"You knew that the world has become infatuated with America's game and is learning all of our former secrets..."

NBA commissioner David Stern thinks that the US should take the beatings they suffered in the World basketball championship as a compliment from other countries.

From the Washington Post:

Stern has been criticized for allowing NBA players to continue to lose international competitions -- Team USA has lost seven games in the past four years -- but he said he believes the exposure to international basketball, win or lose, has enhanced the quality of the league.

"When you follow the scene for the past 20 years as I have . . . you knew that the world has become infatuated with America's game and is learning all of our former secrets," Stern said. "And that's a good thing because that is going to make our game better in two ways: It's going to force us to focus on international competition, if we decide that we want to win. And it's going to give us the benefit in the NBA of having elite athletes from all over the world who are super athletes and super basketball players. When you think about Yao Ming, [Dirk] Nowitzki, [Tony] Parker, [Pau] Gasol and [Manu] Ginobili -- just to name five -- that's some team.

"I think, actually, Americans now understand that the world has given us the greatest compliment," Stern said. "They have embraced our game, and they are determined to play it at the highest level."

"It's going to force us to focus on international competition, if we decide that we want to win."

Yes, I believe one of the reasons why many US NBA players in the past have turned down offers to join the US national team was because of the old notion that the competition in these international competitions are weak, therefore the games have no challenge and are meaningless. (And most players would rather take a vacation than participate in some meaningless tournament.)

Yes, the europeans and the rest of the world were inferior to the US back then. But not anymore.

If the US is serious about winning these international tournaments, then the old ways of selecting (ala dream team 92) and training players for the national team needs to change. That has already been addressed by mr. colangelo (3-year commitment from players) after the 02 Worlds and 04 Olympics debacle.

But I also believe the best players need to represent their country too.

And what if the US wins the gold in 08 Olympics? Will Lebron, Wade and Carmelo Anthony think their job is already done and declare "Mission Accomplished"? Or will they continue to commit playing in 2010, 2012?

Will they take a "two-year vacation" from the NT after Beijing and let other players represent the US? Or retire from international competition?