2012 Olympic Team

[Billy Dat]

http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2012/07...is-in-trouble/

Before anyone jumps on WakeDevil, the words he offered were lifted directly from the article. They should have been contained in quotes.

If you follow USA Basketball closely, you know that this is Chris Sheridan's favorite article to write. He worked at ESPN for years and has always covered Team USA. He loves to take the temperature of Team USA and if he senses even the slightest sense of arrogance or false confidence, he writes a "The US can lose!" piece. It's extremely predictable.

I think K is interested in Durant playing the Wade-off-the-bench role, although Wade was unique because he was disruptive both offensively and defensively. I see Westbrook as a more natural fit for that role. As for Kevin Love, I think K can't get over his seeming defensive deficiencies - he's not as good a defender as Chandler and isn't as quick as the undersized frontline options. I would like to see Love on the court more...and maybe we will. The team has only been practicing together as a full unit for a week.

[NSDukeFan]

Before anyone jumps on WakeDevil, the words he offered were lifted directly from the article. They should have been contained in quotes.

If you follow USA Basketball closely, you know that this is Chris Sheridan's favorite article to write. He worked at ESPN for years and has always covered Team USA. He loves to take the temperature of Team USA and if he senses even the slightest sense of arrogance or false confidence, he writes a "The US can lose!" piece. It's extremely predictable.

I think K is interested in Durant playing the Wade-off-the-bench role, although Wade was unique because he was disruptive both offensively and defensively. I see Westbrook as a more natural fit for that role. As for Kevin Love, I think K can't get over his seeming defensive deficiencies - he's not as good a defender as Chandler and isn't as quick as the undersized frontline options. I would like to see Love on the court more...and maybe we will. The team has only been practicing together as a full unit for a week.

Sorry Wake Devil, I gave my first negative comment in quite awhile, not realizing that was quoted material.

[UrinalCake]

I also wish the games were available on replay on ESPN3. The European time zones are going to mess with my basketball watching abilities.

I believe the Brazil game was available on replay for a couple of days, but it's down now. That's a little unusual, most events stay up for several weeks.

[subzero02]

The Brazil game was played on Monday... If it's down now it was available for under 48 hours.

[gep]

If I recall, NBA games that were on espn3 were never available for replay... whereas college games, and probably most everything else was available for 30 days for replay.

[Thurber Whyte]

Live updates on the game here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/oly...atch-live.html

[Bluedog]

Live updates on the game here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/oly...atch-live.html

I love the commentary from the Telegraph..."American hands have tipped away a great deal of posession which the British have had offensively. By contrast, the number of lay-ups available to the States have increased in proportion to British hesitancy going forward."..."perhaps a reflection of a more fragmented match..."..."Rankin, although pretty much the shortest man on the pitch is going well."..."Harden, a rarity in international sportsmen - a man with a beard who can play a bit..." "Team GB call a time out which means we are treated to five minutes of the 'kiss cam' operator provoking Chinese couples into awkward embraces."..."The organisers have imported the cheesy organ music from the USA"...hahaha, clearly not basketball experts writing this. Funny stuff.

[Billy Dat]

Live updates on the game here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/oly...atch-live.html

It's also on ESPN2 right now, for those with access to a television.

[phaedrus]

Some nice words about Luol Deng.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201..._a11&eref=sihp

[flyingdutchdevil]

Some nice words about Luol Deng.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201..._a11&eref=sihp

When I was living in London, on of the most amazing things I saw was a Nike poster of Luol Deng in the Tube. Basketball is as popular in the UK as rugby is in the US - while some people play it and others follow it, it isn't a very marketable sport and most people don't understand the strategy / rules. IMO, I sadly think that this isn't going to change, considering the Brit's preference for football (soccer), rugby, and cricket is all that they can take (and football is as popular in the UK as football, baseball, and basketball combined in the US).

That said, as per the article, I hope that Great Britain gets to the knock-out round as every bit of publicity for basketball is a plus.

[Billy Dat]

I guess a 40+ point thumping of the 43rd ranked FIBA team doesn't generate a lot of talk, but here are some observations:

-The US defense was awe inspiring. There were very few England (I know GB is more than just England) possessions that didn't include a steal or deflection. The pressure was so intense that you started to feel sorry for them.

-K went with Deron Williams and Durant instead of Paul and Melo in the starting 5. Williams had a GREAT game, he was attacking on offense but also drained several 3s in a row during one stretch. He was playing really physical ball, taking what the FIBA refs provided. During one sequence, an England guard drove and Williams hand checked him so hard that he bounced off his line and had to basically reset the offense - no whistle - FIBA baby!

-Anthony Davis got some extended run and really made some stuff happen. K's quote, "Well he’s a developing pro. He’s the best college player in the country, I really thought by far. He wasn’t sure he was even going to be on the team. He joined us almost 10 days late, so he’s catching up, getting the knowledge of our system. Tonight, he played really well. When we went zone, the physicality of the game did not enter into his game. He was able to roam free and that may be a weapon for us -- we go zone and have Anthony in the middle because he can certainly block some shots. He did a great job for us." The portion I bolded was so true, once Davis got used to being on the court and realized that, essentially, he was drawing the least attention on anyone on Team USA, he really let his game run free and it was really exciting. On occasion, he'd contest an outside shot, alter the shot, his momentum on the attempt would lead to a run out, someone would hit him with an outlet, and he'd explode to the rim for a flush or foul. As K said, he may have earned himself some more extended looks.

-According to Chris Sheridan, Deron and Westbrook are K's favorites in the backcourt. This article says as much, and includes a lot of other really good anecdotes I had never heard before - stuff about Rondo and Rose in 2010, etc.
http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2012/07...ntialed-day-1/

-So many international teams are full of guys who played in the American college system. I guess it's kind of like America's National Soccer Team where Jurgen Kilnsman is looking for any great internationally raised players with some strand of American connection that he can get classified to play on the National Team. The difference is the quality - many times Fran Frashilla would say something, with a wink, like, "Bringing up the ball for Britain is Mike Lenzly, who we all remember manning the point for Wofford!"

-Next up, Argentina. Anyone know when the game is actually being played. They are showing it tomorrow night at midnight, but that's only 6AM in Barcelona.

[gumbomoop]

-Next up, Argentina. Anyone know when the game is actually being played. They are showing it tomorrow night at midnight, but that's only 6AM in Barcelona.

According to official USA BBall site, it's Sunday 3:30 p.m. EDT = 9:30 p.m. in Barcelona.

http://www.usabasketball.com/

Also, this site seems to suggest that ESPN2 will televise the game live, but my DirecTV still has it listed as [delayed until] midnight EDT. Guess we might check out E2 at 3:30 Sun aft, just in case it's live, though I kinda doubt it.

[awhom111]

According to official USA BBall site, it's Sunday 3:30 p.m. EDT = 9:30 p.m. in Barcelona.

http://www.usabasketball.com/

Also, this site seems to suggest that ESPN2 will televise the game live, but my DirecTV still has it listed as [delayed until] midnight EDT. Guess we might check out E2 at 3:30 Sun aft, just in case it's live, though I kinda doubt it.

The game will be live on NBA TV. They have been running ads during the Summer League games. I have no idea why ESPN has been so adamant about promoting its delayed broadcast.

[WakeDevil]

What the future could look like if the next Olympics goes to under-23.

http://www.thebiglead.com/index.php/...-like-in-2016/

PG: Nathaniel Britt – UNC-bound point guard was a member of the U-18 team.
PG: Andrew Harrison – Highly-acclaimed point guard in the Class of 2013.

G: Aaron Harrison – It’d be a good thing to have twins on the team, right?
G/F: Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA – Assuming he lives up to the hype at UCLA – and improves his jumper – pencil him in the starting lineup.
SG: James Young – Class of 2013 lefty. Muhammad/Young would give the team two lefties to contend with; the 2012 team only has one (Harden).
G/F: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Charlotte Bobcats – The “veteran” of the team.
F: Jabari Parker – Sports Illustrated Cover Boy!
SF: Kyle Anderson, UCLA – While everyone’s looking to score, he’ll be the unselfish one.

PF/C: Nerlens Noel, Kentucky – Freshman will be 22 and probably going on his 3rd NBA season.
PF/C: Jahlil Okafor – Member of the USA Under-17 team.
PF – Julius Randle – Highly coveted 6-foot-8, 240 pound junior in high school.
C – Isaiah Austin, Baylor – I struggled to find another big, and felt it was Austin or Arizona’s Kaleb Tarczweski. The alternative is going with another point guard.

[dcdevil2009]

Am I the only one who sees Stern's and Cuban's desire to adopt a soccer style age limit for the Olympics and make the FIBA World Cup (formerly the world championship) the showcase international tournament nothing more than a cash grab for the NBA? After giving the 2010 USA roster and some of the other countries' rosters a quick glance, it looks like there are only 10 or so NBA players who wouldn't have played just as much international basketball since 2009. The Olympic soccer 3 overage players exception keeps most of the foreign NBA players involved in both tournaments and the US is already bringing mostly young players to the worlds. Despite Stern's talk about the pressure guys feel to play for their countries being alleviated by an age limit, the reality is that it will only be a few foreign NBA players who are actually impacted.

[awhom111]

Am I the only one who sees Stern's and Cuban's desire to adopt a soccer style age limit for the Olympics and make the FIBA World Cup (formerly the world championship) the showcase international tournament nothing more than a cash grab for the NBA? After giving the 2010 USA roster and some of the other countries' rosters a quick glance, it looks like there are only 10 or so NBA players who wouldn't have played just as much international basketball since 2009. The Olympic soccer 3 overage players exception keeps most of the foreign NBA players involved in both tournaments and the US is already bringing mostly young players to the worlds. Despite Stern's talk about the pressure guys feel to play for their countries being alleviated by an age limit, the reality is that it will only be a few foreign NBA players who are actually impacted.

Well, if they do manage to implement the age limit, the key is that it would help eliminate some of the international games in other years. Remember that the United States right now opts out of any tournaments that do not directly relate to the Olympics. As a result, we have only played in the past few even years. For all the other countries (maybe not counting Australia and New Zealand), they have to play their continental competitions in the odd years to qualify for the both the Olympics and World Championships. Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic had to play in the Central American Championship to attempt to qualify for next year's FIBA Americas tournament, which will serve as qualifiers for 2014 before they played their Olympic qualifiers (and they both needed to name some players to both tournament teams to make sure they would make it to the FIBA Americas). Similarly, Brazil and Argentina had to focus on both the South American Championshipa and Olympics this year. As a result, many countries are playing a full slate of international games every single summer. If you put the age limit on the Olympics, I would guess there would be U23 qualifiers for those instead of the full national teams. Then older players would only play in one odd year to qualify for the World Cup and one even year for the actual World Cup. I would have to imagine there is quite a bit of pressure on certain players to play for their countries. Germany without Dirk Nowitzki and Great Britain without Luol Deng are pretty bad teams, but with them, there is a pretty significant difference. Some people believe that Yao Ming's play for China every single summer contributed to the injuries that eventually ended his career.

[dcdevil2009]

Well, if they do manage to implement the age limit, the key is that it would help eliminate some of the international games in other years. Remember that the United States right now opts out of any tournaments that do not directly relate to the Olympics. As a result, we have only played in the past few even years. For all the other countries (maybe not counting Australia and New Zealand), they have to play their continental competitions in the odd years to qualify for the both the Olympics and World Championships. Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic had to play in the Central American Championship to attempt to qualify for next year's FIBA Americas tournament, which will serve as qualifiers for 2014 before they played their Olympic qualifiers (and they both needed to name some players to both tournament teams to make sure they would make it to the FIBA Americas). Similarly, Brazil and Argentina had to focus on both the South American Championshipa and Olympics this year. As a result, many countries are playing a full slate of international games every single summer. If you put the age limit on the Olympics, I would guess there would be U23 qualifiers for those instead of the full national teams. Then older players would only play in one odd year to qualify for the World Cup and one even year for the actual World Cup. I would have to imagine there is quite a bit of pressure on certain players to play for their countries. Germany without Dirk Nowitzki and Great Britain without Luol Deng are pretty bad teams, but with them, there is a pretty significant difference. Some people believe that Yao Ming's play for China every single summer contributed to the injuries that eventually ended his career.

I don't doubt that foreign countries are playing more international tournaments, but from what I've seen, an age limit would also include then same exception the FIFA uses for Olympic soccer, where teams are allowed three exceptions to the age limit. Therefore, the Dirks, Dengs, and Ginobilis of the world would still face the same pressure. When I said 10 or so players, the USA only had 5 over 23 guys in Turkey, so it would have saved 2 and very few teams from the rest of the world have more than 5 over 23 guys who are also in the NBA.

[awhom111]

I don't doubt that foreign countries are playing more international tournaments, but from what I've seen, an age limit would also include then same exception the FIFA uses for Olympic soccer, where teams are allowed three exceptions to the age limit. Therefore, the Dirks, Dengs, and Ginobilis of the world would still face the same pressure. When I said 10 or so players, the USA only had 5 over 23 guys in Turkey, so it would have saved 2 and very few teams from the rest of the world have more than 5 over 23 guys who are also in the NBA.

Wouldn't the age limit be universal across all leagues and not just a unilateral rule for the NBA? I see this as a move for the NBA to have some say in all aspects of international baseball in the same respect that MLB has control over the World Baseball Classic. I just do not see there being enough money involved at this point for the primary motivation to be financial.

Also, I think it would be great if the media and NBA executives could cool down on talk about all of this until after the Olympics. It would be nice for all of the focus to be on this team and what it needs to do to win this Gold Medal.

[Greg_Newton]

The USA-Argentina game is live on NBATV right now, BTW (second half just starting). I won't spoil the score for anyone who was waiting for the midnight replay, but we're completely living and dying by the three once again. We've now shot over 100 threes in 3.5 games.

[Greg_Newton]

Interesting game. Has to be concerning that we have such a stagnant offense with no consistent scoring at the rim or free throw line. Averaging just under 29 3PA/game so far.