Got beat a few times down court by Plumlee which critics are going to obsess over but that's partly because Plumlee just sprints up and down the court all game. Great hustle that's nice from a role player but it doesn't feel quite fair to compare it to a true big's responsibilities.
[Game] Team USA Blue vs White scrimmage
- Thread starter Mr. S£im Citrus
- Start date
Got beat a few times down court by Plumlee which critics are going to obsess over but that's partly because Plumlee just sprints up and down the court all game. Great hustle that's nice from a role player but it doesn't feel quite fair to compare it to a true big's responsibilities.
HereWeBoogie
Hall of Famer
There was just times he wasn't running back on D, or offense sometimes (there was a couple possessions where he never even came into the tv screen on offense before the posession was over). Wasn't giving the effort we are accustomed to seeing in boxing his man out and grabbing the boards. Most of it was towards the end of his groups run on the floor though, so i'll chalk it up to being tired.
also the time he let Plumlee run ahead of everyone and KD had to foul him on his dunk
King Baller
All-Star
Yep 11 points and 11 rebounds in 3 quarters of limited action. But he was not always running the floor. The match up with Plumlee was an in game adjustment by the blue team coaches as he was on AD for the early part of the game. Plumlee had several hard fouls on Cousins which I thought were sort of out of place in an intra-team scrimmage. But I think thats how guys play Cuz.
All things considered if the Coaches want to win they should select Cousins. He looked real good playing with Durant and Durant is the leader of this team. Durant could do much worse than to have DeMarcus Cousins as his wingman.
Chupacabra
Starter
I think the big positive to take away from this game as a basketball fan is that Derrick Rose still looks incredibly explosive. These are the best players in the world and he was too fast for everyone. He must be salivating at the thought of dunking all over our international competition. Im excited for him.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
I thought Plumlee played pretty darned well. He outhustled Cousins for a loose ball, ran past Cousins for a an alley-oop layup, and was very active on the court. Cousins played hard, did well in rebounding the ball, made a very nice outlet pass off a defense rebound. But Cousins didn't play smart at times, allowing Plumlee to run past him for the easy layup, and then not blocking out Plumlee, allowing him to get an easy offensive rebound and hoop. Plumlee played quicker, faster, and higher. At times, the game seemed too fast for Cousins. I don't think his presence on the defensive end was better than ok. The interior defense was awful at the beginning of the game, though it's difficult apportion blame when it comes to switches and help D. On a team based around highly talented wings, I can see a reasonable argument for Plumlee. It's not all as cut and dried and one might think.
It is if you're a Kings fan.
I agree with him that the game seemed too fast at times for cuz. In the second half especially, you could tell he was winded and he couldn't keep up with the game for a stretch.
That being said, the praise on sites for plumlee is a little silly. He didn't do anything on d and aside from one ugly half hook, he had a few buckets on scrappy plays. Nice stuff from a role player but really wasn't impressive and unlikely to be a big need at the international level. The whole plumlee thing is ridiculous as there are dozens of players in the league that can do what he does while very few can give you what a player like cuz does.
King Baller
All-Star
I have to say after watching the scrimmage a second time I am even less impressed by Plumlee. He made several errors and committed tooo many fouls. AD could not hold his defensive position in the block or when rebounding. Drummond can't shoot free throws and at times seems awkward. All three are good players but they just are not perfect. They all have holes in their games. I just don't see how they can be chosen for this perfect team Coach K needs.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
Well, Plumlee did have 10 points, which ain't bad in a game like this. The scrappy plays in which he scored count just as much as if a play were designed for him. And for a team based on wings, they account for more than designed post ups because Coach K doesn't have to go to him for him to get points. If anything, getting the scrappy points can be viewed as more of a plus than a negative. If this were a different game in which it started from the inside and worked out, Cousins' importance would be proportionately higher, but it isn't, so the power offense inside doesn't mean as much.
Indeed. I perfectly understand the "scrap, hustle, garbage, tough" type of roleplayer for Team USA, but why settle for Plumlee if that's what you're looking for? As you said, there are dozens of other guys who would be better suited for that role for TEam USA than Plumlee. What's infuriating is Coach K seems to be playing favorites with Plumlee by inviting him in the first place.
