# Weak Links and Strong Links in Team USA



## DKaiser (Jul 28, 2006)

After watching Team USA's games in the first round, it's become clear which players are keepers and which are losers. The tough games especially against Italy and Puerto Rico brought to light the real deals and the pretenders. So here we go:

Weak Links:
1) Brad Miller - probably among the bottom-rung centers in the tournament
2) Chris Bosh - ineffective inside and outside game....can't seem to figure out how to use his athletic abilities against a well-executed zone defense (like the ones ran by Italy)...plays well only in blow-outs.
3) Elton Brand - played well against teams that were expected to be routed. Proved to be a liability when opposing teams employ hack-a-Brand. Disappointing shot selections. Poor free-throw shooter. Only plus side is his defense.
4) Antwan Jamison - even coach K wouldn't dare play him when the game's close.

So-so:
1) Chris Paul - didn't have high expectations but he surely exceeded them. A surprisingly effective point guard...but I'm sure there are lots of more capable point guards in the NBA that can fill that spot.

Must Keep:
1) Carmelo Anthony - Amazing! Truly heads and shoulders above the stars of his class. Displayed a lot of confidence and aggresiveness. I mean, he made Lebron look like a dud.
2) Dwight Howard - Surprisingly effective on both ends of the floor. Only downside is his propensity to get into foul trouble...Anyway, I think the refs are calling it too tight. Whatever happened to the no-harm-no-foul rule?
3) Kirk Hinrich - Very steady hands in the clutch. Gets even better when the game's on the line. Downside is his defense. Had trouble keeping up with the quick guards of Italy. I'm sure he'll have the same problems against Argentina or Spain (if they get match up down the road).
4) Shane Battier - One of the best defensive player in the team. Deadly from the arc.
5) Joe Johnson - The best pure shooter in this team. Anyone in team USA should give this guy the ball if he's open. 
6) Dwayne Wade - Very shifty, ultra-quick. Coach K should tell his players to spread the floor more and give room to this guy to destroy any defensive alignment. He hasn't been given the right looks in the offensive set...I think that will prove to be team USA's downfall.
7) Lebron James - Against the better teams, he's been disappointing. Somebody should show him his horrible assist-to-turnover ratio. He's a keeper only because he's big, quick, and strong...he hasn't shown much aggressiveness. The real Lebron should show up in the big games if they expect to land a medal.


----------



## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Lebron was the best player against Slovenia and one of the best against PR. He dissappointed against Italy but is incorrect to say he's been dissappointing against the better teams alone


----------



## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

DKaiser said:


> 5) Joe Johnson - The best pure shooter in this team. Anyone in team USA should give this guy the ball if he's open.
> .


Joe is a very good shooter but he hasn't been shooting well at all in these FIBA games. Not as of yet anyway.


----------



## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

I said that Brad Miller had no business being on this team and people scoffed at that. He's 7'0 tall and doesn't rebound.


----------



## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

I really disagree with Brand and Paul. Brand gives us a jack of all trades big man, and our only big man who can create his own shot and hit a 10 foot jumper. Paul gives us another great ball handler who can get up the court in a hurry and has lightning quick penetration which will be valuable against some of the better zones.


----------



## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

Brand will settle down on his FTs.


----------



## Perfectflaw (Aug 20, 2006)

I also disagree with the point about Brand,the free throw shooting was a problem for the whole team vs Italy. Little things like making most of your free throws is what separates a "tense" nine point victory from an easy twenty point win. I'm sure this has been stressed to them especially since alot of these teams won't concede fastbreaks when they just wildly hack our guys on the move. I really don't see how Elton was a liability. In my opinion he was one of the guys who helped calm down team USA in the first half with Italy. When the perimeter shots weren't falling,it was he who the Italians had no choice but to foul during the repeated inside isolations.(Yes,it would have helped if he made all of his free throws but no one was consistent that day). EB's midrange game is still appropriate for this tourney. For me the only way Elton can have a bad game is if he dissapoints on the defensive end,if he can get more than eight to twelve points a game thats just icing imo.

About Lebron,I don't think he dissapointed vs Italy. Of course he didn't play up to his capability but you can say that about him many times because the man is capable of 45,12 and 10 on any given night . I guess if you think he didn't play well you also agree with Fran that if Melo wasn't hot USA would have been in trouble. I don't believe this because imo if Anthony wasn't hot,someone else would have stepped up,either one guy or the team collectively. Bron barley went to the basket in the 2nd half,he was the facilitator to the other two members of the triple threat. Me thinks King would have done some things in the 2nd half had he been forced to. After all it was Lebron who was the only one on team USA who didn't seem tenative in the opening minutes vs Italy scoring the team's first six points.


----------



## Magyarn (Mar 27, 2005)

DKaiser said:


> 3) Elton Brand - played well against teams that were expected to be routed. Proved to be a liability when opposing teams employ hack-a-Brand. Disappointing shot selections. Poor free-throw shooter. Only plus side is his defense.


I'm just curious, did you make this up at random? 

His two best games were against Slovenia and Italy (16 points), while he played little against Puerto Rico and Senegal, two teams that were expected to be routed. No teams employed hack-a-Brand. He shot 60%, so he must be an amazing shooter if his shot selection is dsappointing. His 68% FT shooting wasn't the best but, hey, that was better than LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Shane Battier and Antawn Jamison, and only .008 worse than Carmelo, exactly .004 below the median for the US team.


----------



## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

) Chris Paul - didn't have high expectations but he surely exceeded them. A surprisingly effective point guard...*but I'm sure there are lots of more capable point guards in the NBA that can fill that spot*.


Go ahead and name them.Maybe you are thinking of Steve Nash?When you are done explain to me what offense the USA is running and what their main objectives are in Japan.

I think it safe for me to say that the general consensus here is that Paul is one of the top five point guards in the NBA and even higher if you only include the sort of _pure _point that we want on a team which has plenty of scoring options.We are running an all out transition offense.Anyone with half a clue could watch the actual games and see that Paul is extraordinairily good at effecting this with the dribble and the pass ahead.

If you actually thought about what out objectives are the statement above would seem utterly ridiculous beyond all comprehension.It's not about any one player,it's about creating a group of players who can work together to achieve the ultimate objective.That objective is several hundred miles and about 24 months away from Saitama,Japan.

By the way he's also shooting the three a lot better than Joe Johnson who we have to keep because he's so deadly from outside,except that he's in a slump right now.In fact Johnson at 29% is only ahead of guys who haven't actually hit a trey in 3pt field goal percentage.I really wonder what you used to base your analysis of Johnson upon.He's done a lot of good stuff,stuff you'd see if you watched the games...but his shooting has been very weak and that's the only reason he's on the team.


----------



## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Here's my list:

Weak links(guys to be voted off the island):
First I'd like to say, the way we are building this program, there can't be that many weak links. We're not going to throw half the team away for the next olympics if we can avoid it. We're trying to create continuity. So with that said:

1) Chris Bosh-I don't know what exactly dude's problem is, but he is the softest player on Team USA, and something of a minor disgrace to all american big men in the paint. DUNK THE FRICKING BALL YOU IDGIT! Or at least finish your layups. He really needs to get that 20 footer on lock down to serve any purpose whatsoever for this team in the future. Given that we have Amare and Oden waiting in the wings, even Lamar Odom--Chris is going to have to really improve his game in order to make it to the olympics. I haven't gotten to see him a lot from Toronto, but when I have seen him play, he played a lot more aggressive than this. He looks completely befuddled out there.

2) Brad Miller-Actually I think Brad has done pretty decent when he's played, but he is too slow of foot to play the international game anymore, injuries appear to have taken their tole. His shooting and grit are helpful, but we can probably do better.

So-So:
1) Jamison-Jamison hasn't really done bad, hasn't really done great. But I like him as a fill-player. I definitely prefer him to Marion because he shoots it better. He's kind of a specialist and makes the rotations kind of glue together sometimes. He hasn't done anything spectacular, but he's done enough.

Everyone else has been really well about fitting into a role and working hard toward victory. Initially Chris Paul looked problematic, particularly in the tuneup games. But in the actual tournament his ability to get penetration, knock down the open shot, and get a lot of assists without turning the ball over, has been an asset. Hinrich and Battier have been fantastic as far as having guys who knock down open shots, and play tough defense. Joe Johnson hasn't shot well, but he is kind of a poor man's version of the Big Three, and allows us to get them off the floor. Dwight Howard has flat out been a beast. The scariest big man in the entire tournament. Opposing teams are literally frightened of him on both ends of the floor. He's the closest thing to Shaq Team USA has had since....Shaq. An absolute beast.

The Big Three:
Melo-Playing the best of the three. He's just gunning with little indecisiveness. He has taken the role of half court scorer for team USA with aplomb. He is a handful for anyone in the international game to stop. It will be exciting to see he and Nocioni go at it.
Wade-Had good intensity, and has been pretty consistent. His role appears to be the guy who leaks out for the easy dunk or layup on the break.
Lebron-He's not looking to score unless he has to. He's taking on the role of second point guard to Paul. In games that don't matter a much, especially when the US is up, he doesn't really take as good of care of the ball. But he gets into the paint whenever he wants to, and once there, he's the best passer on the team. He's also the guy who throws it out to Wade a lot on the break. His defensive rebounding has been really helpful on a team where really only Howard is consistently rebounding well. It's not a mistake that Lebron has started every game either. His versatility and ability to play 4 positions has allowed Coach K a lot of leeway with his lineups.

We are making solid strides for 08. I like this team, and I think the only additions you will see in the end will be Kobe, Oden, and Amare, replacing Jamison, Miller, and Bosh.

A possible frontline of Oden and Howard is scary.


----------



## rainman (Jul 15, 2002)

its garbage to call any of these guys losers, they all made the commitment, unlike some others, and all are playing a roll. the better ones are going to get the larger number of minutes and match up with certain opponents.


----------



## VincentVega (Oct 12, 2003)

DKaiser said:


> 3) Kirk Hinrich - Very steady hands in the clutch. Gets even better when the game's on the line. *Downside is his defense.* Had trouble keeping up with the quick guards of Italy. I'm sure he'll have the same problems against Argentina or Spain (if they get match up down the road).


Are you kidding me? Hinrich has been the best defender on the team since Day 1. SI's Kelly Dwyer weighs in on the subject from last night's game:

"Hinrich was everywhere in that second quarter against the Aussies, creating havoc in the passing lanes, forcing opponents into bad passes that invariably ended up as a turnover a few moves later -- one that would sometimes see Hinrich gobble up the loose ball. As good as Chris Paul (4.8 assists for every one turnover so far in the tournament) has been on offense, Hinrich has been on defense -- and nowhere was this more evident than in Team USA's thorough domination of the Aussies in the second quarter on Sunday."

link


----------



## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

I think Ben Gordon, Kobe Bryant, Chris Kaman, and Greg Oden to the 2008 team.

Kobe is basically in the big 3 grouping, Gordon for his great shooting, and Oden and Kaman to strengthen up the interior.

So basically

Guards:

Kirk Hinrich
Chris Paul
Ben Gordon
Dwyane Wade

Wings:

Carmelo Anthony
Lebron James
Kobe Bryant
Shane Battier
Joe Johnson

Bigs:

Greg Oden
Dwight Howard
Chris Kaman

I like that team for international competition better. We got the NBA supertalented scorers in Wade/Kobe/Lebron/Melo. Glue players in Battier and Hinrich. Shooters in Johnson and Gordon. The distributing point guard in Paul, and three tough big men.


----------



## Perfectflaw (Aug 20, 2006)

I'll take Amare or Bosh over Kaman. If there's an emergency the two college kids from UNC and Florida should be good enough by 08.


----------



## bball2223 (Jul 21, 2006)

sloth said:


> I think Ben Gordon, Kobe Bryant, Chris Kaman, and Greg Oden to the 2008 team.
> 
> Kobe is basically in the big 3 grouping, Gordon for his great shooting, and Oden and Kaman to strengthen up the interior.
> 
> ...



I would rather have Arenas than Gordon.


----------

