USA B-Ball Discussion

[Guest FaSho]

USA B-Ball starts up this Wednesday. The team's really good this year, Kobe in his first stint with the team (basically replacing Wade for the year), you got LeBron, Melo, and Kidd who is 28-0 in international ball.

 

-Shane Battier will not be present due to family issues.

-Greg Oden will not make the trip to Vegas as he continues to recover from a tonsillectomy.

-Kirk Hinrich has withdrawn his name from consideration for the final 12 to play in the FIBA Americas for undisclosed reasons, but Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune hints that Hinrich might have just been tired with the process.

-J.J. Redick has been moved from the Senior team to the Select team.

-Nick Collison has been added to the mix but there is a bit of confusion regarding his role. Carp writes that he'll also be a part of the Select team, while The Associated Press reports that he'll be one of the 16 players fighting for 12 spots on the Senior team.

-Chris Bosh will be there, "but might be limited by plantar fasciitis in his right foot."

 

USA Blog: http://my.nba.com/forum.jspa?forumID=400025373&start=0

Has results for all the games between the Select and Senior team. The select team is for the Senior team to scrimmage against.

 

USA B-Ball TV Schedule: http://www.usabasketball.com/seniormen/200...tv_schedule.pdf

 

I'll probably stay up for some games or wake up early for others. I wish they were better quality.

 

I hope they bring back gold!

[razazteca 0]

So how does the team look this year is it still 12 guys wanting to go one-on-one every play for the dunk or are they willing to pass the ball to the open player for the jumper?

[Rendclaw 0]

I saw their White Team/Blue Team scrimmage, and it certainly looked to me like they want to win, because they were beating the hell out of each other. If I remember the score, it was 109-108 or something like that, with Kobe hitting the game winning three and LeBron missing the buzzer beater. The Thomas and Mack Center (albeit it was about 60-70% Kobe fans) was jumping towards the end of the game.

 

There was a decent balance of one on one play and good passing, led of course by Jason Kidd. He didn;t even take a shot until close to the end of the game.

 

Michael Redd will feast on this short three point line. He's about the streakiest shooter I have since since John Starks back in the day, in that if he knocks down one three, he could easily knock down the next six in a row. He certainly isn;t shy about taking them.

 

It was interesting for me to see Dwight Howard and Amare Stoudamire go at each other, and just how big Howard has gotten. I said it here years ago, this kid is going to be a monster once he learns to make his free throws and develops a better game around the basket than dunking everything he catches. Throw in a nice little 12-15 foot jumper and he's going to be unstoppable. Amare is what, 6-10, 230? He looked like Kate Moss next to Howard.

 

Once this team gets finalized and used to each other, they should fare much better. They have the right mix of players this time (and getting Kobe is prolly going to be the one factor that seals the deal, because LeBron's long-range game isn't where it needs to be), and the only things that limit this team are chemistry, desire, and health. If they gel decently, stay healthy and stay motivated for the Beijing games, look the hell out world because we are taking our title (and gold medals) back.

 

BTW, what the fuck is up with Hinrich???

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

A guy who's six-ten and only two-thirty ought to look like Kate Moss standing next to just about anybody...

[Guest]

I hope the US plays Mexico in the semis. Only say that because while beating them at soccer is way fun, beating them in basketball would be even better. I'll be watching every game, as usual. Woke up way early for the games in Athens and was disappointed each and every time. The games in Asia last year were too much to watch live. I don't have that kind of motor, I had to DVR them.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

So how does the team look this year is it still 12 guys wanting to go one-on-one every play for the dunk or are they willing to pass the ball to the open player for the jumper?

I think the fundamental problem isn't with their ability, teamwork, fundamentals or selfishness. The big problem is that when you compile a team of stars in basketball, you end up with offensively based players because that's where the statistics are refined. They'd be better off balancing the team a bit.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Howard sort of reminds me of a young Shaq, except Shaq was even bigger than Dwight is, although a lot of that muscle turned to fat when Shaq got unmotivated.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

K is going to start Melo, Lebron, and Kobe, all in the lineup. Am I crazy, or is this the same lineup problem they always have? At least kobe will play D, so its a slight improvement, but its the same "throw a bunch of a volume scorers out there" mentality. I think they should move Melo or Lebron to the bench for a defender and a secondary (not primary volume) scorer.

[Ripper 0]

The USA's problem last time was that the NBA is so freakin soft now, they didn't know how to react to those blatant moving screens that are legal in international play. So screen and roll over and over and over again, and they couldn't stop it because it was a illegal play in their league.

 

They figure out how to stop that and they will be fine.

 

Plus I think Kobe is the perfect international player especially on the same team with Kidd.

[Rendclaw 0]

And never mind that Kobe can hit any shot within 30 feet of the basket, and he's not afraid to take said shot.... He single-handedly brought his team back in that scrimmage. As long as he doesn't try and win games all by himself, he'll be fine.

 

I hear you Slim.. it was a little bit amusing to me to see Amare bouncing off of Dwight in the post.

 

They have a bit better mix of players... they have better defenders in Battier and Tayshaun Prince, spot shooters like Michael Redd who can also take it to the basket if necessary.. Point guards that can shoot like a Chauncey Billups, who is strong enough to take his man down low and work him.. And I think that the surprise player will be Kevin Durant. There doesn;t seem to be much that he cannot do on the floor, like a younger Kevin Garnett. There were a couple of plays where he went up against Tayshaun, who is one of the better defenders in the league, and he made him look a bit silly.

 

They will do better as long as they are willing to work and get their hands dirty and check their egos at the door.

[Ripper 0]

They have to not worry about fouling out basically. You have the deepest team out there, go out there and play.

[LivingLegendGaryColeman 0]

And I think that the surprise player will be Kevin Durant. There doesn;t seem to be much that he cannot do on the floor, like a younger Kevin Garnett. There were a couple of plays where he went up against Tayshaun, who is one of the better defenders in the league, and he made him look a bit silly.

 

I read this morning that Durant was cut. Him and Collison were the final cuts to make it 12.

 

http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-...1&cset=true

[Rendclaw 0]

That's a shame, but there were going to be some hard decisions about who to keep and who to cut.

 

Oh well..

[Guest]

Just found out earlier that EARL WATSON was going to play for Mexico (?), but he wound up not doing so, and saw that Nolan Richardson was coaching the Mexican team. They won against Puerto Rico and shut Arroyo down.

[Ripper 0]

Kobe broke out the early 90's handcheck on D in this game and man....it reminds me of how much I miss it in the NBA.

[Guest]

About that...

 

"I don't know how to explain it," said Vasquez after the game. "That was amazing."

 

"I grew up watching the NBA. I was in College Park, watching his highlights. All of a sudden, he was guarding me like it was the last game of his life. . . .

 

"I'm 20 years old. . . . It was tough. I'm not going to lie to you guys. I lost the ball on a couple of possessions. . . .

 

That's what the guy who was being guarded by him felt like.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

It'll be interesting to see how good Mexico does with Richardson coaching them. They aren't in the pool that has the U.S. in it so they could be a factor later on. However, they aren't beating the U.S. even with Richardson's "40 minutes of hell"