# OFFICIAL usa basketball final 15 players for team usa



## onetwo88 (Jul 16, 2002)

InsideHoops.com reports the official Team USA 15 Finalists: Gilbert Arenas, Chris Paul, Kirk Hinrich, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Shane Battier, Bruce Bowen, Elton Brand, Chris Bosh, Antawn Jamison, Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudemire and Brad Miller. The official 12 final cut roster players will be announced in the near future." InsideHoops.com 

"Cut from the final 15 on Tuesday were Adam Morrison, Luke Ridnour and Shawn Marion (who a day or two ago developed a knee injury). Previously announced as being out of consideration to injury or personal issues were Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Lamar Odom, Chauncey Billups, Michael Redd and Greg Oden." 

from http://www.insidehoops.com/nba_rumors.shtml


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## PD (Sep 10, 2004)

Young and versatile team. I guess guys like Bowen and Battier will be subbed by Bryant and co 3 years from now.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I don't really understand what Antwan Jamison gives you,but he probably doesn't make the final cut.


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

i hope elton gets cut. seriously.


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## StackAttack (Mar 15, 2006)

A little bit of everything. I like it.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

i dont understand why amare is on the team... ANd over marion of all people


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## ChiBron (Jun 24, 2002)

OneBadLT123 said:


> i dont understand why amare is on the team... ANd over marion of all people


Marion got injured and pulled out. I also don't think he deserves to be on the team after his stink job in '02 and '04.


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## bbasok (Oct 30, 2005)

good selctions,team have 2 great defenders 2 great shooters to help them to be succesful in the international basketball


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

not bad but i'm worried about Amare. can he really play at the level that team USA needs him to be at?

also i'm concerned about bruce bowen and battier. we all hear about needing role players on the team, but it looks like with all the practices and scrimmages they've had together that even star players would learn their roles on this team, which makes me wonder, why bowen and battier when marion is arguably a super role player.. but yeah, marion did a stink job and i guess they just wanted him out. not sure if battier and bowen can do any better though, they're definitely not more talented than the international competition unlike their fellow teammates who have an abundance of talent.

Gilbert Arenas, Chris Paul, Kirk Hinrich, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson, LeBron James, *Carmelo Anthony, Shane Battier, Bruce Bowen,* Elton Brand, Chris Bosh, *Antawn Jamison*, Dwight Howard, *Amare Stoudemire and Brad Miller*. The official 12 final cut roster players will be announced in the near future." InsideHoops.com

the bolded guys are all questionable.. carmelo anthony is a good player and i like him but his talent is overlapped by james. james simply does everything better hence anthony could be left off the roster. he would serve well as a bench player but i can't imagine anthony in a supporting role. if he gets picked i hope he proves me wrong. battier and bowen are risky risky picks and i really hope they get left off. jamison is questionable also.. he's a tweener, not really a big man nor a small forward and is a revolving door defensively. He's athletic, but i can't see him fitting with this team. amare would be a great addition if he can get back in shape soon(but it's looking like it which is good). brad miller if he can hit those shots and be a big body and rebound and put a body against the many seven footers in the international competition is worth something, but he's basically a shoe in just because this team needs some desperate size. if USA wants a win they should get a replacement in 08 olympics, i'm hoping oden replaces this guy. his midrange shots, if they fall, could be useful to the team though.


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

What do people not understand about Marion being injured?


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## Bartholomew Hunt (Mar 4, 2003)

Jamison has no business playing the international game. I was hoping that Morrison would make the team, but he obviously couldn't make the cut. I'm not sold on this group winning the gold.


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## Pay Ton (Apr 18, 2003)

The hell is Antawn Jamison still doing there?

One of the players just needs to tell Antawn to leave. Probably somebody with some weight around the league.

Get Wade to talk to him and tell him to go.

Go away, Antawn.


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

looking over the roster several times i get increasingly worried. there aren't many pure shooters. arenas can stroke it there but he's more of a scorer. you need people who are going to look at that 3 point line and laugh and be automatic from there. Lebron can hit the occassional 3 but he's going to have a guy on him at all times so he won't get many looks, he's really more of a creator who's going to create those open 3's, it's just unfortunate there's nobody who's going to make those 3's consistently. Wade has great midrange and the international 3 is closer, but can he hit those 3's? Wade is at his best as a slasher. Bruce Bowen can hit the occassional 3 but he's not someone who takes a whole lot of shots.

The only shooter i'm comfortable with out there is probably *Joe Johnson*. i like him because he's proven that he can thrive in a supporting role and that he can play tough defense, hit those 3's and finish well. We should have a player like joe on the floor at all times. Maybe morrison woulda been a nice shooter.

then i'm concerned with our lack of size. you have two guys who are 7'footers(by the NBA standards anyway). Dwight and Brad Miller. They are just around 7' with shoes on so they're probably closer to 6'11. The international big man are usually closer to 7'2, 7'3, agile and can shoot the 3 and block shots. Dwight can probably overpower any of those guys but with the trapezoid key, he will be less effective. outside of dwight there's really nobody who can punish the teams down low. Amare and brand have legit post games, but they're giving up a good 5-6 inches to their defenders and those hook shots which were unguardable to 6'9PF's in the NBA could be sent back to them by a 7'2 euro.

Also i'm concerend with the abundance of SF's(even AFTER they just cut morrison and marion). LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Shane Battier, Bruce Bowen, Antawn Jamison. Out of 15 players, 5 of them are SF's, that's 1/3 of the team. Now Battier may be moved to the SG position, and Jamison to the PF position but they're generally SF's. Their talents really overlap.. why do you have carmelo anthony when you have james? why have jamison when you have anthony? why have bowen when you have battier? Is battier really going to provide what this team needs? The abundance of SF's should have been replaced with an extra shooter(rip hamilton caliber SG would be awesome) and another big man(preferably over 6'9). it's ironic that 1/3 of the team play the same position as our best player. i imagine james would play the bulk of the minutes, so do we need 4 guys to back up the minimal minutes that's left?

lack of shooter, lack of size, abundance of SF's who overlap.. hmm, sound familiar? this team still has the same problems as last time. they need to fix that.


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

c_dog said:


> looking over the roster several times i get increasingly worried. there aren't many pure shooters. arenas can stroke it there but he's more of a scorer. you need people who are going to look at that 3 point line and laugh and be automatic from there. Lebron can hit the occassional 3 but he's going to have a guy on him at all times so he won't get many looks, he's really more of a creator who's going to create those open 3's, it's just unfortunate there's nobody who's going to make those 3's consistently. Wade has great midrange and the international 3 is closer, but can he hit those 3's? Wade is at his best as a slasher. Bruce Bowen can hit the occassional 3 but he's not someone who takes a whole lot of shots.
> 
> The only shooter i'm comfortable with out there is probably *Joe Johnson*. i like him because he's proven that he can thrive in a supporting role and that he can play tough defense, hit those 3's and finish well. We should have a player like joe on the floor at all times. Maybe morrison woulda been a nice shooter.
> 
> ...



brand is always the short one in his matchups against opposing pf's. against nba-caliber pf's. i don't think these euro cats are gonna prove to be any more difficult.

on a side note, why the hell wasn't ray allen selected? in international ball, a guy who can create their own shot, and hit the three would be good. 

out of any player in the nba right now, ray allen would be our best international player.

is he canadian or something?


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## Black Mamba 24 (Jul 20, 2006)

I like Joe Johnson, simply cause he can do virtually anything (he's like a poor man's T-Mac) but he is also very comfortable in a supporting role. Props for that pick.


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## afireinside (Jan 8, 2004)

Jamison made the final 15 because he can shoot the outside shot pretty much. He's got the smoothest stroke of all the forwards on the team. If you can give him the ball on the wing, he'll make something happen. His floater is considered one of the best in the league. 

His defense is questionable, but with how versatile he is on offense makes up for it. And although some people won't admit it, he is better than a hurt Marion and a healthy Morrison.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Diable said:


> I don't really understand what Antwan Jamison gives you,but he probably doesn't make the final cut.


3 point shooting, rebounding. Wouldn't be shocked if he makes it.

This is about building a good team around Lebron and Wade. They are the franchise so to speak. And you need guys who can spread the floor for them.


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## Lynx (Mar 6, 2004)

I don't like this roster. Seems we will be short-handed on the front court.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

I don't think many of you have had the opportunity to watch Jamison. Jamison shot almost 40 percent from 3. The guy can shoot.

There was a stretch in January and Feb, where Jamison shot 50 percent from 3. If he's got his stroke going, he's completely automatic.

I think he'll make the final team.

The next cut will be a small forward though. I think Battier is getting cut.

Someone said there are no shooters on this team

Gilbert Arenas-Shooter
Joe Johnson-Shooter 
Shane Battier-Shooter 
Bruce Bowen-Shooter
Elton Brand-for a PF, a shooter
Chris Bosh-Shooter
Antawn Jamison-Shooter
Brad Miller-shooter

How many shooters do you want?


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Lynx said:


> I don't like this roster. Seems we will be short-handed on the front court.


Brand, Miller, Amare, Dwight, Jamison

How many frontcourt players do you want?


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## Black Mamba 24 (Jul 20, 2006)

futuristxen is correct.


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## Lynx (Mar 6, 2004)

futuristxen said:


> Brand, Miller, Amare, Dwight, Jamison
> 
> How many frontcourt players do you want?


You shouldn't be counting on Miller and Amare (as we haven't seen how he is post injury)


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## Black Mamba 24 (Jul 20, 2006)

Lynx got a point about Amare, though...


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Lynx said:


> You shouldn't be counting on Miller and Amare (as we haven't seen how he is post injury)


What's wrong with Miller?

What team do you know that plays five big men over the course of a game? And let's not forget there will be times in the game where teams will go small, and you can slide Lebron to the four as well.

But I expect the rotation to be Miller, Brand, Bosh, and Howard--with Jamison filling in.

Amare probably will be cut.

But this isn't an all-star game. Guys will play minutes. 

Remember the international game is shorter as well, so there is less worry about fatigue.


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## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

i don't think coach k intends to play any player 40 minutes. and he's likely to have different starting line-ups depending on the opposing team.


it's smart.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/wbc2006/news/story?id=2529354





> Krzyzewski also revealed a few nuggets of strategy for the tournament: He doesn't plan to have a regular starting lineup, and nobody will play all 40 minutes in any game. The Duke coach wouldn't mind using all 12 players in most games -- another way to keep his players' legs fresh and confidence high.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Oh I'm not saying he'll have to play anyone 40 minutes. But with 5 quality big men sharing 2 positions, you're looking at about 15-20 minutes per guy. That's just an average, some nights some guys will play really well and play more. But I don't think we need more big men than 5.


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## (-) 0 † § I-I () † (Jun 11, 2002)

futuristxen said:


> I don't think many of you have had the opportunity to watch Jamison. Jamison shot almost 40 percent from 3. The guy can shoot.
> 
> There was a stretch in January and Feb, where Jamison shot 50 percent from 3. If he's got his stroke going, he's completely automatic.
> 
> ...




Battier is a Duke guy, and well its Coach K's duty to be fair, I am not sure how easy it is to go against a guy you've coached especially like Battier. 

While I do feel this team does have shooters, I don't feel like any of them are pure shooters. I feel like they need the ball in their hands at all times and to have constant attempts (as opposed to the Reddicks, Korvers, Redds who seem to have a natural shot no matter what the flow). Now these guys are all very athletic which gives them an advantage over guys like Korver, but I will be interested to see how strong their shooting touch is with decreased touches. With that said, hopefully Coach K can adjust each game and see who has it that day and who may not. 

Overall the US team intrigues me a lot, and I am hoping the attitude that we have now is the same when we go to play.


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## Greg Ostertag! (May 1, 2003)

Frontcourt is not a massive issue at all. There is the 5 guys that futuristxen mentioned, plus LeBron and Melo can easily play the international 4 spot.

FWIW, I think Jamison will be an excellent international 4 also. People have to realize that most power forwards at this level are jumpshooters - it is entirely different to the NBA.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Ok well i didnt know Marion was hurt, but stil amare making the first cut? I mean he has played only 3 bad games over the last year ...Now they want him playing on the championship team? 

ok.....


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## bball2223 (Jul 21, 2006)

why didn't Billups make it? I see a repeat of '04 b/c Johnson is the only consistent long range threat.


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

bootstrenf said:


> brand is always the short one in his matchups against opposing pf's. against nba-caliber pf's. i don't think these euro cats are gonna prove to be any more difficult.
> 
> on a side note, why the hell wasn't ray allen selected? in international ball, a guy who can create their own shot, and hit the three would be good.
> 
> ...


brand is not always the short one. maybe against duncan, dirk, gasol and sheed he is significantly shorter, but against other starting PF's like boozer, haslem/walker, reef/kenny, marion, bosh, harrington, kmart, kristic, antwan jamison, al jefferson, webber, juwan howard, gooden, etc they are more or less the same size. it's nothing like the competition he'll face internationally really, notice of the PF's i listed who are significantly taller, Gasol and Dirk(and may i add andrew bogut? darko milic?), international PF's, are the tallest of the bunch. The international game is stacked with PF's who are easily over 7 foot, and our US team only has 2 legit 7 footers, both of them center. That's a lack of size. It's one thing for brand to dominate PF's who are around his size in the NBA and another thing for him to be playing against 7'2 PF's in every contest. He'll definitely have more trouble, not saying he won't adjust, but his productivity would decrease somewhat.


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## 1 Penny (Jul 11, 2003)

Brand is short for a front court.. but the lack of atheletism of the other countries' big man will lead to him dominating.. Brand is a complete big man in a small forwards body.. (well height anyways)..

He'll be too quick, too good from the mid range and too fundamentally sound to be ineffective..


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## Nuzzo (Jul 11, 2005)

c_dog said:


> playing against 7'2 PF's in every contest. He'll definitely have more trouble, not saying he won't adjust, but his productivity would decrease somewhat.


7'2 PF wtf
Puerto Rico
Manuel Narvaez-211cm
and if Ramos is playing -220cm
oh and both players are C
Senegal
Ndongo N'Diaye - 212
Mamadou N'Diaye-214
Malick Badiane -211
Yamar Diene-210
Boniface N'Dong-212 
yes they are taller but thats Senegal
Italy
Giacomo Galanda-210
Angelo Gigli-210
Denis Marconato-210
they are not THAT taller than USA
China
bunch oh 7 footers but this didnt help them in 2000


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

1 Penny said:


> Brand is short for a front court.. but the lack of atheletism of the other countries' big man will lead to him dominating.. Brand is a complete big man in a small forwards body.. (well height anyways)..
> 
> He'll be too quick, too good from the mid range and too fundamentally sound to be ineffective..



words right out of my mouf.


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

Nuzzo said:


> 7'2 PF wtf
> Puerto Rico
> Manuel Narvaez-211cm
> and if Ramos is playing -220cm
> ...


2000 USA won gold medal. 2000 USA had some of the best big man in the game like KG, Zo, and a healthy McDyees. KG and Zo provide some size, and Zo has always played like a HOF caliber center. They also had VC back then who dominated the olympics and pretty much won us the gold.

Tim Duncan - 211. <-- one of the biggest guys in the NBA and the biggest guy in the olympics and he struggled mightily in the last olympics, getting his shots blocked, while being perhaps the best low post player in the NBA. Brand doesn't even have Duncan's credentials. anything over 210 is bigger than anything team USA has got. let's not forget foreigners usually measure their height without the shoes, so they're usually taller than their listed height. interestingly, after the olympics, Duncan changed his height from 7'0 to 6'11 after 8 seasons in the NBA. O_O

you guys are taking this too lightly. it's exactly this kind of mentality that leads to disappointments, and even then people would be too busy to look for excuses than to try to fix those problems. wasn't it obvious that the US lack size in the last olympics? wasn't it obvious they had too many SF who do the same things? wasn't it obvious they lacked shooters? the same glaring problems still exist. adding shane battier and bruce bowen didn't help solve these problems at all; yea they can shoot the 3 at a decent percentage, but they don't take that many shots, you need someone like ray allen/redd who can really punish that 3pt line. joe johnson is the only legit shooter on the team(an improvement from last time but still not quite enough). and the size and SF problems still exist. Brad no-defense Miller as the only true center on this team? they drop the ball yet again on this one.


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

can someone tell me why ray allen wasn't selected?


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

bootstrenf said:


> can someone tell me why ray allen wasn't selected?


lack of interest on his part i believe, but he was a contributor on the 2000 squad. there are other shooters in the NBA. rip hamilton and mike bibby are both pretty good shooters. cassell is a great mid range shooter too, and he's about the same age as bowen. just some players off the top of my head.

i really like joe johnson on this team, i'll say that much.

edt: btw, why is this thread moved here? i know we have an international forum but really, nobody comes here. there are a lot of ppl in the general forum who would love to talk about the US team and fiba but don't bother coming to the international forums. this thread went to page 3 before it was moved, i believe and since then hasn't had many posts... :/ i don't want any trouble with the mods but i think they could have let some of these threads go and let them stay in the general forum because people were obviously interested.


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## BucketDawg (Jun 30, 2006)

I don't buy the rationale that the United States is a small team that somehow will get "manhandled" in international competition. The US team ranked first in rebounding, rebounding margin, blocked shots, and assists in Athens. Our big men will do just fine, the reason we lost is crystal clear, we didn't shoot well from the perimeter. No small team is going to control categories like that in a game they aren't accustomed to, we had big men who in fact were good enough to carry us through that competition, our big men just didn't have the shooters or the pure point guard who could create space or draw defenders to open up the lane for our bigs to operate functionally. Duncan wasn't nullified because he was getting pushed around by his defender, he was being swarmed by at least three defenders every time he touched the ball, and the shooters just weren't there to clear any room for him. Johnson, Arenas, Hinrich, and Battier are better and more consistent shooters than anyone starting in the rotation in Athens, Wade and Lebron's jumpers have improved, and Anthony is stellar from 18-20 feet. Despite what many think, Brad Miller will be a valuable center for us in Japan, I have faith in this team and believe that they can win the gold, but they better play hard and stay grounded.


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## EGarrett (Aug 12, 2002)

Watching the last Olympics I wanted to throw up every time the foreign teams put 5 guys under the basket and watched Jefferson and Marion brick 3-pointers.

Michael Redd and Ray Allen not being on the team is disgusting.


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## Nuzzo (Jul 11, 2005)

c_dog i see your point but you are wrong
USA have DH12 who is 6'10, Bosh who is 6'10, Brad Miller-7, Amare-6'10 and Elton Brand-6'8 
in 2004 USA was Duncan-7 footer, Emeka-6'10 but he played for 1 min in the tourney and Amare-6'10 (he also played 3 mpg but he was unstopable-agains Spain-enters for 1 min and blocks a shot + 2 handed slamma jamma, oh and against Lietuva he schooled Javto several times.), and Carlos Boozer - 6'8.Odom was 6'10 but he is more of SF than C or PF.
In 2004-USA was with 2 bigmans who played significant time-Boozer and Duncan who was in foul troble and Brown played Boozer at C and Odom/Marion at PF
In 2006 USA have 4 legit bigs(one of the will be cuted) and coach C wont be Brown


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