Team USA vs Nigeria - 2/09/20 | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Team USA vs Nigeria - 2/09/20

UConnCat

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Ah okay. I was basing that on my vague memory of when the final roster was announced in 2016.

Actually, you could be right. I was thinking of the timing of World Cup final rosters which has been closer to the actual competitions. The Olympic rosters are certainly not due in April but USA BB has announced final rosters that early for Rio and Tokyo. We'll see what they do this year.
 

UConnCat

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Actually, you could be right. I was thinking of the timing of World Cup final rosters which has been closer to the actual competitions. The Olympic rosters are certainly not due in April but USA BB has announced final rosters that early for Rio and Tokyo. We'll see what they do this year.

The USA men's team is looking to finalize the Olympic roster in June. We'll see what the women choose to do.
 
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First--- It was good to see KLS have a good showing. I have followed her since high school and I hope this has shown that if she is on the floor with the right group she can be very productive. Of course no player is as good as their best game nor as bad as their worst so it might be hard for her to make this team, especially if the feel they have to carry some old fossils for old times sake.

Some other thoughts. To assume that DT will make the team if she is healthy? What is healthy for her at this stage in her life might not come close to what healthy was a few years ago. Those of you who watched the WNBA this last season realize that she was not close to the player she was even the year before. She could always get it together for one game at least. That didn't happen this last season. Now some might say she was never really healthy. That might be true, but at her age, she might never get back to the level she was before. In the earlier games, she played for team USA she had one good shooting game, but even in that one, her defense was horrible. Sue Bird compared to her looked like Beard defensively in her prime.

I agree that the post play was actually worse than the guard play, especially defensively and for rebounding. None of the posts have really looked good this year and that included Stewie. She just has not played enough games to evaluate where she is at. As to declaring players coming back from injury a lock- that is premature. Especially old over the hill players like DT. Especially when you are an instant away from not being able to play.

As to the guards. Bird has played and looked better than DT so if they had to carry one it should be Bird. Diggins has been inconsistent and if she is not hitting her shots she adds little else at this time. Plum was better defensively than either Bird or Diggins by a long shot. Plum has had a few good shooting games as well both against the college teams and the South American Qualifiers in November. Jewel Loyd did not look that good even on defense. She hasn't been the same since her injury. They do need a small quick guard on the team for defensive purposes.

All sympathy aside, if any guard should be a lock it's Chelsea Gray. She has consistently against the college teams, the qualifiers in South America and this last qualifier, been the player that has run the team during close games during crunch time. The team runs far better with her at the point than anyone else. The team and offense stagnates when Bird runs the show. Under Bird the other teams usually gain the lead. Plum runs the team better than Bird. I think it's because Bird, as someone mentioned, has lost a step recently. Hey, she is almost 40. But she was still quicker and faster than DT while DT was playing on the team.

I certainly hope they do not give the core eight special treatment with respect to picking them. Most of them are old and not what they used to be. But I suspect it might carry some weight. The problems they had against a young athletic Nigeria should be a warning that they just can not afford to carry any dead weight, and still expect to waltz away with the Gold. They need to pick the team on merit, but I doubt that will happen. The USA teams are so clickish and good ole boy driven. I certainly hope the invite at least more players to camp to see if those coming off of injuries are even ready to play before making their final selections.
 
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I certainly hope they do not give the core eight special treatment with respect to picking them.

Why not? That’s why they’re there. They’re sacrificing other opportunities to be there. Why shouldn’t they be rewarded for their loyalty?


Most of them are old and not what they used to be. But I suspect it might carry some weight.

I think the words you’re looking for are savvy and experienced. It carries the weight of gold.

The problems they had against a young athletic Nigeria should be a warning that they just can not afford to carry any dead weight, and still expect to waltz away with the Gold.

Savvy and experience doesn’t add up to “dead weight” to me. When you’re throwing together all-star teams that aren’t used to playing together, savvy and experience goes a long way.

They need to pick the team on merit, but I doubt that will happen. The USA teams are so clickish and good ole boy driven.

Good ole girl with savvy and experience?

I certainly hope the invite at least more players to camp to see if those coming off of injuries are even ready to play before making their final selections.

Delle Donne should be coming back.... or is she part of the oft-injured “dead weight“ you’re worried about?
 
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Savvey and experience only will carry you so far. When you are at the level of most of those players you have been playing the game at a high level for a long time. You are not going to learn something after 10 years you did not learn in 5 at the professional level. You hear this all the time from fans as an excuse for hanging on to their favorite players when they start to decline. In many spots the say they are good mentors whether they mentor or not.

My whole point is to make players show they are still the best on the court and not give them favoritism because they have seniority. If things are relatively equal you can give a player in the core the advantage because they put in the time. But putting in the time should not be the major criteria for choosing the team. It makes me wonder if they put together the core as a leveraging chip.

I suppose each player might have had their own reasons for giving their time to the core. I would think that Chelsea Gray probably did it because she has no USA basketball history and she needed to get some. The same motive could be attributed to Neka. Now many of the players coming off of injuries might have done so to allow them to play their way back into basketball shape while showing that they are relatively recovered. Of course, that could backfire if they had a relapse as appeared to happen with DT.

The reason I suggest they have the players come in for at least a mini camp is so that they can find out if those coming off of injuries are really ready to play. Some players might also be in better shape than they are now. If they are not recovered it is likely they might reinjure themselves early on at the games and then the team would be short. That is not that unusual for players coming off of an injury. And yes that would apply to everyone including EDD. An injured and not 100% Edd would be less valuable than a somewhat lesser player at 100 % depending on how injured they were.
 
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Savvey and experience only will carry you so far. When you are at the level of most of those players you have been playing the game at a high level for a long time. You are not going to learn something after 10 years you did not learn in 5 at the professional level. You hear this all the time from fans as an excuse for hanging on to their favorite players when they start to decline. In many spots the say they are good mentors whether they mentor or not.

My whole point is to make players show they are still the best on the court and not give them favoritism because they have seniority. If things are relatively equal you can give a player in the core the advantage because they put in the time. But putting in the time should not be the major criteria for choosing the team. It makes me wonder if they put together the core as a leveraging chip.

I suppose each player might have had their own reasons for giving their time to the core. I would think that Chelsea Gray probably did it because she has no USA basketball history and she needed to get some. The same motive could be attributed to Neka. Now many of the players coming off of injuries might have done so to allow them to play their way back into basketball shape while showing that they are relatively recovered. Of course, that could backfire if they had a relapse as appeared to happen with DT.

The reason I suggest they have the players come in for at least a mini camp is so that they can find out if those coming off of injuries are really ready to play. Some players might also be in better shape than they are now. If they are not recovered it is likely they might reinjure themselves early on at the games and then the team would be short. That is not that unusual for players coming off of an injury. And yes that would apply to everyone including EDD. An injured and not 100% Edd would be less valuable than a somewhat lesser player at 100 % depending on how injured they were.
The season starts 5/15, we will know how well the injured players, Stewie, EDD, DT are at that time.
 
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The season starts 5/15, we will know how well the injured players, Stewie, EDD, DT are at that time.

I’m sorry but if you don’t panic and overreact we can’t be having your takes on the board. There is no time for measured replies and patience. Please conform to the group.
 
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The season starts 5/15, we will know how well the injured players, Stewie, EDD, DT are at that time.
That is exactly my point. Those injured players would have had more time to get back to normal. We do not even know what their new normal even is. We would not know until they have been observed in some sort of camp scrimmage. We can not just make an assumption that by then they will be OK. Heck, even players healthy and playing well now could develop problems that would hinder their contributions to the team. With an Olympic team spot at stake, I doubt we could trust the honor system with some of these players.

I also do not think we can lump Stewie and EDD together with DT. The former are young players who recover more easily. The latter as an older player, whom at their age, will sometimes never return to their preinjury self even when they become healthy. That was the case with Beard though it took a year and a half for that to become evident to the majority of people. She even still got DPR during the first year of her decline. The play after her return from injury showed it to be obvious that she had declined and that her decline was exacerbated by her injury.
 

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