Team USA in 2010.

Matiz · Post #21 » by **Matiz** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:07 am

However, when Gasol is gone, Spain will be missing a superstar and their go-to-player down the stretch.

you don't need that to win basketball games, no matter how hard Stern would like to convience people that everything evolves around those franchise players (in order to sell their jerseys)... it's still a team sport and one individual means barely anything, Spain was the one prooving it playing the WChamp finals without Gasol and dominating.

bender235 · Post #22 » by **bender235** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 1:39 pm

Matiz wrote:
However, when Gasol is gone, Spain will be missing a superstar and their go-to-player down the stretch.

you don't need that to win basketball games, no matter how hard Stern would like to convience people that everything evolves around those franchise players (in order to sell their jerseys)... it's still a team sport and one individual means barely anything, Spain was the one prooving it playing the WChamp finals without Gasol and dominating.

C'mon. That was like the Knicks in 1970. The whole team was overachieving for one game. You got a glimpse on Spain w/out Gasol at the 2005 Euros. Spain finished 4th.

Despite what you might think about basketball, it indeed is a sport where a single so-called "franchise player" can have a major impact. See Germany. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why we made the Final in 2005.

Post #23 » by **Klomp** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:27 am

No Chris Paul? LeBron James? Dwight Howard? Carmelo Anthony? These are the 4 best young guys in our league and you leave them off?

jt142 · Post #24 » by **jt142** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 3:08 am

Teams need go-to players. Spain has Gasol, Germany has Nowitzki, and Argentina has Ginobili. If any one of these players was injured, their team would suffer, especially Germany. I don't think any of these teams could play a whole FIBA tourney without their star players and win gold. Although Spain won the championship game in '06 without Gasol, it was still just ONE game.

Chuck Diesel · Post #25 » by **Chuck Diesel** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 6:41 am

And Russia has Kirilenko.. but an argument against the "star" theory could be made for the Greece that won the Eurobasket in 05. They had three very very good players ( and Papaloukas is certainly payed like star now) but I'm not really sure if that team had a definite "go-to" player.

jt142 · Post #26 » by **jt142** » Wed Apr 2, 2008 3:25 pm

klomp44 wrote:No Chris Paul? LeBron James? Dwight Howard? Carmelo Anthony? These are the 4 best young guys in our league and you leave them off?

Chris Paul should be added to the team. His improvement this year is amazing. He should be MVP.

RebelSun · Post #27 » by **RebelSun** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 8:23 pm

I'll take Derrick Rose over Harris.

Kevin Love would be a solid big for international play.

robbe · Post #28 » by **robbe** » Sat Apr 5, 2008 8:53 am

Please all stop this nonsense. Dirk's role on the German team cannot be compared to Gasol's role for Spain or Kirilenko's role for Russia. Germany is a one man team right now. They had more weapons in the early years after the millenium, with Okulaja and Femerling being decent players on good to excellent European teams. That's why the success back then. Now that they're a one man team, there's no way they are among the top teams in Europe. Far from it. The top European teams are built differently than NBA rosters. Which doesn't mean they don't have any go to guys. A Manu Ginobili will never dominate the ball as much as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and many others do on their respective teams.

Spain has a lot of quality players among Gasol. He's an important piece, such as any big man of his quality would be, but he's not the team. Giving a last-shot-loss in the 2005 semifinals without Gasol as proof to the opposite does sound a bit weird, doesn't it?

Of course no team has the depth of the US. But then how does Lithuania's population of 3.4mio or Greece's less than 11mio compare to the US' 292mio? Those countries having a deeper player pool than the US, where basketball is one of the big sports (don't come with India or China here), would be a strange thing, wouldn't it. By the way, the fact that those countries produce world-class-players again and again says a lot about the quality of their basketball schools.

jt142 · Post #29 » by **jt142** » Sun Apr 6, 2008 6:47 pm

Rose, Harris, Paul, and Williams would all be decent choices in the future. I'd probably prefer Rose over Harris. Rose is going to be an All-Star. He reminds me of a super athletic Chris Paul.

I think Love would be a dominant player in FIBA. He's one of the most fundamentally sound players I've ever seen. He very rarely makes mistakes and is a fantastic team player. However, he shouldn't be given a roster spot over Bosh or Stoudamire for the time being. I think he's only 18.

The main problem with the USA NT is team chemistry. We just compile a bunch of superstars (Lebron and Kobe) and one-dimensional scorers (Anthony) and let them train together for a couple of weeks. There's a big difference between being a scorer (Anthony and Iverson) and a shooter (Korver and Kapono). For some odd reason, the selection committee didn't add any pure shooters in '04 and '06. Hopefully, the addition of Miller and Redd will pay off this summer.

In the '06 game against Argentina (a game we won by 15), Lebron played PG and dominated, scoring 20 and passing 7 dimes. Maybe that's something the USA Team should try more often.

The '04 and '06 teams lacked good PG play. Hinrich and Paul didn't play well at all in '06. I think with a couple of NBA seasons under his belt, Paul is a much better player now. I think Kidd and Billups will be the PGs this summer. I don't even know if Paul's in the mix, but he should be.

Overall, I think with the addition of Kobe, Stoudamire, and Billups this team looks a lot better than they did in '06. You also have to consider the fact that Lebron, Melo, Howard, and Wade are better players now than they were 2 years ago.

Duiz · Post #30 » by **Duiz** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:08 am

I can see Ricky Rubio being the second go-to-guy in team Spain, and that means serious kick a$$ action for Spain, and terrible news for Team USA.

Post #31 » by **JaxMagic** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 7:38 pm

Duiz wrote:I can see Ricky Rubio being the second go-to-guy in team Spain, and that means serious kick a$$ action for Spain, and terrible news for Team USA.

I'm sure Team USA is shaking at the thought of Rubio, I know I am.

Duiz · Post #32 » by **Duiz** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:17 pm

JayDubya wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

I'm sure Team USA is shaking at the thought of Rubio, I know I am.

I forget how old is the teen, but he posted 51 points, 24 rebounds, and 12 assists in the final against Russia. I believe it wasn't the main eurobasket but 21 and under.

Team Spain has Navarro and Calderon to shot the 3, the Gasol brothers can dominate the paint, but Ricky can play SG or SF and can give them the fluidity in offense, which they could have used in the final against Russia.

Now, I know he was on the team during the final, but he still has to develop and he will. Team USA is way too weak on the inside. Of the roster last year, we had Howard, Chandler, Stoudamire, Bosh... none of them are defensive specialists, and you can see what Romel-Beck from Mexico was able to do against Team USA.

robbe · Post #33 » by **robbe** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:05 pm

I believe Ricky will be there, as he's been one of the best point guards in the ACB. But keep in mind that there are other talented and/or solid playmakers such as Carlos Cabezas, Raul Lopez and Sergio Rodriguez out there for Spain. And Jose Calderon as their starter of course.

If he's there, Ricky will imo be a role player for 15 minutes at the very, very best (which would be remarkable already, as he's still only 17 and the Spanish NT is a squad loaded with quality players), but by no means a go to guy. His scoring is opportunistic, as he has a good understanding of the game and will take the shots that the opponent gives him. What makes him very interesting for the NT is his defensive awareness and his ability to catch and deflect passes with his long arms, which is why he should fit well into the already outstanding Spanish zone defense.

Pau, Calderon, Navarro and the emerging Fernandez will carry much more of the load offensively.

jt142 · Post #34 » by **jt142** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:14 pm

JayDubya wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

I'm sure Team USA is shaking at the thought of Rubio, I know I am.

Yeah, I'm sure Chris Paul is shaking in his sneakers at the thought of having to guard Rubio. :lol:

Gasol is the man on the Spanish team. Without him, they won't win.

Calderon is Spain's starting PG. Rubio will be a role player fighting for minutes with Sergio.

Airness_ACB · Post #35 » by **Airness_ACB** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 4:44 pm

jt142 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Yeah, I'm sure Chris Paul is shaking in his sneakers at the thought of having to guard Rubio.

Gasol is the man on the Spanish team. Without him, they won't win.

Calderon is Spain's starting PG. Rubio will be a role player fighting for minutes with Sergio.

I think Sergio won't be playing this summer with the NT. Calder

Sugatas · Post #36 » by **Sugatas** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 5:33 pm

I think it's a mistake if Pepu puts RR into the roster for the olympics, he's very young, and if he goes to China how many minutes is he expected to play, 7, 10? Naa I'd prefer Raul Lopez or Cabezas over him. Plus he flops too much.

jt142 · Post #37 » by **jt142** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 4:23 am

Rubio will have a very tough time if he's matched up against PGs that are quicker and more athletic than him. In other words, Russia (Holden), France (Parker), and USA would give him fits. Calderon, on the other hand, is a very good NBA-experienced PG and will receive a the majority of the playing time when Spain is matched up against tough opponents. I think Rubio will have trouble finding playing time over Rodriguez or Lopez in such games. Even if he made the team, he would likely only see sugnificant minutes when Spain plays weaker opponents like Nigeria or China.

You can bash Rodriguez as much as you want, but he's playing at a higher level and better league than Rubio at the moment. Rodriguez is playing against the best guards in the world, night in and night out, while Rubio is playing against inferior PGs in Europe. The Euroleague has gotten better over the years, but their guards don't compare to the NBAs. Right now Rodriguez is better than Rubio and should make the Spanish team over him. In a couple years, maybe Rubio will be the better player. It's too early to tell.

robbe · Post #38 » by **robbe** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 12:35 pm

First, Ricky plays ACB and played ULEB-Cup (won it), not Euroleague. His lateral quickness is no worse than Sergios, so I don't really see the point here. Plus, athletic weaknesses for various reasons aren't exploited as much in international ball as in the NBA, and Spain utilises a zone defense very often anyway. As mentioned before, he fits in there perfectly.

National coaches are not putting NBA players into the roster simply because they are on an NBA team. Sergio didn't play much in Portland this season, while Ricky was one of the best starting PGs in the very strong ACB. Roster balance is a very important criteria, and I see Rubio fit in quite well alongside Calderon and either the offensively very active Raul Lopez or the experienced floor-general Cabezas.

Village Idiot · Post #39 » by **Village Idiot** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 5:00 pm

I think the upcoming FIBA changes to the 3pt line and key will change the international game in a huge way. Spacing will be completely different and zone defences will lose a lot of their effectiveness. Guys like Chris Paul and Brandon Roy will be able to get into the lane even easier against international competetion than they do in the NBA.

My proposed Team USA:

PG: Paul, Deron
SG: Roy, Mayo
SF: LeBron, Gay
PF: Bosh, Aldridge
C: Howard, Oden

jt142 · Post #40 » by **jt142** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 1:53 am

Village Idiot wrote:I think the upcoming FIBA changes to the 3pt line and key will change the international game in a huge way. Spacing will be completely different and zone defences will lose a lot of their effectiveness. Guys like Chris Paul and Brandon Roy will be able to get into the lane even easier against international competetion than they do in the NBA.

My proposed Team USA:

PG: Paul, Deron
SG: Roy, Mayo
SF: LeBron, Gay
PF: Bosh, Aldridge
C: Howard, Oden

Paul, Williams, Lebron, Bosh, and Howard should all be on the team.

My proposed changes to your selections:

Carmelo over Gay

Wade over Mayo

Stoudamire over Aldridge

Also, where are the shooters????? Michael Redd, Kyle Korver, Mike Miller, or Jason Kapono need to be on this team. Redd might be a little old by that time.

I would also like to see David West and Al Horford in a USA jersey at some point.

I think Aldridge, Roy, and Oden have a shot at making the team, but Mayo and Gay shouldn't even be considered. Gay plays for a terrible Memphis team, which explains why his stats are inflated. He can't play defense and he's a streaky shooter. It's too early to tell if Mayo is a viable option at the SG position. He's a bit undersized at 6'4".