crash w/ team usa

[fatlever]

training camp starts today.

the team so far:

Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets);
Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks);
Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors);
Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder);
Tyreke Evans (Sacramento Kings);
Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies);
Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers);
Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers);
Jeff Green (Oklahoma City Thunder);
Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers);
David Lee (Golden State Warriors);
Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets);
Robin Lopez (Phoenix Suns);
Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves);
O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies);
Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers);
Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics);
Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls);
Amar’e Stoudemire (New York Knicks);
Gerald Wallace (Charlotte Bobcats);
Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).

do you think crash will make the team?

are you concerned that crash will come into the season exhausted or banged up?

or will this help him hit the ground running since he has had a habit of starting slowly?

what would be your 15 man roster?

my team
PG: Billups, Rose, Westbrook
SG: Curry, Mayo, Gordon
SF: Durant, Wallace, Granger
PF: Lee, Love, Odom
C: Stoudamire, Lopez B, Lopez R

left rondo off because he doesnt seem committed. used shooters for my sg spot since fifa ball always needs good shooters. curry gets the start cause i could see him going off in international ball.

[ball teacher]

PG: Rose Rondo Billups
SG: Evans Curry Mayo
SF: Durant Wallace Gay
PF: Amar'e Lee Love Odom
C: Lopez Lopez Amar'e

[Walt Cronkite]

I think he'll make it.

Billups/Rondo/Rose
Iggy/Evans/Curry
Durant/Granger/Wallace
Amar'e/Odom/Love/Green
Lopez/Lee

[BigSlam]

PG: Billups - Curry - Rondo
SG: Iggy - Mayo - Tyreke
SF: Durant - Crash - Granger
PF: Amare - Odom - Love
C: Lee - B.Lopez - Chandler

A good mix of vets and kids, outside shooting, guys who share the ball, guys who play a lot of positions, on ball and inside D, athletic ability and rebounding.

My only concern would be a lack of true post scoring.

Lee starting the fast break off a defensive rebound and outletting to a streaking Iggy, Durant, Amare, Crash etc would be pretty sweet.

[Felton for Pres]

are you concerned that crash will come into the season exhausted or banged up?

Big time.

[doc.end]

are you concerned that crash will come into the season exhausted or banged up?

Big time.

[fatlever]

not sure how i like evans on a team like this. he needs the ball in his hands. i would much rather have rondo, billups, rose etc doing the ball handling and pair them with shooters. seems like fifa always needs good shooting from the sg spot.

[e4Nf6]

I don't know how Coach K sees it but Crash should be the perfect bench guy for this team. They want somebody who will play tough defense and hit an open jump shot once and a while. They also played a lot of half-court traps in the Olympics and that's Crash's stock in trade.

Everybody making line-ups should remember that Chris Bosh was basically the back-up center for the Olympic team and either Lebron or Carmelo was the starting PF, they like to go small. (by NBA standards anyway) I wouldn't be stunned to see Durant playing PF....

[BigSlam]

not sure how i like evans on a team like this. he needs the ball in his hands. i would much rather have rondo, billups, rose etc doing the ball handling and pair them with shooters. seems like fifa always needs good shooting from the sg spot.

I wouldn't play him at the point. I'd play him at the 2 next to Curry. With the way Evans can drive and kick Curry would get a boat load of open looks.

I also think that the D and length of Evans would be good in the FIFA setting.

[SamBone]

isn't Odom a bit old for that crowd?

[fatlever]

not sure how i like evans on a team like this. he needs the ball in his hands. i would much rather have rondo, billups, rose etc doing the ball handling and pair them with shooters. seems like fifa always needs good shooting from the sg spot.

I wouldn't play him at the point. I'd play him at the 2 next to Curry. With the way Evans can drive and kick Curry would get a boat load of open looks.

I also think that the D and length of Evans would be good in the FIFA setting.

yeah thats the thing, you have to pair him with curry or another good shooter. as a playmaker i'd much rather have rose, rondo billups and maybe westbrook (for better defense) as a shooter i would much rather have curry, gordon and mayo.

[fatlever]

I don't know how Coach K sees it but Crash should be the perfect bench guy for this team. They want somebody who will play tough defense and hit an open jump shot once and a while. They also played a lot of half-court traps in the Olympics and that's Crash's stock in trade.

Everybody making line-ups should remember that Chris Bosh was basically the back-up center for the Olympic team and either Lebron or Carmelo was the starting PF, they like to go small. (by NBA standards anyway) I wouldn't be stunned to see Durant playing PF....

yeah, i think this team is much better off going small. i would prefer to see something like:

billups/rose, curry/mayo, granger/crash, durant, amare/love/lee/lopez in crunch time depending on who is hot.

[SWedd523]

PG:
Billups is the de facto starter unless he isn't fully committed to the team due to his age.
No to Tyreke and Russell off the start, Russell isn't good enough and Tyreke needs the ball far too much. Rose can take advantage of the international guards with his athleticism and Rondo can shut down them all while probably being the best playmaker on the team.


SG:
Steph Curry's game is set to absolutely dominate International play. Quick with handles, quick trigger and deadly from range? Oh boy! OJ Mayo and Eric Gordon should be the primary backups due to their size, ball handling skills and ability to score from anywhere on the floor (Gordon=outside, Mayo=midrange).


SF:
Kevin Durant is the obvious starter. I don't think Odom fits in just because he's too old to really give it his all. I don't like Rudy for International play either because he doesn't really do any one thing well. I think Crash would be the best backup due to his ability to guard any international wing and board with the big boys. The third spot is a toss up between Iggy and Granger. Both are similar players but I think Granger is a little more offensively polished so he gets the nod.


PF:
David Lee is a great fit with the rest of my starting lineup so he falls into the starting slot. Love's passing ability works well with the second unit and Green sort of falls into the 3rd PF slot though I doubt he'd get much PT since you'll probably see Robin move to the PF slot some.

C:
I honestly can't see Tyson having any realistic chance of making the team. Amare is the most ready to be the starter but both Lopez's play well in a physical, international style game so they should get ample playing time.

Depth:
Billups/Rondo & Rose
Curry/ Gordon & Mayo
Durant/ Crash & Granger
Lee/Love/Green
Amare/ Brook & Robin

[Loney T]

I think there is a problem with the SG position, I don't see Mayo or Gordon being already good enough to play well in international games. I hope I'm wrong but I need to see them play.

I think Igguy would be a better fit at 2, what do you think?

I can see Love play well in this team with is passing ability and his good rebounding...

[DY_nasty]

I think there is a problem with the SG position, I don't see Mayo or Gordon being already good enough to play well in international games. I hope I'm wrong but I need to see them play.

I think Igguy would be a better fit at 2, what do you think?

I can see Love play well in this team with is passing ability and his good rebounding...

Iggy can't shooot, and when does feel like shooting - its a ridiculously dumb shot. Still can't believe Philly hasn't moved him yet...

SG is dumb weak on this team.

I hope Crash doesn't play heavy minutes either. Not only is it the fact that his game doesn't fit international play in the least, I just don't want to see him all banged up going into the season.

[DanielBoone]

Hope he makes the team but hardly plays. Being around that kind of talent is better for your game than sittin at home in Alabama

[Loney T]

I think there is a problem with the SG position, I don't see Mayo or Gordon being already good enough to play well in international games. I hope I'm wrong but I need to see them play.

I think Igguy would be a better fit at 2, what do you think?

I can see Love play well in this team with is passing ability and his good rebounding...

Iggy can't shooot, and when does feel like shooting - its a ridiculously dumb shot. Still can't believe Philly hasn't moved him yet...

SG is dumb weak on this team.

I hope Crash doesn't play heavy minutes either. Not only is it the fact that his game doesn't fit international play in the least, I just don't want to see him all banged up going into the season.

Yeah I wasn't thinking about Iggy's shooting ability (he can knock down a few ones though) I was more talking about his versatility on the offensive end and his defense...he cna leave the shooting to Durant, Curry or Granger.

I don't see Crash making the team as well.

I can't wait for the game against France I don't know what our team will look like (Noah? Beaubois at point???) but I'm sure Team USA will underestimate us so we can outplay them for the first half at least

[Kapono24]

Not to get everyone too excited but Chris Sheridan has Gerald Wallace making the team. Look at the side column "Who Will Make The Cut?" a little bit down on the right side. Having him make the team may fatigue him in the season but the confidence boost he'd get would be unmatched. Especially when facing the guys he beats out.

[fatlever]

i can dig most of his selections. i'd still rather have granger over gay and mayo over evans for fifa style. and are we really going to use durant at sg? i doubt it.

[Battery]

Since Amar'e ain't playing and neither is Lopez, anybody think Okafor gives up his summer yoga and body sculpting classes for a shot at being on team USA?