World Championship Power Rankings

[linged]

My question is this....

When the USA have Rose and Durant in the game how do you slow them down? If you play zone, then they will just shoot over you, if you play tight man then Rose will penetrate and either create for himself or kick it back out to the open shooters. Teams HAVE to double Rose or else I don't see how anyone can stop the USA. I'm not trying to be a homer either, if there is ways to stop Rose and Durant ill be glad to hear it.

If you ask that question, Dreamcatcher, you really need to answer how Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chrid Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Joe Johnson Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh were slowed down by Greece in 2006 first. I'll give you the answer, they could not defend the pick and roll of a team that lost with 30 to Spain 2 days later, and looked like schoolboys against it.

The lesson is that the "we have player x and y, how could THAT be stopped", doesn't fly as american teams full of big NBA stars have been put on the ass time and time again.

Personally, I like this american team, but the front court is thin and some of these guys are stars because the NBA wants them to be, not because they are heads and shoulders above other players.

[alucryts]

My question is this....

When the USA have Rose and Durant in the game how do you slow them down? If you play zone, then they will just shoot over you, if you play tight man then Rose will penetrate and either create for himself or kick it back out to the open shooters. Teams HAVE to double Rose or else I don't see how anyone can stop the USA. I'm not trying to be a homer either, if there is ways to stop Rose and Durant ill be glad to hear it.

If you ask that question, Dreamcatcher, you really need to answer how Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chrid Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Joe Johnson Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh were slowed down by Greece in 2006 first. I'll give you the answer, they could not defend the pick and roll of a team that lost with 30 to Spain 2 days later, and looked like schoolboys against it.

The lesson is that the "we have player x and y, how could THAT be stopped", doesn't fly as american teams full of big NBA stars have been put on the ass time and time again.

Personally, I like this american team, but the front court is thin and some of these guys are stars because the NBA wants them to be, not because they are heads and shoulders above other players.

the how can it be stopped argument is more on offense than defense. like i said before, if rose and durant are together, starting, team usa will be a bulldozer offensively. the only way to best team usa is to exploit its defense and out gun them. every team is going to take a beating defensively against usa; theyll have to beat usa offensively.

[StarsandStripes]

on your rankings I'd put Serbia above Greece and Brazil.

And what?????????????? Canada above Lebanon? I've watched Lebanon and they play a nice fluid game with Vroman and Khatib. Canada has been a joke for years

[Theo Papaloukas]

on your rankings I'd put Serbia above Greece and Brazil.

And what?????????????? Canada above Lebanon? I've watched Lebanon and they play a nice fluid game with Vroman and Khatib. Canada has been a joke for years

Joel Anthony is significantly better than Vroman while Andy Rautins at this point in his career is as good as El Khatib. I saw Canada play recently and was very impressed with some of the other guys like Levon Kendall and Robert Sacre as well. Outside of El Khatib, Freije, Vroman and Fahed, Lebanon is very, very weak.

[Apollo64]

Pretty much agree with most of those rankings, nice work, i would place France higher on that list though, only because of their good defense.

US is still a big question mark, until we see them playing in the upcoming friendlies we cannot really tell where they should project, they could fall anywhere from the #1 to the #4 spot.

[BFrizzy]

Great rankings, enjoyed reading it and catching up on the state of the International teams.

Despite what a few of the US fans think, it looks like it's going to be an exciting and open tournament. Just hope the Aussies have a respectable showing!

[tclg]

Cant wait till this thing gets going seriously

[Ugalde]

Can someone tell me why the US doesnt send players like Kobe/LeBron?

[dream_catcher_9]

Can someone tell me why the US doesnt send players like Kobe/LeBron?

they didnt want to play in the Worlds

[NW7]

Looking forward to this in the coming weeks should be fun. Nice job on the rankings btw.

[Bankai]

I cant believe I actually read all that, Hats off to you.

[irie]

Curry / Billups / Durant / Odom / Love

no more zones

[Legendary 33]

He shoots 44% from there. That's ok, not great.

44% is 4th in the league among all starting point guards, behind Paul, Collison, and Nash. He also takes much more shots from this area than them. If that isn't great, than what is?

Especially when you consider the defensive structure he'll face shooting from 16-23 feet will be different in the Olympics than it will in the NBA, because the three point line is closer so the defenders will be less spread out than they would while he's playing with the Bulls.

That's true. But he's an elite slasher, and an elite mid-range shooter. Trust me, he'll be fine.

[Village Idiot]

Good write-up.

Doesn't Claver start for Spain at PF now?

I expect the US to be better than you do but Spain does have the massive advantage of knowing each other and their system well.

I also expect France and Argentina to place higher. I don't see Greece doing well at all. They're too old and unathletic these days.

My rankings:

1. Spain
2. US
3. Argentina
4. France

[mr.ankle]

Are you kidding me Spain me better than the USA without Pau Gasol . GTFO . Anybody else remember the 2004 Olympics . Yes the USA team was embarrassment but they knock out a undefeated Spain team in that Tournament . We own Spain . Is Marc Gasol Really better than Kevin Love ? Does Spain really have answer for Durant ? Derrick Rose , Billups Curry Westbrook .Are way better than Calderon Rubio and Navarro . And we still have the better Coach . He has only lost one Game in Fiba game in Fiba Competition . Spain is overrated .

[mr.ankle]

Another Thing if Team if team try to play a zone against this team usa team . They have the shooters that will hurt teams With Durant and Curry

[dennis00]

Thanks for this lovely read.

My power rankings are however 1) USA, 2) Spain.

I do not like the Rose+Durant = Victory in international basketball argument though. And prime Iverson + prime Duncan worse than Rose+Durant, please. Anyway, it was Iverson+Duncan+Lebron+Carmelo+allstars. If history has proven anything it's that American teams with lots of all-star have not won the championship... 2002, 2004, 2006. There is a reason why it was called the Redeem team.

[Angry Jimmy]

Chandler is a very good pick and roll defender, and will provide a defensive presence at the rim. USA has enough offense that they don't need their bigs to score a lot. The key will be their ability to defend.

If they get good perimeter defense from Rose/Rondo etc... and Chandler or who ever is in the middle can provide shot blocking, they should win this pretty easy.

[Genjuro]

If history has proven anything it's that American teams with lots of all-star have not won the championship... 2002, 2004, 2006. There is a reason why it was called the Redeem team.

Like if the 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2008 teams weren't packed with all-stars.

Check the number of all-stars in each US team:
1992: 11
1994: 7
1996: 12
2000: 7
2002: 4
2004: 2
2006: 5
2008: 9
2010: 4 (Billups, Rose, Durant, Rondo; am I missing somebody?)

Historically, seven or more all-stars equals to a championship; five or less equals to an early exit.

IMO, the biggest difference between teams that have won championships and those that have not is the quality of the players. Teams winning championships had many of the best players in the NBA.

[sisibilio]

Andy Rautins at this point in his career is as good as El Khatib.

HERESY!!!

Doesn't Claver start for Spain at PF now?

No, either Garbajosa or Reyes will, though Claver is expected to have a much bigger role than in last year eurobasket.