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Class of '94
06-06-2013, 10:51 AM
I saw on the front page of DBR that Kyrie along with Tyler Zeller and Dion Waiters were invited to the USAB minicamp this summer, I wanted to get anyone's thoughts on whether or not you think Harrison Barnes will be invited to the minicamp and how realistic are his chances of eventually making either the 2014 or 2016 team given his relationship (or lack thereof) with Coach K. I don't think K is petty; and I strongly believe he'd make decisions that he thinks would be best for Team USA, and not factor any personal differences with a particular play into those decisions. I think Barnes should be considered (if players like Waiters and Zeller were invited) given his performance in the playoffs as well as the fact that Zeller was selected (and I believe Barnes is more talented than Zeller although Zeller is a mobile 7 footer).

That being said, given the reports on this site in how he apparently mislead the Duke coaching staff in regards to his skyped decision as well as his disrespect of Coach K (Barnes never called K before or after his decision to let K know that he wasn't coming to Duke), I personally wouldn't blame K for not adding him to the Team USA basketball pool. I wonder if Barnes will finally make the call to K to smooth things now that K has agreed to continue to be Team USA HC.

Who knows, depending on how Mason does over the next year or two, he may have a chance to be on the 2016 team to provide size and athleticism........

Billy Dat
06-06-2013, 11:10 AM
There were reports that Barnes was invited to play this summer. According to this article, the following have received invites:
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/5/24/4362382/kyrie-irving-team-usa-basketball-john-wall-mini-camp

Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Damian Lillard, Ty Lawson, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Larry Sanders, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Brad Beal. I am sure more invites have been leaked since then, and more will come once the finals are over.

I think Barnes' chances of making a team are probably best in 2014 as USA Basketball, in the last cycle, used the World Championships as a proving ground for the Olympics, which this country seems to hold in higher esteem - while the rest of the world seems to consider the Worlds, now the World Cup of Basketball, to be the more prestigious tournament. The Worlds are definitely a better pool of teams. The 2014 World Championships team will likely be 100% newbies, with maybe some more experienced Team USA leaders - Stephen Curry, maybe, Anthony Davis?

The 2016 Olympic team will have many fewer available spots depending on who is healthy and interested. You'd assume that guys who won't play in 2014 but will be interested in 2016 include Lebron, Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Love, and maybe Deron Williams. That leaves 6-7 slots and you have to figure they may get filled by other guys like Curry or those not listed above, like Paul George, etc .

I think Barnes, unless he really approaches All Star level next season, is a long shot to make either team. I don't think his past interactions with Coach K will matter at all. If they did, he wouldn't have gotten a camp invite. K has way bigger fish to fry then to worry about getting dissed by the Pigeon, dirt off his shoulder.

camion
06-06-2013, 11:10 AM
I remember that Duke (and maybe K) didn't think much of Chris Paul during his collegiate career (talented, yes; jerk, yes). That relationship seems to have evolved. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things Barnes situation goes.

jipops
06-06-2013, 11:18 AM
I saw on the front page of DBR that Kyrie along with Tyler Zeller and Dion Waiters were invited to the USAB minicamp this summer, I wanted to get anyone's thoughts on whether or not you think Harrison Barnes will be invited to the minicamp and how realistic are his chances of eventually making either the 2014 or 2016 team given his relationship (or lack thereof) with Coach K. I don't think K is petty; and I strongly believe he'd make decisions that he thinks would be best for Team USA, and not factor any personal differences with a particular play into those decisions. I think Barnes should be considered (if players like Waiters and Zeller were invited) given his performance in the playoffs as well as the fact that Zeller was selected (and I believe Barnes is more talented than Zeller although Zeller is a mobile 7 footer).

That being said, given the reports on this site in how he apparently mislead the Duke coaching staff in regards to his skyped decision as well as his disrespect of Coach K (Barnes never called K before or after his decision to let K know that he wasn't coming to Duke), I personally wouldn't blame K for not adding him to the Team USA basketball pool. I wonder if Barnes will finally make the call to K to smooth things now that K has agreed to continue to be Team USA HC.

Who knows, depending on how Mason does over the next year or two, he may have a chance to be on the 2016 team to provide size and athleticism........

If K comes out with another book, I seriously doubt he'll dedicate a chapter or even a sentence to the topic.

roywhite
06-06-2013, 11:20 AM
There were reports that Barnes was invited to play this summer. According to this article, the following have received invites:
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/5/24/4362382/kyrie-irving-team-usa-basketball-john-wall-mini-camp

Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Damian Lillard, Ty Lawson, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Larry Sanders, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Brad Beal. I am sure more invites have been leaked since then, and more will come once the finals are over.

I think Barnes' chances of making a team are probably best in 2014 as USA Basketball, in the last cycle, used the World Championships as a proving ground for the Olympics, which this country seems to hold in higher esteem - while the rest of the world seems to consider the Worlds, now the World Cup of Basketball, to be the more prestigious tournament. The Worlds are definitely a better pool of teams. The 2014 World Championships team will likely be 100% newbies, with maybe some more experienced Team USA leaders - Stephen Curry, maybe, Anthony Davis?

The 2016 Olympic team will have many fewer available spots depending on who is healthy and interested. You'd assume that guys who won't play in 2014 but will be interested in 2016 include Lebron, Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Love, and maybe Deron Williams. That leaves 6-7 slots and you have to figure they may get filled by other guys like Curry or those not listed above, like Paul George, etc .

I think Barnes, unless he really approaches All Star level next season, is a long shot to make either team. I don't think his past interactions with Coach K will matter at all. If they did, he wouldn't have gotten a camp invite. K has way bigger fish to fry then to worry about getting dissed by the Pigeon, dirt off his shoulder.

Thanks for the info on other invitees and I agree with your assessment, that Barnes deserves the invite, but is a longshot to make the World team and even more of a longshot to make the 2016 Olympic team. But who knows for sure at this point.

I do see Kyrie as being a key player on the 2014 team and likely 2016 teams. As always, we hope Kyrie is healthy enough to participate for a full NBA season and also to do the Team USA stuff. Players should be encouraged by the past performance of the USA team members, in overall improvement in their games and stamina through the following season.

Class of '94
06-06-2013, 11:37 AM
There were reports that Barnes was invited to play this summer. According to this article, the following have received invites:
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/5/24/4362382/kyrie-irving-team-usa-basketball-john-wall-mini-camp

Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Damian Lillard, Ty Lawson, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Larry Sanders, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Brad Beal. I am sure more invites have been leaked since then, and more will come once the finals are over.

I think Barnes' chances of making a team are probably best in 2014 as USA Basketball, in the last cycle, used the World Championships as a proving ground for the Olympics, which this country seems to hold in higher esteem - while the rest of the world seems to consider the Worlds, now the World Cup of Basketball, to be the more prestigious tournament. The Worlds are definitely a better pool of teams. The 2014 World Championships team will likely be 100% newbies, with maybe some more experienced Team USA leaders - Stephen Curry, maybe, Anthony Davis?

The 2016 Olympic team will have many fewer available spots depending on who is healthy and interested. You'd assume that guys who won't play in 2014 but will be interested in 2016 include Lebron, Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Love, and maybe Deron Williams. That leaves 6-7 slots and you have to figure they may get filled by other guys like Curry or those not listed above, like Paul George, etc .

I think Barnes, unless he really approaches All Star level next season, is a long shot to make either team. I don't think his past interactions with Coach K will matter at all. If they did, he wouldn't have gotten a camp invite. K has way bigger fish to fry then to worry about getting dissed by the Pigeon, dirt off his shoulder.

Thanks for that link. I'd agree that K won't put too much thought into his past dealings with Barnes; but I sure would love to see the dynamics at practice between Barnes and K. I could see it being awkward imo at first for Barnes considering the strong relationship he initially developed with K and then handling his "decision" so badly in light of that relationship.

Billy Dat
06-06-2013, 11:38 AM
If K comes out with another book, I seriously doubt he'll dedicate a chapter or even a sentence to the topic.

I disagree....

Chapter 7 - Staying Young
"Even as the age gap between my players and me widens with each passing year, I have found ways to stay connected to youth culture. My oldest grandson is now a teenager and he tips me off to the latest pop and hip hop stars so that I can say to a player, "Hey, you listening to this new joint from Maybach Music Group...Meek Mill crushes his 8 bars!" Stuff like that shows the kids my fun side, even if it's really Motown that I have in my iPhone. Social media can be another way to stay current. We've experimented with Blue Planet YouTube videos and Twitter contests. I've been burned by Skype, though. I like to look at a kid in the eye, and I never quite know where to look depending on where the camera is located."

arnie
06-06-2013, 11:48 AM
There were reports that Barnes was invited to play this summer. According to this article, the following have received invites:
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/5/24/4362382/kyrie-irving-team-usa-basketball-john-wall-mini-camp

Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Damian Lillard, Ty Lawson, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Larry Sanders, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Brad Beal. I am sure more invites have been leaked since then, and more will come once the finals are over.

I think Barnes' chances of making a team are probably best in 2014 as USA Basketball, in the last cycle, used the World Championships as a proving ground for the Olympics, which this country seems to hold in higher esteem - while the rest of the world seems to consider the Worlds, now the World Cup of Basketball, to be the more prestigious tournament. The Worlds are definitely a better pool of teams. The 2014 World Championships team will likely be 100% newbies, with maybe some more experienced Team USA leaders - Stephen Curry, maybe, Anthony Davis?

The 2016 Olympic team will have many fewer available spots depending on who is healthy and interested. You'd assume that guys who won't play in 2014 but will be interested in 2016 include Lebron, Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Love, and maybe Deron Williams. That leaves 6-7 slots and you have to figure they may get filled by other guys like Curry or those not listed above, like Paul George, etc .

I think Barnes, unless he really approaches All Star level next season, is a long shot to make either team. I don't think his past interactions with Coach K will matter at all. If they did, he wouldn't have gotten a camp invite. K has way bigger fish to fry then to worry about getting dissed by the Pigeon, dirt off his shoulder.

Of course HB should be invited or even better named to the team now! After all he was preseason all-American as a freshman - an honor that even the great Lebron did not "earn".

roywhite
06-06-2013, 11:49 AM
I disagree....

Chapter 7 - Staying Young
"Even as the age gap between my players and me widens with each passing year, I have found ways to stay connected to youth culture. My oldest grandson is now a teenager and he tips me off to the latest pop and hip hop stars so that I can say to a player, "Hey, you listening to this new joint from Maybach Music Group...Meek Mill crushes his 8 bars!" Stuff like that shows the kids my fun side, even if it's really Motown that I have in my iPhone. Social media can be another way to stay current. We've experimented with Blue Planet YouTube videos and Twitter contests. I've been burned by Skype, though. I like to look at a kid in the eye, and I never quite know where to look depending on where the camera is located."

Agree with you there, Billy. One of K's traits is the ability not just to move on from a defeat, but to use it as an extra motivator.

Example: the 43-point loss to Ralph Sampson's UVa team in the ACC Tournament. To a toast of "here's to forgetting this", K responded "No; here's to never forgetting this".
The Barnes recruitment and the way it went down was a big event, and a big motivator for our Hall of Fame coach.

jipops
06-06-2013, 12:23 PM
I disagree....

Chapter 7 - Staying Young
"Even as the age gap between my players and me widens with each passing year, I have found ways to stay connected to youth culture. My oldest grandson is now a teenager and he tips me off to the latest pop and hip hop stars so that I can say to a player, "Hey, you listening to this new joint from Maybach Music Group...Meek Mill crushes his 8 bars!" Stuff like that shows the kids my fun side, even if it's really Motown that I have in my iPhone. Social media can be another way to stay current. We've experimented with Blue Planet YouTube videos and Twitter contests. I've been burned by Skype, though. I like to look at a kid in the eye, and I never quite know where to look depending on where the camera is located."

ohhh nice. I sit corrected.

BD80
06-06-2013, 01:28 PM
Of course HB should be invited or even better named to the team now! After all he was preseason all-American as a freshman - an honor that even the great Lebron did not "earn".

Yeah, but Lebron was as close to making 1st team AA at the end of his freshman year as hb was

Billy Dat
06-10-2013, 02:23 PM
The coaching staff has been announced....Boeheim, Thibs and Monty Williams. Nice staff!

http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/national/13_mnt_assistants.html

Troublemaker
06-10-2013, 04:07 PM
The coaching staff has been announced....Boeheim, Thibs and Monty Williams. Nice staff!

http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/national/13_mnt_assistants.html

It's an interesting staff - pretty much everyone from Coach K on down is defensive-minded. No D'antoni-esque offensive coach this time around, although I do believe Coach K and Thibs are underrated offensive coaches.

2014 FiBA World Cup will be a killer test. Can't really expect any of the A-list superstars like Lebron and Paul to be there. Hopefully Durant will join up because he's such a basketball junkie and still so young. Spain for sure will bring their A-team because they're hosting, and the rest of Europe will probably follow suit and also be healthier this time around as opposed to 2010 when many countries were hampered by injuries to major stars. In 2014, USA might be facing its toughest test wrt "talent relative to field" since pre-K era.

Billy Dat
06-10-2013, 04:33 PM
2014 FiBA World Cup will be a killer test. Can't really expect any of the A-list superstars like Lebron and Paul to be there. Hopefully Durant will join up because he's such a basketball junkie and still so young. Spain for sure will bring their A-team because they're hosting, and the rest of Europe will probably follow suit and also be healthier this time around as opposed to 2010 when many countries were hampered by injuries to major stars. In 2014, USA might be facing its toughest test wrt "talent relative to field" since pre-K era.

2014 will be tough, and I think we can say that 2006 was tough because we failed to win gold! Granted, Greece basically had a divine intervention game and we had no Kobe. I do think Kobe would have been the difference between winning and losing that year.

I think there is zero percent chance Durant will play in 2014. I think, having played the last two big tournaments (2010 and 2012), he's now in the Olympics-only veteran pool and will spend the majority of his mental and physical energy moving forward in pursuit of NBA titles.

I think the most likely candidates are guys on this year's All NBA teams (including honorable mention) and All Star teams who have never played on a Team USA squad, or have been named but then were injured including:
Paul George, Jrue Holiday, Kyrie Irving, Brook Lopez, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, David Lee and ZBo. All of these guys, save for ZBo, have been to Team USA minicamps.

Other guys that I am sure will get a look as long as they have solid 2013-14 seasons include:
Roy Hibbert, Ty Lawson, Kawhi Leonard and Mike Conley

Finally, to anchor the team, maybe Steph Curry or James Harden, guys who are young but have won gold in either the Worlds or the Olympics, will be willing to play.

There's enough talent in that mix to bring home gold, the question is who would emerge as team leaders, and who emerges as the primary scoring threats?

Dev11
06-10-2013, 04:43 PM
Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Damian Lillard, Ty Lawson, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Larry Sanders, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Brad Beal.

Not to stray too far from your intended topic, but wow, US has a lot of point guards. That position was filled most recently by Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Jason Kidd, all of whom I would presume will not return or, in the case of Paul or Williams, would only be in supporting 'veteran' roles.

Billy Dat
06-10-2013, 04:55 PM
Not to stray too far from your intended topic, but wow, US has a lot of point guards. That position was filled most recently by Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Jason Kidd, all of whom I would presume will not return or, in the case of Paul or Williams, would only be in supporting 'veteran' roles.

Yeah, Paul and Williams will not play in 2014. It's just how the process has evolved. Our guys consider the Olympics to be the prime time event. I'd assume that, barring injury, K will want Chris Paul in 2016, and Paul will play the Jason Kidd roll. Deron Williams, like Paul, will be 32 in 2016, but he is considered an inferior player and leader and his game kind of went south this year - but he payed well in the playoffs. That leaves 2 PG spots open and, as you say, lots of guys battling. Whomever makes the 2014 team, as long as that team performs well, will have an inside track on 2016.

Now that you have me talking about point guards, I have missed a really obvious name - because we haven't seen him for a year - Mr. Derrick Rose. If he can return to form, he'd be another veteran that might opt to sign up to be a leader in 2014 - especially now that Thibs is involved.

So much can change year to year - but its fun to prognosticate.

CDu
06-10-2013, 05:18 PM
Yeah, Paul and Williams will not play in 2014. It's just how the process has evolved. Our guys consider the Olympics to be the prime time event. I'd assume that, barring injury, K will want Chris Paul in 2016, and Paul will play the Jason Kidd roll. Deron Williams, like Paul, will be 32 in 2016, but he is considered an inferior player and leader and his game kind of went south this year - but he payed well in the playoffs. That leaves 2 PG spots open and, as you say, lots of guys battling. Whomever makes the 2014 team, as long as that team performs well, will have an inside track on 2016.

Now that you have me talking about point guards, I have missed a really obvious name - because we haven't seen him for a year - Mr. Derrick Rose. If he can return to form, he'd be another veteran that might opt to sign up to be a leader in 2014 - especially now that Thibs is involved.

So much can change year to year - but its fun to prognosticate.

I suspect that Rose and Irving will be the main PGs on the 2014 team... assuming Rose decides to play. As an MVP of the league and a member of the 2010 championship team (and a guy who would have played on the 2012 Olympic team if not for his ACL injury), he may have bumped himself into the "Olympics only" group. Of course, he may also still be scrambling from his PR nightmare of 2013, so maybe he'll want to participate. You never know.

I tend to agree that the team will most likely include guys like Lopez, Lee, George, Curry (if he's willing), Aldridge, maybe Monroe. The key will be infusing a few international game veterans with the squad. But I don't think we'll see many of our best-of-the-best players compete in 2014.

Billy Dat
06-10-2013, 05:23 PM
I suspect that Rose and Irving will be the main PGs on the 2014 team... assuming Rose decides to play. As an MVP of the league and a member of the 2010 championship team (and a guy who would have played on the 2012 Olympic team if not for his ACL injury), he may have bumped himself into the "Olympics only" group. Of course, he may also still be scrambling from his PR nightmare of 2013, so maybe he'll want to participate. You never know.

Agree with everything about Rose, and wonder if the ultimate decision will be "no 2014" simple to keep additional miles off of that knee. CDu - you have to be pretty excited to see Thibs and K mind melding for the next 3 years. As a Duke fan, I don't care how much K knows about defense, I'm pumped because he's gonna learn some stuff from Thibs.

BD80
06-10-2013, 05:36 PM
... I have missed a really obvious name - because we haven't seen him for a year - Mr. Derrick Rose. If he can return to form, he'd be another veteran that might opt to sign up to be a leader in 2014 - ...

Come on! Don't rush the guy! He had surgery just over a year ago that others have recovered from months ago. He might not be mentally ready by the summer of 2014!

CDu
06-10-2013, 05:39 PM
Agree with everything about Rose, and wonder if the ultimate decision will be "no 2014" simple to keep additional miles off of that knee. CDu - you have to be pretty excited to see Thibs and K mind melding for the next 3 years. As a Duke fan, I don't care how much K knows about defense, I'm pumped because he's gonna learn some stuff from Thibs.

Yeah, the more I think about it, the less likely I think it would be that Rose plays in 2014. Which is too bad, because when healthy he's a fantastic option on both ends of the floor.

But yeah, Thibs is as good a defensive mind as there is in basketball. There are gains to be had from both guys (Coach K can learn from Thibs, and vice versa) that will help both of my two favorite basketball teams.

It is interesting that the coaching staff will be so defense-oriented and with so little offensive tendencies. While I think that Thibs is certainly a capable offensive coach, it isn't his forte for sure.

awhom111
06-10-2013, 09:08 PM
Deron Williams and Andre Igoudala are the two players from 2012 who have expressed a willingness to play in 2014. That is smart on their part, even if they do not ultimately play, because spots on 2016 (hopefully not needing a team for 2015) will certainly be at a premium. Personally I think it is important to go all out to win in 2014. It would be much better to have the option of not playing in 2015 than to fall short in 2014 and have to play for three straight summers. I hope that the leadership and the players realize that 2014 is likely to be tougher than 2010 and it might be harder to duplicate the results with a less experienced roster.

Here would be my ideal 12 for 2014:
Irving, Williams, Rose, DeRozan, Thompson, George, Igoudala, Howard, Griffin, Anderson, B. Lopez, Davis

Here is what I think is a more realistic 12 although I would not be surprised if the team is younger:
Irving, Williams, Curry, DeRozan, Thompson, George, Igoudala, Leonard, Lee, Anderson, B. Lopez, Davis

Of course, if I were in charge, I would also send this 12 down to Venezuela this summer with Tom Thibodeau, Monty Williams, and another coach (would not be able to be a college guy, maybe a figurehead guy like Jerry Sloan?):
Wall, Lillard, Holiday, Gordon, DeRozan, Beal, Parsons, Cousins, Monroe, Aldridge, B. Lopez, Drummond

Here would be my 12 for 2014 if I were in complete charge:
Irving, Williams, Rose, Thompson, Gay, George, Igoudala, Howard, Griffin, Anderson, Davis, Lee

duke09hms
06-10-2013, 10:20 PM
People have Kyrie on all their 2014/2016 rosters. Does anyone else think his defensive weaknesses will keep him off the team? Especially with such a defensive-minded coaching staff?

Dev11
06-11-2013, 08:36 AM
People have Kyrie on all their 2014/2016 rosters. Does anyone else think his defensive weaknesses will keep him off the team? Especially with such a defensive-minded coaching staff?

Not to mention all of his little injury concerns. Kyrie may have a tough time getting a gig among the group of potential players since his position is probably the deepest in the country.

CDu
06-11-2013, 08:48 AM
Not to mention all of his little injury concerns. Kyrie may have a tough time getting a gig among the group of potential players since his position is probably the deepest in the country.

It's the deepest in the country, but most of the elite guys (Rose, Westbrook, Paul) are unlikely to participate in 2014. None of the next-tier guys are clearly better than Irving.

Now, for the 2016 team? I agree that it'll be tough sledding to make the team. I'd expect the 3 guys in parentheses above to be the 3 PGs on the Olympic team.

roywhite
06-11-2013, 08:54 AM
People have Kyrie on all their 2014/2016 rosters. Does anyone else think his defensive weaknesses will keep him off the team? Especially with such a defensive-minded coaching staff?


Not to mention all of his little injury concerns. Kyrie may have a tough time getting a gig among the group of potential players since his position is probably the deepest in the country.

I'd say the injury concerns are the more likely problem, while playing style or ability are not. Did you see some of Kyrie's performances in early to mid-season? Judging from what he can do against NBA defenses off the dribble, it seems very likely he can do even better vs international teams that are not as athletic. Kyrie's selection as an All-Star prior to age 21 puts him in a very elite category reserved for super-stars.

Look forward to seeing him in Rio.

Billy Dat
06-11-2013, 10:31 AM
Deron Williams and Andre Igoudala are the two players from 2012 who have expressed a willingness to play in 2014. That is smart on their part, even if they do not ultimately play, because spots on 2016 (hopefully not needing a team for 2015) will certainly be at a premium. Personally I think it is important to go all out to win in 2014. It would be much better to have the option of not playing in 2015 than to fall short in 2014 and have to play for three straight summers. I hope that the leadership and the players realize that 2014 is likely to be tougher than 2010 and it might be harder to duplicate the results with a less experienced roster.

Here would be my ideal 12 for 2014:
Irving, Williams, Rose, DeRozan, Thompson, George, Igoudala, Howard, Griffin, Anderson, B. Lopez, Davis

Here is what I think is a more realistic 12 although I would not be surprised if the team is younger:
Irving, Williams, Curry, DeRozan, Thompson, George, Igoudala, Leonard, Lee, Anderson, B. Lopez, Davis

Of course, if I were in charge, I would also send this 12 down to Venezuela this summer with Tom Thibodeau, Monty Williams, and another coach (would not be able to be a college guy, maybe a figurehead guy like Jerry Sloan?):
Wall, Lillard, Holiday, Gordon, DeRozan, Beal, Parsons, Cousins, Monroe, Aldridge, B. Lopez, Drummond

Here would be my 12 for 2014 if I were in complete charge:
Irving, Williams, Rose, Thompson, Gay, George, Igoudala, Howard, Griffin, Anderson, Davis, Lee

Nice intel on Williams and Iggy expressing interest in playing in 2014. The team will need experienced veterans and both those guys have plenty of FIBA ball under their belts. I worry a little about Williams thinking he needs to be "the man" and playing shoot first, but naming those players is a long way off.

Thanks for taking the time to offer up your wish lists and prediction lists. I don't know about DeRozan, he didn't have an awesome year. Ryan Anderson is interesting, but his 3 pt shooting % was below 40% this year (granted, he shot more than 550 of them). I feel like the team has moved away from sharp shooters because so many of the top players can nail that international 3, I wonder if Anderson will get a camp invite this summer. The en vogue 3 point marksmen are definitely Curry and Thompson. Dancing Danny hit 43% on over 400 attempts this year - ugh - perish the thought.

Dwight Howard is an interesting riddle moving forward. If he doesn't return to 2011 and earlier form, then I don't think he's a shoe in to be on the team. In fact, right now, I think Roy Hibbert would be my #1 center pick. I also think the bloom is off the Rudy Gay flower. He had his stint with Team USA in 2010, didn't make the 2012 team, and I think he's on the decline.

As for Kyrie, his defense is his weakness. I hope that's what he's working on this offseason. Still, his combination of exciting play and marketability make him an attractive name to have on the roster.

CDu
06-11-2013, 11:04 AM
In fact, right now, I think Roy Hibbert would be my #1 center pick. I also think the bloom is off the Rudy Gay flower. He had his stint with Team USA in 2010, didn't make the 2012 team, and I think he's on the decline.

I agree with you about Gay, but I'm not sure I agree on Hibbert. I suspect that his awesome play against an undersized (and soft on the interior) Miami team is clouding your judgement there. Prior to the Miami series, Hibbert averaged just 14 ppg shooting just 47% from the field in this year's playoffs. In the regular season, he's never topped 13 ppg, or 9 rpg, or 50% from the field in a season. This season, for example, he averaged just 11.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg, and 44.8% from the field.

Among players who have not participated on an Olympic team, I'd take Brook Lopez and Greg Monroe ahead of Hibbert. And that's assuming that Chandler (who has the international experience) and Love choose not to play in 2014.

Billy Dat
06-11-2013, 12:14 PM
I agree with you about Gay, but I'm not sure I agree on Hibbert. I suspect that his awesome play against an undersized (and soft on the interior) Miami team is clouding your judgement there. Prior to the Miami series, Hibbert averaged just 14 ppg shooting just 47% from the field in this year's playoffs. In the regular season, he's never topped 13 ppg, or 9 rpg, or 50% from the field in a season. This season, for example, he averaged just 11.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg, and 44.8% from the field.

Among players who have not participated on an Olympic team, I'd take Brook Lopez and Greg Monroe ahead of Hibbert. And that's assuming that Chandler (who has the international experience) and Love choose not to play in 2014.

I definitely am experiencing recency bias with Hibbert, likely because he also took it to Tyson Chandler in the prior series (boo hoo), and I just feel like something has clicked with him in the second half of the year and the playoffs where he now plays angry. Plus, he is a legit 7'2" and his defense has come a long way. We'll see what kind of season he has next year. I feel like Love has graduated to the "Olympics only" veteran pool because he's had the recent injury issues. Chandler may be in the same boat, especially since he has 12 season and 900+ games under his belt (inclusive of playoffs and FIBA).

Anthony Davis will be a real wildcard as far as the big men are concerned. Do we think he'll make a huge leap these next few years and establish himself as one of the best bigs in the game?

CDu
06-11-2013, 01:56 PM
I definitely am experiencing recency bias with Hibbert, likely because he also took it to Tyson Chandler in the prior series (boo hoo), and I just feel like something has clicked with him in the second half of the year and the playoffs where he now plays angry. Plus, he is a legit 7'2" and his defense has come a long way.

All of that sounds good, but I don't know how accurate the bolded part is. Here are Hibbert's numbers for the second half of the year and playoffs:

Post All-star game: 29.0 mpg, 15.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 50.8 fg%
First round (vs Hawks): 32.0 mpg, 14.7 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 47.8 fg%
Second round (vs Knicks): 37.5 mpg, 13.3 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 46.8 fg%
EC Finals (vs Heat): 39.6 mpg, 22.1 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 55.7 fg%

He certainly played better in the second half and in the first two rounds of the playoffs. But those are still just decent, not great, numbers. Especially the FG%. For a guy 7'2" to only shoot around 50% from the field is pretty bad, especially when he rarely shoots more than 10 feet from the basket.

He is certainly a good player and appears to be on the rise. But aside from that strong Miami series, nothing about Hibbert's 2013 season stands out as notably different from his 2012 season.

Des Esseintes
06-11-2013, 05:06 PM
All of that sounds good, but I don't know how accurate the bolded part is. Here are Hibbert's numbers for the second half of the year and playoffs:

Post All-star game: 29.0 mpg, 15.7 ppg, 8run .3 rpg, 50.8 fg%
First round (vs Hawks): 32.0 mpg, 14.7 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 47.8 fg%
Second round (vs Knicks): 37.5 mpg, 13.3 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 46.8 fg%
EC Finals (vs Heat): 39.6 mpg, 22.1 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 55.7 fg%

He certainly played better in the second half and in the first two rounds of the playoffs. But those are still just decent, not great, numbers. Especially the FG%. For a guy 7'2" to only shoot around 50% from the field is pretty bad, especially when he rarely shoots more than 10 feet from the basket.

He is certainly a good player and appears to be on the rise. But aside from that strong Miami series, nothing about Hibbert's 2013 season stands out as notably different from his 2012 season.

I think you might be understating his value on the defensive end, which is half the game. What American center was a better defender this season? And Hibbert's defense was huge in the New York series. Elite rim protection + 16 & 9 is a pretty fantastic combo.

CDu
06-11-2013, 05:50 PM
I think you might be understating his value on the defensive end, which is half the game. What American center was a better defender this season? And Hibbert's defense was huge in the New York series. Elite rim protection + 16 & 9 is a pretty fantastic combo.

But the international game doesn't necessarily need elite rim protection. Most foreign teams pull their bigs out away from the basket, so the shotblocking aspect takes a back seat to mobility.

Furthermore, Hibbert's offense would be nonexistent in the foreign game because of the pack-it-in defense crowding the paint.

awhom111
06-11-2013, 09:08 PM
While the Roy Hibbert talk is enlightening, this is one reason he is unlikely to ever play for the United States:
http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/player/p/pid/63703/sid/7786/tid/308/_/2010_Centro_Basket_Championship_for_Men/index.html

He has been trying to get permission to switch teams, but it seems unlikely to happen anytime soon. I feel like this has all been discussed already in another thread.

Billy Dat
06-12-2013, 05:32 PM
While the Roy Hibbert talk is enlightening, this is one reason he is unlikely to ever play for the United States:
http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/player/p/pid/63703/sid/7786/tid/308/_/2010_Centro_Basket_Championship_for_Men/index.html

He has been trying to get permission to switch teams, but it seems unlikely to happen anytime soon. I feel like this has all been discussed already in another thread.

Again, great intel, awhom111. I guess that answers the Hibbert question.

The 27 man mini-camp roster was announced today:

Ryan Anderson
Harrison Barnes
Bradley Beal
Mike Conley
DeMarcus Cousins
Anthony Davis
DeMar DeRozan
Andre Drummond
Kenneth Faried
Derrick Favors
Paul George
Taj Gibson
Gordon Hayward
Jrue Holiday
Kyrie Irving
DeAndre Jordan
Ty Lawson
Kawhi Leonard
Damian Lillard
Greg Monroe
Chandler Parsons
Larry Sanders
Klay Thompson
Dion Waiters
Kemba Walker
John Wall
Tyler Zeller

Troublemaker
06-12-2013, 05:57 PM
Anthony Davis is going to be a huge key to 2014. Not necessarily the best player on the team (Kyrie?) but it'll be tough for the 2014 team to come close to matching the defensive prowess of previous USA teams unless Davis stays healthy, develops like he should, and ends up anchoring the team defensively. One possible reason why the USA coaching staff ended up being so defense-dominated (and why Davis' NBA coach ended up on the staff) is because USA looked at the pool of players that likely will be available for 2014 and though to themselves, "Wow, how are we going to assemble a USA-worthy defense from these guys?"

NSDukeFan
06-12-2013, 06:01 PM
Anthony Davis is going to be a huge key to 2014. Not necessarily the best player on the team (Kyrie?) but it'll be tough for the 2014 team to come close to matching the defensive prowess of previous USA teams unless Davis stays healthy, develops like he should, and ends up anchoring the team defensively. One possible reason why the USA coaching staff ended up being so defense-dominated (and why Davis' NBA coach ended up on the staff) is because USA looked at the pool of players that likely will be available for 2014 and though to themselves, "Wow, how are we going to assemble a USA-worthy defense from these guys?"
If they've been watching the last few games of the playoffs, they probably think about featuring Kawhi Leonard.

Class of '94
06-12-2013, 07:02 PM
Again, great intel, awhom111. I guess that answers the Hibbert question.

The 27 man mini-camp roster was announced today:

Ryan Anderson
Harrison Barnes
Bradley Beal
Mike Conley
DeMarcus Cousins
Anthony Davis
DeMar DeRozan
Andre Drummond
Kenneth Faried
Derrick Favors
Paul George
Taj Gibson
Gordon Hayward
Jrue Holiday
Kyrie Irving
DeAndre Jordan
Ty Lawson
Kawhi Leonard
Damian Lillard
Greg Monroe
Chandler Parsons
Larry Sanders
Klay Thompson
Dion Waiters
Kemba Walker
John Wall
Tyler Zeller

Seeing Beal on the list of invitees and Austin failing to make the list makes me wonder where the relationship between Duke and Austin stands. I'm not saying
Austin should've been on the list and it's not K's fault that he didn't have a great rookie year or make this list; but I do wonder why it appears that Austin hasn't been back to campus recently, especially during the time of the K academy when guys come back to campus to hangout and/or take classes (like GH and Kyrie) to get their degrees. I read a link that said Austin has been working after being cleared to do so. http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nba/1951/austin-rivers

Maybe Austin may have the opportunity to earn considersation for at least the US Select team that trains with the 2016 Olympic team.

CDu
06-12-2013, 07:23 PM
Seeing Beal on the list of invitees and Austin failing to make the list makes me wonder where the relationship between Duke and Austin stands. I'm not saying
Austin should've been on the list and it's not K's fault that he didn't have a great rookie year or make this list; but I do wonder why it appears that Austin hasn't been back to campus recently, especially during the time of the K academy when guys come back to campus to hangout and/or take classes (like GH and Kyrie) to get their degrees. I read a link that said Austin has been working after being cleared to do so. http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nba/1951/austin-rivers

Maybe Austin may have the opportunity to earn considersation for at least the US Select team that trains with the 2016 Olympic team.

I wouldn't view Rivers' exclusion from the minicamp as evidence of any rift between him and Duke. I think that it's just a reflection of where Rivers is in terms of performance. Beal played substantially better than Rivers last year (PER of 13.69 for Beal, 5.95 for Rivers; Beal averaged 13.9 ppg on 41.0 fg% and 38.6 3pt% while Rivers got 6.2 on 37.2 ft% and 32.6 3pt%).

In looking at the list of guys invited, Rivers just doesn't belong yet. Hopefully with time he gets better.

awhom111
06-14-2013, 09:12 PM
Anthony Davis is going to be a huge key to 2014. Not necessarily the best player on the team (Kyrie?) but it'll be tough for the 2014 team to come close to matching the defensive prowess of previous USA teams unless Davis stays healthy, develops like he should, and ends up anchoring the team defensively. One possible reason why the USA coaching staff ended up being so defense-dominated (and why Davis' NBA coach ended up on the staff) is because USA looked at the pool of players that likely will be available for 2014 and though to themselves, "Wow, how are we going to assemble a USA-worthy defense from these guys?"

I do share some of your concerns, but we still do not have a clear picture of which older players may get involved and only a few hints of how the overall roster selection might work for the tournament. I hope that we do try to put the best available team forward allowing for some rest of certain proven players. I would hesitate to use the five-letter F word to describe the relative ease with which we won the last world championship, but I do think that we will face a few tests along the way and one loss in the knockout stages of the tournament means that we will have to play basketball in 2015, which is definitely not my preference from both a USA and Duke perspective. If we do take a relatively unproven roster to Spain, I wonder which player emerges as the Kevin Durant type star.

luburch
06-14-2013, 09:49 PM
Seeing Beal on the list of invitees and Austin failing to make the list makes me wonder where the relationship between Duke and Austin stands. I'm not saying
Austin should've been on the list and it's not K's fault that he didn't have a great rookie year or make this list; but I do wonder why it appears that Austin hasn't been back to campus recently, especially during the time of the K academy when guys come back to campus to hangout and/or take classes (like GH and Kyrie) to get their degrees. I read a link that said Austin has been working after being cleared to do so. http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nba/1951/austin-rivers

Maybe Austin may have the opportunity to earn considersation for at least the US Select team that trains with the 2016 Olympic team.


Maybe he hasn't been around and isn't on the list because he's hurt.

ChillinDuke
06-14-2013, 11:30 PM
Seeing Beal on the list of invitees and Austin failing to make the list makes me wonder where the relationship between Duke and Austin stands. I'm not saying
Austin should've been on the list and it's not K's fault that he didn't have a great rookie year or make this list; but I do wonder why it appears that Austin hasn't been back to campus recently, especially during the time of the K academy when guys come back to campus to hangout and/or take classes (like GH and Kyrie) to get their degrees. I read a link that said Austin has been working after being cleared to do so. http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nba/1951/austin-rivers

Maybe Austin may have the opportunity to earn considersation for at least the US Select team that trains with the 2016 Olympic team.

What?

How by any reasonable metric should Austin ever be included in the conversation for Team USA 2014?

Because Beal is on the minicamp list and him and Austin were top SG recruits in the same year? Their career progressions are in no way similar thus far. And Beal is with zero question a player worthy of consideration on the team. Austin with zero question is not.

And so he didn't come back to Duke like Grant or Kyrie. He's not Grant or Kyrie.

Austin is Austin. He gave us a great year. That seems to be all he wanted to give us. I'll take it. But we should probably stop trying to shove him into the Duke legend category at this point. It is what it is. It won't be more. At least it doesn't appear so.

- Chillin

awhom111
07-16-2013, 04:19 PM
George Hill, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Marcus Smart were added to the roster today:
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_3added.html

I feel like part of the practice should be a five on five game with ten point guards on the court. It is an interesting callup for Marcus Smart as it would probably not have happened if he had declared for the draft.

awhom111
07-18-2013, 09:24 PM
Now Doug McDermott has been added to the camp. At this rate we might see Malik Newman and for good measure, Odyssey Sims, Breanna Stewart, and Asia Durr. Pretty soon they will be calling in players who are starring in Europe. At the end of the day I trust Colangelo and our coach to have a plan though. Here is the article:
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_McDermottadded.html

awhom111
07-22-2013, 09:28 PM
Tomorrow at 3:00pm Eastern, NBATV will have coverage from Las Vegas. It looks like the program will be replayed several times for those who cannot catch it live.

More importantly, more veteran players are are at least expressing an interest in being available next summer. Again, winning these competitions is important because it means that we do not have to play competitive games every single summer.

awhom111
07-23-2013, 01:16 AM
Here is USA Basketball coverage of today, including a number of quotes from our coach:
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_072213_quotes.html
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_coaches_feature.html

awhom111
07-24-2013, 12:36 AM
More coverage of today's activities:
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_072313_quotes.html
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_feature_072313.html

Again there were a few things said by the men in charge that makes me think that the 2014 roster will be reasonably strong.

Billy Dat
07-24-2013, 11:44 AM
Yesterday, NBA TV broadcast a 2.5 hour show from Team USA's practice, hosted by Matt Winer, Dennis Scott and David Aldridge. This type of show has become a staple of Team USA Coverage and is usually very interesting, but could be better - I wish they'd show more of what's going on in the gym - more on that later.

The practice seemed to be broken down into two stages - Stage 1 was stretching and warm up drills. Stage 2 was scrimmaging. For the scrimmages, they broke the players into 3 teams and one team stayed warm on the other court while the other two played. As K set that part up, he said, "We're treating these scrimmages like its the 4th quarter and the game is tied". Wojo coached one team, Capel coached another, and Syracuse coach-in-waiting Mike Hopkins coached the 3rd squad. K, Boeheim, Thibs, Monty and Colangelo sat midcourt in folding chairs taking it all in.

They showed bits of the scrimmages from time to time, you could see the guys going really hard.

My observations:
-With all these young dudes wearing generic Team USA jerseys without their names or usual numbers, I find how little I know what these guys look like. Aside from the guys who are established NBA stars or spent years in the NCAA or ACC, I can't name at least half of them on site - and part of it is that they are all under 25, and many play for non-playoff teams outside of major markets. It is fun to have so much new blood.
-A big revelation, through his interviews, is that K said he seriously considered how much he wanted to coach anymore after this past summer's Olympics. Colangelo said that the last week in London, K was pretty ornery. But, it seems that after he refreshed and reflected, he said he knows, health permitting, that he'll coach at least through Rio, and that he'd never coach Team USA if he wasn't an active head coach somewhere else. Colangelo said that he and K were together at the BBall HOF induction ceremony is Fall 2012 and K was "already experiencing Team USA withdrawal" which was Colangelo's sign that K was ripe for re-upping. He also reported K stating that Team USA is as important to him as Duke,
-Colangelo said that Popovich has always been the next choice as head man behind K. One would have to think that as Pop talks about retiring with Duncan, his window to coach Team USA has closed, especially if being an active coach is part of the criteria.
-Aside from Wojo and Capel, I saw that Scheyer was there, too. What a cool experience for him.
-I think I said this during last year's NBA TV coverage of practice, but one of the coolest things that the broadcast fails to portray is that these Team USA mini camps are treated as a celebration of United States Basketball. As a result, the number of hoops giants, coaches and notables in the gym was amazing. I wish NBA TV would spend 3 minutes pointing everyone out. They seem to invite every players college coach and their current NBA coach and front office guys, plus former affiliated Team USA players. As the camera panned the gym, I saw Larry Bird, Danny Ainge, Mike Brown, Billy Donovan and Mark Few, and there are reports that John Calipari and John Thompson were there as well. Very cool.
-Kyrie sat for an interview and handled himself well, as always. Dennis Scott closed the interview by saying, "Say hello to Uncle Drew for me".
-The Black Pidgeon was interviewed courtside by David Aldridge. DA asked him if it was going to be tough to play for a Duke coach, and the Pidgeon said something like, "Well, he has proven himself at this level so why would I have a problem with it?" I am programmed to be rubbed wrong by that dude.
-Finally, as they were setting up the scimmages, the camera was zooming in on Andre Drummond. At his side, whispering in his ear, was a player I didn't initally recognize. What he was whispering were harshly worded, but I am assuming, kidding threats about busting him on, or off, the court. It wasn't hard to lip read, and he used many top shelf curse words. In a later interview, I saw that it was Brad Beal who is hurt and not participating. Naturally, someone has already posted it on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzSYkJBsE_E

roywhite
07-24-2013, 12:35 PM
Saw parts of the telecast on NBA-TV. Good write-up by Billy Dat.

Yeah, I don't follow the NBA as closely as you do, so I didn't immediately recognize even more of the young players. Overall, it's just great to see the level of participation from young players, glad to see the legends coming around to check on things, and of course great to see Coach K involved; yes, we should be thankful that this Olympic opportunity came his way. It's helped him as a coach, energized him, and probably extended his overall coaching career at Duke. We like that.

One theme in the discussion last night was the priority of getting some more size on the 2014 and 2016 teams; yeah, it was great to have LeBron available to guard post players, but the Gasols and some other international big men were a load to handle with so few legitimate big guys on the roster. I'll be interested to see how guys like Cousins and Favors (who looks big and strong now at nearly 250#) fare during the camp and subsequent USA functions. If Coach K can get consistency and focus from Cousins, he could be a huge help. Anthony Davis could be key; K mentioned Davis drifted out and shot a three in one of the scrimmages, and K reminded him that wasn't really what they were looking for. :)

Can't place it exactly, but I ran across some comments from Kyrie. He was very positive about the whole thing and Coach K, as we might expect; he also said something like during the first day, he was getting a feel for things, and by the second day, he was working to "separate himself" from all the other players there. Gotta love his talent and drive to be the best. Kyrie just turned 21 in March; in Rio, he would be 24 and might be a dominant player. That alone would make the Olympic competition fun to watch.

I'll look for more coverage on the NBA channel -- not a bad quick fix for the off-season.

Billy Dat
07-24-2013, 01:07 PM
I'll look for more coverage on the NBA channel -- not a bad quick fix for the off-season.

They will be broadcasting a "Blue/White" game on Thursday night at 9PM. That should be awesome.

You nailed it with Team USA helping extend K's Duke career - that is 100% true and definitive proof that we should all be happy he accepted the invite.

As for the bigs, it will be interesting to see how health plays into the 2014 and 2016 teams. I'd assume Tyson Chandler is done with FIBA ball, he's getting older and he is suffering more and more injuries. Dwight Howard is a big question mark, he needs to come back and prove his dominance. Kevin Love, one would assume, has a slot waiting for him if he continues to play at an All Star Level. Chris Bosh is intriguing - will his NBA titles and willingness to take a back seat to LBJ and Wade play in his favor? It should, but he has to stay healthy, too. That leaves the young guns that Roy was talking about. Since his verbal dust-up with Colangelo at last year's camp, there are tons of pieces trying to read the tea leaves on his current chances. ESPN's Mark Stein wrote a good one:
"DMC gets second chance with USA"
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9501405/nba-demarcus-cousins-looks-make-most-second-chance-usa-basketball
Agree that Favors looks a lot bigger - so does Greg Monroe.

Here's the Kyrie quote you were referencing:
"Everybody was just a little bit more aggressive today, including myself. I was a little bit more reserved yesterday. Today I kind of just tried to separate myself from everybody."
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_072313_quotes.html

From what I am reading, Kyrie, Lillard, Gordon Hayward, DeAndre Jordan and Doug McDermott(!) are impressing a lot of people. In the NBA TV show, they show K going over to Wojo and saying, "Are you watching DeAndre?" and Wojo responds, "He's an athletic freak...and he's got a real upbeat attitude!". A big, overt message they are sending these players is that the ability to place a role in the collective whole, and be happy with that role, is the key to making the team.

superdave
07-24-2013, 03:10 PM
ESPN's Mark Stein wrote a good one:
"DMC gets second chance with USA"
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9501405/nba-demarcus-cousins-looks-make-most-second-chance-usa-basketball
Agree that Favors looks a lot bigger - so does Greg Monroe.


Thanks for your write ups, Billy -

Cousins is a load, much like Zach Randolph. I hope he gets his head screwed on straight. I feel pretty about having him, Favors and Monroe involved.

Here's stats for each from last season:
Cousins 17 points 10 rebounds 30 minutes
Favors 9 and 7 in 23 minutes
Monroe 16 and 10 in 33.

The future for Team USA looks pretty bright. Lots of quality younger players who really want to be a part of all this. Colangelo and K have built a culture that is really positive and can be handed down to the next coach and the next director. It starts at the top and runs from Lebron to young guys like Kyrie and on down to the high school kids like Okafor. Very impressive.

It will be interesting to see how Derrick Rose bounces back next season. If he is back in 1st or 2nd team All-NBA form, he's likely on the team. We'll need him if Chris Paul cannot stay healthy.

Billy Dat
07-24-2013, 03:24 PM
Meanwhile, it's funny how absence and history makes the heart grow fonder. This is nothing new, but a quote from K, yesterday, reminded me:

March 1993:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/02/AR2010040203732.html
"Early in the game the two coaches, Mike Krzyzewski and Dean Smith, both clearly uptight, were up on every whistle. After several minutes, lead referee Lenny Wirtz had seen and heard enough. He called Krzyzewski and Smith to the scorer's table.
"I know it's a big game," he said. "I know you're both a little hyper. But you have to calm down and let us work the game."
Smith nodded. Krzyzewski did not. "Lenny, there's 21,000 people in here who are all against me," he said. "You three guys are the only ones I can talk to."
Wirtz laughed. Smith did not. "Lenny, don't let him do that," he said. "He's trying to get you on his side."
Krzyzewski glared at Smith, who glared back. Krzyzewski stalked back to his bench and said to his assistant coaches, "If I ever start to act like him, don't ask a single question, just get a gun and shoot me."

July 2013:
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_072313_quotes.html
When did you fall in love with the Olympics?
A long time ago. I started in 1979 for USA Basketball with Coach Knight and Coach Taylor in the Pan America Games in Puerto Rico, and then coach Knight was good enough to me to let me be like a special assistant in '84, and I did a lot of the scouting. In the Marriott in L.A., I had video-tape equipment. I was the young guy trying to learn more. As a result I developed relationships with Coach Newell, Mr. Iba. You know, that the normal, every day, good coach didn't have those opportunities. So, I was touched by a lot of Olympic coaches. I mean when you think of the Olympic coaches --first of all in '72, '68, Mr. Iba. Dean Smith and I became great, great friends, and obviously, we competed. Dave Gavitt and I became close; I worked with Coach John Thompson, I was with the '92 Dream Team. Lenny Wilkens, Rudy Tomjanovich. I wasn't as close with Rudy Tomjanovich, but Lenny and I were assistants with the Dream Team, so I understand the tradition of the Olympic movement for basketball in our country.

Billy Dat
07-24-2013, 03:54 PM
2014 FiBA World Cup will be a killer test. Can't really expect any of the A-list superstars like Lebron and Paul to be there. Hopefully Durant will join up because he's such a basketball junkie and still so young.


I think there is zero percent chance Durant will play in 2014. I think, having played the last two big tournaments (2010 and 2012), he's now in the Olympics-only veteran pool and will spend the majority of his mental and physical energy moving forward in pursuit of NBA titles.

Troublemaker, your wish looks like its coming true and I stand corrected!

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 2m
Kevin Durant and Kevin Love here In Vegas about to announce they're playing in 2014 World Cup

NSDukeFan
07-24-2013, 04:10 PM
...
-Colangelo said that Popovich has always been the next choice as head man behind K. One would have to think that as Pop talks about retiring with Duncan, his window to coach Team USA has closed, especially if being an active coach is part of the criteria.
-Aside from Wojo and Capel, I saw that Scheyer was there, too. What a cool experience for him....

Great reports! Thanks for sharing what you have been seeing. I need some hoops to keep me going while I wait (perhaps in vain) for one of Winslow, Jones, OKafor and/or Looney to commit and for practise to start, or even for Blue Planet to release another off-season workout video.

I thought the Popovich comment was very interesting. I would have loved to have seen him on coach K's staff, and think he would be a fabulous USA head coach that most, if not all, would respect. He also seems to be someone who would love the opportunity. I wonder if he has too much pride to be an assistant, or if he and coach K might not work well together?

I agree that it would be an incredible experience for Scheyer to be there as he begins his coaching career.

It sounds like Big John Thompson being there made an impact on some of the players, as I would have expected. Having the event as a celebration of basketball is a great idea and it does sound awesome that there are so many NBA and college players and coaches around.

roywhite
07-24-2013, 07:57 PM
Meanwhile, it's funny how absence and history makes the heart grow fonder. This is nothing new, but a quote from K, yesterday, reminded me:

March 1993:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/02/AR2010040203732.html
"Early in the game the two coaches, Mike Krzyzewski and Dean Smith, both clearly uptight, were up on every whistle. After several minutes, lead referee Lenny Wirtz had seen and heard enough. He called Krzyzewski and Smith to the scorer's table.
"I know it's a big game," he said. "I know you're both a little hyper. But you have to calm down and let us work the game."
Smith nodded. Krzyzewski did not. "Lenny, there's 21,000 people in here who are all against me," he said. "You three guys are the only ones I can talk to."
Wirtz laughed. Smith did not. "Lenny, don't let him do that," he said. "He's trying to get you on his side."
Krzyzewski glared at Smith, who glared back. Krzyzewski stalked back to his bench and said to his assistant coaches, "If I ever start to act like him, don't ask a single question, just get a gun and shoot me."

July 2013:
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_072313_quotes.html
When did you fall in love with the Olympics?
A long time ago. I started in 1979 for USA Basketball with Coach Knight and Coach Taylor in the Pan America Games in Puerto Rico, and then coach Knight was good enough to me to let me be like a special assistant in '84, and I did a lot of the scouting. In the Marriott in L.A., I had video-tape equipment. I was the young guy trying to learn more. As a result I developed relationships with Coach Newell, Mr. Iba. You know, that the normal, every day, good coach didn't have those opportunities. So, I was touched by a lot of Olympic coaches. I mean when you think of the Olympic coaches --first of all in '72, '68, Mr. Iba. Dean Smith and I became great, great friends, and obviously, we competed. Dave Gavitt and I became close; I worked with Coach John Thompson, I was with the '92 Dream Team. Lenny Wilkens, Rudy Tomjanovich. I wasn't as close with Rudy Tomjanovich, but Lenny and I were assistants with the Dream Team, so I understand the tradition of the Olympic movement for basketball in our country.

July, 1987 column by John Feinstein
In ACC, They Come to Bury Dean Smith, Not to Praise Him (http://articles.latimes.com/1987-03-07/sports/sp-8139_1_dean-smith)


The same can be said of Duke's Mike Krzyzewski. When Krzyzewski arrived at Duke in 1981 he vowed that he would think of Smith merely as a good coach he was trying to compete with. In 1984, after losing a close game to North Carolina, Krzyzewski angrily said that there was a double standard among ACC officials: one for Smith and one for everyone else. Smith was infuriated by the comment, so much so that to this day he and Krzyzewski have -- at best -- a cool relationship.

Each says he respects the other. And that is it. A couple of years ago, asked about the cool relationship, Krzyzewski said, "I like Dean. But if you want to know if we sit around and smoke cigarettes together (Smith is a two-pack-a-day man), no, we don't do that."

Duvall
07-24-2013, 08:32 PM
Troublemaker, your wish looks like its coming true and I stand corrected!

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 2m
Kevin Durant and Kevin Love here In Vegas about to announce they're playing in 2014 World Cup

Looking forward to Krzyzewski's key lineup of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, and let's say Kenneth Faried and Klay Thompson.

BD80
07-24-2013, 09:43 PM
Looking forward to Krzyzewski's key lineup of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, and let's say Kenneth Faried and Klay Thompson.

a Konsummate lineup

Reilly
07-24-2013, 09:57 PM
... The Black Pidgeon was interviewed ... I am programmed to be rubbed wrong by that dude...

What, you're human?

Reilly
07-24-2013, 09:59 PM
Ticket info for the World Cup next year in Spain:

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/14/wcm/tickets/p/tickets.html

awhom111
07-25-2013, 01:01 AM
Coverage of the actual practice today was pretty poor:
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_feature_072413.html
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_072413_quotes.html

More of the focus was on the public declaration by Kevin Durant and Kevin Love:
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_durant_love_commitment.html

Hopefully this spurs a few more big names into throwing their hats into the ring for next summer.

Billy Dat
07-25-2013, 10:14 AM
Hopefully this spurs a few more big names into throwing their hats into the ring for next summer.

In this Marc Stein piece, Stein says that Durant hints at Westbrook and Harden also being ready to re-up.

"KD Summer not all Chills and Thrills"
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9507645/nba-kevin-durant-summer-not-all-chills-thrills

The article also lists the squads for tonight's Blue/White scrimmage which will be on NBATV at 9PM.

TEAM WHITE: Ryan Anderson, Mike Conley, Andre Drummond, Kenneth Faried, Paul George, Jrue Holiday, Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Ty Lawson, Chandler Parsons and Tyler Zeller.

TEAM BLUE: Harrison Barnes, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, DeMar DeRozan, Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward, Damian Lillard, Greg Monroe, Klay Thompson, Dion Waiters, Kemba Walker and John Wall.

superdave
07-25-2013, 12:22 PM
In this Marc Stein piece, Stein says that Durant hints at Westbrook and Harden also being ready to re-up.

"KD Summer not all Chills and Thrills"
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9507645/nba-kevin-durant-summer-not-all-chills-thrills

The article also lists the squads for tonight's Blue/White scrimmage which will be on NBATV at 9PM.

TEAM WHITE: Ryan Anderson, Mike Conley, Andre Drummond, Kenneth Faried, Paul George, Jrue Holiday, Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Ty Lawson, Chandler Parsons and Tyler Zeller.

TEAM BLUE: Harrison Barnes, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, DeMar DeRozan, Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward, Damian Lillard, Greg Monroe, Klay Thompson, Dion Waiters, Kemba Walker and John Wall.

Interesting that Blake Griffin is not around this summer. Griffin had a torn meniscus that eliminated him from playing in London last year. But he's not been in Vegas this week, right? Griffin seems to get injured every time a USA mini camp of tournament comes around. I am guessing he's sitting in an ice bath as we type...

CMARTZ
07-25-2013, 11:27 PM
For those who didn't see it, Kyrie was pretty dominant tonight in the scrimmage at UNLV. He finished with something like 24 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds and contributed greatly to his team's victory.

I was also impressed by Anthony Davis. He looks to have developed a legitimate 18 foot jumper, and he also scored over 20 points to go with a decent number of rebounds given how many substitutions there were.

Billy Dat
07-26-2013, 10:03 AM
For those who didn't see it, Kyrie was pretty dominant tonight in the scrimmage at UNLV. He finished with something like 24 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds and contributed greatly to his team's victory.

I was also impressed by Anthony Davis. He looks to have developed a legitimate 18 foot jumper, and he also scored over 20 points to go with a decent number of rebounds given how many substitutions there were.

First off, CMARTZ is 100% correct about Kyrie and Davis.

Kyrie, after a slow start, was dominant. The stats he put up were compiled in under 30 minutes! I can't lavish praise on his defense, which seemed adequate, but he literally can't be stopped from getting into the lane, and if you lay off, he sticks that 3 in your eye. If you send two guys at him, he finds the open man, man times for lay-ups. At first, he and Lillard kind of went mano-a-mano but Kyrie got the better of him. There was much post-game gushing between he and K, as Marc Stein nicely summarizes in this write-up on ESPN.com
"Team USA - Who makes the Roster"
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9510821/nba-team-usa-makes-roster

Davis was everywhere, and as CMARTZ says, he was knocking down not just 18 footers, but 3s! The dude is adding a legit outside game, and he went coast to coast for a dunk at one point. There even seemed to be a moment when he and Kyrie, on opposite teams, got a little tangled up and did some mild competitive shoving!

Here are quick notes on everyone else:

TEAM WHITE:

Ryan Anderson - knocked down a few shots, hustled, likely just happy to be included. I don't see him having a shot at making any team.

Mike Conley - the oldest guy at the camp. I thought he looked pretty good, but it was tough to look good compared to Kyrie and some of the other PGs. I put his PG performance at 4th or 5th best.

Andre Drummond - a real comer, he is so big out there and plays hard. He still lacks skill, but I always knew he was in there.

Kenneth Faried - he was all over the place in the first quarter. I think he may have tweaked his back because he didn't play much after that, but he was doing what he does, getting rebounds, keeping balls alive, running and blocking shots.

Paul George - I expected him to dominate, but he couldn't buy a shot early. He settled down later and was productive, but I expected more from him.

Jrue Holiday - a HUGE pleasant surprise. When he and Kyrie played together, the White team was rolling. He ran an excellent floor game, was really setting guys up, can get to the rim and plays hard defense. I think the Pelicans are going to take a huge leap with him this year. I know I shouldn't be surprised because he was an All Star this year but this game really showed me why.

DeAndre Jordan - It feels like the Team USA brass, for some reason, really want DeAndre to "happen", like he's one of their designated bigs...maybe because he's a good kid with lots of natural ability. He hustled and made some things happen, but I wasn't really impressed.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist - funny that when he got on the court with Kyrie, it was back to the St Patricks of Jersey days. He hit some shots and made a dunk - a kind of burned bright for a few minutes. He's an interesting case - leading up to last year's draft, everyone was talking about how "can't miss" he was, and after his rookie year, some were calling him a dissapointment. Whatever, he's young and good, but he's still a minor player among the 28 assembled at this camp.

Ty Lawson - I thought Ty was really tough, and I may always overate him for the many great games he put up against Duke over the years, but I think he was among the top 4/5 PGs at the camp.

Chandler Parsons - worked hard, but definitely in the lower echelon of players present, it didn't help that he wasn't knocking down shots.

Tyler Zeller - a real pleasant surprise, he got lots of run in the second half and was rebounding, running, being active - Zeller-esque stuff.

TEAM BLUE:

Harrison Barnes - As much as it pains me, I must give it up to the Pidgeon. He was really tough showing an ability to get his shot whenever he wanted it, and mixed up long range and midrange shooting really effectively, had the dunk of the night for a Team USA player (more on that later), and was getting to the line a lot. He was a standout. I have to praise the Heels, they showed well at this camp.

DeMarcus Cousins - like Faried, I think he may have gotten hurt which limited his minutes, but he still seems to be disconnected from what Team USA wants from him. I think his natural face is a petulant scowl, and it hurts him. Just looking at him, I felt like he was mad that he didn't start, mad that he wasn't getting enough touches, etc...and I may be way off base, but that's the vibe I got. The future with he and Team USA seems uncertain.

DeMar DeRozan/Dion Waiters - both pretty quiet, DeRozen unleashed a big dunk but otherwise was sort of meh. In their defense, and in defense of the other non PGs, it wasn't easy to get shots if you didn't have the ball in your hands.

Derrick Favors - pretty quiet and one dimensional. I think he needs to be more assertive

Gordon Hayward - knocked down some shots, was really hustling. Many have said he played great all week. As I said above about the wings, it wasn't easy to get shots.

Damian Lillard/Kemba Walker/John Wall - I am lumping these three together as shoot first point guards who didn't do a great job of getting their teams involved. But, in each case, I think they want to, it's just not their natural setting. I thought Lillard and Wall were better than Walker, but they all seemed to play the same game.

Greg Monroe - I thought Monroe looked tough, especially on defense where he is not known as a good player. He looks a lot thicker. This should be a big year for him in Detroit.

Klay Thompson - He seemed to knock down every open look he got, but he didn't get that many looks. He is such a good shooter that I think he'll always stay in contention for the sniper role, unless Steph Curry permanently assumes that role moving forward.

The pundits all seem to feel that Kyrie, Davis and George are locks for next summer. Based on what I saw, I thought Holiday was also right there.

A couple other short notes:
-The broadcast featured Isiah Thomas doing color commentary and Clyde Drexler doing sideline reporting. Isiah is such a ridiculous character that I couldn't help but laugh at his combination of self promotion, and needling which he always attempts to soften with a deep laugh. Clyde, probably doing sideline reporting for the first time, was pretty inept, which was lots of unintentional comedy, but he is a legend so everyone was just happy to be talking to him. I enjoyed his efforts.
-One of the highlights of the night was when a soldier (Airforce?) did a windmill wearing his fatigues and boots. The place went nuts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt0HM7_RmXM&feature=youtu.be&a
-Check out this postgame quote from K on Kyrie, "Kyrie is one of the special players in the NBA. Really the ball-handling stuff and that he never had before he came to Duke and Wojo (Steve Wojciechowski) taught him all that (laughing). I know his father would like to take credit for it but it came from Wojo."

Native
07-26-2013, 10:17 AM
Said Indiana's George: "You see all the guys like LeBron [James] and [Carmelo Anthony] and KD. They all took that huge jump [in their careers], and it's because of playing for the USA team.

Gee, I wonder why? ;)

Billy Dat
07-26-2013, 12:49 PM
NBA.com's Sekou Smith did a player-by-player overall camp breakdown enhanced by the fact that he attended every session this week:
http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/07/26/usa-basketball-roster-breakdown/

dball
07-26-2013, 01:44 PM
I feel pretty about having him, Favors and Monroe involved.



Witty and bright as well?

devildeac
07-26-2013, 03:21 PM
Looking forward to Krzyzewski's key lineup of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, and let's say Kenneth Faried and Klay Thompson.


a Konsummate lineup

Maybe with Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist koming off the bench. That would be klassic.

AncientPsychicT
07-26-2013, 04:16 PM
Since no one has mentioned this yet...


Harrison Barnes - the Pidgeon.

It's Pigeon. Let's not ascribe to him a 'd' he does not have.

awhom111
07-26-2013, 04:20 PM
Here is the boxscore (USA Basketball was having a little trouble linking it up properly):
http://www.usab.com/misc/13_mnt_showcase_box.pdf

Here are some more quotes:
http://www.usab.com/mens/national/13_mnt_showcase_quotes.html

Billy Dat
07-26-2013, 04:23 PM
Since no one has mentioned this yet...
It's Pigeon. Let's not ascribe to him a 'd' he does not have.

Sweet! The _u_e can score.

OldPhiKap
07-26-2013, 09:50 PM
Uncle Drew's still got game.

It is, and always has been, about getting buckets.

Reilly
07-26-2013, 11:44 PM
Sweet! The _u_e can score.

You sure that's not _ouche?

devildeac
07-27-2013, 06:41 PM
You sure that's not _ouche?

Touche?

;):rolleyes:

dcdevil2009
07-27-2013, 08:08 PM
Since no one has mentioned this yet...



It's Pigeon. Let's not ascribe to him a 'd' he does not have.

We wouldn't want to confuse him with Julius Peppers

Troublemaker
08-03-2013, 02:26 PM
Troublemaker, your wish looks like its coming true and I stand corrected!

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 2m
Kevin Durant and Kevin Love here In Vegas about to announce they're playing in 2014 World Cup

Yes! Real happy to see those guys commit for Spain next year. To me, it means -- assuming good health, of course, and continued development of young key guys like Kyrie and Anthony Davis -- that USA projects to be "take them against the field" good again in 2014 whereas before these commitments, I wasn't sure that was going to be the case anymmore. Very excited for Coach K and for USA!