Basketball - Day 5 Game Thread Aug. 10th

[California Gold]

Cousins is being destroyed by Bogut. I wish Bogut was always healthy... such a talent.

Cousins is letting him get destroyed. We all know Cousins is better by a mile when both players are healthy.

Sorry I had to come on just to say.... this is one of the most stupid things I've ever read.

Anyone who has been alive in the last 5 years and has seen even more than 5 mins of a Warriors V Kings game... knows that Bogut is completely and utterly in Cousins head. Cousins is literally the definition of Bogut's bitch.

So... then you agree Cousins is letting him get destroyed? Him being in his head has everything to do with Cousins. If Cousins had a cooler head and put his ego aside, he would easily dominate.

You're basically preaching to the choir with your post. So either you thought I said something different or you just said one of the stupidest things you've ever read too. We're both pretty much saying the same thing, just differently.

[reload141]

Cousins is being destroyed by Bogut. I wish Bogut was always healthy... such a talent.

Cousins is letting him get destroyed. We all know Cousins is better by a mile when both players are healthy.

Sorry I had to come on just to say.... this is one of the most stupid things I've ever read.

Anyone who has been alive in the last 5 years and has seen even more than 5 mins of a Warriors V Kings game... knows that Bogut is completely and utterly in Cousins head. Cousins is literally the definition of Bogut's bitch.

This.

[DWadeno3]

Embarrassing defensive effort, far too many basic mistakes that allowed Australia to stay in the game.

Offensively, we can play good team basketball, but too often enjoy quick triggers and poor shots after just one pass.

Australia played great defence. They switched and closed hard on USA shooters. Melo got open a few times and credit to him he nailed his shots.

On the other end Lemanis (our coach) has excellent offensive schemes and we've been easily the second best offence after the USA this tournament. Our passing game is second to none with Delly averaging 11 assists per game, Bogut and Ingles are excellent passers. I haven't fully checked but I reckon Australia is leading the tourney in assists. Mills might well be leading the tournament in scoring too if I'm not mistaken.

C'mon mate, give credit where credit is due, Australia played well.

Klay and KD bricked wide open threes. The only times we didn't get good shots was when we thought one pick-and-roll was enough to create a shot. That's the reason we often struggled to score.

Sure, Australia had some nice sets, but we relaxed too much when we switched everything. Those times Bogut had wide open layups was because the guy switching onto him didn't bump him. Those times guys such as Ingles or Dellavedova were able to penetrate to the basket was because guys had a poor stance with their feet and thus were easy to beat on the dribble.

Coach K adjusted at half time and it helped at least a bit, but again, whenever we had a little cushion, we started to relax. I mean, getting beaten in transition after you score a basket? That's a kid's league mistake.

I'm not taking anything away from Australia, they played to the best of their abilities, but this game shouldn't even be close.

[DWadeno3]

When it gets tight...USA team is not that deep

This. Guys like Derozan, Barnes, DJ, and maybe even Cousins and Lowry really have no business being on a "dream team". They are low-impact and/or inefficient players without elite skills or athleticism. They are fine as 1st or 2nd options on mediocre NBA teams, but they have no place on an elite team where they need to play a role efficiently.

Also, 3 GSW players are getting big minutes on this team, and they flat-out sucked tonight.

Durant + Dray + Klay COMBINED for:
27 pts
8 - 30 FGs (wow)
5 - 14 3pt FG
11 reb
4 asst
2 stl
1 blk

That's 3 players with big minutes each giving you an average of: 9pts, 4reb, 1 asst, 1 stl+blk on 27%FG. Terrible.

Draymond defended pretty well to be fair. Particularly on those pick-and-rolls his aggressive hedging and good footwork to go along with it really pushed Australia's guards out.

[California Gold]

Embarrassing defensive effort, far too many basic mistakes that allowed Australia to stay in the game.

Offensively, we can play good team basketball, but too often enjoy quick triggers and poor shots after just one pass.

Australia played great defence. They switched and closed hard on USA shooters. Melo got open a few times and credit to him he nailed his shots.

On the other end Lemanis (our coach) has excellent offensive schemes and we've been easily the second best offence after the USA this tournament. Our passing game is second to none with Delly averaging 11 assists per game, Bogut and Ingles are excellent passers. I haven't fully checked but I reckon Australia is leading the tourney in assists. Mills might well be leading the tournament in scoring too if I'm not mistaken.

C'mon mate, give credit where credit is due, Australia played well.

Australia played well, but he's not wrong. The U.S. didn't come to play today, at least not half the guys that went on that court. The defense was subpar and that had most to do with effort than anything else.

The U.S. offense was just more about missing open shots and not moving the ball. Australia played good defense as well, but the U.S.' issue for why this was a close game was more due to lack of effort on defense than anything else.

[reload141]

Embarrassing defensive effort, far too many basic mistakes that allowed Australia to stay in the game.

Offensively, we can play good team basketball, but too often enjoy quick triggers and poor shots after just one pass.

Australia played great defence. They switched and closed hard on USA shooters. Melo got open a few times and credit to him he nailed his shots.

On the other end Lemanis (our coach) has excellent offensive schemes and we've been easily the second best offence after the USA this tournament. Our passing game is second to none with Delly averaging 11 assists per game, Bogut and Ingles are excellent passers. I haven't fully checked but I reckon Australia is leading the tourney in assists. Mills might well be leading the tournament in scoring too if I'm not mistaken.

C'mon mate, give credit where credit is due, Australia played well.

Klay and KD bricked wide open threes. The only times we didn't get good shots was when we thought one pick-and-roll was enough to create a shot. That's the reason we often struggled to score.

Sure, Australia had some nice sets, but we relaxed too much when we switched everything. Those times Bogut had wide open layups was because the guy switching onto him didn't bump him. Those times guys such as Ingles or Dellavedova were able to penetrate to the basket was because guys had a poor stance with their feet and thus were easy to beat on the dribble.

Coach K adjusted at half time and it helped at least a bit, but again, whenever we had a little cushion, we started to relax. I mean, getting beaten in transition after you score a basket? That's a kid's league mistake.

I'm not taking anything away from Australia, they played to the best of their abilities, but this game shouldn't even be close.

Exactly. But it was because we played to our strengths which is multiple passes to find the open guy and setting hard screens, being physical and hustle plays. You could say Melo hit some lucky 3's and sure Klay & KD missed some wide open ones but then it evens out with Melo hitting 9 from 3.

At what stage did you exactly have a little cushion apart from the 4th? it was neck and neck all game.
You can't excuse the best players in the world having "poor stance" like you said that's a kid's league mistake and they shouldn't be making it but they are.

[Mr. E]

I want to go back to that utterly beautiful fast break by the Boomers in the 4th quarter. It started with a great defensive play and then they ran the court to perfection.

Like I said earlier, it reminded me of running breaks during practice as a kid. I remember having the chairs set up across the court and you had to run the floor while passing the ball until you got to the hoop.

You travel? Wind sprints.
You let the ball hit the floor? Wind sprints.
You miss the basket? Wind sprints.

I freaking hated wind sprints!

[Alonzo_Morning]

When it gets tight...USA team is not that deep

This. Guys like Derozan, Barnes, DJ, and maybe even Cousins and Lowry really have no business being on a "dream team". They are low-impact and/or inefficient players without elite skills or athleticism. They are fine as 1st or 2nd options on mediocre NBA teams, but they have no place on an elite team where they need to play a role efficiently.

Also, 3 GSW players are getting big minutes on this team, and they flat-out sucked tonight.

Durant + Dray + Klay COMBINED for:
27 pts
8 - 30 FGs (wow)
5 - 14 3pt FG
11 reb
4 asst
2 stl
1 blk

That's 3 players with big minutes each giving you an average of: 9pts, 4reb, 1 asst, 1 stl+blk on 27%FG. Terrible.

Durant can't assimilate confirmed

[zimpy27]

It's not like the USA team is the best they could have had. Steph, Westbrook, Harden, LeBron, AD would kill the USA starting 5.

[Alonzo_Morning]

I want to go back to that utterly beautiful fast break by the Boomers in the 4th quarter. It started with a great defensive play and then they ran the court to perfection.

Like I said earlier, it reminded me of running breaks during practice as a kid. I remember having the chairs set up across the court and you had to run the floor while passing the ball until you got to the hoop.

You travel? Wind sprints.
You let the ball hit the floor? Wind sprints.
You miss the basket? Wind sprints.

I freaking hated wind sprints!

What's the difference between a sprint and a wind sprint? Is it just a case of adding in unncessary terms?

[deflated]

Cousins is letting him get destroyed. We all know Cousins is better by a mile when both players are healthy.

Sorry I had to come on just to say.... this is one of the most stupid things I've ever read.

Anyone who has been alive in the last 5 years and has seen even more than 5 mins of a Warriors V Kings game... knows that Bogut is completely and utterly in Cousins head. Cousins is literally the definition of Bogut's bitch.

So... then you agree Cousins is letting him get destroyed? Him being in his head has everything to do with Cousins. If Cousins had a cooler head and put his ego aside, he would easily dominate.

You're basically preaching to the choir with your post. So either you thought I said something different or you just said one of the stupidest things you've ever read too. We're both pretty much saying the same thing, just differently.

Stop being obtuse. BBIQ is as much of a talent as a 40" vertical and the difference between Bogut and Cousins in on-court intelligence is a yawning chasm. Bogut on the Warriors had no problem playing Cousins, he was so easy to manipulate.

[Apollo64]

Australia=confirmed legit team.

Having a number of NBA champions from 3 different teams is really great for them.

What killed them was that they really don't have any bench depth apart old man Andersen.

[Dez]

My God can you get anymore defensive Harden2Dwight?

[California Gold]

Sorry I had to come on just to say.... this is one of the most stupid things I've ever read.

Anyone who has been alive in the last 5 years and has seen even more than 5 mins of a Warriors V Kings game... knows that Bogut is completely and utterly in Cousins head. Cousins is literally the definition of Bogut's bitch.

So... then you agree Cousins is letting him get destroyed? Him being in his head has everything to do with Cousins. If Cousins had a cooler head and put his ego aside, he would easily dominate.

You're basically preaching to the choir with your post. So either you thought I said something different or you just said one of the stupidest things you've ever read too. We're both pretty much saying the same thing, just differently.

Stop being obtuse. BBIQ is as much of a talent as a 40" vertical and the difference between Bogut and Cousins in on-court intelligence is a yawning chasm. Bogut on the Warriors had no problem playing Cousins, he was so easy to manipulate.

Is Bogut better than Cousins? Yes or no? If you're better than someone, especially by quite a large margin, no one can make you play the way you want to play other than yourself. That's not a slight to Bogut. You could say Bogut is smarter, sure, that still doesn't make him a better player or a better talent. Cousins isn't stupid. He's a hard head with a temper. Rasheed Wallace was similar to that too, but Rasheed never really let it affect his play. I'm not being obtuse. Try again.

[California Gold]

My God can you get anymore defensive Harden2Dwight?

Defensive? Just putting inaccurate posts where they belong. That's all. Does it bother you that much?

[Mr. E]

What's the difference between a sprint and a wind sprint? Is it just a case of adding in unncessary terms?

I may be using the wrong popular term, but that's what our coaches called it when you had to do the sprints to the free throw line and back, then the half-court line and back, and then the other free throw line and back, and finally the other baseline and back.

Wash, rinse, repeat. Hated those things!

[zimpy27]

I love Paul George. The man plays without fear.

I rescind my comment and lost all respect. The guy just called the Australia team 'dirty'. What a cry baby.

[Mr. E]

I love Paul George. The man plays without fear.

I rescind my comment and lost all respect. The guy just called the Australia team 'dirty'. What a cry baby.

What? Where did he do that?

Watching him dive out of bounds for the ball I'd figure that he respected those guys.

[Hawk]

I love Paul George. The man plays without fear.

I rescind my comment and lost all respect. The guy just called the Australia team 'dirty'. What a cry baby.

Really? Australia played tough, that's it. And I loved it!

Come on George...

[bb22]

It's not like the USA team is the best they could have had. Steph, Westbrook, Harden, LeBron, AD would kill the USA starting 5.

That team also struggled against the likes of Australia, Lithuania, and Spain.