Charley Rosen: USA Grades Are In

iamworthy · Post #1 » by **iamworthy** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:08 am

http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/8484774/Breaking-down-the-road-to-redemption

Looks like Charley isnt happy with D.Howard. Enjoy fellas.

Duiz · Post #2 » by **Duiz** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:10 am

He isn't happy with Deron Williams either.

Post #3 » by **dockingsched** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:25 am

at first i was kinda surprised with his a+ for kobe, but its understandable. usa was there to win gold, nothing less. kobe struggling in games were usa was blowing out the opposition had a minimal effect. kobe taking over in the 4th quarter of the only competitive game they played in that happened to be for the gold medal, that can't be overvalued. i mean, that game, that quarter is all that mattered.

agree with d12 getting the lowest grade.

GreenWithEnvy · Post #4 » by **GreenWithEnvy** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:28 am

wow. gonna give Kobe an A+ for one quarter....at best B. Wade and Lebron are the only ones who deserve an A. They carried that team throughout the olympics.

Post #5 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:31 am

D12 did disappoint me more than anyone, not because he was the worst, but because he underperformed compared to his own talent level the most.

The rest is ok, I'd rate Kidd lower and Bosh higher though.

Iggyemu · Post #6 » by **Iggyemu** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:34 am

Dont' agree with the A+ for Kobe but you can argue that nobody else could have done what he did in the gold medal game. Personally I won't argue that b/c I think Wade can do it....but like I said...a good case can be made so I understand the A+.

Howard struggled. I thought he would dominate but he isn't quite there yet. Bosh had a better tournament and contrary to what that one clown is running around RealGM saying...Bosh is not a better player...at least not a better NBA player.

But look the top stars did their thing....Kobe, Wade and LeBron were all great.

Joker · Post #7 » by **Joker** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:09 am

Why would Kobe exert himself in the first 3 quarters of a game? The guy who dominates in that portion of the game gets none of the praise or glory.

CoolD · Post #8 » by **CoolD** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:13 am

Boozer overall had the worst tournament. I remembered when we brought him in. He just defended awful, couldn't finish easy plays. Not great energy overall.

Howard had a good effect. He just wasn't asked to be a dominant guy, yes he missed some freethrows, and at times was a bit off in his defense, but he had gets a B from me, because his size has that Shaq effect, that even when you think nothing is happening, oddly enough he is helping you win, he sure can improve his overall game and attitude, but he gets a B from me in impact.

I give A's to Wade, LeBron, Kobe, Chirs Paul, and for the short minutes given, Tayshaun Prince.

Deron, and Bosh get B+
Howard, Melo get B

Kidd and Redd get a C

Boozer gets a D.

Duiz · Post #9 » by **Duiz** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:18 am

Am I just the only one who would give Kobe a B for his terrible shooting, and at times ball hogging?

Hendrix · Post #10 » by **Hendrix** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:33 am

I don't really get how Bosh is ranked 9th on the team.

He was the leading rebounder on the team. Lead the team in fg% with 77%. Got to the line 2nd most on the team, and converted them at 87%. Played some of the best D on the team. Pretty sure he was the best big man and surpassed everyones expectations of him in this tourney.

candy for lunch · Post #11 » by **candy for lunch** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:05 am

I would have given Kidd a D-, otherwise the grades look fine.

barkley34 · Post #12 » by **barkley34** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:18 am

Bosh and Deron deserve better scores, they both were terrific off the bench especially Bosh.

Dwight struggled but in fairness to him the other teams were packing the lane because of our slashers. With the zone defense there is like 3 players in the lane every possession and they flop every time you try to take it to the rack strong so Howard didn't have much space to work. Even Duncan struggled a little with those rules. Those rules are better for bigs like KG who can play facing the basket and shoot.

tensai · Post #13 » by **tensai** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:46 am

What's dissapointing about dwight is he's defense, I don't remember a game where he didn't get into foul trouble.

dacher · Post #14 » by **dacher** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:34 pm

Bosh had a breakout Olympics.

Howard's problems was what we saw in the playoffs, when teams will key on his weaknesses.

Everyone else did at least what I expected -- which is good, because I expected some pretty big things of them.

In defense of Boozer, I think he was thrown off by the trapazoid more than any other player. He never knew where he was standing when he started his post move.

I think Redd was the most disappointing ... but he was always the 12th man, so it's not like he ever got in the groove.

ropjhk · Post #15 » by **ropjhk** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:49 pm

Rosen shows once again his lack of ability to analyze basketball. I can't take him seriously anymore.

CB4MiamiHeat · Post #16 » by **CB4MiamiHeat** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:59 pm

i wouldnt give Kobe an A+..more like a B.

SpeedyG · Post #17 » by **SpeedyG** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:06 pm

iamworthy wrote:http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/8484774/Breaking-down-the-road-to-redemption

Looks like Charley isnt happy with D.Howard. Enjoy fellas.

I think Dwight was easily the most disappointing player in the team. But in a way, we really should have known. The international game and its rules is designed to take away the advantage of athleticism and force players to rely on skill, and at this time Howard is still lacking at that.

Agree with Wade, Lebron, and Kobe. Those three were very key to this team's success, and I don't think we could have won if even one of those three were not part of this team. For the most part I agree with his grades, except Bosh. Yes, his defense did kind of fade towards the end. But who in our frontcourt didn't? Bosh, for the most part, was really our sole interior defender, with Bron, Melo, and sometimes Prince helping out. That's a lot to ask of Bosh, especially against the physical nature of the international games (and had to deal with Scola, Gasols).

I think part of it also was that the team had spent so much energy and emotion during the first Spain and Greece game. Where was Lebron's weakside help against Spain and Argentina? He certainly wasn't as active (him and Bosh) as they were against Spain in the first matchup and Greece (the two games that the team admittedly targetted during pool play).

It's also why I think Kidd deserves a little bit more credit than he is being given for (I think B is fine for him though). Yes, he did NOTHING during pool play. But his game clearly changed and reverted back to regular Kidd once the medal rounds started. He was more aggressive in taking open shots, and even driving and dishing to open guys. He was very critical in the 3rd quarter of the Argentina game in settling the team down and making sure we do something else aside from jacking up shots against their zone (Coach K went out of his way to give him praise on this game). He also played the most physical defense of our PGs (just watch his matchup against Rubio in the Finals) during the medal rounds. It basically looks like he saved his energy when it was needed. If Kobe gets a pass for all of his ball hogging, bad shot selection, turnovers, horrible free throw shooting, etc during pool play, so should Kidd.

Hairy Midget · Post #18 » by **Hairy Midget** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:30 pm

Have people forgotten that Dwight was out two months before the Olympics with a broken sternum?

Post #19 » by **B Mac** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:40 pm

I really am a Kobe fan and loved seeing him step up in the final game, but if he deserves an A+ then LeBron and Wade deserve A+++'s.

10scott10 · Post #20 » by **10scott10** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:27 pm

bosh deserved atleast an A.

he was by far the best big on the team.