FIBA World Cup
- Thread starter Ozymandias
- Start date
I'd be curious if the US (NBA) trotted out their 'no-sh1t" best players (tier 1s) would they actually smash opponenets? I dont think so.....the B team is pretty closley talented and still couldn't figure it out.
This may be a roundabout good sign for the Kings and Vezenkov as a hopeful Euro player translating over. I think the expectation should be an offensive shot-in-the-arm immediately off the bench - if he can average low double digits ppg on satisfactory shooting, ,mission complete.
This may be a roundabout good sign for the Kings and Vezenkov as a hopeful Euro player translating over. I think the expectation should be an offensive shot-in-the-arm immediately off the bench - if he can average low double digits ppg on satisfactory shooting, ,mission complete.
I dunno, I feel like a Draymond/Lebron/(KD or Tatum)/(Fox or Ant or Spida)/Steph type of team probably smashed through most any team that isn’t Serbia with Joker active. The issue is that most of those guys want absolutely nothing to do with Team USA at this point (although Kerr could probably get Curry and Dray to play)
I don't know if it's possible to read anything into this result: on one hand, it's definitely true that the rest of the world has improved to the point where they can beat the United States at any given time. On the other hand, the United States never sends its best to this tournament; we're maybe the only country that treats the Olympics like a bigger deal than the World Cup. We're definitely the only country that treats its league championship like a bigger deal than the World Cup. Like, the US technically has the most World Cup victories, but that's only because, apparently, Serbia doesn't get to count its wins as Yugoslavia.
USA has finished off the podium at the World Cup more times than they've won it all. In fact, USA has finished off the podium after NBA players were allowed to compete the same number of times that they've won it all. Contrast that to the Olympics, where the United States has never finished off the podium in nineteen appearances and has sixteen gold medals. I'll be genuinely surprised if this result has any bearing on what happens in Paris.
USA has finished off the podium at the World Cup more times than they've won it all. In fact, USA has finished off the podium after NBA players were allowed to compete the same number of times that they've won it all. Contrast that to the Olympics, where the United States has never finished off the podium in nineteen appearances and has sixteen gold medals. I'll be genuinely surprised if this result has any bearing on what happens in Paris.
@Mr. S£im Citrus and I had a back and forth about the last olympics prior to the start of the tourney with some disappointing results in the weeks prior with me complaining they think they can just send the best guys and it will all work itself out without a longer term commitment. Then we lost to France to start. And then from there they flipped the switch winning every game by double digits until the rematch with France which they only won by 5, but aside from France trimming it to 3 a few times in the 4th, it didn't really feel in doubt most of the game either.
It's interesting now guys saying they're all going to commit. Maybe there will be a competition to make the team, but still not sure what it all means, the NBA season hasn't gotten any shorter. But still at the end of the day, I didn't but now believe if our best players show up and want it they can still win 9/10.
It's interesting now guys saying they're all going to commit. Maybe there will be a competition to make the team, but still not sure what it all means, the NBA season hasn't gotten any shorter. But still at the end of the day, I didn't but now believe if our best players show up and want it they can still win 9/10.
9/10 sounds about right to me. Maybe as low as 8/10, even if the United States sends their best. Serbia is really good, Spain is apparently still good, Lithuania is still good. I still don't know how good Slovenia is, but they're going to be a dark horse threat, as long as they have Dončić. And I've apparently been sleeping on Germany, Canada and Latvia.
In mild defense of myself, I thought that Canada was going to be good six years ago, and they weren't good six years ago, so I just sort of stopped paying attention to them. But I didn't see Germany coming at all.
In mild defense of myself, I thought that Canada was going to be good six years ago, and they weren't good six years ago, so I just sort of stopped paying attention to them. But I didn't see Germany coming at all.
I coin flipped between 8 and 9 tbh. On one hand it's still single elimination past the group stage.
On the other hand I don't think an "A" team has ever lost the Olympic tournament in the pro-era yet*. There's a lot more on the line and I think 2 years ago we saw after the France game the team just said no way is it going to be us. Correct me if I'm wrong but that France game was the first loss by a US Men's pro-team outside of 2004? Either way 2004 seems to have been given a pass for some reason, any future team is going to bear a much heavier weight.
*2004 team had 3 rookies who are likely first ballot HOFers which might cloud this up a bit, but certainly that was not the best team we could have sent at the time (or the best coaching choice?).
On the other hand I don't think an "A" team has ever lost the Olympic tournament in the pro-era yet*. There's a lot more on the line and I think 2 years ago we saw after the France game the team just said no way is it going to be us. Correct me if I'm wrong but that France game was the first loss by a US Men's pro-team outside of 2004? Either way 2004 seems to have been given a pass for some reason, any future team is going to bear a much heavier weight.
*2004 team had 3 rookies who are likely first ballot HOFers which might cloud this up a bit, but certainly that was not the best team we could have sent at the time (or the best coaching choice?).
Based on that metric, I might say that we've only actually sent the "A" team to the Olympics three times (the Dream Team, the Redeem Team, and the team in 2012).
I mean, I guess if you're narrowing the parameters to only include the Olympics (which, if you were, would kind of prove the point I was making upthread), you could say that the France game was the first loss since 2004. The men finished third in 2006, and then they had their worst-ever finish (7th) at the last World Cup in 2019.
I mean, I guess if you're narrowing the parameters to only include the Olympics (which, if you were, would kind of prove the point I was making upthread), you could say that the France game was the first loss since 2004. The men finished third in 2006, and then they had their worst-ever finish (7th) at the last World Cup in 2019.
I mean, good. Really was a pathetic FIBA LU we sent over and then Kerr kind of had horrible roster management with his rotations. Austin mother ****ing Reaves getting featured really was just.... man.
Steph
Booker
Bron
KD
AD
Tatum
Dame
Dray
Bam
Jrue
Ant
Jimmy
Can sub in Fox/Trae/Kyrie in for Jrue if you want more explosiveness and a scoring punch.
Steph
Booker
Bron
KD
AD
Tatum
Dame
Dray
Bam
Jrue
Ant
Jimmy
Can sub in Fox/Trae/Kyrie in for Jrue if you want more explosiveness and a scoring punch.
As funny as it is to bang on Austin Reaves, Reaves is exactly the sort of player I'd want to have on a well-rounded international team. Let's keep it a buck, the teams that beat us didn't exactly have twelve NBA players on them, let alone twelve All-Star caliber players. If 2002-2006 didn't teach us anything else, it should have taught us that role/fit matters almost as much as talent.
I would absolutely invite back Edwards, Hart, Reaves, Jackson Jr. and Bridges to surround guys like Curry, Davis, Durant and LeBron; you just don't count on the young guys to do the heavy lifting. And, if I couldn't get Adebayo, I'd bring Portis back, too.
I would absolutely invite back Edwards, Hart, Reaves, Jackson Jr. and Bridges to surround guys like Curry, Davis, Durant and LeBron; you just don't count on the young guys to do the heavy lifting. And, if I couldn't get Adebayo, I'd bring Portis back, too.
Hey now! I’m not saying the 94 was a dream team though they were still marketing as such and it seemed like there was no question guys wanted to play on it thus it was our A team and the only time I recalled us making FIBA a big deal. Also not slighting 2012 just saying I thought we still had competition/strong interest by top NBA guys to play in those Olympics.
We don't disagree. I was only saying we sent our best squad to that tournament.
This isn't 30 years of hindsight or marketing, the players still wanted to uphold the legacy of USA Basketball and being the 12 best players in the world in 94. I don't think this lasted beyond the next olympic cycle. The fact that "Dream Team Too" or whatever they wanted it to be didn't pass the smell test may have played a hand in why players lost interest.
Incidentally that was my whole argument against USA just sending all star teams to the tournament instead of developing a B+ team that would play every tourney available, and then me giving in to "you know what, I guess we can still just flip the switch with the A team" after Tokyo. I think we will have at least 2-3 more cycles where that's the case since the first one is only next year and everyone is having a mini-freakout for some reason over this year's FIBA result - which as you said - is hardly our worst.
This isn't 30 years of hindsight or marketing, the players still wanted to uphold the legacy of USA Basketball and being the 12 best players in the world in 94. I don't think this lasted beyond the next olympic cycle. The fact that "Dream Team Too" or whatever they wanted it to be didn't pass the smell test may have played a hand in why players lost interest.
Incidentally that was my whole argument against USA just sending all star teams to the tournament instead of developing a B+ team that would play every tourney available, and then me giving in to "you know what, I guess we can still just flip the switch with the A team" after Tokyo. I think we will have at least 2-3 more cycles where that's the case since the first one is only next year and everyone is having a mini-freakout for some reason over this year's FIBA result - which as you said - is hardly our worst.
