TEAM USA: Who would you start?

[ForeverBlowingBubbles]

It's the final game. Your coach K. This is your chance to grab the worlds biggest basketball title. Who are you going with?

[CameronCrazy'11]

substitute Deron Williams for Jason Kidd. He shreds zones and is strong enough to get to the rim.

[COYS]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Live the site. I finally gave up resisting the urge to post. Bye bye productivity . . .

Anyway, I would actually put Lebron on the bench to start games for a lineup that would look like this:

Williams
Bryant
Anthony
Bosh
Howard

Anthony and James are redundant in many ways and, in general, I've been more impressed with Anthony's play in international competition than James'. I feel like Anthony has embraced the role of being a scorer for Team USA but Lebron still seems a little uncertain as to his exact role. Putting him on the bench and bringing Wade and James in together as 6th/7th would in my opinion focus the offense a little bit more both for the starters and for when James and Wade enter. If Lebron is coming in for Anthony and Wade for Bryant (or, if we are going small ball, James for Bosh and Wade for either Anthony or Bryant), there will be no question that James needs to score the basketball and he can think less about deferring. I certainly appreciate his dedication to team play, but as of right now, I feel as if he's thinking all the time rather than playing by instinct. I think his instincts tend to be great. Attack the basket and hit the open man if the shot is not there. The fact that he seems to be over-thinking the game too much has limited his effectiveness on the offensive end.

I also like the idea of starting Bosh and Howard side by side. The only worrisome thing here is that both could get into foul trouble pretty quickly. For end of game situations, however, I definitely would prefer a lineup of Williams/Paul, Bryant, Anthony, James, and Bosh for the improved foul shooting and ball handling on the perimeter.

And, not to sound too much like a homer, but I really feel Boozer should get in the game more. He has incredibly soft touch around the basket, can knock down those 10-15 footers with ease, and, though not a superb defender, generally has great position on defense. If Howard struggles adjusting to international play, I really would like to see Boozer get more minutes . . . especially when Williams is on the court.

As for Kidd, I still wouldn't mind seeing him start, but Williams has really proven himself. While I like Kidd's leadership, Williams has proven to be more effective, as has Paul. But it would not be a tragedy by any stretch to have Kidd start.

ForeverBlowingBubbles, we should start up an English Premiership discussion sometime, though I guess that's stuff for another board. Looking forward to the start of the season next weekend.

[dkbaseball]

Great first post -- very interesting take -- and welcome to the world of lost productivity. You have no idea.

[speedevil]

pg:williams
sg: redd
sf: bryant
pf: james
c: howard

[ForeverBlowingBubbles]

I was mostly torn between Paul and Williams.

It will be interesting to see who is starting in the finals (Go USA!).

[ice-9]

I think a more interesting question is...it's the championship game and its a tied ball game with 3 minutes left on the clock. Who do you have on the floor?? In which case my team would be...

Kobe
Wade
Carmelo
LeBron
Bosh

Kobe and Wade can turn it up defensively and either one can bring the ball up the court (when your team is this good and there's only so much time left, do you really need a traditional PG?). Wade can drive and Kobe can score whichever way he wants. Carmelo for outside shooting and some rebounding. LeBron for slashing and passing. Bosh for inside defense and rebounding and because he's more reliable on the free throw line. This is a team with height, speed and athleticism across the board.

[Edouble]

I think a more interesting question is...it's the championship game and its a tied ball game with 3 minutes left on the clock. Who do you have on the floor?? In which case my team would be...

Kobe
Wade
Carmelo
LeBron
Bosh

Kobe and Wade can turn it up defensively and either one can bring the ball up the court (when your team is this good and there's only so much time left, do you really need a traditional PG?). Wade can drive and Kobe can score whichever way he wants. Carmelo for outside shooting and some rebounding. LeBron for slashing and passing. Bosh for inside defense and rebounding and because he's more reliable on the free throw line. This is a team with height, speed and athleticism across the board.

I agree that's the interesting question, and my answer to the question too. BTW, my starters are:

Kidd, Kobe, LeBron, 'Melo, and Bosh. I like Howard off the bench and Bosh starting.

[ForeverBlowingBubbles]

My current lineup would be -


PG Paul
SG Wade
SF Kobe
PF Lebron
C Bosh

6th Man Melo
7th Man Howard
8th Man D. Williams

[COYS]

After watching the game yesterday, I gotta say that my previous post looks quite silly. Lebron was assertive and confident all game yesterday. He still doesn't look perfectly comfortable on the court in terms of offensive positioning in the half-court, but I was far more impressed with his play than I have been in any other international game. Melo, on the other hand, was the one who looked lost and seemed to lack confidence. I'm going to recant my earlier post and say that I'd go ahead and start out with K's lineup of Kidd/Williams/Paul (I really don't care which of those guys starts), Kobe, Melo, Lebron, and Howard. That being said, I'd still be curious to see how a lineup with both Bosh and Howard plus one of either Melo or Lebron would fare against a team with strong guard play and a tough inside presence. I'd also like to see Redd get on the court a little bit more to try and get him hot before some of our tougher games where his sharpshooting will be greatly needed.

[dukeENG2003]

I say start our best 5 players:

D Williams
D Wade
Kobe
Lebron
Mello

Sure its small, but the other team would need to worry more about matching up against us than the other way around. . .

[ForeverBlowingBubbles]

Coach K is going to use this poll in selecting the starters for the next game.

[CameronCrazy'11]

Coach K is going to use this poll in selecting the starters for the next game.

Well, duh! That's why we have this board. Hint: Jumbo is K.

[ForeverBlowingBubbles]

I just don't see K being that sarcastic...