IMO that article by Jason Whitlock is wildly inaccurate in describing the so called similarities in each games evolution. In his article he talks about the game of hockey becoming more creative and less one dimensional. If you look at the international game of basketball, the emphasis is plainly on shooting and zone defense. There is no reason to do otherwise because in the international game everyone is in the lane and just wants to run in front of you for a charge. And since the three is so close, what’s the point of going in for 2, when you can just as easily score 3. Where is the creativity in that? How is that less one dimensional? The point of the game is not shooting; it is to get the ball in the basket. And if 1 hour of watching players run back and forth shooting 20ft shots and everyone running into the lane to get a charge with a obvious flop is ur idea of great creative, superior, basketball, that good...I'll stick to my "entertaining/showy" NBA brand of basketball ...I'll agree that the international teams are much better today than before, but they have had 12 years to perfect their own brand of basketball, this USA team had 2 weeks to learn, wasn't even the cream of the crop and got 3rd, and did better than the world champs...I do not see failure, just preceived failure after so much success...like I said, we will see in Beijing who is the best, now that the USA has something to play for....PRIDE
