2024 Olympic Basketball Discussion Thread

[_jin]

Thon Maker didnt get the authorisation in time to play for South Sudan at the Olympics. But he should be there for SSD's future competitions.

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[SelfishPlayer]

Although I completely disagree on roster construction, I do agree with ‘Selfish player’ that I wish DeAaron Fox was selected. Speed like no one else on this team plus clutch shot-making. Pretty sure i called out Fox before Kawhi was selected.

The world benefits from team USA not having speed at PG. Team USA has to "run offense" every possession. If D Fox were on the team he could create easy baskets for himself and others with speed alone. Team USA hardly has any "penetrate and kick" opportunities created by their backcourt. Guys like Curry, Booker, and Ant should have far more wide open three point attempts.

[durden_tyler]

Although I completely disagree on roster construction, I do agree with ‘Selfish player’ that I wish DeAaron Fox was selected. Speed like no one else on this team plus clutch shot-making. Pretty sure i called out Fox before Kawhi was selected.

The world benefits from team USA not having speed at PG. Team USA has to "run offense" every possession. If D Fox were on the team he could create easy baskets for himself and others with speed alone. Team USA hardly has any "penetrate and kick" opportunities created by their backcourt. Guys like Curry, Booker, and Ant should have far more wide open three point attempts.

Defensively, he sucks though. And again, just too redundant with Haliburton, who’s going to play just 5 minutes a game anyway.


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[SelfishPlayer]

Although I completely disagree on roster construction, I do agree with ‘Selfish player’ that I wish DeAaron Fox was selected. Speed like no one else on this team plus clutch shot-making. Pretty sure i called out Fox before Kawhi was selected.

The world benefits from team USA not having speed at PG. Team USA has to "run offense" every possession. If D Fox were on the team he could create easy baskets for himself and others with speed alone. Team USA hardly has any "penetrate and kick" opportunities created by their backcourt. Guys like Curry, Booker, and Ant should have far more wide open three point attempts.

Defensively, he sucks though. And again, just too redundant with Haliburton, who’s going to play just 5 minutes a game anyway.


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Redundant? Haliburton isn't a super fast open court player. He's a ball screen/pick and roll reliant three point shooter.

[NBA4Lyfe]

Team USA needs to not just only LOSE in the Olympics but also not even medal for the politics behind the player selection committee to change. Nike/klutch sports needs to fall flat on their face before something changes

Considering Harden won his one and only MVP against LeBron - the most prominent Nike/Klutch client in the league and lost to guys who represent different brands and agencies, what exactly is your issue with them?

Not that I'm defending them, I'm well aware these massive businesses and agencies are ran by and full of horrible people, I'm just curious why you're singling them out. If it is due to your magnetic rim sources again, feel free to ignore my question.

2018 was one of hardens weakest cases for mvp, its just that the runner up in lebron just earlier in that same season just took 2 weeks off to rest and recover or whatever. The nba voters would have set a bad precedent voting for lebron, especially in the :load managing era" we are in now

2017 the media intenionally moved the goalpost and gave it to russ instead of harden or kawhi

2019 harden has the second highest epm and highest offensive luck adjusted on/off in their history and harden being the 4th seed lost to giannis, keep in mind a few years later jokic would go on to win the mvp as a 6th seed lol

[Loaded_Hollows]

When’s the next game?

[durden_tyler]

The world benefits from team USA not having speed at PG. Team USA has to "run offense" every possession. If D Fox were on the team he could create easy baskets for himself and others with speed alone. Team USA hardly has any "penetrate and kick" opportunities created by their backcourt. Guys like Curry, Booker, and Ant should have far more wide open three point attempts.

Defensively, he sucks though. And again, just too redundant with Haliburton, who’s going to play just 5 minutes a game anyway.


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Redundant? Haliburton isn't a super fast open court player. He's a ball screen/pick and roll reliant three point shooter.

Both are a liability defensively. Team USA would have gone with two Derrick Whites and they would be better off for it. Fox, whilst impressive offensively, is not needed on that end with all the BETTER scorers in the team.

[AussieCeltic]

When’s the next game?

Aus v Spain is the first game which is Saturday 7pm Australian time. I believe it will be 5am east coast America .

USA v Serbia I believe is on at 10am Sunday for east coast America.

[Slim Tubby]

I watched all of the warmup games and it sure seems to me like the younger guys (Tatum, Ant, Booker, etc) look very stagnant by deferring heavily to the old guard (Lebron, Curry, Embiid etc) on offense. This is a real problem even with how well James has played.

It serves no purpose to have Ant or Tatum go stand in the corner while Lebron brings the ball up. They simply become the emergency dump off late in the shot clock for an inefficient shot when all else fails.

And why is Ant the primary ball handler in this offense ever? His handle has improved greatly but there's a reason why Conley has been such a stabilizing force for the Wolves. Haliburton is the perfect fit next to Ant with his passing and 3-point shooting yet he can't find the court?

There seems to be no true offensive scheme and that all falls on Kerr. He's been terrible during his entire tenure as the USA coach. And at what point does he come to the realization that Embiid just isn't the answer? AD and Bam are both outplaying him quite badly.

Holiday and White most definitely have a role with this team and deserve meaningful minutes but the best lineup to me would be:

C Davis
PF Adebayo
SF James
SG Ant
PG Haliburton

Tatum deserves to start but Bron has earned the slot. I would take the field over the USA by a large margin right now. We have the most talent by far but we might be the worst roster when it comes to playing as a "team". South Sudan and Germany were far more enjoyable to watch than our squad.

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[Pachinko_]

Thon Maker didnt get the authorisation in time to play for South Sudan at the Olympics. But he should be there for SSD's future competitions.

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IMO South Sudan already has better players than Thon Maker.

[CodeBreaker]

KD being injured the entire time, and they still don't wanna replace him. Kawhi was playing well during the scrimmages, and they sent him home lol

The baffling thing is why this clown even got the invite in the first place.

Maybe because of Ty Lue wanting him to be part of the Avengers roster

[Pachinko_]

all legitimate questions

To be fair to Kerr, who in the history of basketball has solved the problem what do you do when you have more star players than you know what to do with, zero role players, and only a few days to prepare?

The only teams that ever faced these problem are All Star Game teams and Team USA, that's it. And nobody really solved it, they all played ugly basketball and overwhelmed the opponent with sheer talent and the good old my turn - your turn offensive plan. That's all you can do really. At least in Team USAs of the past there were always leaders like MJ, Pippen, Kobe who said "who is the other team's offensive star? I'll guard him and I'll wipe him off the map", and they did just that. This team has some great defenders but I'm not sure if anyone is particularly willing (or capable) to do the same.

Still, nice problems to have.

[Loaded_Hollows]

When’s the next game?

Aus v Spain is the first game which is Saturday 7pm Australian time. I believe it will be 5am east coast America .

USA v Serbia I believe is on at 10am Sunday for east coast America.

Thanks!

[Wingy]

Although I completely disagree on roster construction, I do agree with ‘Selfish player’ that I wish DeAaron Fox was selected. Speed like no one else on this team plus clutch shot-making. Pretty sure i called out Fox before Kawhi was selected.

The world benefits from team USA not having speed at PG. Team USA has to "run offense" every possession. If D Fox were on the team he could create easy baskets for himself and others with speed alone. Team USA hardly has any "penetrate and kick" opportunities created by their backcourt. Guys like Curry, Booker, and Ant should have far more wide open three point attempts.

Defensively, he sucks though. And again, just too redundant with Haliburton, who’s going to play just 5 minutes a game anyway.


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Haliburton also sucks at D, so they could have picked him over Haliburton, and if I need someone to turn it up for a brief time against a super quick opponent, it’s going to be Fox over Hali for that.

Didn’t need some “pure PG” when there’s LePointFwd, Steph, Jrue already more than capable of playing the position…and Fox.

It’s about being equipped to handle any matchup.

[Statlanta]

I watched all of the warmup games and it sure seems to me like the younger guys (Tatum, Ant, Booker, etc) look very stagnant by deferring heavily to the old guard (Lebron, Curry, Embiid etc) on offense. This is a real problem even with how well James has played.

It serves no purpose to have Ant or Tatum go stand in the corner while Lebron brings the ball up. They simply become the emergency dump off late in the shot clock for an inefficient shot when all else fails.

And why is Ant the primary ball handler in this offense ever? His handle has improved greatly but there's a reason why Conley has been such a stabilizing force for the Wolves. Haliburton is the perfect fit next to Ant with his passing and 3-point shooting yet he can't find the court?

There seems to be no true offensive scheme and that all falls on Kerr. He's been terrible during his entire tenure as the USA coach. And at what point does he come to the realization that Embiid just isn't the answer? AD and Bam are both outplaying him quite badly.

Holiday and White most definitely have a role with this team and deserve meaningful minutes but the best lineup to me would be:

C Davis
PF Adebayo
SF James
SG Ant
PG Haliburton

Tatum deserves to start but Bron has earned the slot. I would take the field over the USA by a large margin right now. We have the most talent by far but we might be the worst roster when it comes to playing as a "team". South Sudan and Germany were far more enjoyable to watch than our squad.

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The deferring is not a problem since they still have a talent advantage. It will be in future tournaments when those guys still don't know how to takeover when the old guys leave but not now. Edwards is a primary ball-handler because he's the most aggressive of all the young players. Even Haliburton despite being the most pass-first player on the roster is not aggressive enough to dictate the other players.

Embiid will remain the starter due to politics of being MVP. You will ruin his ego if you start Davis or Adebayo because he is viewed by the media as being the best non-Jokic big in the NBA.

Kerr has also been hands off because as stated in this thread this is one of the oldest USA rosters. The old guys will figure it out and dictate how they will play.

[Slim Tubby]

all legitimate questions

To be fair to Kerr, who in the history of basketball has solved the problem what do you do when you have more star players than you know what to do with, zero role players, and only a few days to prepare?

The only teams that ever faced these problem are All Star Game teams and Team USA, that's it. And nobody really solved it, they all played ugly basketball and overwhelmed the opponent with sheer talent and the good old my turn - your turn offensive plan. That's all you can do really. At least in Team USAs of the past there were always leaders like MJ, Pippen, Kobe who said "who is the other team's offensive star? I'll guard him and I'll wipe him off the map", and they did just that. This team has some great defenders but I'm not sure if anyone is particularly willing (or capable) to do the same.

Still, nice problems to have.

All very fair points, Pachinko and Statlanta.

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[Mamba81p]

all legitimate questions

To be fair to Kerr, who in the history of basketball has solved the problem what do you do when you have more star players than you know what to do with, zero role players, and only a few days to prepare?

The only teams that ever faced these problem are All Star Game teams and Team USA, that's it. And nobody really solved it, they all played ugly basketball and overwhelmed the opponent with sheer talent and the good old my turn - your turn offensive plan. That's all you can do really. At least in Team USAs of the past there were always leaders like MJ, Pippen, Kobe who said "who is the other team's offensive star? I'll guard him and I'll wipe him off the map", and they did just that. This team has some great defenders but I'm not sure if anyone is particularly willing (or capable) to do the same.

Still, nice problems to have.

2008 Redeem Team was probably the best team since the Dream Team not only because they had prime Kobe, LeBron and Wade but also they had some sort of continuity. Kobe and Kidd weren't there in 2006, but the rest of the core members were, and Kobe and Kidd joined in 2007. They had 2-3 summers to prep for that tournament.

To be fair, other teams have that problem today, but to a lesser extent to USA. Germany played the most together and you can tell. France still looks bad even after adding Wemby

[_jin]

South Sudan's final roster.

Carlik Jones - Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)
Nuni Omot - Ningbo Rockets (China)
Khaman Maluach - City Oilers (Uganda)
Bul Kuol - Sydney Kings (Australia)
Kuany Kuany - Free agent
Wenyen Gabriel - Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)
JT Thor - Charlotte Hornets (NBA)
Marial Shayok - Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin (China)
Jackson Makoi - Cairns Taipans (Australia)
Majok Deng - Tasmania JackJumpers (Australia)
Peter Jok - Ottawa BlackJacks (Canada)
Sunday Dech - East Perth Eagles (Australia)

[bisme37]

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