Team USA

[aceboon]

a good read from Nate Duncan, one of the better twitter guys out there for NBA/International hoops. something different from Fran Fraschilla's constant doom and gloom approach to USA basketball now that he's decided he's a Euro cheerleader and wasn't actually born in Brooklyn.

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/duncd-on-not-time-for-usa-to-panic/

 

[aceboon]

Do you really think Faried is a much better player than Cousins and Drummond? I'm a big Faried fan and he's really being utilized well and playing great on this team but I just don't see how he's a much better player than those two, he certainly isn't in the NBA.

backup bigmen issue is on display again today

Nate Duncan @NateDuncanNBA
This team was just incredibly poorly constructed at the backup big man spots. Team falls apart when AD and Faried are out.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Saw almost all of the Turkey game in the bar, and watched Turkey shoot unconsciously from 3 in the first half. I think I counted 7 makes in a row. Then in the second half USA goes up like 7, I get up to piss, order another drink, look around, check out the NFL schedule for this week, then look back up at the TVs and they're up close to 20.

It's like some mid-major going up against us and shooting like crazy kn the first half, then of course they regress and the more powerful team more than outlasts them. Do we get concerned after one of those games?

 

[aceboon]

Spain outta here, take Fran off the USA broadcasts now, he didn't serve any other purpose besides propping up Spain every chance he got. Lol @ losing at home to a France team with no Parker.

 

[UConn990411]

Why do I get the sense Fran is rooting against Team USA in these games?

Man, he's one annoying human being.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Cousins gets elbowed in the throat, technical foul on him. FIBA officiating is a joke.

 

[UConn990411]

*Lithuanian player catches ball outside 3-point line*
Fran: Shooter!!
*airball*

 

[James]

I find alot of the decisions made by K very questionable. First of all, wouldn't it be great to play lillard instead of rose? But you decide to keep plumlee on the roster for god knows what reason.

He keeps playing rose, who is still playing like crap. Harden keeps playing with 2 fouls, and completely throws the towel in defensively.

 

[aceboon]

I find alot of the decisions made by K very questionable. First of all, wouldn't it be great to play lillard instead of rose? But you decide to keep plumlee on the roster for god knows what reason.

He keeps playing rose, who is still playing like crap. Harden keeps playing with 2 fouls, and completely throws the towel in defensively.

Seems like they did a favor for Thibs by giving Rose a roster spot and basically have him undergo a rehab assignment before the NBA season. Easily the worst of the rotation players and it seems like those camp reports were puff pieces to boost up his confidence.

 

[Dogdeacon]

With Spain losing the entire tournament is a waste. We should have sent college kids, NBAers are flat out wasting their time. That's why Ginobli, Parker, Noah etc (and they are infinitely more important to their countries than any US star) & all the biggest US stars aren't playing.

 

[aceboon]

Spain losing shouldn't change anything, Spain hosted the thing and had a stacked squad full of NBA and ex NBA players, why does them choking mean the US can't send NBA players? If US NBA players are cool with playing then let them play, the foreign teams need to get their weight up and start replenishing their talent, Argentina for example is fading badly from where they were just 8-10 years ago. US shouldn't have to adjust to them, foreign teams need to figure out how to develop new players to replace the old guard that are either past their prime or just all together not even playing anymore.

 

[James]

Yeah Marc Gasol is still a top 3 center in the nba,I'm kinda kinda confused by how poorly spain played. the level of comp at the world cup has been the terrible, not to generalize but it seems like international play is on the down swing. a u23 team would be interesting; guys like kyrie, beal and davis could really spread their wings. drummond would be given more burn etc

 

[aceboon]

Yeah Marc Gasol is still a top 3 center in the nba,I'm kinda kinda confused by how poorly spain played. the level of comp at the world cup has been the terrible, not to generalize but it seems like international play is on the down swing. a u23 team would be interesting; guys like kyrie, beal and davis could really spread their wings. drummond would be given more burn etc

Yea a 23 year old age limit is what Stern proposed a couple of years ago but the FIBA guys weren't on board with it. Intl play definitely doesn't seem to be getting any better, it seems the only countries with young talent flowing through the pipelines right now are Canada, which still can't get their talent organized for the senior national teams, and Australia, which still has to wait years before guys like Exum, Simmons, Bolden and possibly Maker if he ever plays for them are ready to make an impact for their team. Alot of the other squads that have had a presence in past events like Argentina and Greece to name a couple have seen their core get too old and don't have any young talent in the wings to replace them.

 

[James]

Yea a 23 year old age limit is what Stern proposed a couple of years ago but the FIBA guys weren't on board with it. Intl play definitely doesn't seem to be getting any better, it seems the only countries with young talent flowing through the pipelines right now are Canada, which still can't get their talent organized for the senior national teams, and Australia, which still has to wait years before guys like Exum, Simmons, Bolden and possibly Maker if he ever plays for them are ready to make an impact for their team. Alot of the other squads that have had a presence in past events like Argentina and Greece to name a couple have seen their core get too old and don't have any young talent in the wings to replace them.

its pretty interesting, greece should be good in the future because of giannis and this 7 footer who is cclass of 2o15 and on the u17s. but argentina has zero nba prospects on the horizon. Very strange seeing the run they went on during the 00s, you would think the kids born 1993-1997 would have seen this. Same with turkey. I can't believe spain got so cocky that they put up 52 points vs france, shocking. I've also noticed the lack of international prospects being drafted and making an impact. The best international in the past 6 years is ibaka in 08.

 

[aceboon]

Kevin Pelton ‏@kpelton
The USA's 33.0 point differential during the FIBA World Cup is their largest since the 1994 World Championship.

USA basketball is dominating at every single age group all the way down to the junior groups, I hope the AAU is ruining American basketball narrative is put to bed

 

[James]

Starting to think we are in a golden age for hoops a la 1992 in the US. We don't even need durant or bron for 2016 and would still most likely dominate. Spain and france wont be any better two years from now. What makes me angry is guys like simmons and his grantland cohorts wishing for a demise, absolutely clueless.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Kevin Pelton ‏@kpelton
The USA's 33.0 point differential during the FIBA World Cup is their largest since the 1994 World Championship.

USA basketball is dominating at every single age group all the way down to the junior groups, I hope the AAU is ruining American basketball narrative is put to bed

That's fine, but 98% of even hoops fans didn't watch a minute of this tournament. Maybe the domination means we are back to a situation where the USA has to self-handicap to make any tournament exciting or competitive. Obviously USA basketball is the best in the world, so I'd prefer to watch international tournaments with competitive games rather than 'prove' to the world what we already know.

And again due to the dumb timing of this tournament the top players for the top teams of everyone but Spain stayed home.

 

[aceboon]

That's fine, but 98% of even hoops fans didn't watch a minute of this tournament. Maybe the domination means we are back to a situation where the USA has to self-handicap to make any tournament exciting or competitive. Obviously USA basketball is the best in the world, so I'd prefer to watch international tournaments with competitive games rather than 'prove' to the world what we already know.

And again due to the dumb timing of this tournament the top players for the top teams of everyone but Spain stayed home.

*shrugs*, I didn't do a poll of hoop fans, but I follow a slew of NBA/Basketball dudes on twitter and they were all commenting on the games. Obviously this tourney doesn't have the same kind of appeal as a soccer world cup(never has, never will), but for a hoops junkie like myself this came at the perfect time, how many people watched is none of my concern and for FIBA to be worried about. As for your last point about the top players for top teams staying home, thats just not true. There were some big names like Tony Parker and Manu staying home, but Brazil, France, Lithuana, Turkey, Serbia, Slovenia all had NBA players and their top players who are stars in Europe on their rosters.

 

[Dogdeacon]

TV ratings in the US were very low, apparently the superstars Slovacks, Turks & Serbs don't pull here. I'm not hating on you or the tourney - I love basketball too and basically I'm bummed as I was hoping for competitive games worth watching and I didn't get it. And that does have something to do with Manu & co, Parker & co not showing up.

So I'm simply saying that Durant, Love etc made the right decision to drop out. I guess the rest of the all-star caliber NBA-ers had something to prove/take their game to the next level so I can fault Davis, Curry, Irving, Rose or Harden for playing.