Paris Olympics Thread

[Worm Guts]

Can confidently say that Anthony Edwards has played his last Olympics minute this year, after that pass.

It was a terrible pass, but Durant set it up by holding the ball to long.

[winforlose]

It’s official, Steph Curry is an enemy of the French state.

[shrink]

This is what makes basketball great! I loved the drama!

[shrink]

Lots of thoughts on this run…

Over the years, we’ve grown so accustomed to greatness from LeBron, Steph and Durant that we take them for granted, and continue to say they are over the hill. They are still some of the best players on the planet, which is so impressive in a league full of young athletes.

Embiid and Booker aren’t my favorite players because of their behavior, but both delivered in their spots for Team USA. I don’t remember Booker playing such good defense. Embiid still took time this game though to remind me he’s a punk.

It was great to see Curry finish this game off, because you know he appreciates it so much. Long live the little guy!

I thought broadcaster Ian Eagle was really great, and it’s amazing he’s only 27 years old. He could be the voice of the NBA for the next 50 years. He seemed very comfortable chatting it up with the legendary Dwayne Wade, and was knowledgeable about off-court connections. I knew what it meant to Ant to slam a lob from his idol KD in the Olympic gold medal game, but I didn’t expect the announcer to get it too. I think his dad must have been working with him from birth with a teleprompter and an earpiece. Wade did well too - does he do broadcasting now?

Wembanyama is the real deal. Watch out for France in four years, when he and all the French talent that was drafted this season get four years of NBA experience and training!

[TheZachAttack]

I thought Ant played well. I think the key for Ant is that he is aggressive, bringing energy, and taking shots. Teams collapse on him because if they don't they can't stop him from getting to the rim. In the Olympic setting especially, even when Ant misses it usually leads to offensive rebounds and easy buckets because of this. On at least 2 of his misses in the gold medal game, the ball hung on the rim and AD was able to easily put it back as the defense was out contesting Edwards shots. This means that Team USA got at least 12 points on the 7 possessions that ended with an Ant shot.

Stylistically, I can understand why fans in an Olympic setting especially do not like some of the iso play but Ant probing and getting to his spots in rhythm leads to good things happening. When Ant is a negative, it's actually when he's being passive, deferring, and sort of meandering. And when Ant is being aggressive, he's also engaging off-ball and on defense more. Hounding guards and getting deflections/steals and crashing the glass on offense.

In some ways this isn't all great because it would be great if Ant had the off-ball feel that Booker does or was better at playing more aggressively and quickly off the catch, but he doesn't. I think clearly he was allowed the freedom to play the way he did during the Olympics by the coaching staff and also be his peers in the locker room because of his ability to make shots, bring energy, and change the momentum of games.

The turnover at the end of the 3rd was an unfortunate miscommunication, but Lebron, Curry, and others in the 4th quarter made the same play. And again this came from Ant trying to defer to Durant. In the 4th quarter, when things matter the stars iso'd as well and ultimately it's a make-or-miss sport. Against Serbia, too many of the Team USA players were passive, trying to over defer to the stars, and out of their game. Against France, many more of the players on Team USA were being aggressive, taking shots in rhythm, unafraid to take a shot even if they aren't Lebron/Curry/Durant, and make plays. This is what's important and the reason they won. Against Serbia, it was almost like the KAT 60 point game against Charlotte where because one player was hot everyone started passing to him, no-one was in rhythm, and then all of a sudden the game was tight and basically only Curry was in his flow and feeling good.

I thought Ant played well, provided really important energy in his minutes in the first half, and then made an impact on both sides in his 2nd stint as well. His job was to provide energy, physicality, momentum, and get shots up while Lebron/Curry got breathers. I think the Olympic run as a whole was a really positive one for Ant. I think he played really well outside of the Serbia game (and if he hits 1-2 of those open 3's I think we look at that differently and he plays differently in the second half).

He was 4th on the team with 12.8 PPG in just 16 minutes on 58/48/58 (lol) shooting splits behind Curry/Lebron/KD who had 13.8-14.8 points in 22-24mpg. He had a clearly important role on the team as the 6th man and had trust from his coaching staff and teammates in their willingness to let him control the offense, take shots, and get to his spots on the floor. I saw Ant get a lot of confidence in his ability to command the court even with stars, make strides in his willingness to move off the ball, continue to show his consistency as a perimeter jump shooter (we all know he's a good shooter but loses focus for stretches in the regular season), and continue to establish himself as a bonafide top 10ish caliber player.

He still has work to do in order to get to the next level as a superstar. I actually thought he was better for the Wolves and in the playoffs in finding open shooters off of his ability to collapse defenses and the way defenses guard him, but maybe defenses will over guard him more in the NBA.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

Great game. USA just got too much talents . France give a good fight. Ant, Rudy get some well deserved rest for a month and half and cone back fresh and healthy for the season. 2025 will a the Wolves season !

[winforlose]

Great game. USA just got too much talents . France give a good fight. Ant, Rudy get some well deserved rest for a month and half and cone back fresh and healthy for the season. 2025 will a the Wolves season !

France used Rudy to set good screens in the 3rd and went on a run. Then they sat him the entire 4th. I think that mistake really hurt France. Then again what can anyone do when Curry goes berserk?

[FrenchMinnyFan]

Curry should have been MVP, not Lebron.

[shrink]

Read on Twitter

[Colbinii]

Curry should have been MVP, not Lebron.

For the tournament?

[KGdaBom]

Read on Twitter

IMO Lyles comes across as a dik. Hopefully he was saying that tongue in cheek and not serious.