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I don't know how much basketball you've actually played or coached (I've got a few under my belt in both roles) but everywhere in the world bar the US this would have happened:

A) you collect an offensive rebound and do not have a clear shot while you're +1 the first thing you do is run the hell out of the paint with the ball and try to pass it to your best FT-shooter for the foul that will predictably come. You never ever try to force a shot with a high risk of missing it and/or the refs not whistling for a foul there in traffic.

B) The coach will tell the team to foul and get the opposing team to the FT-line in order to have the last possession. It's always better to have 20+ seconds to build you play rather than 4-5 secs due to a late basket of the opposing team. See for reference an NYT article (or SI, I don't remember correctly) prior to the 2008 Olympics where he said exactly this regarding the same situation possibly occurring in an hypotetic final USA-Spain with Spain leading by 1 with 20+ secs remaining.
It doesn't matter how good you defence is: you want to have the last possession in your hands and to have it with a significant amount of time.

C) See B. You don't have to rush to a quick basket for that same very reason.

So is the GE not the best around: yes!

First, um, arent the best players playing in the nba? Doesnt it seem it would follow that the best coaches are in the nba? And doesnt it seem to follow that the most 'cutting edge' tactics will be applied in the nba? Are you really telling me a team up one with 26 seconds left is going to foul a team, send them to the free throw line, and take a chance of being down 1? That is utterly insane.

Although it's not really germane to the discussion, that is indeed the tactic that is used often in the European leagues.

Doesnt it seem it would follow that the best coaches are in the nba?

Hell,no.
There are a lot of bad coaches in the NBA
I highly doubt that Sam Mitchell(former coach of the year),Jay Triano,Kurt Rambis are better coach than Ettore Messina,or Sergio Scariolo,or Xavi Pascual or Zeljko Obradovic,or Dusan Ivkovic and so on

Last edited by Steve Karenn at 11/3/2010 11:36:45 AM

Euroleague is not the poor sister of NBA,at least not tactically
The only reason why NBA teams has the best players is because they have a salary cap 10 times highe rthan European teams(and often use them bad)