USA vs Brazil
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And Hinrich hasn't been too impressive as a shooter thus far either...
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Carmelo out with a hyperextended knee. Was diving for a loose ball and will not return. Hopefully just a precaution...
Looks to be 52-38 USA at the half.
Some impressive play as usual by the US, and they are hitting their threes. Still look confused for the most part on offense though against the zone. Lotsa iso play, no cutting and lotsa standing around.
Hopefully Brazil won't fold in the second half, this is exactly what USA needs.
Looks to be 52-38 USA at the half.
Some impressive play as usual by the US, and they are hitting their threes. Still look confused for the most part on offense though against the zone. Lotsa iso play, no cutting and lotsa standing around.
Hopefully Brazil won't fold in the second half, this is exactly what USA needs.
the problem with the us is that they have absolutely no post offense working for them. unless the opponent is really happy sharing the ball (like puerto rico or china), the us defense is not stellar either. the ameicans still do not seem to get it: you will not win with your "star" players but will win only as a team. lebron, wade and others will not get the special treatment they are used to getting in the nba (that is why i keep thinking nba has become a place where a spin-off of basketball is being played) and that will mess them up. brazil is a good team and if the stars are aligned right, they could end up with a medal in this championship. however, they played, for the most part, without barbosa. argentina, serbia (their performance against the us will depend on the performance of their backcourt), lithuania, italy, spain, france (with a low probability, but still) will not lay down in front of the team usa.
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Yep... Coach K was yelling at the guys to quit taking so many 3's, but as you watch the offense develop, you see one guy with the ball and the other four just standing around. No movement at all. Makes you wonder if they even have drawn up any plays at all?
The full court press is great and all, but it's not going to work on every team.
Obviously, still gotta give team USA time, but so far I'm seeing the same style of play as in the past -- over-reliance on athleticism.
Lithuania should be a good test as well. I'd like to see another hard-fought game with some clear improvements by the US and not a game where they just happen to shoot 50%+ from 3pt.
I do think the US was hurt by not having Carmelo. He's been probably one fo their best and most well-rounded players out there. I think he's more solid fundamentally-wise (especially hitting jumpers) than Lebron or Wade. Both of those guys are freaks athletically, but are streaky and aren't really able to find ways to contribute when their jumpers aren't going down and the full court press isn't leading to transition dunks.
Don't mean to be hard on team US, they've got years of bad habits to break
The full court press is great and all, but it's not going to work on every team.
Obviously, still gotta give team USA time, but so far I'm seeing the same style of play as in the past -- over-reliance on athleticism.
Lithuania should be a good test as well. I'd like to see another hard-fought game with some clear improvements by the US and not a game where they just happen to shoot 50%+ from 3pt.
I do think the US was hurt by not having Carmelo. He's been probably one fo their best and most well-rounded players out there. I think he's more solid fundamentally-wise (especially hitting jumpers) than Lebron or Wade. Both of those guys are freaks athletically, but are streaky and aren't really able to find ways to contribute when their jumpers aren't going down and the full court press isn't leading to transition dunks.
Don't mean to be hard on team US, they've got years of bad habits to break
do not underestimate them. didn't they win the last american games, beating argentina? their basketball iq is not that high, i admit, but they play with passion and much like the spaniards and the greeks they know how to work the refs. today it did not work though; it backfired.
i think that melting down can be attributed to two (make that three) factors: 1. barbosa did not play during the entire 4th quarter. 2. the brazilians were not expecting a close game at all. 3. the coaching staff did not want to win the game pulling up some special cards from their sleeves. i believe they will be reserving them for an eventual re-match.
Sac.Kings
All-Star
As i said before, no matter how you spin it, the USA team plays too much one on one and they will lose because of it. All this crap of how good a team they become is bull. Everyone is looking for their own shot apart from a couple players. Lebron and Carmelo jack up shots with D-Wade and Joe Johnson right behind them.
I haven't seen much one on one so far at all. I've seen a lot of team-play.
I didn't see the Brazil game, so if they did there with a lot of one-on-one, oh well. Brazil are a better team than China/PR, and I heard they had trouble with the zone. I shall see on the replay of the game.
Coach K and his staff knows what they're doing, and they'll go back and look at tape to improve.
I still think this team is and will be different than past recent teams, and despite practices, they're still developing and gaining chemistry as a team. That's partly what the exhibtions are for. One iffy exhibition game win isn't going to kill their confidence or ability.
I expect them to win it all, and like our outlook.
I didn't see the Brazil game, so if they did there with a lot of one-on-one, oh well. Brazil are a better team than China/PR, and I heard they had trouble with the zone. I shall see on the replay of the game.
Coach K and his staff knows what they're doing, and they'll go back and look at tape to improve.
I still think this team is and will be different than past recent teams, and despite practices, they're still developing and gaining chemistry as a team. That's partly what the exhibtions are for. One iffy exhibition game win isn't going to kill their confidence or ability.
I expect them to win it all, and like our outlook.
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acisking
Bench
Honestly, I really don't see much promise for the US's offense at this point. It seems that they only score on the fast break off of turnovers. What is more disconcerting, however, is that the team relies WAAAAY too much on threes. In this I tend to fault the coaching staff and selecting committee who emphasized outside shooting in the team selections while forgetting the most obvious of team fundamentals: loading up on shooters does little to help team play. Again, the outside shooting is neccesary for success in the international game, but there must also be a focus on plays and penetration.
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I know they're making an effort on the team thing, but maybe it's not realistic to see results in such a short period of time.
Too many 3's and no set plays on offense. Why don't they just run a high post thing with some motion and cutting at least? Way too many times guys are literally just standing still while another guy tries to create. This is bonehead stuff.
So far I'm just not seeing a lot of difference in the playing style from the Athens team (yet).
Too many 3's and no set plays on offense. Why don't they just run a high post thing with some motion and cutting at least? Way too many times guys are literally just standing still while another guy tries to create. This is bonehead stuff.
So far I'm just not seeing a lot of difference in the playing style from the Athens team (yet).
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