Cousins Back for Team USA

USA vs Dominican Republic @ 7 EDT on NBATV Boogie said he is 50/50 on playing. Rose is out, and Plumlee is a lock, according to this article.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Knee soreness kept Derrick Rose out of practice Tuesday, making it the third straight day he has not played any basketball. And that left Team USA officials wondering whether Rose will be capable of handling the rigorous World Cup schedule.

Also, DeMarcus Cousins practiced Tuesday but listed himself as 50-50 for Wednesday night’s exhibition game against the Dominican Republic, an assessment that appeared to catch Mike Krzyzewski by surprise when the comment was relayed to the coach.

It was a day of on-court and off-court developments for Team USA, and Wednesday’s friendly at Madison Square Garden promised to bring more of the same.

Rose is unlikely to start, a team source told SheridanHoops.com. Kyrie Irving could move into the starting five after playing exceptionally well in a sixth man role Saturday night against Brazil, and the federation was expecting Rose to be able to contribute off the bench.

But if Rose’s knees remain sore – officially, the team said he was held out for “precautionary reasons – and he does not play, the makeup of the final roster will be much more uncertain than it appeared it would be when this week began. If Rose cannot handle the workload of playing three games in three nights and five games in six nights when pool play begins in Bilbao, Spain, the roster would effectively be reduced to 11 1/2 players.

Several of the players who were benched or saw very limited minutes against Brazil were expected to get much more playing time Wednesday. So for Gordon Hayward, DeMar DeRozan, Chandler Parsons, Kyle Korver, Damian Lillard and Andre Drummond, it will be the closest thing to a tryout any of them have experienced since they played Pee-Wee ball.

Also, a day after telling ESPN.com that all roster cuts could be made Thursday, team director Jerry Colangelo reversed course and said Team USA could take as many as 14 players on the plane Saturday when they travel to Grand Canary Island to prepare for an exhibition game against Slovenia.

Clearly, this team is in more of a state of flux that many, including myself, were led to believe after Saturday night’s 17-point victory over Brazil.

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For now, the players who are locks to make the final roster – barring injuries – are Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Kenneth Faried and Mason Plumlee.

Cousins and Rose are close to being certainties. But they are NOT locks.

Tuesday’s practice marked Cousins’ first live scrimmage since he was injured last Thursday in Chicago, suffering a bone bruise in his knee.

“He did well today, he’ll play tomorrow … I’m expecting him to play,” Krzyzewski said before being informed of the “50-50″ comment. “He should be a guy who’s in the rotation. The fact that he’s come here and I’ve gotten to know him, I can push him better and I can understand him better. He gives us somebody different when Anthony is out of the game. But we still have decisions about whether you might (have) Anthony at the 4 and one of the other bigs, DeMarcus or one of the others, at the 5.”

Krzyzewski went on to call Faried’s performance against Brazil “outstanding,” the type of language he typically uses only when speaking of players who are 100 percent on the final roster. Davis is clearly going to be the alpha dog for Team USA as he showed against Brazil, but beyond that there are more questions than definitive answers.

Rose has looked good but not great in practices, team insiders told me. He received a warm welcome in Chicago and showed flashes of his former brilliance, but the fact is not lost on the federation that his health remains a question mark after injuries to each of his knees limited him to just 10 games over the past two NBA seasons.

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The uncertainty over Cousins’ knees is one of the main factors that is keeping Drummond on the roster.

“Of course they want me to get healthy and of course they want me back, but you just can’t rush back from an injury like that,” Cousins said.

And what about Friday against Puerto Rico?

“That’s definitely a better possibility. A couple of more days to heal and get my knee strength, that’s definitely a possibility. The pain is gone, but it’s still a little weak right now,” Cousins said.


Read more at http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2014/0...-50-50-to-play-wednesday/#iQmogrfXF4tkKv4F.99
 
“He did well today, he’ll play tomorrow … I’m expecting him to play,” Krzyzewski said before being informed of the “50-50″ comment. “He should be a guy who’s in the rotation. The fact that he’s come here and I’ve gotten to know him, I can push him better and I can understand him better. He gives us somebody different when Anthony is out of the game. But we still have decisions about whether you might (have) Anthony at the 4 and one of the other bigs, DeMarcus or one of the others, at the 5.”


I liked this from Coach K, getting to know Boogie instead of listening to all the negative comments on him. He deserved some of it but it is way overplayed as him being a thug or headcase. I would be really happy to see him operate with Davis at the 4 and being an elite shot blocker.
 
given the more positive comments from Coach K, Cousins should really make an effort to play today to cement them and get this thing done. Last thing you want to do is reopen any malingerer doubts.

I am sure that if we heard what Coach K's reaction was to Boogie's 50/50 comment, Boogie will play as he has heard it also. He's not going to throw away this opportunity over a knee bruise.
 
is he playing or not? he was wearing a different shirt than everyone else on the team during the pregame ceremony thing. interesting
 
For now, the players who are locks to make the final roster – barring injuries – are Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Kenneth Faried and Mason Plumlee.

Cousins and Rose are close to being certainties. But they are NOT locks.

Why the hell is Mason freaking plum a lock?
 
Just tuned in a few minutes ago but in the last three or so minutes, Cuz has blocked two shots, grabbed a defensive board, taken a charge, got an offensive board and dished a nice pass for an and one (to Rudy). If they want him to impact the game without scoring, he's certainly doing that.

He is sometimes hobbling on that leg though, hopefully it doesn't turn into something more serious.
 
Good first half for Cuz. Bit ragged at times, but a lot of good stuff, active on defense.

Just as critically Drummond having another nothing game -- looking like that same problem we've had with limited shotblocker/rebounders in the past where the skill/IQ just isn't there.

Plumlee hasn't played. Don't know if that means he's a hilarious "lock" or that Coach K has carried him as far as he's willing and Plumlee's already out.
 
Boogie got robbed of some assists. He had the assist to Rudy where he got the AND1. And he set a screen and handed the ball off to a jump shooter who made the shot at least once maybe twice
 
I'm pretty sure I saw Cuz block at least one, and probably two, though it's clearly not on the boxscore.

Drummond with strong play in the third quarter.
 
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