I’ve always feared, but would never acknowledge it to be true, that LMA was a spineless wimp. Now, these fears are fully realized. What a joke.

after last season I really want these gus healthy for us, the less organized ball they play the better rested.

The key is if they keep their conditioning up so they are ready for camp, that is all I care about at this point. I would prefer if all our guys would take this summer off frankly.

If the Spurs agree to send along DeJuan Blair

One the one hand, less wear and tear on LMA during the summer could be a good thing in the long run. OTOH, nobody really knows what he does to prepare during the offseason except that his post moves haven’t really improved that much over the past 2 years

So maybe he’s hanging out with Andre a little too much?

it’s really nobody’s damn business. It seems more likely that he just wants to chill on his days off though. If that’s the case I can’t blame him.

Hyperbole much?

Did you ever see JBC (not) play? The only guy who ever loafed more was Dwayne Schintzius. LMA may not be your cup of tea, but he’s not in JBC’s universe. – Elgin

He doesn’t flail his arms around like Sabas or contort his face every time he ‘hustles’—he just plays good fundamental ball. He’s durable and fits nicely with a rebounding big like GO. The fans here want him to be Brian Grant and that’s just not his style.

and i just read another article about he he looks forward to next year and “hopes to make his first all star appearance”.

News flash: You had the perfect storm last year to get MORE stats and you didn’t. And if you coast, you aint makin the ASG.

but I’d be surprised, happily

Look down the tunnel and see if Roy is down there.

Hang your heads.

it makes sense to want him to take it easy. As far as I know, he’s healthy. A lot of the big names that dropped out did so either because they weren’t 100%, or they were free agents that figured they’d be too tied up with negotiations to give it their best.

The only decent reason for him to sit out would be that he could have been forced to play out of position because of how few bigs Team USA fielded.

The problem is that he committed to do it, then changed his mind without a lot of notice (~1 week?) and gave a lame excuse.

Personally, I don’t care if he was a part of the team or not. I do have a problem, though, with the fact that he backed out of a commitment to his country in the laziest way possible.

Everyone worries when a Euro goes home to play national ball… but with Team USA, it’s different. That’s our country, our national pride. Mix in the general malaise about the gap between LMA’s perceived ceiling vs. current output, and you have an enditement of his character that is effectively applying a double standard to him that doesn’t apply to the Euros.

Conversely, while I think most would love to see B-Roy on Team USA, many have said that he shouldn’t risk his health… same argument as the Euros. In B-Roy’s case though it’s a risk vs. reward argument. Brandon is so meaningful to the team, and it would be such a heartbreak to us if he were seriously injured playing for Team USA that many would rather he take a pass. LMA is seen as less valuable than B-Roy… so therefore he is more “expendable” and should be free to go play for the national team.

I feel like this puts LMA in something of a Catch-22 situation with respect to fan expectations, and I think he deserves better than that.

then this. Personally, I was hoping that the first thing I’d hear after LMA’s lackluster playoff showing wouldn’t be about him giving up on a basketball related commitment.

Aldridge made a commitment to join the team and then backed out at the last possible moment, with no excuse but ‘idohwanna’. The fact that you can’t can the difference between this is amazing. Its like the difference between calling in sick to work because you’re sick and calling in to work to tell them you won’t be in because you’d rather hang out in the sunshine and work on your tan.

And no, the NBA champion is not the world champion

Heh. How would Bosh and Amare’ like being fouled by Pendy 10 times a day?

LMA’s healthy and just doesn’t want to.

Isn’t the team being coached by Coach K? If that’s the case LaMarcus just gave up the chance to be coached by the best, which negates any individual goals. Who knows what Coach K would have spotted and worked out?

This is the Olympics, where we get to shine a healing light on the rest of the world and show them how freedom and TV programming go hand in hand.

USA! USA! NBC! NBC! Wait…is it on Fox now? ABC?

The best competitors and great players have all played for their country since the Dream Team. This is a huge opportunity for LMA, and the chance to get some national limelight right before his first All-Star appearance (I’m still optimistic). Coach Nate should call him up and chew him out for being a quitter and weakling (I don’t think this is true in general of LaMarcus, but in this instance, it is). The guy has no major health problems that preclude him from playing, and has the chance to work with and learn from some of the greatest coaching minds and to work-out with some really solid fellow players. There’s more risk of getting hurt in offseason work-outs than a few exhibition games.

“Against all odds”

while it may not be totally fair, the reasons (at least for me) are: 1) Roy has come a lot closer to reaching his potential and 2) Roy has been dealing with more injuries.

I’d like to see Roy play USA basketball also though. Both those guys need to learn something about competing hard on each and every possession, even on that annoying defensive end.

I have that double standard and part of it has been injuries to Roy. At some point I want him healthy. This hasn’t been an issue for Aldridge.

oh… jk just posted and really i think that about covers what i was going to say.

LMA accepted the invitation, then backed out at the last minute with a flimsy excuse. Calling in sick to work isn’t a problem, but calling in “sick” because you want to sleep in is.

… what does this mean?

I think national teams are awesome. At the recent World Cup you had national squads containing players who immigrated (or whose parents immigrated) to start a new life for themselves and millions of their new countrymen cheering them on. Teams like this demonstrate tangibly how interconnected our world is and really humanize people we often consider foreign. The fact that the USA can have an Olympic contingent that includes people from all sorts of ethnic groups really makes me proud of my country.