International Hoops thread

[closg00]

Spain repeats as Euro Champs, they'll probably be dominant for years with the current team. If France had a legit third option, they could have made a game out of it. Parker couldn't carry that squad alone and Batum is not a takeover kind of player.

[daSwami]

nevermind. dumb post.

[fishercob]

We've had threads for the Olympics and FIBA events in the past. I'd love to have one central place for all things international hoops.

Two points of discussion:

1) Assuming Howard and CP3 resolve their contract situations before next summer, I think the US Olympic team in London could be the best ever -- better than the original dream team, given the stage of everyone's respective careers:

Wade, Lebron, Kobe, Howard, CP3, Durant, Rose, Melo, are all probably locks in your top 8. Then mix in some combo of Bosh, Chandler, Love, Deron, Westbrook, Allen, Pierce, Curry, etc. = completely unstoppable.

So this team is still looking like the best collection of talent ever. Bill Simmons was talking about it a few weeks ago. As of now I think your locks are:

Wade, Lebron, Kobe, Howard, CP3, Durant, Rose, Melo. Fighting for the last four spots are probably Westbrook, Deron, Love, Chandler, Igoudala, Bosh and Gay. Maybe Deron pulls out b/c of his free agency. Then I probably cut Gay and Bosh. Again, that team is devastating.

Some interesting dynamics though. For one, Lebron is now this villain. Howard has sort of disgraced himself with his handling of his own situation. Melo's star has fallen. Not to mention Melo's relationship with assitant coach Mike D'antoni.

Coach K is going to earn his money managing this team.

[closg00]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/us-mens-te ... eCR0q8vLYF

[dobrojim]

Losing Howard and Rose will definitely hurt our depth but there is
still boat-load of talent there (duh). I don't think the pool they're in
should matter much if they play up to their capabilities.

I'll have a dilemma of sorts in July. As a season tix holder, I get
to buy a pair of tix to the exhibition game the US team plays
at the Phone Booth (mens AND womens doubleheader).

I have to think that this will be a very desirable pair of tickets.
Both my girls will be in camp away from home that day. I could make
some cash or do a nice solid for a friend.

[fishercob]

Shame that Howard and Rose won't play; with them healthy, this team could have been better than the original Dream Team, IMO.

So who is your squad? I imagine that these guys are locks:

Chandler, Lebron, Durant, Kobe, Wade, CP3, Deron Williams (he needs to sign with something quickly after 7/1 though), Westbrook, Bosh, Melo.

Love + Harden makes 12.

Is that enough size? Our only 3 natural bigs will be Chandler, Bosh and Love. Melo, Bron, and Durant will all play plenty of 4.

The concern is Spain with the trio of the Gasol and Ibaka (rumor has it he's been to spain once), not to mention Felipe Reyes who is probably Love's size.

So do you bring HIbbert over Harden in case you need some true size and beef in the middle. Or do you just say "eff it" we're going to beat then with pressure D, transition offense, etc. Seems risky to me.

I think you bring Hibbert over Harden.

Who else am I forgetting?

Look at this list as of 6/1/12: http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/national/roster.html

Gay, Griffin, Iguodala, Gordon, Anthony Davis, and Lamar Odom are all in the pool. Hibbert is not. Hmmmmmm

[dobrojim]

waiting for the exhibition game in July at the Phone Booth to sell out
so I can unload my tickets. All except one for me that is.

[pancakes3]

Fish, do you really think that the current olympic squad was better than dream team '92? Even with Bird/Magic being over the hill by a fair margin, that squad had some seriously eye-popping talent on it. The only way I would say that the current squad is better than the original dream team is if you compare starting lineups the gimpy Larry is in those starting lineups.

If you wanted to win, a lineup of

Stockton, MJ, Pippen, Malone, Robinson

could beat

CP3, Wade, Durant, Lebron, Bosh by double figures.


I'd assume griffin is the holder of the last golden ticket for jersey sales alone.

[montestewart]

I'd take 1992 Magic over 2012 Kobe. Magic was retired, but he was one year removed from 25.1 PER and .251 WS/48, and even if the team fed him to make him look good, he did look good in 1992 allstar game. Bird's back problems slowed him and forced his retirement that year, but he was much better than average when he retired, and his 21 PER and .159 WS/48 don't look so bad. He never relied on athleticism like some of the others, and with managed minutes, he was still a savvy contributor (except when he was lying on the floor in pain). You pretty much covered the rest of the roster, a very complete group. Well, except for Laettner.

Malone would have hurt Griffin, but that team needs some beef up front. A healthy Howard on the current team would be a plus, but if I were him, I'd rest the back.

[closg00]

Ibaka thinks Spain has the talent to match us at the Olympics. Spain vs the US in the god medal round.
http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012 ... matches-us

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I'd take 1992 Magic over 2012 Kobe. Magic was retired, but he was one year removed from 25.1 PER and .251 WS/48, and even if the team fed him to make him look good, he did look good in 1992 allstar game. Bird's back problems slowed him and forced his retirement that year, but he was much better than average when he retired, and his 21 PER and .159 WS/48 don't look so bad. He never relied on athleticism like some of the others, and with managed minutes, he was still a savvy contributor (except when he was lying on the floor in pain). You pretty much covered the rest of the roster, a very complete group. Well, except for Laettner.

Malone would have hurt Griffin, but that team needs some beef up front. A healthy Howard on the current team would be a plus, but if I were him, I'd rest the back.

Wasn't he a complete douche? Sorry. That wasn't nice.

Christian Laettner has given charitably in Buffalo and he had a nice, long, NBA career. It is not his fault they took him over Shaq or Drexler. I thought he played reasonably well for MJ's Wizards. I had nothing against him.

[montestewart]

I don't fault Laettner. He won pretty much every college award that year, his team won the tournament, and he had that shot! USA basketball wanted to include a nod to college ball, and he seemed the obvious nod, and why would he say NO if asked to play for the greatest team ever?

But he so clearly did not belong. Shaq would have looked out of his element if he was on that team, but he'd still bring that unstoppable size with him, and few would question his addition now. Shaq and Malone as bigs together, there would have been some hurtin international players.

[MF23]

Man WTF? Since when is the UK coaching staff in charge of the DR's team? That shocked me.

[jivelikenice]

Did the French team play an exhibition game yesterday? I read a few tweets but I couldn't track down a boxscore or anything...

[7-Day Dray]

Some NBA team needs to pick up Ike Diogu. He's a beast.

[BruceO]

So based on stories coming out of camp usa basketball it seems as though kyries already greater than john wall and his handle is looking ridiculous. So is it official now? But i hope john makes a leap especially in shooting and efficiency or else he'll be stuck with numbers in that range his whole career. Although star pgs don't bring championships like star bigs do and star wings. My problem primarily is his shooting for spacing so we can have non shooters in the lineup and it'd be ok and turnovers

[jivelikenice]

^Where did you get stories on the camp from?

[DCsOwn]

So based on stories coming out of camp usa basketball it seems as though kyries already greater than john wall and his handle is looking ridiculous. So is it official now? But i hope john makes a leap especially in shooting and efficiency or else he'll be stuck with numbers in that range his whole career. Although star pgs don't bring championships like star bigs do and star wings. My problem primarily is his shooting for spacing so we can have non shooters in the lineup and it'd be ok and turnovers

A couple of things, one, the person that came out strongest in regard to Kyrie's play was Coach K, you know, the guy who Kyrie played for in college and undoubtedly forged a relationship with (that doesn't mean that he isnt telling the truth obviously, Kyrie is a very skilled kid with a game that seems to suit international basketball, but you have to consider the source a little bit.) Secondly, They're both young players that aren't even close to reaching their primes yet, and it's not beyond the realm of possibility that either or both still has significant room to improve.

In regard to your "official" question, imo it'll become official when both players are in their respective primes and one is clearly outperforming the other. Both are very talented, albeit in different ways (Kyrie is terrifically skilled, John possesses tremendous physical gifts) but imo, John is a consistent mid-range jumper from being Russell Westbrook with a passing aptitude aka a perennial all-star guard. Kyrie shoots the ball much better and has a tighter handle, but John is the better passer, he's much more physically gifted (taller, longer, stronger, and significantly more explosive), he's better defensively than Kyrie with the ability to be a top 3 defensive pg imo and he's a better rebounder. I'm not even close to writing Wall off in this comparison, and I really think with the type of concentrated skill development he's engaged in this offseason we could be in for a true break-out season from him.

[BruceO]

There's videos on YouTube I think by hoops hyper someone. I think also check general board thers a thread there on team usa with link to video

[closg00]

Is this the 2012 Olympics thread? Anyway, this is a good read.
http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2012/07/17 ... n-trouble/