For those who watched USA vs Greece

[mAgic4Lyfe]

How did dwight do?

i missed it

[MitchellUK]

Did ok while he was out there - 2 pts, 6 boards and a block and a steal in 12 mins. Unfortunately he didn't play too much due to a combo of foul trouble, and Chris Bosh playing really well off the bench.

[theTHIEF]

horrible...

[mAgic4Lyfe]

Thanks.

damn that sucks, but its good to know that dwight won't be fatigued when the sason starts lol

[MagicMadness]

Sounds like he had some good defense and boards in his short stint out there.

I knew something had to be up because I turned the game on midway through the 3rd quarter and didn't see him the entire time I was watching.

[Optimus_Steel]

Got in foul trouble early and lost his composure a bit. He looked frustrated.

[richboy]

He was pretty bad. He was making defensive mistakes. His individual defense wasn't too good. Bosh looked much better than him. His energy level was pretty weak.

Really I'm surprised Dwight is making the same mistakes at this point. I think Coach K was frustrated with Dwight and they said he told Tashaun to explain the defense to him.

I don't know what is going on with Dwight. He was on this rise of improvement that seems to have just stopped. Right now he seems to be playing games just on Athletism and strength. The mental aspect of the game has not been very good for awhile.

[joshman]

i agree on richboy. i was watching the game and dwight looked like he was playing with no energy or heart. whenever the USA did something good the camera sometimes showed the USA bench and a everyone was getting up and cheering and sometimes dwight was just sitting there acting like nothing happened

[craig01]

Howard should never have left.

Except for fulfilling his personal sense of urgency in competing in the Olympics, Howard gains little if anything by competing as an afterthought and insurance on a loaded team.

Both his summers would have been far better served by WORKING on his game.

JMO.

[mAgic4Lyfe]

Howard should never have left.

Except for fulfilling his personal sense of urgency in competing in the Olympics, Howard gains little if anything by competing as an afterthought and insurance on a loaded team.

Both his summers would have been far better served by WORKING on his game.

JMO.

dont you think he actually might be working on his game with coach k and Mike Dantoni being around? lol

[Devin 1L]

Got up early for this one... Dwight didn't impress. He only played a few minutes, and just generally didn't look that great. He did have one nice block though.

It sucks that the USA players had to get hammered just to get foul, while the Greek players were flailing around on phantom fouls right from the get-go. Some of the facial expressions on the USA players we're priceless. As a whole though, they handled it relatively well -- I would have been pissed.

By the way, Dwayne Wade is sick. That RealGM headline shouldn't be about Kobe and Bosh leading the way; It should be about Wade and Bosh leading the way.

[Just Plain Mark]

Wow, I thought Dwight played fine. I noticed one play where he fronted his man and got burned, but he had some deflections, a nice block, 6 boards in 12 min, and got called for two cheap fouls.

Bosh played well, and showed better perimeter D, but he got burned on the inside too.

This international court with its smaller size and trapezoid lane isn't very conducive to big man play. Plus, the US team has been pretty poor from outside, so teams are just sagging in on the interior.

ETA: I also saw Dwight get off the bench and cheer, including for Chris Bosh.

[magicfanatic23]

Dwight looked bad the whole game other than one or two defensive plays and got in a lot of foul trouble. He just seems to look kind of not interested right now and seems like he is just going through the motions. Hopefully, he can turn it around on Saturday against Spain. If not, expect Bosh to get much more playing time than him b/c he is playing great.

Also, D Wade is back. The Heat will be a playoff team if he is healthy. With Marion, Beasley, Haslem and him they are a legit playoff team imo. They just need to get a PG.

[Optimus_Steel]

Dwight def played terrible today and he let the fouls affect his composure, but judging from some comments it seems like they are expecting Dwight to dominate each time he is on the floor. The thing is the international game does not suit Dwight's game. And this is basically an All star team dominated by perimeter players and Dwight is a role player on this team. Dwight is not gonna get many touches, he is hardly gonna get any plays run for him. Dwight also missed about 2 months of action because of the sternum injury. Time that had he been healthy would have been spent working on his game. Its still the early round and I am sure Dwight will play better later on.

[Shishnizzle]

Howard should never have left.

Except for fulfilling his personal sense of urgency in competing in the Olympics, Howard gains little if anything by competing as an afterthought and insurance on a loaded team.

Both his summers would have been far better served by WORKING on his game.

JMO.

Totally agree!

[MagicMadness]

Terrible? 6rebs/1blk/1stl in 12 minutes doesn't seem terrible to me.

Disappointing, considering he ran into foul trouble; terrible seems too harsh.

[Optimus_Steel]

Oh and Wade was beyond phenomal. He is healthy and back to his 2006 shape.

[theTHIEF]

horrid...

Coach K should get about 40% of the blame for Dwight's play...within several minutes of watching the game, I had already figured out Greece's defensive strategy, because they ran it on EVERY play. They front Dwight high, setup across the lane for a double off man and then a floater who would help when Dwight backup down and then switch off to the lane the moment he passed it out for when Melo and Bron made their cuts, at that time they would press Melo and Bron pretty hard. They nailed Dwight every single time on the slope, they put elbows on him front and back to pressure him and he made the same mistakes, over and over. Funny thing is, Greece even though they ran the same defense every time play, didnt look as silly as the US looked for not switching the off set and reacting to the reads...even with a large win, still embarrassing for any basketball technician, like Coach K...

Dwight 2 points 6 boards in 12 minutes not bad? it's beyond bad...but he's not a euro baller, he's a power NBA guy, and he's not going to change apparently so, whatever...see you for the 08-09 season Dwight...

[richboy]

Well Dwight is proving Skip Bayless correct when he said USA needs Tyson Chandler on the team because Dwight doesn't always play hard. Not sure why Dwight energy level has been down but if I'm Coach K perhaps I call a few more post ups and see if that gets him going. His energy level that low playing a team that beat us last time was not good.

Dwight's only job is to play defense and rebound. His rebounding has been okay but defensively he not in the game. He was taken in the post easily by one guy on Greece. Dwight didn't even look like he cared. HIs defensive rotations is what is really annoying. Seems like someone is coming up to Dwight all the time to tell him where he needs to be. No reason for Tashaun Prince to understand the defense better than Dwight when Dwight played more years and a lot more time than Tashaun.

Dwight has to play better against Spain. The Gasol brothers are better than what they faced with Greece.

If Dwight working on his game I like to know what it is. I have this thought that he was much better at the World Championships than he has been in the last 2 summers.

Also Wade is back. That Miami team could be dangerous if he 100%. He flying all over the floor and looks like he trying to prove something. I guess those trade Rumors before the draft got under his skin a little.

Kobe not played well but his defense is much needed. Hopefully he gets going on offense. Melo has been pretty bad as well. What happened to the guy that love International ball more than NBA ball. He needs to get going. If he does we will beat every team by 20 or more.

I think Michael Redd and Prince need to play more. I really like Prince IQ and defense out on the floor. Redd is almost automatic when open for a jumper. I would have Redd or Prince in the game a lot more often if I'm coach K.

Oh yeah. Dwight has been pretty bad but the worse player in these games has been Jason Kidd. He looks like he not capable of doing much more than a flashy pass now and then. IMO one of the reasons Dwight has struggled is because he playing a lot of minutes with Jason Kidd on the floor. Paul or Williams should be starting. No question about that after watching these games. I think both would find Dwight a lot more.

[theTHIEF]

Oh yeah. Dwight has been pretty bad but the worse player in these games has been Jason Kidd. He looks like he not capable of doing much more than a flashy pass now and then. IMO one of the reasons Dwight has struggled is because he playing a lot of minutes with Jason Kidd on the floor. Paul or Williams should be starting. No question about that after watching these games. I think both would find Dwight a lot more.

I would have to say Boozer personally, but Kidd is there...however I think Kidd has brought a lot to the team off the court so...idk...