# USA vs Uruguay Wed 8/29 11PM ESPN2



## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I've watched Uruguay played several games and it's extremely difficult to imagine them coming close to the USA.They have the personell to match up with second tier International teams,including quite a few players with good size.Overall they are totally lacking in athleticism and they look pretty much like the stereotypical European stiffs to me(even though the Rio de Plata is nowhere near the continent of Europe).They have one good interior player in Batista and one pretty good guard in Mazzarino(for comparison sake say he's a poor man's Ginobili).

The guy I shall be watching is Gaston Paez.Think of him as a poor man's Bill Laimbeer,except that he doesn't appear to have that much actual basketball ability.He does have the ability to slam a guy to the floor and then get t'ed up for complaining when the ref dares to blow his whistle.Bill might be thinking about coming back in Europe if he sees this guy play.We should probably worry a lot more about someone getting hurt or suspended than we should worry about this team beating us.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Whose the ******* who came up with this schedule? It's like they actually want players to get hurt with this moronic 10 games in 7 day schedule or whatever they crammed together. Luckily the US has depth but still this is crappy


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Yeah the schedule is pretty absurd. 

It's nice having a game on every night but damn, it's gotta be hard on the players. Yeah we're keeping guys to 20 mins, but it's a hard 20 mins the way we are pressuring on defense and pushing the ball.

You could tell the last 2 games in particular we're not really fastbreaking anywhere near as effectively.


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## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

i hope dwight locks down batista tonight. he kinda reminds me of najera but with a much taller frame and wingspan.


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## Yoyo (Oct 16, 2005)

This reminds me of those conference tournaments in the NCAA, but even worse. At least those stop at 4 consecutive games...

Our players playing limited minutes are already getting tired, let alone other teams who have to field their best starters every game...


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## The lone wolf (Jul 23, 2003)

anyone know how i can catch this game online tonight ? - streaming or something like that..


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Try this page.I'm probably not supposed to give out information on streaming so you'll have to figure out anything else you need to know on your own.
http://myp2p.eu/NBA.htm


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

No Melo for the US today. Bruised heel.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Melo isn't playing tonight.I think they said he bruised his heel on that play where he dunked and came down awkwardly.I would guess that he would play if this were a sterner test.Redd goes into the starting lineup.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

We're losing 3-0! Crazy!


............


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Nothing impressive about this start.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

If you can get a couple of fouls on Batista he doesn't play any defense at all actually...So we'll probably be going at him early


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

I disagree. In middle school we'd play a lot of games in a few days sometimes. We even had 3 games in a day one time. (First our semifinals game in the tournament, then our regular season game, followed by championship game in that tournament). The pro players are too ***** imo.

Unsurprisingly, teams are starting to figure out this horrible USA offense. The key for them is putting it together for an entire four quarters. A good team like the healthy Argentina, Spain, Greece shouldn't have too much trouble doing this. Might not happen in this tournament, but this team is definitely very vulnerable because of Coach K's poor coaching job.

Don't think we lose tonight, but wouldn't be surprised if we lose to Argentina.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Kobe just missed two layups and a dunk...wow.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Who is the foul on?If it's batista it's huge...Saunders and Walton could try to describe the action


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Man Uruguay has had some very open looks so far which they missed. They could easily be up right now


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

fiba's gamecast has Batista with 2 fouls...We should go at him


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## Like A Breath (Jun 16, 2003)

Kobe has looked AWFUL the past couple games. Sloppy as hell ball handling and no explosiveness at all. His jumpshots have looked flat. Had 3 wide open looks under the basket and missed 2 layups and a dunk. There's no way any of these guys should be able to check him.

2nd unit is looking a lot better this game in the limited time they've been in.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Who is this Batista guy? He looks good


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## gamadict (Jul 28, 2002)

Regardless of who you're playing, it's hard to be up by 30 after like 30 possessions, which is what the US is supposed to do against everyone apparently


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Man I love Deron Williams. This second for the first time has looked better then the first.


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

Like A Breath said:


> Kobe has looked AWFUL the past couple games. Sloppy as hell ball handling and no explosiveness at all. His jumpshots have looked flat. Had 3 wide open looks under the basket and missed 2 layups and a dunk. There's no way any of these guys should be able to check him.
> 
> 2nd unit is looking a lot better this game in the limited time they've been in.


Thats what the problem with the idea of sending guys that have knee problems over to play 10 games in 10 days. I cited one of the reasons why I wouldn't trade for Kobe as his knee problems. Everyone just disregarded that point, but his knee problems do seem a tad serious. 

I really don't like Lebron, but he has been the most enjoyable player to watch so far. 

USA has to feel very fortunate that they have a huge referee bias in their favor. They hack the other team, and the other team is getting calle for these soft fouls.


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## Tragedy (Dec 9, 2002)

Carmelo Anthony is the MVP! Yep!

But damn, Lebron is looking real good right now. Good to see the 04 boys holding this team down.

but team USA is really getting by on the players and players alone. Are the coaches just letting them freestyle out there?


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Mr James is balling


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Lebron getting the job done!


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## Like A Breath (Jun 16, 2003)

LeBron would comfortably average 30ppg on 60% shooting if he were on the Suns. Maybe among the best fast break players(finishing+handling+passing) I've ever seen. Too bad he doesn't have a chance to run very often.

Kobe's finishing after contact has looked bad the entire tournament. I'm not sure what the lost weight has done for him(if it is indeed for his knees, that would make sense) but his lack of strength is astonishing.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Christ James and Kidd is an absolute sick combo.


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## gamadict (Jul 28, 2002)

Ball has seemed to be following Uruguay, little good it's done them so far


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

I am so glad that John Paxson never pulled the trigger on a Kobe Bryant deal.

Lebron James is easily the MVP of this tournament so far.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Howard has two fouls and that's why CHandler is in so early


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Oh my!


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Mebarak said:


> I am so glad that John Paxson never pulled the trigger on a Kobe Bryant deal.


as if it were Paxson's choice..


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

How much weight has Kobe lost? I hadn't realized watching the previous games how thin he looks.


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Kobe started slow but hes getting back into the groove. Lebron has been amazing!


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Wow!! Lebron 11-11!!


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

I love the Cavs but I don't think I would cry too much if Lebron ends up on a team like Phoenix


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Amare shooting 3s....wow.


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## Like A Breath (Jun 16, 2003)

Amare does not look terrible shooting these 3's. I don't see why he'd need it at all with Phoenix, but being too skilled is never a bad thing(unless he goes all Rasheed on us).


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Without Batista Uruguay just can't compete.I guess the bobcats need to call his agent if he's a free agent.I don't think he can do this in the NBA,but he's got a big body and it looks like he'd be worth a shot.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

The Cavs should trade their entire team for a fastbreaking point guard and an offensive minded head coach.


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## Arclite (Nov 2, 2002)

Lebron is just.. man.. it's not fair for someone to be that athletic, that strong, that skilled and shoot as well as he has been. Ridiculous.


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Arclite said:


> Lebron is just.. man.. it's not fair for someone to be that athletic, that strong, that skilled and shoot as well as he has been. Ridiculous.


I feel you...come to LA Lebron!


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Lebron as Drew Gooden would say went into "Video Game James" Mode there in that first half


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Tragedy said:


> Carmelo Anthony is the MVP! Yep!
> 
> But damn, Lebron is looking real good right now. Good to see the 04 boys holding this team down.
> 
> but team USA is really getting by on the players and players alone. Are the coaches just letting them freestyle out there?


You mean the 03 boys.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Lebron "Video game James"

What a display by LBJ in the 1st half.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Now FIBA has Batista down for 1 foul and 14 points.I assumed that they took him out of the game because he did have two fouls
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=288 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=module_head vAlign=bottom>USA







</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="94%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=table_head vAlign=bottom><TD align=middle width=43 height=18>#</TD><TD align=left width=165>Players</TD><TD align=middle width=30>Pts</TD><TD align=middle width=30>F</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle colSpan=4 height=3>







</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13> </TD><TD align=left> </TD><TD> </TD><TD> </TD></TR><TR class=odd align=middle><TD height=13>6</TD><TD align=left>James, L.</TD><TD>26</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13>10</TD><TD align=left>Bryant, K.</TD><TD>13</TD><TD>1</TD></TR><TR class=odd align=middle><TD height=13>12</TD><TD align=left>Stoudemire, A.</TD><TD>9</TD><TD>1</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13>9</TD><TD align=left>Prince, T.</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR class=odd align=middle><TD height=13>4</TD><TD align=left>Billups, C.</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13>5</TD><TD align=left>Kidd, J.</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>1</TD></TR><TR class=odd align=middle><TD height=13>7</TD><TD align=left>Williams, D.</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13>8</TD><TD align=left>Redd, M.</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>1</TD></TR><TR class=odd align=middle><TD height=13>11</TD><TD align=left>Howard, D.</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>2</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13>13</TD><TD align=left>Miller, M.</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR class=odd align=middle><TD height=13>14</TD><TD align=left>Chandler, T.</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13>15</TD><TD align=left>Anthony, C.</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- Module Team 1 -->
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="94%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=table_head vAlign=bottom align=middle><TD align=middle width=43 height=18>#</TD><TD align=left width=165>Players</TD><TD align=middle width=30>Pts</TD><TD align=middle width=30>F</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle colSpan=4 height=3>







</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13> </TD><TD align=left> </TD><TD> </TD><TD> </TD></TR><TR class=odd align=middle><TD height=13>15</TD><TD align=left>Batista, E.</TD><TD>14</TD><TD>1</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13>10</TD><TD align=left>Garcia Morales, L.</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>2</TD></TR><TR class=odd align=middle><TD height=13>8</TD><TD align=left>Mazzarino, N.</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13>6</TD><TD align=left>Aguiar, M.</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>1</TD></TR><TR class=odd align=middle><TD height=13>4</TD><TD align=left>Martínez Pan, F.</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>2</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13>5</TD><TD align=left>Taboada, E.</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR class=odd align=middle><TD height=13>7</TD><TD align=left>Galeano, O.</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>1</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13>11</TD><TD align=left>Osimani, M.</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR class=odd align=middle><TD height=13>12</TD><TD align=left>Paez, G.</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13>13</TD><TD align=left>Silveira, L.</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD></TR><TR class=odd align=middle><TD height=13>14</TD><TD align=left>Izaguirre Rodriguez, S.</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR class=even align=middle><TD height=13>9</TD><TD align=left>Charquero, C.</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

Its a shame that Lebron's 100 million Nike contract kicker was proven false (for if he signed in Chicago, LA, or New York).

Lebron would be able to play the point guard next to Gordon, or have him play small forward next to Deng at powerforward.


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

Wow, Lebron starting on the bench. God, Coach K is dumb.


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

2nd unit handling business now. I say let the starters rest and have the 2nd unit finish them off. Big game against Argentina tomorrow


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

Props to Coach K for pissing off Lebron by not letting him go for 50.


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Tyson Chandler with the nasty dunk!!


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I don't know if I like basketball enough to watch the rest of this one.Uruguay isn't even competing IMO

Might not see much of our primary players the rest of the way.The coaches will likely rest the starters as much as possible.This game isn't in doubt and we have bigger fish to fry.


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## gamadict (Jul 28, 2002)

Second team not doing much for our margin


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

While I wanted to see LeBron, Kobe and Kidd still play in the 2nd half, it's a smart move considering we're playing Argentina tomorrow night.


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

No need to risk more injuries to this already fatigued squad.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Really the second unit needs some work.Maybe they can gel a little bit and start playing better team ball.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Diable said:


> I don't know if I like basketball enough to watch the rest of this one.Uruguay isn't even competing IMO
> 
> Might not see much of our primary players the rest of the way.The coaches will likely rest the starters as much as possible.This game isn't in doubt and we have bigger fish to fry.


Yeah only the true die-hards can sit through this one...even in the summer when we're all starved for bball.

I say play the bench


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

Why don't these teams send back defenders to stop the USA's transition offense. They have next to zero chance at getting an offensive rebound, so why not send guys back on defense?


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Oh Christ! Theyre talking about Bob Dylan now...


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

That Coach K/Coach Jay commercial is so annoying.


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

and JJ Redick is not the greatest shooter ever..


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## gamadict (Jul 28, 2002)

Pretty good performance considering how much Chandler was out there. Should come up with a simple rating formula relating margin of victory vs. Chandler minutes. Loved that guy from Uruguay beaming after meeting LeBron at the end. Can't believe I watched this entire game


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## knicksfan89 (Jan 6, 2005)

yeah we win it 118-79, I am a bit nervous about argentina though


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/news/story?id=2997198



> LAS VEGAS -- LeBron James couldn't miss, not from 3-point range and certainly not while soaring for a series of powerful dunks.
> 
> And that was all before halftime.
> 
> ...


Holy crap. Well he pretty much has nowhere to go but down from here, lol.

I thought Lebron very tangibly changed his role completely tonight. He seemed to take over Melo's role on the team as the primary scorer, as opposed to the way he's been playing so far. It's such a luxury to be able to replace our team's top scorer with someone who is also a top scorer in the league. The depth of this team certainly is impressive.

I also thought Amare quietly had a very nice game tonight.


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## Tragedy (Dec 9, 2002)

Basel57 said:


> You mean the 03 boys.


I meant it in terms of the Olympics - international ball.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

boxscore


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## The OUTLAW (Jun 13, 2002)

Brandname said:


> http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/news/story?id=2997198
> 
> 
> 
> ...


As a Cavs fan I'm sure you know, LeBron does this type of thing quite often. He actually fits into whatever role that the team needs of him to best make the team go. Early on in the Tourney, he wasn't really even looking to shoot, prefering to facilitate. As the Tourney has gone on his scoring has picked up, but he really still hadn't been scoring until he felt the team needed a bit more of an offensive push.


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## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

this game proved why LeBron is the best player in the NBA. Kobe had just as many opportunities as LeBron had and yet couldnt match him up on points, assists, rebounds or shooting percentage. absolutely ridiculous game by lebron.


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## The OUTLAW (Jun 13, 2002)

As much as I'm a Cavs/LeBron fan, one game doesn't prove one player to be better or worse than the other.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

James and Kobe only 14 minutes,Howard and Kidd only 12 minutes.I was still disappointed in how poorly coordinated the reserves were.At some point it might be better to take one of the elite scorers and use him as a primary scorer when the reserves are in the game.

We need to find some way to better emulate the sort of challenges we'll face with the top European teams.Argentina will come close,but in Beijing we'll face teams that could pose real challenges and these games don't really do anything to prepare us for the way they will play us.


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## unluckyseventeen (Feb 5, 2006)

Mebarak said:


> I disagree. In middle school we'd play a lot of games in a few days sometimes. We even had 3 games in a day one time. (First our semifinals game in the tournament, then our regular season game, followed by championship game in that tournament). The pro players are too ***** imo.
> 
> Unsurprisingly, teams are starting to figure out this horrible USA offense. The key for them is putting it together for an entire four quarters. A good team like the healthy Argentina, Spain, Greece shouldn't have too much trouble doing this. Might not happen in this tournament, but this team is definitely very vulnerable because of Coach K's poor coaching job.
> 
> Don't think we lose tonight, but wouldn't be surprised if we lose to Argentina.


Baahahahaha... in middle school. What a marvelous comparison.


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

DuMa said:


> this game proved why LeBron is the best player in the NBA. Kobe had just as many opportunities as LeBron had and yet couldnt match him up on points, assists, rebounds or shooting percentage. absolutely ridiculous game by lebron.


I don't think Lebron had a single rebound.

And yeah, one game doesn't prove anything at all. If it did, I think Kobe would still have the best individual game of anyone (81).


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## Brandname (May 24, 2006)

Diable said:


> James and Kobe only 14 minutes,Howard and Kidd only 12 minutes.I was still disappointed in how poorly coordinated the reserves were.At some point it might be better to take one of the elite scorers and use him as a primary scorer when the reserves are in the game.
> 
> We need to find some way to better emulate the sort of challenges we'll face with the top European teams.Argentina will come close,but in Beijing we'll face teams that could pose real challenges and these games don't really do anything to prepare us for the way they will play us.


Part of the problem in my opinion is the fact that with the exception of Deron Williams, there are basically no playmakers on the reserve units. So they end up passing the ball around the perimeter until it gets to Mike Miller, who is going to put it up towards the basket no matter what. The ball movement has not been very good on the second and third units, especially when Chauncey is running the point. Not to say that he doesn't have a role on this team, but let's face it, he's just not a point guard who creates for others. 

On the other hand, the first unit has Kidd and Lebron, who just might be the two best passers on the team. They also have Kobe, who has shown that he can be a very good passer too. Even Melo has shown a couple good passes here and there. There's just more ball movement and fluidity to the first unit because they are all extremely comfortable being the main ball-handler at any given time. The reserves are mostly the guys that are here to fill their roles as shooters and defensive players, etc., so they just don't have the same comfort level in handling and moving the ball.

As Walton and Saunders were talking about last night, there aren't "starters" or "reserves" on this team really, but in my opinion there is a pretty clear difference between Kidd/Kobe/LBJ/Melo and Billups/Prince/Redd/Miller/etc. I'm glad that our reserve units got a lot of time last night because they are going to need to improve their chemistry a bit if we want to minimize the dropoff when starters go out.


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Brandname said:


> Part of the problem in my opinion is the fact that with the exception of Deron Williams, there are basically no playmakers on the reserve units. So they end up passing the ball around the perimeter until it gets to Mike Miller, who is going to put it up towards the basket no matter what. The ball movement has not been very good on the second and third units, especially when Chauncey is running the point. Not to say that he doesn't have a role on this team, but let's face it, he's just not a point guard who creates for others.
> 
> On the other hand, the first unit has Kidd and Lebron, who just might be the two best passers on the team. They also have Kobe, who has shown that he can be a very good passer too. Even Melo has shown a couple good passes here and there. There's just more ball movement and fluidity to the first unit because they are all extremely comfortable being the main ball-handler at any given time. The reserves are mostly the guys that are here to fill their roles as shooters and defensive players, etc., so they just don't have the same comfort level in handling and moving the ball.
> 
> As Walton and Saunders were talking about last night, there aren't "starters" or "reserves" on this team really, but in my opinion there is a pretty clear difference between Kidd/Kobe/LBJ/Melo and Billups/Prince/Redd/Miller/etc. I'm glad that our reserve units got a lot of time last night because they are going to need to improve their chemistry a bit if we want to minimize the dropoff when starters go out.


Nice post!


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Williams I think has become clearly the heir apparent to Kidd in the future for these international teams if Kidd becomes unavailable secondary to age or injury. Billups just doesn't look that good in the international game and outside the cocoon of the Pistons offense.

I would have liked to have seen Paul as well (he looked good last year) but Williams seems to be one of the few "pure points" we have outside of Kidd who still has the goods in terms of the rest of his game. It's not like we need another scorer out there with the finsihers we have


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

I think Paul will push the tempo just as good as anyone not named Nash and Kidd. I'll definitely give him that edge over Deron.


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## Wilt_The_Stilt (Jun 7, 2002)

Kobe hasn't looked very good the last few games. He's been a little out of control and has a very hard time finishing with contact. He just seems very weak.

Deron Williams is outplaying Billups. He has the ability to score like Chauncey but he has done a much better job of creating for others as well. Billups has just been jacking up jumpers.

I hope Amare doesn't carry over his 3pt attempts into the NBA season. He's going to fall in love with it and lose his advantage in the post. On the perimeter he is just another guy but down low is where he sets himself apart. 

And I love watching Bron on the break. As soon as the point guard dishes off to him everyone is like "uh oh" and holds their breath waiting to see which helpless fool he is going to dunk on next. He has played an amazing tourney.


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