I wish Team USA had ANDREW BYNUM

if he wasnt hurt

7/31/2008 3:35:07 PM

i like the influx of trolls in sports talk as of late

7/31/2008 3:39:39 PM

Hey guise lets cut our teefs at the olympics.

7/31/2008 3:40:06 PM

Part of me wants to see Team USA get destroyed just so I can laugh at coach K.

7/31/2008 3:40:13 PM

Nah

USA #1 > duke hatred

7/31/2008 3:41:51 PM

no part of me wants to see this team get less than a Gold medal

7/31/2008 3:45:34 PM

The ONLY time I would ever want to see Team USA lose is if Dean Smith was the head coach and the majority of the players/staff was from UNC. Even then, it would be very hard to root for a different country...

As for this year, I can't wait...

7/31/2008 4:02:08 PM

Actually wethebest you should make sure you have all the facts straight before you go into a rant like that.

Denver was ranked middle of the pack in defensive efficiency this year as was their offense. The notion that they were anywhere close to an elite offensive team and terrible defensive team is blatantly incorrect. Just because they play an up-tempo game which leads to high scoring games doesn't mean they are good at offense and bad at defense.

Carmelo isn't a good defender that's for sure but he's a great option at the PF position in international play because he stretches defenses and he is probably the best scoring threat on on our team without the ball. Believe it or not, that can come in handy on a team with J-Kidd, CPIII, Lebron, and Kobe.

We don't need scoring? Really? Have you seen the last few international tournaments? Obviously you haven't. Iverson was the only guy on the court who could score for us last Olympics.

"Scoring" is an overrated startistic. Efficient scoring is not. The object of the game is to put the ball in the basket. Usually the team who does that tends to win.


And to whoever said Kobe wasn't aging you have lost your mind. He has a bum knee, a bad back, a mangled finger for gods sake. The guy has a LOT of mileage. Athleticism tends to fade in the late 20s and drop off the map in the early 30s. Kobe has an extra 4-5 years worth of mileage on his body than the average 29 year old. Think about it he came straight out of HS, typically has played deep in the postseason, has been a go-to-guy nearly his entire career, and has been playing in the offseason the past few years.

He's a terrific shooter/scorer and has the best all around offensive game in the league. The guy could unquestionably average 25 ppg for another five years. But don't act like he's on Wade or Paul's planet when it comes to explosiveness. Sure, he can dust them off for a few plays each game but he's already in the stage of his career where he picks his spots.

7/31/2008 7:24:41 PM

Quote :

"Iverson was the only guy on the court who could score for us last Olympics."

he led in scoring but i wouldn't want him on this team.

other than defense i really don't think kobe is needed that much. sure he helps scoring but every basket he has is completely out of rhythm with the rest of the offense.

[Edited on July 31, 2008 at 8:35 PM. Reason : afd]

7/31/2008 8:30:53 PM

Quote :

"Kobe has an extra 4-5 years worth of mileage on his body than the average 29 year old. Think about it he came straight out of HS, typically has played deep in the postseason, has been a go-to-guy nearly his entire career, and has been playing in the offseason the past few years."

yeah cause the players who go to college for 3-4 years or who come out early and dont make the playoffs just sit on their asses in the offseason and dont exercise or practice or play basketball every day...he's TWENTY NINE YEARS OLD...Michael Jordan was 29 years old in 1992...he only won 5 of his 6 titles after his 29th birthday

Quote :

"Iverson was the only guy on the court who could score for us last Olympics."

Iverson and Duncan were the only players on the team that cared about winning...this year I think its a whole different mindset...Gold medal

7/31/2008 8:39:17 PM

they're re-showing the game on ESPN2 right now btw

btw wonder if Camby doesn't want to play cause he's scared his tattoo might say "HUGE HOMO" or somethin bad



[Edited on July 31, 2008 at 9:26 PM. Reason : .]

7/31/2008 9:21:36 PM

I just saw Engin Atsur trying to guard Dwayne Wade....teh result wasnt good...but Im glad to see Atsur's career still going well!

7/31/2008 9:45:17 PM

they were just saying that Coach K got a bunch of good players not on Team USA, for practice...Derek Rose was one mentioned...but anyway he drew up liek 6-8 defensive press defenses and got that team to constantly run them against Team USA to prepare them...and many of the defenses are ones that Greece, Argentina, etc run...K is a sly bastard

7/31/2008 9:53:08 PM

I didn't say I wanted Iverson at this stage of his career. My comment reflected the lunacy of the idea that the US team isn't in need of inside scoring. Dwight Howard and Carlos Boozer sure as fuck aren't going to be able to score in bunches in these games. Bosh might provide occasional scoring pop but clearly not at Carmelo's level.

Last Olympics we didn't have enough scoring. The only two players who played well were Iverson and Odom who both had monster tournaments.


And please do not even try to compare what Kobe does every year in May/June to the average NBA player. I realize its really physically demanding sipping cris in the club, fucking girls with weaves, financing mismanaged entreprenurial business enterprises, and discharging firearms in public... but are you really going to compare that to travelling full-time and being the go-to-guy for 44 minutes a night against elite level competition who will foul the living fuck out of you everytime you take it to the basket?

7/31/2008 10:03:15 PM

the way you explain it, Kobe is hands down the best player in the NBA, but in international basketball he is a joke

I'm not somebody who thinks we'll roll over the competition...anyone who has watched international bball lately would be a fool to believe that...but you make it sound a helluva lot worse than it is

[Edited on July 31, 2008 at 10:08 PM. Reason : .]

7/31/2008 10:07:17 PM

^^^most basketball experts are all pretty adamant that K is one of the best possible coaches for USA basketball. he's great at bringing teams together and teaching defense...duke has fallen down a notch during the rise of "one and dones" - but hopefully K can take advantage of an EXTREMELY talented roster to win the gold.

i'd still like another solid post player though.

[Edited on July 31, 2008 at 10:07 PM. Reason : /]

7/31/2008 10:07:28 PM

after watching that game, i don't feel great about us winning gold.

say what you want about it being an exhibition.

7/31/2008 10:10:00 PM

Quote :

"the way you explain it, Kobe is hands down the best player in the NBA, but in international basketball he is a joke"

Offensively the NBA is all about mismatches. Kobe represents a continuous mismatch because if you put 95% of SG's on him he will back them down because he's the best post player in the NBA.

If you put a bigger player on him he will use dribble penetration if you play him close or shoot over him if you sag off.

James Posey (with help) and Tayshaun Prince are the only players in the league who come to mind immediately who can limit his production without significant help from the rest of the defense. Thats only because they are long enough to contest jump shots without having to play so close that Kobe can blow by them with ease.



International play is a team game. Three point shots are routine jumpers. Out of control drives through the lane are not rewarded with free throws. Zone defenses limit the effectiveness of dribble drives, post moves, and mismatches.

In international play a team is defined by the way they play as a unit.

NBA stars whose games are defined by isolation plays like T-Mac and Vince Carter become worthless.

NBA scrubs like Jaskevicious become lethal. Role players like Oberto become stars.

Ultimately, Chris Paul makes us a dangerous offensive team. It doesn't matter if you surround him with Kobe, Mike Miller, or even Matt Carroll on the perimeter. He is going to create open three pointers for great shooters. On the inside it doesn't matter if he's tossing alley oops to Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudamire, Tyson Chandler, or Leon Powe. A dunk is a fucking dunk.

Dwight Howard is going to play goalie on defense. If you lose the goalie then you can't ask Lebron, Kobe, and Wade to play the passing lanes. Are you really better off letting undermatched athletes with a lethal stroke shoot threes, run pick and rolls, and take midrange jumpers... or would you rather pressure the fuck out of the ball and passing lanes and force white guys to play at a frantic pace against the best athletes in the world?

D-Wade can shoot the international three and go to the basket any time he wants. He looks like a man possessed right now. Would you really take Kobe (1-7 FG tonight) who seems disinterested in creating easy baskets over a guy like Wade who is committed to scoring?

Lebron is a no-brainer. He had a ridiculous game tonight as usual. Lebron is a disgusting PG/SG like he's being used in Cleveland. But when you place him at point forward he's the best player in basketball history. He has a better skillset than Scottie Pippen and better size than Anthony Mason. It's a shame his talent is being wasted in Cleveland playing out of position.

There's simply no way you can argue Kobe is more important than Carmelo. If Kobe goes down we replace him with Redd/Deron and we barely miss a beat offensively. Defensively we lose some value.... but if Carmelo goes down we have to move Lebron to PF and play a SG/SF combo of Kobe and Wade which leaves us without the kind of size and less bench options.

8/1/2008 1:42:35 AM

Kobe is the best perimeter defender on the team.
Melo is the best offensive player on the team .

both are vital to the success of this team but..........

Defense wins Championships.

8/1/2008 7:41:51 AM

espn2

8/1/2008 8:06:14 AM

25-7, USA up over Lithuania

8/1/2008 8:21:10 AM

this commentator that is not fran fraschilla sucks.

i don't see team USA being beaten this year. the effort is there and they appear to be playing somewhat as a unit...and they have been playing very unselfish basketball as well.

8/1/2008 8:54:15 AM

they let up what? 87 against turkey?

and you don't see them possibly losing?

all these run and gun alley oops are sweet to watch against the little guys, but it's not going to keep working and i'm afraid that we don't have the half court offense that we need to. they're basically the unc of the olympics right now.

[Edited on August 1, 2008 at 9:04 AM. Reason : i'm going to be absolutely livid if they don't win gold, for the record.]

8/1/2008 9:02:19 AM

only up by 14 against Lithuania

I think they will win the gold though

8/1/2008 9:19:01 AM

You gotta figure most of our games are going to be close early. The goal is to pressure the hell out of the other team and force them to run, basically what Duke does. They'll be able to keep up early on but eventually our athletes will outlast theres. That the idea anyway.

8/1/2008 10:32:26 AM

120-84 final score.

GO USA!

Dwyane Wade is looking pretty nasty. I'm glad to see that he's healthy, hopefully he will stay that way. Check out his windmill off an alley oop from this game, nice.

I watched most of the game, missed the beginning. Apparently K started Kobe, Kidd, Redd, Boozer & Bosh. Who all ended up playing less minutes than the "subs".

I'm pretty sure LeBron and others subbed in pretty soon in the first quarter. We were up 31-15 after the 1st. Then they played us almost even for the 2nd & 3rd quarters (USA +9), and we finished them off in the 4th 29-18.

Team is looking pretty good, still a long way to go. Gold here we come.


Box score w/ minutes: http://www.nba.com/usabasketball/boxscore.jsp?gameId=1710800003

There are also video highlights on the front page of http://www.nba.com

[Edited on August 1, 2008 at 11:03 AM. Reason : video. go USA]

8/1/2008 10:40:46 AM

Quote :

"I watched most of the game, missed the beginning. Apparently K started Kobe, Kidd, Redd, Boozer & Bosh. Who all ended up playing less minutes than the "subs"."

no he didn't

it was Kidd, Kobe, Carmelo, Lebron, Howard

8/1/2008 12:15:03 PM

Playing against Russia, Live now on ESPN2.

Start of the 4th, USA up 73-51 w/ 9 minutes to go.

8/3/2008 4:38:27 AM

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/basketball/news/story?id=3517044

Kirilenko scores 18 but Kobe is productive in the half court offense and Team USA wins by 21

8/3/2008 2:02:16 PM

Quote :

"this commentator that is not fran fraschilla sucks."

Haha, I knew I wasn't the only one thinking that. I do know that he was "stoked" for the X-Games.

8/3/2008 10:44:10 PM

*Side Note* - How is the coach decided? cddweller wants to know and I actually couldn't find it. I told her it was by a selection committee, but was vague on the other details.

8/4/2008 9:34:45 PM

anyone have any vid of the turkey game?

8/4/2008 9:38:17 PM

^^

Quote :

"USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team program Managing Director Jerry Colangelo officially announced today that Basketball Hall of Fame coach and Duke University (N.C.) head mentor Mike Krzyzewski has been named head coach of the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team program for 2006-2008. Krzyzewski's selection was approved by USA Basketball's Executive Committee."

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=208713

8/4/2008 9:48:16 PM

Fuck these anti-ncsu espn assholes

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&page=USATurkey-080731

Quote :

"Team USA's traps repeatedly led to turnovers, and James put back his own miss off a steal to give the Americans their first double-digit lead, 47-37. On Turkey's next possession, James ripped the ball out of Engin Atsur's hands and was immediately hacked, a clear path foul (in FIBA, they call it an "unsportsmanlike foul") that gave James two free throws and allowed the Americans to retain possession."

If you watch the actual video at the 9:30 mark, you can clearly see that it was Ilyasova, not Atsur.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UMWnE7-inH8

[Edited on August 4, 2008 at 10:01 PM. Reason : Atsur played only 3 mins and got a TO]

8/4/2008 10:00:21 PM

Only beat Australia by 11, and they didn't have Bogut.

Didn't watch the game, but looking at the box score it seems like Anthony and Bryant ball hogged it up a bit and missed a lot of shots. First sign of trouble? Hope not.

8/5/2008 11:23:40 AM

Quote :

"First sign of trouble?"

no, letting turkey score 87 and not having a half court offense was the first sign of trouble.

8/5/2008 12:28:09 PM

we only won a preseason game by 11

stop the presses

8/5/2008 12:29:48 PM

I watched the game, we were definitely pretty sloppy, but like ^ said, it's a preseason game, and they were definitely trying out some things for future games that weren't working out. For instance, they were trying to run a lot of backdoor passes to cutters to the basket, and they fouled it up a lot in the first half. Once they start connecting on things like that, the offense will flow much better.

On the flip side, the offense was still way too focused on isolation plays, i.e. give the ball to Kobe or Paul or Lebron and everyone else just stand back and watch. Not good. Defense looked ok in forcing some steals, but also gave up a lot of open shots. Seemed (to me) to work better with a full court press.

8/5/2008 12:59:57 PM

this is the only time I actually like Coach K and wish him the best

8/5/2008 5:29:16 PM

I want us to win by ignoring the Coach K plan and playing streetball

8/5/2008 5:36:07 PM

for anybody hating on Coach K, Nate McMillan is part of his staff, if that helps

8/5/2008 6:27:17 PM

whoh they actually call intentional fouls for this, thats awesome

8/5/2008 8:08:42 PM

jesus christ, this is hard to even watch.

update 8:20: we suck.

[Edited on August 5, 2008 at 8:21 PM. Reason : no way we win gold. absolutely no way.]

8/5/2008 8:11:33 PM

any idea what channel the game is on on sunday?

8/7/2008 1:11:42 PM

^wow

8/7/2008 1:17:01 PM

ha, sorry, i don't watch nbc. NBC at 10am for the rest of the people like me.

8/7/2008 1:27:27 PM

We are going to be beaten by a team with good ballhandlers. That Dook overplay defense is great for generating turnovers and fastbreaks to blow out teams that can't handle the ball, and then getting destroyed by anyone that can dribble to the rack for easy baskets.

8/7/2008 3:12:13 PM

You're right. Duke's been DESTROYED almost everytime they play a team with ball handlers. We're doomed.

8/7/2008 3:26:20 PM

They have lost the last few times against Carolina.

And nobody handles balls better than the tarheels.

8/7/2008 3:30:34 PM

Funny I remmeber Duke winning in the dean dome this year. But i couldn't possibley expect someone on to have their facts straight. I also don't recall Duke having a superior level of athleticism relative to UNC. I better, but still not great comparison would be Kansas. They pressure everything and overplay wings more than hooters.

8/7/2008 3:38:25 PM