2012 Olympic Team

[Billy Dat]

So...which 3 of the 6 is it going to be? I say:

IN:
Iggy, Griffin, Harden

OUT:
Davis, Gordon, Gay

I am most confident in Iggy. I think they'll go Harden over Gordon because of Gordon's coming off injury and Griffin over Davis because of Davis' inexperience. But, it could easily be Iggy, Davis, Gordon, too.

[superdave]

So...which 3 of the 6 is it going to be? I say:

IN:
Iggy, Griffin, Harden

OUT:
Davis, Gordon, Gay

I am most confident in Iggy. I think they'll go Harden over Gordon because of Gordon's coming off injury and Griffin over Davis because of Davis' inexperience. But, it could easily be Iggy, Davis, Gordon, too.

I agree with what seems to be the consensus on the board - Harden over Gordon.

I also think if you take one of Gay/Iggy you have to assume that guy will not play much, behind Lebron, Melo and Durant on the wing. So would either guy have a problem sitting? Also, could one of these guys play the 4 or 5 in the event of an injury? My guess is Iggy is bulkier and more a team guy than Gay and gets the nod.

Finally, I think you have to think about an additional big man to the tryouts - Hibbert, Cousins or Monroe would be good options. If there's no additions, is Blake Griffin in?

[BD80]

I agree with what seems to be the consensus on the board - Harden over Gordon.

I also think if you take one of Gay/Iggy you have to assume that guy will not play much, behind Lebron, Melo and Durant on the wing. So would either guy have a problem sitting? Also, could one of these guys play the 4 or 5 in the event of an injury? My guess is Iggy is bulkier and more a team guy than Gay and gets the nod.

Finally, I think you have to think about an additional big man to the tryouts - Hibbert, Cousins or Monroe would be good options. If there's no additions, is Blake Griffin in?

ESPN's Rick Bucher is guessing Gordon over Harden. Gordon's a better shooter, and the Thunder already have two Olympians - better to spread the honor around.

He agrees on Iggy as the better role player, less ego, doesn't need the ball.

[JasonEvans]

I have to think that Griffin will make it over Davis. The notion that a rookie with zero minutes of NBA experience and 1 year of college could be better than an all-star like Griffin just does not ring right to me. Even if it is close, I would think USA Basketball would not want to upset and insult Griffin by leaving him off the team. Davis, if he is that good, will have many future chances to make the team and represent Team USA.

--Jason "I will be quite surprised if Griffin misses and Davis makes it -- I think Gordon, Harden, Gay, and Iggy are the only question marks" Evans

[ice-9]

I agree with the selection of Iggy, because the guy is a terror on defence and that attribute alone can get him playing time. I can see him on the court whenever the team needs to lock down on defence and/or cause turnovers.

Imagine Westbrook, Iggy, LeBron, Love and Chandler on the court together at the same time. Yikes, fastbreak city!

[Billy Dat]

By the way, have you guys seen the crazy run-up to the Olympics for Team USA? While we know USA Basketball does everything first class (private planes, the best hotels, trainers and massagers, etc.), you can understand why guys who are older and not 100% physically opt out...it is a grueling playing, travel and appearance schedule.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...&sct=hp_t12_a0

"Six days of training in Las Vegas will be followed by an exhibition July 12 at UNLV against the Dominican Republic. The U.S. team will then fly to Washington D.C. for a weekend of practice and several appearances to honor the U.S. military, followed by an exhibition on July 16 vs. Brazil, a likely candidate to meet the U.S. in the gold-medal final.

Two days after that exhibition, the U.S. will travel to Manchester, England for a day of practice and a third exhibition game against Great Britain, led by Luol Deng of the Bulls. The game could be a preview of what's to come, as the Britons have a chance to play their way into an Olympic quarterfinal against the U.S.

On July 20 the U.S. training will reach its peak. The team will spend six days in Barcelona, the city that served as host to the original Dream Team of the 1992 Olympics. While in Spain the U.S. will play exhibitions against potential gold-medal finalists Argentina (July 22) and Spain (July 24)."

Of course, for us fans, I hope every single one of these 5 games will be on TV. Bring it on!!!!!

[subzero02]

If they do televise these games we are less than a week away from basketball... WOOOOHOOOOO!!!

[Billy Dat]

If they do televise these games we are less than a week away from basketball... WOOOOHOOOOO!!!

Either way, subzero, NBA Summer League starts next week...Kyle, Miles, Nolan, John, Kyrie, maybe Lance once he finishes up with the Select Team. You gotta get yourself some NBA TV if you don't have it already.

[awhom111]

By the way, have you guys seen the crazy run-up to the Olympics for Team USA? While we know USA Basketball does everything first class (private planes, the best hotels, trainers and massagers, etc.), you can understand why guys who are older and not 100% physically opt out...it is a grueling playing, travel and appearance schedule.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...&sct=hp_t12_a0

"Six days of training in Las Vegas will be followed by an exhibition July 12 at UNLV against the Dominican Republic. The U.S. team will then fly to Washington D.C. for a weekend of practice and several appearances to honor the U.S. military, followed by an exhibition on July 16 vs. Brazil, a likely candidate to meet the U.S. in the gold-medal final.

Two days after that exhibition, the U.S. will travel to Manchester, England for a day of practice and a third exhibition game against Great Britain, led by Luol Deng of the Bulls. The game could be a preview of what's to come, as the Britons have a chance to play their way into an Olympic quarterfinal against the U.S.

On July 20 the U.S. training will reach its peak. The team will spend six days in Barcelona, the city that served as host to the original Dream Team of the 1992 Olympics. While in Spain the U.S. will play exhibitions against potential gold-medal finalists Argentina (July 22) and Spain (July 24)."

Of course, for us fans, I hope every single one of these 5 games will be on TV. Bring it on!!!!!

All of those games are listed on ESPN3 right now, so I believe they will all be somewhere on the ESPN family of networks. Having most of these games earlier in the day makes conflicts less likely.

While the schedule may seem pretty grueling, our team is way behind most of the other teams in terms of time together at this point. I think Spain is the only other team getting off to this late a start with France also waiting for a while to get their full team together. That is one reason why I think our schedule in group play is conducive to us getting a good start. The two qualifying winners in our group will have had as much as one month more practice time and of course far more competitive games than us by the time the Olympics roll around.

[Billy Dat]

While the schedule may seem pretty grueling, our team is way behind most of the other teams in terms of time together at this point. I think Spain is the only other team getting off to this late a start with France also waiting for a while to get their full team together. That is one reason why I think our schedule in group play is conducive to us getting a good start. The two qualifying winners in our group will have had as much as one month more practice time and of course far more competitive games than us by the time the Olympics roll around.

These are good points, and you remind me that K has mentioned that the players get antsy after too many consecutive days of practice. Looks like they are getting a steady diet of competition. Considering the fact that every game has only 200 minutes of PT to divide up, they probably get more worn out at practice anyway.

The tweets are starting to emerge from Day 1 practice, here's a good one from NY Daily News Knicks beat writer Frank Isola.

Frank Isola ‏@FisolaNYDN
Watching Team USA practice in Las Vegas. Let's just say Angola is in big trouble

[Newton_14]

Chris Paul Injures Thumb, in the first team practice session today. They are hoping it is not serious and he will try to practice again on Saturday if all goes well. Injury bug continuing to hit this team hard.


In other news, Coangelo has not ruled out choosing Anthony Davis as the last big man. I actually hope the kid makes the team. I think he can help them.

[Reilly]

Q: No down time for you this year?

A: I’ve got a love for the game and a great respect for representing my country.

[JasonEvans]

This ESPN article quotes sources saying that Blake Griffin is a lock to make the team. It also says that Davis' injury has kept him out of practices thus far and would seem to make him a huge longshot to be chosen for the team.

-Jason

[Newton_14]

This ESPN article quotes sources saying that Blake Griffin is a lock to make the team. It also says that Davis' injury has kept him out of practices thus far and would seem to make him a huge longshot to be chosen for the team.

-Jason

That likely closes the door on Davis then. I think Iguodala gets a spot and then it is down to Gordon or Harden. We should know tonight I guess.

[jipops]

This ESPN article quotes sources saying that Blake Griffin is a lock to make the team. It also says that Davis' injury has kept him out of practices thus far and would seem to make him a huge longshot to be chosen for the team.

-Jason

Well I hope I'm wrong about Griffin. Right now I feel he could be a big liability defensively. Maybe we'll only need him for spot minutes like Boozer was used in '08 though that team had more depth. He'll help in the earlier rounds against weaker opponents providing rest for other front court guys. But I don't see him being effective against the likes of Spain or Brazil.

[NSDukeFan]

Well I hope I'm wrong about Griffin. Right now I feel he could be a big liability defensively. Maybe we'll only need him for spot minutes like Boozer was used in '08 though that team had more depth. He'll help in the earlier rounds against weaker opponents providing rest for other front court guys. But I don't see him being effective against the likes of Spain or Brazil.

I don't know much about Griffin's defensive abilities, but would he really struggle that much that he would not be able to play against Nene, Tiago Splitter and Varejao, or the Gasol brothers and Serge Ibaka? Nene, Pau and Marc Gasol are the only above average offensive players in the NBA on that list and I don't imagine that Griffin is a much below average NBA defensive player. If he is an average defensive player and the rest of the roster is above average, could he not play some minutes as a big, dunk over a few guys and grab some rebounds over everyone?

[dcdevil2009]

I don't know much about Griffin's defensive abilities, but would he really struggle that much that he would not be able to play against Nene, Tiago Splitter and Varejao, or the Gasol brothers and Serge Ibaka? Nene, Pau and Marc Gasol are the only above average offensive players in the NBA on that list and I don't imagine that Griffin is a much below average NBA defensive player. If he is an average defensive player and the rest of the roster is above average, could he not play some minutes as a big, dunk over a few guys and grab some rebounds over everyone?

I don't think there's much question whether Griffin can hold his own against Brazil's or Spain's bigs, especially given the advantage the US will have on the perimeter, but shouldn't the comparison be Griffin v. Davis and who out of those two would fair better against the other nations' bigs. Griffin has more star power and dunks harder than Davis, but Davis, while much less experienced, is probably the better defender right now and is clearly the better free throw shooter. Davis is also at least as good of a ball handler and couldn't be a worse jump shooter than Griffin. Coach K has said that he's looking for someone who can play multiple positions, and while Griffin does a couple of things very, very well, he's not exactly the most versatile player in the world. However, it probably won't matter, as Davis doesn't quite seem to be at 100% and doesn't have the body of work to point to as a justification why he should make it over Griffin.

[FireOgilvie]

...led by Kyrie Irving!

A few rows of bleachers were filled by NBA coaches and executives watching the finalists of the national team scrimmage full-court against the younger players of the "select team.'' The pace was fast with a lot of shouting on defense and trapping in the frontcourt to create turnovers. In one five-minute scrimmage the seniors won 19-4 while the select team had trouble getting the ball to the rim and settled for jump shots falling away. In the next game, however, rookie of the year Kyrie Irving led the selects to a 14-11 upset as coach Byron Scott and GM Chris Grant watched happily.

From this article: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz1zxGYjTOk

[jipops]

I don't know much about Griffin's defensive abilities, but would he really struggle that much that he would not be able to play against Nene, Tiago Splitter and Varejao, or the Gasol brothers and Serge Ibaka? Nene, Pau and Marc Gasol are the only above average offensive players in the NBA on that list and I don't imagine that Griffin is a much below average NBA defensive player. If he is an average defensive player and the rest of the roster is above average, could he not play some minutes as a big, dunk over a few guys and grab some rebounds over everyone?

If it becomes a fullcourt game while Blake is in there then yes he could be very effective. If it becomes strictly a halfcourt game then I think he may struggle. But I don't think what Blake can or cannot give us offensively is a concern, we have so many other offensive weapons. His ability to provide weakside help and defend pick and rolls is my concern. This is why I would have preferred Davis.

[NSDukeFan]

If it becomes a fullcourt game while Blake is in there then yes he could be very effective. If it becomes strictly a halfcourt game then I think he may struggle. But I don't think what Blake can or cannot give us offensively is a concern, we have so many other offensive weapons. His ability to provide weakside help and defend pick and rolls is my concern. This is why I would have preferred Davis.

I agree you are justified in having defense as your primary concern, and I also believe that Davis will become an elite NBA defensive player and likely member of the next world championship roster. But, as dcdevil2009 stated above:

Davis doesn't quite seem to be at 100% and doesn't have the body of work to point to as a justification why he should make it over Griffin.

I would also have liked to have seen if a healthy Davis could have played his way onto the team, but at this point, he has not shown he can defend the pick and roll at an NBA or international level at a level superior to Griffin, who has proven that he can score and rebound at an NBA all-star level.