get the best athletes of any nation in the sport

The difference is that boxing used to get all the best American athletes. It used to be the biggest sport in the country. The vast majority of these kids who get railroaded onto football fields and basketball courts used to get thrown into boxing gyms. Tell me when that was the case in another country, and I'll tell you that whatever their most popular sport is now is probably taking all the athletes who used to box.

That's the point that everyone who argues against this, always people who don't live in America, refuse to understand. Boxing used to get all our best athletes. Now it doesn't. No kid worth a damn athletically is going into a boxing gym anymore. Not unless they're 20, won't make it in college or the pros, and have to find something else to do with their lives.

Do you actually think it's a coincidence that the American heavyweight talent pool dried up as the NFL and NBA replaced boxing as the most popular sports in America? Because that's exactly what happened.

[Malius]

I heard there is a planet of humanoid creatures that would clear out the HW diving. If they weren't competing in their own boxing league 198461987 Light years away Europe AND the US wouldn't stand a chance.

Deal with what we have people.

[ShoulderRoll]

Do you actually think it's a coincidence that the American heavyweight talent dried up as the NFL and NBA replaced boxing as the most popular sports in America? Because that's exactly what happened.

It's no coincidence at all.

Foreigners simply have no idea of the impact that Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan had on the sporting culture of the United States. An entire generation of kids wanted nothing more than to be a basketball star.

And the popularity of the NFL goes to without saying. It's the wealthiest sports league in the entire world, including soccer/"kick ball."

[Dirk Diggler UK]

It's no coincidence at all.

Foreigners simply have no idea of the impact that Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan had on the sporting culture of the United States. An entire generation of kids wanted nothing more than to be a basketball star.

And the popularity of the NFL goes to without saying. It's the wealthiest sports league in the entire world, including soccer/"kick ball."

Most English kids want to be footballers. The money in the game has grown ridiculously over the years that now that even ****ty English players get paid extortionate wages.

[QballLobo]

I always though Kobe Bryant would be a great boxer if he set his mind to it. The guy has a killer instinct like no other and with his background in soccer growing up his footwork would have been on point.
Kids today don't see boxing as a legit avenue for athletics. Its riskier than football and with all the concussion talk parents don't want their kids to compete in boxing.