2012 Olympic Team

[PumpkinFunk]

Haha wow, you really did.

BTW, Chandler and Bosh look absolutely terrible today. I'm rethinking my stance on Bosh being a legitimate NBA player, not to mention a member of the national team.

Bosh was one of those "good player on mediocre team" who looked better because of the team he was on. Last season, he was pretty solid. This year, he's fallen off the map. I think because LeBron is playing better, Bosh has lost it. Defensively, Bosh isn't that great. Offensively, he's been bad. He's not a great rebounder, either. Chandler is an offensive black hole and Bosh is risky. I'm very concerned about how our front line can go up against the Gasol brothers. We have mismatches at the 1-3 positions, but we're totally outclassed by the Gasol brothers (and potentially Serge Ibaka, who is on the Spanish national team, too). Gonna be one of the big issues Coach K has to deal with.

[Johnny Chill]

Rose is done.
Deron Williams has said that he wants to sign before the Olympics, if he doesn't he won't go.

This is a homer pick but I would love to see Kyrie as the PG to make it if Williams doesn't go. Paul would be the only true PG on the team w/o Williams. Westbrook is more of a combo.

[Greg_Newton]

Seems like Paul/Westbrook/Williams would be locks for the PG spot if Williams can settle his contract, but it definitely does get murkier after that. I'd have to assume that Rondo would be up before Kyrie, but it's certainly not a ridiculous suggestion...

[SilkyJ]

Seems like Paul/Westbrook/Williams would be locks for the PG spot if Williams can settle his contract, but it definitely does get murkier after that. I'd have to assume that Rondo would be up before Kyrie, but it's certainly not a ridiculous suggestion...

They;ve said they wont add anyone, but i guess if people keep going down you might be forced to. Still, you're probably fine even if you take only two of Paul/WBrook/Williams as Kobe, Wade, and Lebron are all more than capable of playing I]and guarding[/I] the PG position.

If we only take 2 PGs, I would think that a lineup of Kobe, Wade, Lebron, Durant + a post player might be our best or 2nd best lineup and I won't be surprised to see it a fair amount.

[gep]

This is a homer pick but I would love to see Kyrie as the PG to make it if Williams doesn't go. Paul would be the only true PG on the team w/o Williams. Westbrook is more of a combo.

Yes... staying with the homer picks... what about Kyle, who has been in Spain the last year?

[Johnny Chill]

Yes... staying with the homer picks... what about Kyle, who has been in Spain the last year?

You think he will make the Spanish National Team?

[subzero02]

Let's hope no one else gets hurt during the playoffs... Kyrie might get his chance earlier than anyone thought. It is not a stretch to see Chris Paul decide to skip the Olympics if he gets too banged up in the playoffs.

[SilkyJ]

Per the frontpage, "all bets are off" and K&Colangelo may look to add someone. Link.

They specifically mention the PG & Center positions as areas where they'll have to look, no surprise, and the only player they mention by name here Demarcus Cousins, who was being considered for the select team, but don't mention anyone else other than the select team in general. The writer mentions Bynum, who has said he won't be available due to knee therapy.

Another interesting item that I had forgotten about: 12-man final rosters are due on June 1. Playoffs aren't over til June 28, and Colangelo hinted they may try and request more time...no idea if that'll actually work. I had forgotten that they're submitting rosters without any sort of tryout, that makes the selection process even more difficult.

Let's hope no one else gets hurt during the playoffs... Kyrie might get his chance earlier than anyone thought.

I doubt it, but i'll give it a 10% chance given Colangelo's comments. I think Paul, Westbrook and Williams will all make the team over him given their commitment and involvement for several years. That's part of what K & Colangelo ask for from the players, and its something I'm sure they'll put some emphasis on when picking the team. Kyrie is actually the best shooter of the bunch, which will help him, and it wouldn't surprise me if Kyrie outplayed, by a little, westbrook and williams in a tryout--but there won't be any tryouts. While K knows Kyrie well and really likes him, given that he's less established given he's a rookie, his inexperience overall (though he certainly plays beyond his year), some of his holes on defense, and the other guys' longer term commitment to the national team, I think those 3 guys will all make it over him.

Its a very similar situation to 2008 when Durant almost made the team after his rookie year, but didn't quite make the cut and K gave preference to some guys who had been committed for several years and could play a specific role like Tayshaun Prince.

But the injury bug is out there and if it bites and/or if D-Will can't get his free agency dealt with in a timely manner than Kyrie may be pressed into service (though free agency doesn't start til July 1...so that's another quirk K&Co have to deal with--what if they put D-Will on the roster, and come late July he still hasn't signed with a team and has to skip?? Now they're down to 11 players before even getting to London!). Still, let's say only two of Paul/Westbrook/Williams are available in a month, it wouldn't shock me to see K&Co. only take those two, leaving Kyrie off, given the glut of players on the wing, and the number of those guys that can handle the ball. Wade, Lebron and even Kobe are all capable of being our 3rd PG in a pinch (realistically we're talking a few minutes/game...unless someone gets injured in London...).

While I had Rose starting for this team, I'm less worried about our PG situation than our C situation. At the end of the day, we still have 4 of the best 5 or 6 players in the game with Wade, Lebron, Kobe and Durant who will all command the ball, and b/w paul/williams/westbrook I think we'll be just fine at PG. What we really need is someone to be serviceable in the post in terms of rebounding and defense. I think we can manage, but I'm curious to see if we add someone...the hardest part is how do you add someone who hasn't really been a part of the program, and who won't even have a workout/tryout? Especially a headcase like Demarcus Cousins?

[Starter]

Not for nothing, Chris Bosh isn't a bad player. Good numbers this year, Top 50 in efficiency, slightly better than Chandler. He's not a banger, but he can play for my team any time. He's just not scoring 24 points per game anymore since he's on a team with two much better basketball players.

My feeling is that you'd see me play for Team USA before you see Rondo play there after the weirdness two years ago.

Cousins is an interesting case. He'd make sense skills- and needs-wise, but Krzyzewski and Co. would have to be convinced he'd be on his best behavior, and I think similar concerns arose with Rondo a couple years ago, legit or not. That said, he'd be an asset for depth alone, much less his high level of talent, and I'd love to see him on the team. Perhaps they spin it that he has an opportunity to learn in a structured environment with a great coaching staff and teammates. Which is all true.

[SilkyJ]

Cousins is an interesting case. He'd make sense skills- and needs-wise, but Krzyzewski and Co. would have to be convinced he'd be on his best behavior, and I think similar concerns arose with Rondo a couple years ago, legit or not. That said, he'd be an asset for depth alone, much less his high level of talent, and I'd love to see him on the team. Perhaps they spin it that he has an opportunity to learn in a structured environment with a great coaching staff and teammates. Which is all true.

Agree 100%. Makes sense in terms of the team's needs, but he seems to have some serious baggage. W/O a tryout opportunity to see how he meshes with the players, accepts his role, etc. its hard to even get a read on whether the structure and veteran mentoring he'd get would actually keep that baggage in check. Arenas and Rondo are examples where the tryouts brought out the fact that the baggage would be too much. In both cases those guys were more established than Demarcus is, so Cousins' age and inexperience in the leauge might mean he's more open to receiving mentoring, but I think its a big gamble to put him on the team w/o the opportunity to at least see how he meshes in a tryout environment. Throw in the fact that he's not likely to start and would need to fully embrace a 2nd or 3rd string role, something he's never had to do, and its even dicier.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

Somebody might want to think about giving Ty Lawson a look if they decide another point guard is needed to replace Rose.

[SilkyJ]

Somebody might want to think about giving Ty Lawson a look if they decide another point guard is needed to replace Rose.

How's Ty's D and how does he deal with larger, more physical PGs? He's definitely a really solid PG and very quick offensively, but the int'l game favors bigger, more physical PGs. Ty is definitely strong, but he's a little on the small side, especially for int'l ball, and I don't recall him being great defensively in general or against bigger PGs, but that could have easily changed. He has become a pretty good shooter, which would be a plus for him.

[CDu]

Somebody might want to think about giving Ty Lawson a look if they decide another point guard is needed to replace Rose.

Lawson is several spots down the pecking order at PG. We have Paul, Williams, Westbrook, and Rondo (if he and Coach K could put the past behind them) as the top 4 remaining options at PG. Lawson would be in a pack with Wall, Conley, and Jennings as the next tier of PG.

[UrinalCake]

I'd love to see Kyrie play for the US, but I don't think it will happen this year for a number of reasons

- experience, both in terms of lack of playing time and being further down the pecking order behind guys who have more seniority
- Kyrie is a scoring guard, and this team needs more of a distributor
- his turnovers are still kind of high
- the international game lends itself towards big, physical guards. Kyrie is incredibly quick and crafty but not as physical as guys like Rose, Williams, even Rondo.

Of course I still love the guy and I expect him to be in the conversation the next time around.

[mkirsh]

Still, let's say only two of Paul/Westbrook/Williams are available in a month, it wouldn't shock me to see K&Co. only take those two, leaving Kyrie off, given the glut of players on the wing, and the number of those guys that can handle the ball. Wade, Lebron and even Kobe are all capable of being our 3rd PG in a pinch (realistically we're talking a few minutes/game...unless someone gets injured in London...).

With the injury to Rose, I wouldn't be surprised if K asked Jason Kidd to come back to provide depth and leadership at the PG spot (in limited minutes of course).

[superdave]

With the injury to Rose, I wouldn't be surprised if K asked Jason Kidd to come back to provide depth and leadership at the PG spot (in limited minutes of course).

Fortunately the U.S. has plenty of depth at point. Paul, Deron Williams and Westbrook can all play it and are not aging in dog years like Kidd. Also, Deron and Westbrook can play the 2 spot.

I think the biggest concern is going to be the big guys.

[Billy Dat]

RE: The Select Team
A Colangelo said a few weeks back, they are trying to pick the Select Team with a vision of it being the 2014 World Championship Team. I guess they understand that it is unrealistic to expect most of the guys to give up their summers every other year. So, the Worlds serve as kind of a tryout for the Olympic Team and the Olympic teams winds up being a mix of the prior Olympic team and the Worlds team. Had the US not won the World gold in 2010, that may not have become the blueprint but I think it is sound.

RE: Kyrie and Lawson
I'd hope both would get serious consideration for the Select Team. Kyrie has a decent amount of USA Basketball already under his belt. As for Lawson, who better than K knows how good that guy is? He has really impressed me in the pros. As for his stature, Lawson is pretty thick and strong, I don't worry about him getting punked around. Chris Paul is slight and has done well in FIBA competition.

RE: Rondo
I agree with those who say his Team USA days are over. The story seems to be that it was Rondo v Rose and Rose prevailed, and Rondo is too proud (I don't blame him) to keep coming back and being potentially rejected. I think Agent Zero, too, just wasn't good enough. But, I don't blame him for getting pissed that they had him fly all the way to Japan for 2-3 days only to send him home.

RE: Cousins
I think the presence of so many established Superstars prevents any young buck from acting out. While Cousins did get his coach fired, he also played his butt off since that firing. It's a risk, but one that I think is worth taking. I also think these kids need a chance to grow up and shouldn't forever be labeled by what they did when they were 20 and 21. If he's smart, he'd jump at the chance.

There are a lot of playoff games to be played and the risk of injury is huge. I don't know if we have the chance to add players as injuries occur after the final roster is submitted? If so, the guys on the Select Team will be that much more important.

[UrinalCake]

Anyone else catch the Stern interview on the Colin Cowherd show this morning? He was asked about a number of topics, and at one point said they would consider going to the model that they use in soccer and only allow players 23 and under to compete. I'm not entirely sure what the rationale for this is (didn't catch the whole interview), nor did I hear him say if this would open the door to college players getting a shot. At that point in the discussion they had been talking about all of the injuries this season and whether the compressed schedule had anything to do with it, and that led to a discussion of guys who also play in the Olympics, and then he brought up the under 23 idea. So maybe he thinks younger guys can handle playing the extra games.

Going back a little, when professional athletes were first allowed to compete in the Olympics, he said there was a lot of discussion about what to do with NBA players. The international players in the NBA were going to be playing for their home countries, and it would be hard to stop them from doing so, so it wouldn't make sense to only prevent American NBA players from playing for the USA. I wonder if this will be a similar issue moving forward if the under-23 rule comes into play. NBA players who are over 23 could still play for other countries, presumably. I guess it depends if it's an NBA rule or a USA Basketball rule. And does the NBA have any jurisdiction over players who play for different countries, unless it's specifically included in their contract?

[awhom111]

I am little bit surprised that nobody has linked up the results of this morning's group draw yet:
http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/new...sReleArti.html

The United States gets Argentina, France, Tunisia, and the top two qualifiers in the final tournament. The other group is Spain, Australia, China, Brazil, Great Britain, and the last qualifier from the final tournament. The top 4 teams in each group move on to the next round.

It is hard to tell right now how tough our group is. Argentina's stars are probably looking at this tournament as being one final opportunity together while France is a pretty solid team, but one we probably match up with better than some other teams. Drawing the top qualifiers good make things pretty tough with the possibility of a Russia in addition to either Greece or Lithuania, although I would not count out the other teams from the Americas with the tournament being held in Venezuela and Macedonia will look to recapture their magic from last summer.

On the other hand, Geno was basically handed one of the easiest possible groups for his team.

[A-Tex Devil]

Anyone else catch the Stern interview on the Colin Cowherd show this morning? He was asked about a number of topics, and at one point said they would consider going to the model that they use in soccer and only allow players 23 and under to compete. I'm not entirely sure what the rationale for this is (didn't catch the whole interview), nor did I hear him say if this would open the door to college players getting a shot. At that point in the discussion they had been talking about all of the injuries this season and whether the compressed schedule had anything to do with it, and that led to a discussion of guys who also play in the Olympics, and then he brought up the under 23 idea. So maybe he thinks younger guys can handle playing the extra games.

Going back a little, when professional athletes were first allowed to compete in the Olympics, he said there was a lot of discussion about what to do with NBA players. The international players in the NBA were going to be playing for their home countries, and it would be hard to stop them from doing so, so it wouldn't make sense to only prevent American NBA players from playing for the USA. I wonder if this will be a similar issue moving forward if the under-23 rule comes into play. NBA players who are over 23 could still play for other countries, presumably. I guess it depends if it's an NBA rule or a USA Basketball rule. And does the NBA have any jurisdiction over players who play for different countries, unless it's specifically included in their contract?

I would be fine with this idea, which I think may be a FIFA rule and not an Olympics rule. Have FIBA require an all under 23 team with 2 exceptions. Although the exceptions would have a much bigger impact, I think, in basketball than it does on soccer.

I think, even with K and Colangelo, there tends to be a a bit of group think and deference for deference's sake when the US teams are finally picked. By having this "under 23" rule, there is a freshness to it every 4 years that I think could be worthwhile. The only reason the Dream Team existed is because, as someone stated upthread, in 1988, we were the only country not playing its professionals, and it showed. If every team has to follow the same rules, we are still on an even playing field.