John Wall Knows What's Up

[BrooklynBulls]

Sorry for coming off antagonistic but it was just that you came in with a very condescending attitude. Then you followed it up with anecdotal evidence of how Cousins is a net minus. Finally you ended it with yet another sweeping generalization of both your audience as well as Cousin's game. I just wanted you to know that I expected better out of you.

It's no secret that Cousins has giant, lazy, underperforming warts in his game but that doesn't change the fact that Plumlee for all of his hustle is a fraction of the player that Cousins is. Cousins may or may not be a net negative but that doesn't preclude Plumlee from being an even bigger net negative. Out of the 3 true centers on the roster, Cousins is by far the best player. Leaving him off because of overrating the negatives and underrating his positives is really outthinking yourself on the roster front.

I forgive you and I'll let you know I didn't intend to be condescending, but I was frustrated by the constant comparison of Cousins to Plumlee, which is a lot like comparing Michael Jordan to....Rihanna. I think Plumlee making the team would be a reflection of them simply not wanting Cousins. I don't imagine Plumlee would play anything but the garbage-iest of minutes, because he's not the caliber of player nearly every other Team USA member is.

I think Cousins will make it, particularly since there have been such significant offensive losses to Team USA in the past 2 weeks. But if he doesn't, it's probably a reflection of how poorly the coaches must regard him, and not how highly Plumlee is regarded.

[Sluggerface]

I can't believe there are people even going out on a limb to defend K's obvious attempt at boosting his recruiting (Like he doesn't bring up USAB everytime he makes a pitch to a recruit, please). I like Plumlee, a lot, more than most people, but he's a painfully average center at this stage in his development and he shouldn't have earned a bid over Cousins. I don't care about any emotional issues. You do what it takes to win, and taking Plumlee over Cousins and Millsap when the only big on the roster that can create his own shot is Anthony Davis. That's a huge problem, and K is getting away with it because of how dominant the U.S. is at basketball.

Thinking that Cousins is going to take that many mid range shots in FIBA is just asinine when he can manhandle any FIBA defender on his way to the rim. I remember Bill Simmons interviewing Davis, who is a world class defender, at the AS break about guarding Cousins and even Davis had reservations about it any time they got matched up.

But like Cuban has already stated multiple times, USAB is a politically driven money making machine with it's hands in pockets going all the way down to pop warner.

[Ruzious]

I don't think there's anything sisnister about Cousins fighting it out with Plumlee for a roster spot. It just shows the lack of quality bigs in the US that want to play.

[Sluggerface]

And one last point for anyone that still wants to defend this decision. If you want to bring an off-ball center that is perfect for FIBA play and can run the floor, then why hasn't Channing Frye been given any consideration over the years? His footwork is better than a lot of the bigs on the roster, he's an equivalent defender to most of them, he's a natural shooter, and the perfect compliment to slashers like Rose and Harden.

[Ruzious]

And one last point for anyone that still wants to defend this decision. If you want to bring an off-ball center that is perfect for FIBA play and can run the floor, then why hasn't Channing Frye been given any consideration over the years? His footwork is better than a lot of the bigs on the roster, he's an equivalent defender to most of them, he's a natural shooter, and the perfect compliment to slashers like Rose and Harden.

Because he's not very good. He's a talented athlete with skills, but he's soft, and he's been soft since college - when he played on the under-achieving Iguodola teams that had a 6'4 PF who was physically tougher than Frye.

[Sluggerface]

And one last point for anyone that still wants to defend this decision. If you want to bring an off-ball center that is perfect for FIBA play and can run the floor, then why hasn't Channing Frye been given any consideration over the years? His footwork is better than a lot of the bigs on the roster, he's an equivalent defender to most of them, he's a natural shooter, and the perfect compliment to slashers like Rose and Harden.

Because he's not very good. He's a talented athlete with skills, but he's soft, and he's been soft since college - when he played on the under-achieving Iguodola teams that had a 6'4 PF who was physically tougher than Frye.

And yet he's still a better defender than every big on the USAB roster that isn't named Davis. The notion that Frye is a terrible defender is just a gross inaccuracy that the numbers just simply don't back up anymore. Post players only scored 0.83 PPP on 45% shooting against him (Good for 115th in the league, a more than respectable number) while he only fouled 8.5% of the time and forcing a turnover 15.2% of the time. Roll men shot 39.5% on 0.83 PPP which was good for 37th in the league.

He's more than adequate at what he does.

[Ruzious]

And one last point for anyone that still wants to defend this decision. If you want to bring an off-ball center that is perfect for FIBA play and can run the floor, then why hasn't Channing Frye been given any consideration over the years? His footwork is better than a lot of the bigs on the roster, he's an equivalent defender to most of them, he's a natural shooter, and the perfect compliment to slashers like Rose and Harden.

Because he's not very good. He's a talented athlete with skills, but he's soft, and he's been soft since college - when he played on the under-achieving Iguodola teams that had a 6'4 PF who was physically tougher than Frye.

And yet he's still a better defender than every big on the USAB roster that isn't named Davis. The notion that Frye is a terrible defender is just a gross inaccuracy that the numbers just simply don't back up anymore. Post players only scored 0.83 PPP on 45% shooting against him (Good for 115th in the league, a more than respectable number) while he only fouled 8.5% of the time and forcing a turnover 15.2% of the time. Roll men shot 39.5% on 0.83 PPP which was good for 37th in the league.

He's more than adequate at what he does.

He doesn't do enough, imo. And being good for 115th in the league at post defense doesn't sound like a ringing endorcement. What does he do well other than shoot 3's at 37%? He's a poor rebounder (7.2 per 40 minutes), doesn't get assists, steals, or blocks, made 50% of his 2's for the first time in his career last season. Granted, Rudy Gay was on the team in past years, and he wasn't much better, but Rudy was more versatile. I'll agree that Frye has had a solid career, but I can't agree that he's been unfairly overlooked.

[Sluggerface]

Because he's not very good. He's a talented athlete with skills, but he's soft, and he's been soft since college - when he played on the under-achieving Iguodola teams that had a 6'4 PF who was physically tougher than Frye.

And yet he's still a better defender than every big on the USAB roster that isn't named Davis. The notion that Frye is a terrible defender is just a gross inaccuracy that the numbers just simply don't back up anymore. Post players only scored 0.83 PPP on 45% shooting against him (Good for 115th in the league, a more than respectable number) while he only fouled 8.5% of the time and forcing a turnover 15.2% of the time. Roll men shot 39.5% on 0.83 PPP which was good for 37th in the league.

He's more than adequate at what he does.

He doesn't do enough, imo. And being good for 115th in the league at post defense doesn't sound like a ringing endorcement. What does he do well other than shoot 3's at 37%? He's a poor rebounder (7.2 per 40 minutes), doesn't get assists, steals, or blocks, made 50% of his 2's for the first time in his career last season. Granted, Rudy Gay was on the team in past years, and he wasn't much better, but Rudy was more versatile. I'll agree that Frye has had a solid career, but I can't agree that he's been unfairly overlooked.

I'm not making the argument that he's been overlooked. I'm making the argument that it's pointless for Plumlee to be there when there are better ways to go for USAB.

[pancakes3]

I get that Cousins is a knucklehead. I really do. Drummond doesn't exactly make me gaga either. However, this Plumlee business is just flat out an affront to my basketball sensibilities. DeAndre Jordan, Al Jefferson, the Lopez Twins, and Roy Hibbert are all American to the best of my knowledge. Hell, JaFail, Spencer Hawes, John Henson, and Derrick Favors are all >= to Mason P in my estimation.

I'm not a full out conspiracy theorist but it does make me wonder if there's something more to the player selection. I don't know if it's alma mater stuff, endorsements, agents, or whatever but this one bit of news makes it all just seems a touch askew.

[stevemcqueen1]

Making the team is about having people in charge that will speak for you.

[hands11]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qea2Ka9psdY[/youtube]