USA Basketball Team

[Fierce1]

From what I've seen from Kerr as USA coach, it's looking like Draymond was making Kerr and GSW look good on defense.

Team USA has not been good on defense since Kerr took over last year, in the FIBA World Cup.

[bigboi]

From what I've seen from Kerr as USA coach, it's looking like Draymond was making Kerr and GSW look good on defense.

Team USA has not been good on defense since Kerr took over last year, in the FIBA World Cup.

Kerr isn’t a good coach lmao. We know this. He has a GOAT level talent. That’s it.

If Kerr were coaching the big 3 nets, he would’ve been fired just like Nash

[return2glory]

Kerr is an absolute moron. He keeps putting lineups that have no chemistry out there.

How is this comment only getting 2 likes?

This team and this coach are disgusting to watch. They are embarrassing AF.

Kerr continues to start the 3 worst players on the team. You might get away this is crap against South Sudan but against an above average team like Serbia, it's not going to work. And Serbia outside of Jokic and Bogdanovic, they aren't that good.

I've been saying since the practice games 3 weeks ago that Lebron, Curry and Embiid have no busy playing on this team. Yet Kerr starts them and the team always gets to a bad start. No of these 3 play any defense. It's a joke. Lebron hasn't been good for about 3 years. Forget his padded stats, he is a third of the player he used to be. Curry can be a 12th man on this team at best. I don't care he got 36 against a terrible defensive team. Embiid is the best player out of the 3 at this stage in their careers, but Embiid is out of game shape.

**** the politics, put your best players on the court. But this BS.

It's not that hard. Start Jrue, White, Edwards, Durant and Bam. That's your best mix of offensive and defense. Give them the majority of the minutes. Bring in Tatum as your 6th man.

[return2glory]

People need to stop with Kerr disrespecting Tatum stuff already. Kerr is disrespecting the USA team. He is a kiss ass. I don't respect any coach you doesn't put his play players on the floor. This isn't 2016. Stop playing Lebron. He shouldn't be playing more than 5 minutes a game and that's only at the end of blow out games.

[Triple7]

At the end of the day, JT has himself partly to blame for the disrespect. This should be his time to lead, but he somehow regressed as an offensive player. His overall game improved, especially his passing. He still doesn’t box out that much on rebounds, so he needs improvement there as well. Shooting and shot making have been a problem this past seasons. With his “supposed” shooting, pulling up from mid range should have been automatic, but its not for JT. He always makes it hard for himself to score. Taking turn around fade aways when don’t need to. Jacking off side step contested 3’s. Missing free throws, layups and ppint blank shots. He’s not good at using the board as well, and doesn’t have good body control. A little bump, and he misses a layup completely, which should have been an easy and1 for others. I feel bad for what happened to JT getting benched, but he needs to work on his game. JB improved a lot last season, and can even be better next season. If he wants the respect from his peers and coaches, he must get better.

[Fierce1]

At the end of the day, JT has himself partly to blame for the disrespect. This should be his time to lead, but he somehow regressed as an offensive player. His overall game improved, especially his passing. He still doesn’t box out that much on rebounds, so he needs improvement there as well. Shooting and shot making have been a problem this past seasons. With his “supposed” shooting, pulling up from mid range should have been automatic, but its not for JT. He always makes it hard for himself to score. Taking turn around fade aways when don’t need to. Jacking off side step contested 3’s. Missing free throws, layups and ppint blank shots. He’s not good at using the board as well, and doesn’t have good body control. A little bump, and he misses a layup completely, which should have been an easy and1 for others. I feel bad for what happened to JT getting benched, but he needs to work on his game. JB improved a lot last season, and can even be better next season. If he wants the respect from his peers and coaches, he must get better.

All that and JT still ended up leading the Celts in points, rebounds, and assists in the playoffs.

Maybe you should consider the fact that JT is NOT a finished product.

Just look at JB in the 2023 east finals Game 7 and compare that to what we saw from JB in this year's playoffs.

Clearly JB got better in a span of 1 year.

I don't see why JT will not improve as he gets older.

[Triple7]

At the end of the day, JT has himself partly to blame for the disrespect. This should be his time to lead, but he somehow regressed as an offensive player. His overall game improved, especially his passing. He still doesn’t box out that much on rebounds, so he needs improvement there as well. Shooting and shot making have been a problem this past seasons. With his “supposed” shooting, pulling up from mid range should have been automatic, but its not for JT. He always makes it hard for himself to score. Taking turn around fade aways when don’t need to. Jacking off side step contested 3’s. Missing free throws, layups and ppint blank shots. He’s not good at using the board as well, and doesn’t have good body control. A little bump, and he misses a layup completely, which should have been an easy and1 for others. I feel bad for what happened to JT getting benched, but he needs to work on his game. JB improved a lot last season, and can even be better next season. If he wants the respect from his peers and coaches, he must get better.

All that and JT still ended up leading the Celts in points, rebounds, and assists in the playoffs.

Maybe you should consider the fact that JT is NOT a finished product.

Just look at JB in the 2023 east finals Game 7 and compare that to what we saw from JB in this year's playoffs.

Clearly JB got better in a span of 1 year.

I don't see why JT will not improve as he gets older.

Well everyone is watching JT closely, so he better work his ass this off season. JB got a lot better, but the pressure to perform is not the same as with JT. JT also talked a lot about being the face of the league, and yet he underperformed a lot.

[mpoo_sin]

Hey maybe Tatum will see the floor in the finals!

Most decorated waterboy of all time?

Someone still a bit salty about the ass kicking we gave you in the Finals ?

Who is you and who is we?
I don t play for neither team, nor do you i suppose.

Not salty at all. The better team won. They probably won it on their last try with this core. Remember that not few people wanted to break up that core after the choke job of 2023.
Tatum is maybe the 2nd best player...maybe Porzingis if not injured is really the number two.

I wrote before last season that i thought Brown was the better player, at least offensively. Brown might actually play a role with team USA.

Tatum is a good roleplayer, he will never be a leading player.

stop with the baiting and ridiculous hot takes in an attempt to get a reaction - Shackles

You might want to be more objective as a mod.
It is NOT a "ridiculous hot take". Also if someone calls someone an idiot that should be an instant strike, eh? Please do not be offended if someone is critical of a player of your favourite team.
Be better.

[Fierce1]

At the end of the day, JT has himself partly to blame for the disrespect. This should be his time to lead, but he somehow regressed as an offensive player. His overall game improved, especially his passing. He still doesn’t box out that much on rebounds, so he needs improvement there as well. Shooting and shot making have been a problem this past seasons. With his “supposed” shooting, pulling up from mid range should have been automatic, but its not for JT. He always makes it hard for himself to score. Taking turn around fade aways when don’t need to. Jacking off side step contested 3’s. Missing free throws, layups and ppint blank shots. He’s not good at using the board as well, and doesn’t have good body control. A little bump, and he misses a layup completely, which should have been an easy and1 for others. I feel bad for what happened to JT getting benched, but he needs to work on his game. JB improved a lot last season, and can even be better next season. If he wants the respect from his peers and coaches, he must get better.

All that and JT still ended up leading the Celts in points, rebounds, and assists in the playoffs.

Maybe you should consider the fact that JT is NOT a finished product.

Just look at JB in the 2023 east finals Game 7 and compare that to what we saw from JB in this year's playoffs.

Clearly JB got better in a span of 1 year.

I don't see why JT will not improve as he gets older.

Well everyone is watching JT closely, so he better work his ass this off season. JB got a lot better, but the pressure to perform is not the same as with JT. JT also talked a lot about being the face of the league, and yet he underperformed a lot.

Reason why the Celtics won a championship is because they won as a team.

JT underperformed only if you base it on shooting.

But what makes JT great is he did the other things needed for the team to win a championship.
Making the right passes, playing good defense, and getting rebounds are some of the things that JT did, in the playoffs, when he was not shooting the ball well.

KD and Booker are great shooters, but they didn't win a single playoff game this season.

Steph is considered the GOAT of shooting and he wasn't even in the playoffs.

When JT was not shooting the ball well, he did other things to help the Cs win.

So saying JT underperformed is not really accurate because his production says otherwise.

If underperforming is leading the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists in the playoffs and finals then JT should underperform every playoffs.

[Sweet Serenity]

Someone still a bit salty about the ass kicking we gave you in the Finals ?

Who is you and who is we?
I don t play for neither team, nor do you i suppose.

Not salty at all. The better team won. They probably won it on their last try with this core. Remember that not few people wanted to break up that core after the choke job of 2023.
Tatum is maybe the 2nd best player...maybe Porzingis if not injured is really the number two.

I wrote before last season that i thought Brown was the better player, at least offensively. Brown might actually play a role with team USA.

Tatum is a good roleplayer, he will never be a leading player.

stop with the baiting and ridiculous hot takes in an attempt to get a reaction - Shackles

You might want to be more objective as a mod.
It is NOT a "ridiculous hot take". Also if someone calls someone an idiot that should be an instant strike, eh? Please do not be offended if someone is critical of a player of your favourite team.
Be better.

[shackles10]

Someone still a bit salty about the ass kicking we gave you in the Finals ?

Who is you and who is we?
I don t play for neither team, nor do you i suppose.

Not salty at all. The better team won. They probably won it on their last try with this core. Remember that not few people wanted to break up that core after the choke job of 2023.
Tatum is maybe the 2nd best player...maybe Porzingis if not injured is really the number two.

I wrote before last season that i thought Brown was the better player, at least offensively. Brown might actually play a role with team USA.

Tatum is a good roleplayer, he will never be a leading player.

stop with the baiting and ridiculous hot takes in an attempt to get a reaction - Shackles

You might want to be more objective as a mod.
It is NOT a "ridiculous hot take". Also if someone calls someone an idiot that should be an instant strike, eh? Please do not be offended if someone is critical of a player of your favourite team.
Be better.

You called a multiple first team all-NBA player who’s in his prime and just led his championship team in points, rebounds, and assists for the entire playoffs a role player. That’s a ridiculous hot take and an attempt to bait someone into calling you a name. Should both be a strike or do you prefer that you’re also allowed to continue to post on a board you never visit previously and are only here now to troll?

Also, don’t need the backseat modding either. Be better.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

At the end of the day, JT has himself partly to blame for the disrespect. This should be his time to lead, but he somehow regressed as an offensive player. His overall game improved, especially his passing. He still doesn’t box out that much on rebounds, so he needs improvement there as well. Shooting and shot making have been a problem this past seasons. With his “supposed” shooting, pulling up from mid range should have been automatic, but its not for JT. He always makes it hard for himself to score. Taking turn around fade aways when don’t need to. Jacking off side step contested 3’s. Missing free throws, layups and ppint blank shots. He’s not good at using the board as well, and doesn’t have good body control. A little bump, and he misses a layup completely, which should have been an easy and1 for others. I feel bad for what happened to JT getting benched, but he needs to work on his game. JB improved a lot last season, and can even be better next season. If he wants the respect from his peers and coaches, he must get better.

Shooting at the rim in the NBA this season
Kevin Durant 81.3%
Anthony Davis 77.5%
Derrick White 77.0%
Devin Booker 76.1%
LeBron James 75.8%
Jayson Tatum 74.1%
Bam Adebayo 72.9%
Jrue Holiday 71.0%
Joel Embiid 71.0%
Anthony Edwards 69.8%
Tyrese Haliburton 69.3%
Stephen Curry 69.2%

Not really seeing how Tatum's finishing is any worse than the other guys on team USA (especially since he has one of the highest volume at the rim).

[stepbackj34]

Im gonna catch flak for this but Tatum shouldnt be playing over any wing on this team usa roster. Derrick white and Jrue are specialist so they are needed more.

Tatum is really a 2nd or 3rd team level player masquerading as 1st team guy. Those 1st team selections dont mean anything when he’s playing behind generational talent. He’s not a Lebron, Kobe, or Durant level player despite the 1st team selections. Also his style of play sucks for fiba basketball.

[BK_2020]

In the 24 playoffs Tatum shot 37.5% on open threes and 38.2% on wide open threes, somewhat worse than what you'd expect from a shooter of his calibre but not a bad shooter at all. He just took a lot of bad shots.
In the playoffs,
34% of his threes were contested (defender within 2 to 4 feet)
Almost half of his threes came after 3 dribbles or more
37% after holding the ball for 6 seconds or more
Highest number of shots with the clock running out (not threes, which was Derrick White who shot a very good 34% on those)
5 of 7.3 3PA per game was pull up three
He's not KD, he's not able to thrive on that kind of shot diet.

[Larry_Russell]

I still think the best team to start would be

Jrue at PG
Edwards at SG
Tatum and SF
Durant or Lebron at PF
Davis at C

That team smokes
team b
Holiday
Curry
Booker
Lebron
Embiid

No size on the team that Kerr keeps starting. Booker is a sg who plays some PG,.,,,not a SF, Curry doesnt play defense, Lebron stat pads and only cares with trying to convince people he is better than Jordan.

There is no argument for team b over team a in this olympics.

[He_Got_Game]

Someone still a bit salty about the ass kicking we gave you in the Finals ?

Who is you and who is we?
I don t play for neither team, nor do you i suppose.

Not salty at all. The better team won. They probably won it on their last try with this core. Remember that not few people wanted to break up that core after the choke job of 2023.
Tatum is maybe the 2nd best player...maybe Porzingis if not injured is really the number two.

I wrote before last season that i thought Brown was the better player, at least offensively. Brown might actually play a role with team USA.

Tatum is a good roleplayer, he will never be a leading player.

stop with the baiting and ridiculous hot takes in an attempt to get a reaction - Shackles

You might want to be more objective as a mod.
It is NOT a "ridiculous hot take". Also if someone calls someone an idiot that should be an instant strike, eh? Please do not be offended if someone is critical of a player of your favourite team.
Be better.

You know absolutely nothing about serious basketball discourse. Leave serious basketball discussion to people who actually know the game. Stick to watching YouTube highlights.

[playa-hater]

I still think the best team to start would be

Jrue at PG
Edwards at SG
Tatum and SF
Durant or Lebron at PF
Davis at C

That team smokes
team b
Holiday
Curry
Booker
Lebron
Embiid

No size on the team that Kerr keeps starting. Booker is a sg who plays some PG,.,,,not a SF, Curry doesnt play defense, Lebron stat pads and only cares with trying to convince people he is better than Jordan.

There is no argument for team b over team a in this olympics.

The first player I have the most confidence in is KD.

I would have AD at Center, KD and Tatum at Forwards, Lebron and Curry (only because it would be a major distraction not starting him). Reason I like my lineup is extreme length and switch-ability other than Curry of course. If team shoots poorly insert Booker.. Defense insert Jrue > Curry.

[shackles10]

I still think the best team to start would be

Jrue at PG
Edwards at SG
Tatum and SF
Durant or Lebron at PF
Davis at C

That team smokes
team b
Holiday
Curry
Booker
Lebron
Embiid

No size on the team that Kerr keeps starting. Booker is a sg who plays some PG,.,,,not a SF, Curry doesnt play defense, Lebron stat pads and only cares with trying to convince people he is better than Jordan.

There is no argument for team b over team a in this olympics.

Start Lebron and Durant together even if you want, and have Tatum come off the bench. My complaint is only partly that Tatum gets 0 PT (which is ridiculous), but mostly the combos Kerr is going with and the way he's favoring certain players who have also had more than their fair share of poor play in the friendlies, the qualifying, the medal rounds, all of it. Fix that and Tatum default gets some PT, but it's more about we don't have nailbiters against Serbia if he fixes the rotations. It's too late now though lol it is what it is.

There's no such thing as "non-shooters" in this entire group. There's not a Javelle McGee or Ben Wallace taking up a roster space. Layups and dunks are way easier anyways and we feast with strong defense that leads to fast breaks and those kind of opportunities. Getting a steal, block, or rebounding and going the other way was how we came back against Serbia. Not surprisingly it was once Lebron and Embiid chose to defend. Spo and Joe should do 2028 because they'll make them play defense and that'll be the reason guys will get DNP's if there are any. Or better yet, get a college guy like Mark Few to step up who has already been with the team and won't have favoritisms from not being in the NBA.

[Fencer reregistered]

I still think the best team to start would be

Jrue at PG
Edwards at SG
Tatum and SF
Durant or Lebron at PF
Davis at C

That team smokes
team b
Holiday
Curry
Booker
Lebron
Embiid

No size on the team that Kerr keeps starting. Booker is a sg who plays some PG,.,,,not a SF, Curry doesnt play defense, Lebron stat pads and only cares with trying to convince people he is better than Jordan.

There is no argument for team b over team a in this olympics.

The idea that there aren't enough minutes for all of LeBron, Durant and Tatum -- because Kerr would rather play Booker at SF than one of them -- is mind-boggling.

[Fierce1]

Apparently Kerr got away with playing small ball for so long that he still thinks small ball is the way to go in international competition.

Team USA made Daniel Theis look like an All-World player in the FIBA World Cup last year.

That Kerr led Team USA team couldn't even get Bronze in that 2023 World Cup.