International Hoops thread

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I'd take 1992 Magic over 2012 Kobe. Magic was retired, but he was one year removed from 25.1 PER and .251 WS/48, and even if the team fed him to make him look good, he did look good in 1992 allstar game. Bird's back problems slowed him and forced his retirement that year, but he was much better than average when he retired, and his 21 PER and .159 WS/48 don't look so bad. He never relied on athleticism like some of the others, and with managed minutes, he was still a savvy contributor (except when he was lying on the floor in pain). You pretty much covered the rest of the roster, a very complete group. Well, except for Laettner.

Malone would have hurt Griffin, but that team needs some beef up front. A healthy Howard on the current team would be a plus, but if I were him, I'd rest the back.

Wasn't he a complete douche? Sorry. That wasn't nice.

Christian Laettner has given charitably in Buffalo and he had a nice, long, NBA career. It is not his fault they took him over Shaq or Drexler. I thought he played reasonably well for MJ's Wizards. I had nothing against him.

[montestewart]

I don't fault Laettner. He won pretty much every college award that year, his team won the tournament, and he had that shot! USA basketball wanted to include a nod to college ball, and he seemed the obvious nod, and why would he say NO if asked to play for the greatest team ever?

But he so clearly did not belong. Shaq would have looked out of his element if he was on that team, but he'd still bring that unstoppable size with him, and few would question his addition now. Shaq and Malone as bigs together, there would have been some hurtin international players.

[MF23]

Man WTF? Since when is the UK coaching staff in charge of the DR's team? That shocked me.

[jivelikenice]

Did the French team play an exhibition game yesterday? I read a few tweets but I couldn't track down a boxscore or anything...

[7-Day Dray]

Some NBA team needs to pick up Ike Diogu. He's a beast.

[BruceO]

So based on stories coming out of camp usa basketball it seems as though kyries already greater than john wall and his handle is looking ridiculous. So is it official now? But i hope john makes a leap especially in shooting and efficiency or else he'll be stuck with numbers in that range his whole career. Although star pgs don't bring championships like star bigs do and star wings. My problem primarily is his shooting for spacing so we can have non shooters in the lineup and it'd be ok and turnovers

[jivelikenice]

^Where did you get stories on the camp from?

[DCsOwn]

So based on stories coming out of camp usa basketball it seems as though kyries already greater than john wall and his handle is looking ridiculous. So is it official now? But i hope john makes a leap especially in shooting and efficiency or else he'll be stuck with numbers in that range his whole career. Although star pgs don't bring championships like star bigs do and star wings. My problem primarily is his shooting for spacing so we can have non shooters in the lineup and it'd be ok and turnovers

A couple of things, one, the person that came out strongest in regard to Kyrie's play was Coach K, you know, the guy who Kyrie played for in college and undoubtedly forged a relationship with (that doesn't mean that he isnt telling the truth obviously, Kyrie is a very skilled kid with a game that seems to suit international basketball, but you have to consider the source a little bit.) Secondly, They're both young players that aren't even close to reaching their primes yet, and it's not beyond the realm of possibility that either or both still has significant room to improve.

In regard to your "official" question, imo it'll become official when both players are in their respective primes and one is clearly outperforming the other. Both are very talented, albeit in different ways (Kyrie is terrifically skilled, John possesses tremendous physical gifts) but imo, John is a consistent mid-range jumper from being Russell Westbrook with a passing aptitude aka a perennial all-star guard. Kyrie shoots the ball much better and has a tighter handle, but John is the better passer, he's much more physically gifted (taller, longer, stronger, and significantly more explosive), he's better defensively than Kyrie with the ability to be a top 3 defensive pg imo and he's a better rebounder. I'm not even close to writing Wall off in this comparison, and I really think with the type of concentrated skill development he's engaged in this offseason we could be in for a true break-out season from him.

[BruceO]

There's videos on YouTube I think by hoops hyper someone. I think also check general board thers a thread there on team usa with link to video

[closg00]

Is this the 2012 Olympics thread? Anyway, this is a good read.
http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2012/07/17 ... n-trouble/

[pancakes3]

they barely beat argentina today, but that was more due to a barrage of 3-balls than the overwhelming force of luis scola. OTOH, they might have flat out lost if Durant and Paul didn't hit back-to-back 3's.

durant is the lynchpin to USA's success imo. everyone else's slice and dice, dribble penetration (except CP3) is going to be ineffectual and force up bad shots up against the eurozone.

[fishercob]

Rudy Fernandez with a moderately efficient 17 points on 7 shots

[truwizfan4evr]

Kevin Searphin is playing very good vs Argentina getting inside the paint and hitting the glass its good to see.

[closg00]

France vs Argentina is neck-and-neck. Kevin with 4 fouls in the 2nd.

[fishercob]

Seraphin HUGE down the stretch!

Great stat line too.

[truwizfan4evr]

what was his stats?

[fishercob]

what was his stats?

10 points on 5-7 shooting, 6 boards (3 offensive), 3 blocks, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 fls. Only saw two of the fouls, one was ticky tacky.

14 minutes played.

[truwizfan4evr]

He played limited min's that very good numbers. How the hell does Turiaf and Diaw starts over him?

[ommmmmm7wytj]

He played limited min's that very good numbers. How the hell does Turiaf and Diaw starts over him?

They're long time Parker's friends. In french team the coach doesn't use the best players but the parker's friends. An excellent game from Kevin, as often with the French team. Best interior player by far.

[BruceO]

But you know from watching the game Turing and diaw move more intelligently, but I was aching for seraphin to get in and Turiaf and Diaw had to foul out for him to get into the game in the fourth. He did a good screen followed by an alley oop.good experience for him.

Also watched sme of nene and his outside shot doesn't look particularly good to me. But whenever he was in the game the team went on a run.

Also must feel good For san Antonio. Manu and Parker are so good and the focal parts of their national team. Each was responsible for the teams good plays and then when th hugged you remember some team is luckyenoughto have both. How did all those teams miss out on Manu? Diaw also is a spur so 3/5 the of spurs starting line up was in this game.

Now watching team USA and it cracked me up to see a full substitution and to have Westbrook, deron, Carmelo, iggy and love come in lol. Weight be aiming for something similar, not talent wise but the committee playing, sharing, defensive focus. Of course it's silly to compre the wiz to team USA.

More and more I've been looking at nba players during th games and counting which team has the oat players participating. We have seraphin and nene and wall participated in the preppingwhile beal may get there soon. Okc haswestbrook, Durant, harden and ibaka in these games

Kirilenko looked good in his game against china.