Official FIBA World Championship Thread (and long preview)

[Calvin Klein]

This topic is pumping me up. Gotta change my avatar to an appropiate one now

[RunMCR]

Holy **** French team is strong

[asdfgh]

My squad for the US team would be:

Rondo/ Westbrook/ Billups
Mayo/ Curry
Durant/ Gay
Wallace/ Green
Chandler/ Odom/ McGee

With Rondo and Westbrook being the defenders they are they are absolutely necessary and Billups is a veteran that can help at times when the young guns are lost. Rose is good but not really necessary. Out of Mayo, Evans, Gordon I picked Mayo because he is the best of the three and the most experienced. I picked Curry because he might be help if the team is behind and they need to play unconventional basketball (fullcourt press and a lot of threes). He is after all a Warrior.

I picked Wallace and Gay b/c they are athletic and can probably play good defense and rebound. I picked Green b/c he plays on the same team with Durant and Westbrook, and since most of these guys have never played together, it would be good for team chemistry. Odom is also necessary because of his experience and he might get some minutes at the 5 too when they want to play smallball. He would fit really well in D'Antoni's system. I left Iguodala out (not a big fan of his, sorry) and Granger who I don't see having a big role. If however Odom is not ready (he said that he's out of shape) I would probably include Granger in his place.

As for the bigs, Chandler should definitely be in. I picked McGee because I honestly don't see a role for Lopez. McGee is bigger and more athletic and he could give some quality minutes at the 5, playing Chandler's role if he gets tired or is in foul trouble. Love could have the role I want Odom to have, but putting him at the 5 against older, bigger guys could create problems.

Winning the tournament won't be as easy as some think, because I think some of underestimating the difficulty of making a bunch of guys that have never played together turn into a team. But I think my squad has the best chances out of any combination of players.

[asdfgh]

Some comments on the teams by looking at the rosters:

Angola: They look really weak. They had some good teams in the past though, so I'm not sure what to expect.
Argentina: Most of the older guys have left the team or gotten ...really old. They still have Scola inside who is a force and if Delfino goes wild they can beat pretty much anyone. But they probably can't contend for a medal.
Australia: They have Andersen inside and a few others, but honestly I'm not impressed.
Germany: No Dirk, not much to talk about. They will probably overachieve, but that's not enough of course.
Serbia: Honestly, I think they will win the tournament. They have a real leader in Teodosic and the best coach in Ivkovic. I can't wait to see Bjelica in action.
Jordan: Don't know anything about them.

Brazil: They have some good players, Splitter is probably the best big in the tournament and Nene and Varejao are also good. Barbosa is a good scorer but they don't have a PG, so they won't do anything.
Croatia: They have a lot of scoring guards that can win games for them, but not much else.
Iran: Don't know much about them.
Slovenia: They have a lot of good guards such as Udrih, Dragic, Lakovic, Becirovic and their big guys while not world beaters are serviceable. Not sure what to expect. Why are Lorbek, Smodis and Vujacic not playing?
Tunisia: ?
USA: I posted my opinion above. Rondo and Westbrook should be on the team. Rondo should be the leader and Westbrook his partner in crime. Billups should be on the team but only as an insurance, not a starter. Durant should be the leading scorer and the other forward should be one of Wallace, Green or Gay. Chandler should be on the team and Odom can be an asset playing at the 5. They can win the tournament but they won't win all games. But b/c I only expect them to lose one game, they better not lose one of the knock out games.

Group C:
China: Don't know much about them. I hope Yi is not their best player b/c if he is, they're in trouble.
Cote d'Ivoire: All their guys play in Europe so they can't be that bad. But to be honest I've never heard of any of them before.
Greece: Not sure what to expect. The team overachieved last summer, and while I feel many of the key players have regressed in recent years, they always perform better when they play together. Any team with strong guard play and loads of big men that can actually shoot the ball, must be good. We will probably end up in the semifinals, but I don't expect us winning a medal.
Puerto Rico: They recently won the Central America tournament, so they have good chemistry. Barea and Arroyo and good players. Balkman from what I understand was more of a 6th man type at the tournament they played. They can probably get some good wins but I don't expect them to go to the semifinals.
Russia: They seem to be really weak at the guard spots. I expect them to be a major disappointment.
Turkey: They have some good players, but they always seem to underachieve to me. They're playing at home which will probably help them, but honestly, I wouldn't put money on them for some reason.

Group D
Canada: Teams where a father coaches his son can't really go that far. Looking at their roster I kind of get the impression that most of those guys are there, because there's no one else!
France: A lot of NBA players, but no Parker. I don't see them going far despite the loaded roster.
Lebanon: I know that they are really passionate about their team and that they have some American (or American-lebanese, I'm not sure) players. I don't really know much to be honest.
Lithuania: They have Kleiza (who rarely plays well for them) and a lot of other guys that have a very similar type of game. They lack the leaders they had in the past in Jasikevicius and others.
New Zealand: Don't know anything about them.
Spain: They are obviously very good even without Gasol. They're always producing new, exciting players. I don't expect them to win this time, but we'll see.

[Calvin Klein]

Why are Lorbek, Smodis and Vujacic not playing?

Sasha is afraid of Goran.

[alucryts]

Well considering he only shot 60 on the season, I'd consider that a very small sample. He's also been working on it all offseason so you can expect to see an improvement like we saw from his rookie to sophomore season on his midrange game.

Regardless, I don't think they'll be asking him to knock down 3's. He can play 1 or 2 alongside Billups and/or Curry.

It's a very small sample for a reason -- he can't make them, so he doesn't take them. And knocking down 3s are basically a job requirement for guards/wings in FIBA. Especially when you aren't all that creative.

"It's there; I have a consistent 3-point shot now," Rose said Wednesday night. "You'll see. I just have so much confidence in my jump shot now. It's coming along so good. It's past even my expectations at this point."

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010 ... ter-redick

[lilojmayo]

My squad for the US team would be:

Rondo/ Westbrook/ Billups
Mayo/ Curry
Durant/ Gay
Wallace/ Green
Chandler/ Odom/ McGee

With Rondo and Westbrook being the defenders they are they are absolutely necessary and Billups is a veteran that can help at times when the young guns are lost. Rose is good but not really necessary. Out of Mayo, Evans, Gordon I picked Mayo because he is the best of the three and the most experienced. I picked Curry because he might be help if the team is behind and they need to play unconventional basketball (fullcourt press and a lot of threes). He is after all a Warrior.

Winning the tournament won't be as easy as some think, because I think some of underestimating the difficulty of making a bunch of guys that have never played together turn into a team. But I think my squad has the best chances out of any combination of players.

We are really forgetting how much shooting is important. Other teams may not have the athletes or playmakers that we do, but they can all shoot, the 3 point shot especially, just a good or better than us. Looking op, and the expert prediction and other prediction.

Why are we having players with similar tendancies mainly slashers that aren't outside great shooters all on one team. I am referring to Rajon Rondo, Tyreke Evans, Derrick Rose, Russell Wesbrook. That's the same mistake we made at the all 2004 olympics with having a backcourt of Allen Iverson, Stephen Marbury, , young Dwyane Wade.

What we should do and probably won't do is pick 2 of those slashing guards, not all 4 of them their is no need for all four that is just being redundant. You have a savy vet who is an elite outside shooter in Chauncey Billups who just came off his best statistically season, so he has something in the tank , unlike Jason Kidd in 08'. This opens up two projected spots then choose Danny Granger who is 6'8 and a great outside shooter that can create his own shot, that can probably play the four spot. Then picked OJ Mayo who is 6'4, but he is a great shooter and can create his own shot.


This should be the team:
PG: Derrick Rose/Chauncey Billups/Rajon Rondo
SG: OJ Mayo/ Stephen Curry
SF: Kevin Durant/Rudy Gay/Danny Granger
PF: Lamar Odom/Gerald Wallace/
C: Brook Lopez/Kevin Love

What wie will most likely see

PG: Derrick Rose/Chauncey Billups/Rajon Rondo/Russell Westbrook
SG: Tyreke Evans/Stephen Curry
SF: Kevin Durant/Rudy Gay/Andre Iguodala/
PF: Lamar Odom/Gerald Wallace
C: Brook Lopez/

[asdfgh]

Shooting is important but what is more important is having guards that can control the tempo of the game. Teams with good guards, usually win games.
I was surprised to find out that Kidd has a 58-0 record with the US team, which shows that you might have all the talent in the world, but if there's no one to lead them, you will fail miserably. Rondo and Billups are the most tested of the guards, while Rose (IMO) would be a disaster, similar to Marbury in 2004 (I'm not comparing them as players, at this point in his career though, he would be a bad choice to lead a team). Westbrook should also be on the team because with him and Rondo stealing balls, the team could score many easy points.
If you look at some of the teams of NBAers that failed in the past, you would see that point guard play is really important. In 2002 the PGs were Baron Davis and Andre Miller, who are not bad, but they were incapable of making their teammates trust them. The main reason that team failed was Paul Pierce being a black hole, but a real leader at the point would have phased a me-first player such as Pierce out of the game.
Another big factor in such competitions is having the right bigs. In 2002 the bigs were guys such as Antonio Davis, Ben Wallace, Elton Brand and Jermaine O'Neal. The first 3 guys were undersized and they were really exposed as players in the tournament. O'Neal is an overrated player who was getting his shots blocked by the likes of -unknown then- Scola and was acting like an a$$ because of it.
The reason I think a center like Chandler suits the team more than Lopez is because Chandler is long and athletic, can get rebounds and blocks and make it easier for his teammates to run. Lopez wouldn't really be able to dominate against euro bigs, and there's no reason to have him as a 12th player (McGee would be better in that role). Then when you want to play small ball, it's better to have an experienced guy such as Odom, who also has long arms, rather than a kid like Love, who would probably get exposed the way Elton Brand did.
I also think that Green should be on the team, because he is familiar with Durant's game and that will help, given that most of the players have never played together.
That's just my opinion of course, but I think that when building a team it is important to look at what has worked in the past and what hasn't, and not fill the roster with players for whom it may be difficult to accept a role.

[TAI8]

This is
the roster that Chris Sheridan projects.

Rose/Westbrook/Curry
Billups/Evans
Durant/Wallace/Gay
Odom/Love
Lopez/Lee

We're ****. Not enough shooters and not enough defense.

This team would easily win gold hands down.

Rose/Westbrook
Johnson/JRich
Durant/Granger
Jefferson/West
Perkins/Robin

Perfect blend of unselfish stars, shooting, and defense.

[Sedale Threatt]

"It's there; I have a consistent 3-point shot now," Rose said Wednesday night. "You'll see. I just have so much confidence in my jump shot now. It's coming along so good. It's past even my expectations at this point."

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010 ... ter-redick

Awesome. Do it in games, and I'll be impressed. Until then, hey, even Wilt Chamberlain used to make free throws in practice.

[Sedale Threatt]

It may be our B or even our C team but we still have the best players by a good margin.

And time and time and time again, that's proven to mean exactly jack squat in international competition. There hasn't been a tournament yet, or probably ever will be, where we don't have the best players by a good margin. But the competition has improved to the point that doesn't always matter.

So I'll reiterate what I said earlier with clarification -- this looks like one of those haphazard rosters that we threw together back in 02 or 04. Not necessarily because of chemistry or effort or teamwork, but because of the obvious shortcomings on the roster.

As opposed to those previous situations, where we were done in as much by arrogance as anything else, that's not Team USA's fault. They can only take the guys who want to play, and this is the best we've got at the moment.

But we're clearly lacking in some important areas -- size and shooting, most notably. Combined with the fact that we'll be going with a bunch of young guys, to play an entirely different style of game, it's basically the same situation -- we've got some pretty substantial obstacles to overcome if we're going to win this.

To reiterate another point, without having seen this group play, the biggest thing we have going for us is that everybody else is mailing this tournament in as well.

[Sedale Threatt]

I'll try to approach this another way: we're 1-3 at the four big tournaments, with the lone victory coming (barely) when we had our absolute best lineup. So forgive me if I'm not exactly brimming with confidence that we're sending our C Team over for this one.

[BooRadley]

Durant. All starts and ends with him. He's gonna have to carry the team like Kobe did.

[Sedale Threatt]

Agreed. And can he do that? One of the many questions we'll be facing.

[Tim_Hardawayy]

Durant. All starts and ends with him. He's gonna have to carry the team like Kobe did.

When did Kobe ever carry the team? Closest I saw was making some 3's once. Its amazing what reputation will do for a player.

Kobe shot 50% in that Spain game. The team shot 60%. Oh but "he was the only one not afraid to shoot the ball" is the story, because the shots went in. Rather than "he was the most selfish guy on the team and almost shot us out of it" if they hadn't gone in.

[Sedale Threatt]

But they did.

[Tim_Hardawayy]

But they did.

And he sucked the whole rest of the tournament.

I only brought up the Spain game because that's the one argument people cling to.

[Sedale Threatt]

What argument? It was a team. Everybody did their part. We won. It was awesome. The end.

Taking the same "my-guy/my-team" mentality from an NBA season into these competitions is totally stupid, in my opinion. I got way more enjoyment out of finally being able to root for guys like Wade and LBJ than anything Kobe did. Frankly, it's the main reason I watch these things. I get to be a basketball fan.

So perhaps some re-phrasing is in order about anybody "carrying" the team. The beautiful thing about 08 was that we had multiple options, so we didn't need any one guy. That isn't going to be the case here, so yeah, Durant is probably going to have to carry us like Kobe -- or Wade, or whoever else you want to insert in there.

[Tim_Hardawayy]

What argument? It was a team. Everybody did their part. We won. It was awesome. The end.

Taking the same "my-guy/my-team" mentality from an NBA season into these competitions is totally stupid, in my opinion. I got way more enjoyment out of finally being able to root for guys like Wade and LBJ than anything Kobe did. Frankly, it's the main reason I watch these things. I get to be a basketball fan.

So perhaps some re-phrasing is in order about anybody "carrying" the team. The beautiful thing about 08 was that we had multiple options, so we didn't need any one guy.

That's fine. I agree with all of this.

That isn't going to be the case here, so yeah, Durant is probably going to have to carry us like Kobe -- or Wade, or whoever else you want to insert in there.

This I don't agree with, because Kobe never carried that team in the first place. And relying on star power for us to win is not going to get it done. That's why we lost in 2006, and why I'm not worried this time around even without our A team.

We lost because we didn't play as a team, and these dedicated practices are helping to fix that problem, like they did in 2008. The overhaul of the program is what changed things, not the addition of one or two name players.

[Sedale Threatt]

OK, fine.

"Durant is probably going to have to carry us like Wade."

There. Now we can go back to actually talking about the team at hand.

We don't need one guy to monopolize the ball or anything like that, but we're definitely going to need an offensive focal point, somebody we can work around. Durant's the best choice mainly because there's nobody else.

Doesn't mean he needs to shoot every trip down, as if he'd do that in the first place. But we do need a focal point. Otherwise, we're just running around trying to scrape points out of possessions, and I don't think this team is good enough to do that.