are you serious? is that why every euro player in the league has to battle against a perception of being "soft"? (see; pau gasol, arvydis sabonis, zydrunas ilgauskus, and others) is that why the us got blazed last time around for not having any pure shooters on the roster by pundits? is that why we got crushed by damn near every team at the line throughout the tourney? you guys must be joking.
no, the difference is the zone defense, and the inability of the u.s. player to adjust to an actual team game, as opposed to pick and roll and isolation offenses.