# Team USA vs. Venezuela tipping off now



## EGarrett

Game is on ESPN Classic.

USA Starters:

C Dwight
PF Lebron
SF Carmelo
SG Kobe
PG Kidd

Venezuela Starters:

Five guys I've never heard of. Announcers say a PF named Hector Romero is the man to watch for them.


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## eymang

Let's go USA, hopefully the magic of black mamba Kobe will surpass the bad karma from Le,bronze


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## EGarrett

Howard swats some guy's shot into the stands. Kidd is stealing the ball like crazy. Michael Redd checks in and has a mysterious bald spot.


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## DuMa

USA playing doberman defense. they might be overplaying a little but thats the kind of tenacity i like to see.


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## EGarrett

Amare Stoudemire checks in, with a weird white patch on his ear.

I'm guessing it's an earpiece connecting him to Steve Nash, who's telling him what to do while taking time out from a moose-hunting trip in Canada.


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## Sir Patchwork

ohioguoivgiu


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## EGarrett

Mike Miller is shooting every time he touches it, but has started off cold. End of 1st Quarter...21-8 USA.


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## Avalanche

EGarrett said:


> Amare Stoudemire checks in, with a weird white patch on his ear.
> 
> *I'm guessing it's an earpiece connecting him to Steve Nash, who's telling him what to do while taking time out from a moose-hunting trip in Canada.*


heh

"catch"
"dunk"

"shoot.......no not you amare, im hunting"


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## DuMa

this 2nd team has horrible chemistry. i hope coach k has figured out the 2nd team and who fits in with who better.


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## BG7

Coach K has done a horrible job coaching the team. The offense looks the same as last time. Once we get against a good team, we'll lose.

They need to fire Coach K, and bring in a coach with international coaching experience, like Scott Skiles.


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## EGarrett

They do look a little poorly coached.

When the starters get in though, it's absolute domination. Midway through 2nd Quarter...34-13 USA.


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## EGarrett

Kidd and Lebron's passing is shredding Venezuela's defense. These poor guys need to get into the classic international 0-5 zone STAT. (yes, that's 5 guys under the basket, zero on the perimeter. It usually works against Team USA)


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## Drewbs

EGarrett said:


> Kidd and Lebron's passing is shredding Venezuela's defense. *These poor guys need to get into the classic international 0-5 zone STAT. (yes, that's 5 guys under the basket, zero on the perimeter. It usually works against Team USA)*


:lol:


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## myst

did you guys see that alley-oop double dunk?


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## The Jopker

Right now I'm so pissed that, over the summer, my college decided to exchange ESPN Classic for VH1 Classic.


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## EGarrett

Halftime

54-34 USA.


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## Diable

the game is also on espn360


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## GNG

Kobe just toyed with that guy, first play of the half.


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## EGarrett

myst said:


> did you guys see that alley-oop double dunk?


Yes and it was awesome.

Bill Walton just noted that Tyson Chandler is the only Team USA player who is yet to see minutes. Funny considering that the USA has about 2 big men.


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## Like A Breath

Misc. thoughts:

- Never noticed Michael Redd was so bald. Must be taking the Yi news worse than expected.
- Amare is an average rebounder and shot blocker, which makes much less dominating than a player of his caliber should be in international ball.
- Prediction: Dwight Howard's free throw shooting will cost the United States a game.
- LeBron(********, LOLLERSKATES it was kind of cute the first 50 times but got old really fast) is a demon of a finisher and is a perfect fit with J-Kidd's passing and Kobe's steals.
- When did Tayshaun Prince mysteriously lose his ability to hit 3's? The guy was a marksman in college.

Also, does anybody think Kobe looks like a PG now? I think he lost too much weight, he seems uncomfortable driving.


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## sa1177

Sloppy..up by 20 but sloppity slop slop slop....

this level of play won't cut it against Agrentina and Puerto Rico.


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## DuMa

why does it always look like melo is gonan get swatted? lebron is just beautiful to watch on the fast break


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## EGarrett

92-51 USA.



Duma said:


> why does it always look like melo is gonan get swatted? lebron is just beautiful to watch on the fast break


Interesting question on Melo. Maybe he's just such a good post player that he knows how to squeeze every shot off...like a great race-car driver who always looks like he's on the edge of crashing?


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## GNG

Full-blown NBA Live mode right now. This looks like the University of Memphis playing a local high school.


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## xiabingling

Watch the game go to http://www.youp2p.com/


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## EGarrett

The difference in passing ability between Lebron/Kidd/Kobe and Michael Redd is quite obvious.


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## Samael

This game is beyond boring.


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## EGarrett

...and 'sharpshooter' Mike Miller puts up an airball.

That's USA basketball.  We're still up by 45.


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## Dornado

EGarrett said:


> The difference in passing ability between Lebron/Kidd/Kobe and Michael Redd is quite obvious.



Michael Redd does many things well.... passing, well... that's not at the top of the list.


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## King Sancho Fantastic

wow. The difference between our starters and our 2nd squad is obvious.


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## Like A Breath

Good to see Tyson Chandler still has his trademark stone hands.


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## unluckyseventeen

Mebarak said:


> Coach K has done a horrible job coaching the team. The offense looks the same as last time. Once we get against a good team, we'll lose.
> 
> They need to fire Coach K, and bring in a coach with international coaching experience, like Scott Skiles.


Yes, Mr Simpson.


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## garnett

Has Miller passed at all? 

And Chandler still can't catch.


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## garnett

Boy Mike Miller has been horrible since I started watching. Why is he trying to block shots?


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## eymang

If you don't get ESPN Classic it'll be on ESPN 2 in a little bit


but yeah pretty boring, kind of sloppy team usa if you ask me, but domination as expected


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## unluckyseventeen

Holy good God almighty.

There are ZERO websites with an updated box score or play-by-play!?


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## GNG

Not sure what Mike's doing tonight. Offensively, he's a great all-around player for the Grizzlies, but on this juggernaut team, it looks like he's either been slotted or slotted himself into the gunner's role.

And he's off.


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## Benedict_Boozer

unluckyseventeen said:


> Holy good God almighty.
> 
> There are ZERO websites with an updated box score or play-by-play!?


Yeah whats up with the lack of a boxscore..last year they put it up on usabasketball.com after the games


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## Arclite

I love Billups but I'd much rather see Williams get more time than him with the second unit, because it has no playmaking whatsoever. Either that or mix up the lineups a bit, because both are somewhat redundant.. not sure how much I like Redd AND Miller getting significant minutes at the same time.


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## CaliCool

Maybe because they wanted to test how effective they are against the zone. 

Anyway I agree, yeah. I think Williams will eventually get more playing time. It's not like he is a bad shooter too and he can defend pretty well.


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## Auggie

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Yeah whats up with the lack of a boxscore..last year they put it up on usabasketball.com after the games


maybe they didnt keep score... it is afterall FIBA


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## Feed_Dwight

Mebarak said:


> They need to fire Coach K, and bring in a coach with international coaching experience, like Scott Skiles.


Are you kidding? Coack K has been coaching Team USA since Skiles was in high school. He's 50-6 with 5 gold medals. What exactly has Skiles done?


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## gi0rdun

Didn't watch the game but it didn't seem too impressive. They thrashed them but the comments here aren't good.

Die Mike Miller.


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## Feed_Dwight

garnett said:


> Has Miller passed at all?


He has 1 assist. Thats 1 more than Melo. Both combined for 24 shots. Neither should be on this team.


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## gi0rdun

Miller better show up for tomorrow's game. Melo I know will do better later but Miller's putting up his not so amazing stats on a mediocre team and wasn't Gasol out for most of the season?


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## Feed_Dwight

Like A Breath said:


> - Prediction: Dwight Howard's free throw shooting will cost the United States a game.


How so? He never gets the ball late in the game, except for rebounds. If we lose a game it will most likely be because of Melo's sheer sucktitude and lack of team play.


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## NugzFan

Feed_Dwight said:


> How so? He never gets the ball late in the game, except for rebounds. If we lose a game it will most likely be because of *Melo's sheer sucktitude *and lack of team play.


is this a joke? :lol:


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## Feed_Dwight

NugzFan said:


> is this a joke? :lol:


No...

I don't see Melo play very often, but whenever I do I just see a black hole.


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## Carbo04

Feed_Dwight said:


> No...
> 
> I don't see Melo play very often, but whenever I do I just see a black hole.



Yet he always seems to lead the team in scoring.


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## DuMa

Feed_Dwight said:


> No...
> 
> I don't see Melo play very often, but whenever I do I just see a black hole.


Melo saved team USA so many times last year


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## Feed_Dwight

Carbo04 said:


> Yet he always seems to lead the team in scoring.


Because he always takes the most shots? Let me shoot it enough times and I can lead the team in scoring too. That doesn't mean I'm going to help my team win.



DuMa said:


> Melo saved team USA so many times last year


Melo was the leader of a losing team. What does that prove? Melo is an excellent individual player, but the last 7 years of USA basketball has proven that a team full of great individual players is not necessarily a great team. I don't know if you watched the game last night, but Kobe, Kidd, and Bron all did an excellent job of playing team ball. Melo noticably did not. He's the weakest part of the starting 5.


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## DuMa

i am not a fan of Melo's game but i can respect what he's done for Team USA. he brings in a killer instinct to score. probably the most proven international scorer for the team right now. team USA last year had all kinds of flaws in which Melo did bring some of his own for not being a ball distributor. but he has never been a ball distributor in his past. 

Kobe Kidd Lebron all play off eachother nicely and I havent seen a play or instance where Melo interrupts that chemistry. so far so good. but dont hate on Melo when hes been nothing but a PLUS for team USA.


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## EGarrett

I agree with Feed Dwight. I know that everybody said Melo was the best player on the team the last time...but I think he's redundant this year. We have Kobe and Lebron. And if Lebron plays PF, then we can start someone like Redd along with them so we'd have two lights-out shooters (Kobe/Redd) in the starting line-up also.


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## bballlife

Feed_Dwight has a very valid point. You can look at any top caliber team that has played this game and they all have certain things in common. One being the ability to share and move the ball well. This has been USA's biggest problem in recent years in tight games. Forget the terrible pick and roll defense against Greece, that team was not sharing/moving the ball on offense and it cost them big time.

Melo only looking to score the ball on offense could be a problem, depending on where they ask him to score. Inside, I have no problem, and interior scoring looks to be a weak area for the team, but Melo doesn't have to go jumper crazy. 

He wasn't too bad last night, opposed to the scrimmage last month were he looked ridiculous gunning at every opportunity. 

Remember a key point here with the successful, unselfish play we saw last night. Against weaker teams everything tends to run smooth and like it should but at the first sign of trouble, against a good team, TEAM USA has gone away from that and relied on a lot of poor 1-on-1 basketball and 3-point attempts.

Quite surprising how bad a job Krzyzewski did last summer.


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## Sammysummer

It's easy to say K did a bad job from behind a computer. It's also easy to criticize pick and roll defense and ignore the fact that moving screens and carries are being allowed in the pick and rolls. That Greece game was just sick with what they were allowing -- it's like the way they don't call holding in the Big 10. You can either whine about it, or use it to your advantage.


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## bballlife

He did a bad job because his team was playing very poor team basketball against Greece. It's his job to keep them on track and remind them that when things get tough, they pull through as a team, not with poor ball movement and 1-on-1 basketball.


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## DuMa

i rooted for kobe. i feel dirty now. must clean. must clean


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## HB

I have said it before, having Kobe, Bron and Melo playing together makes no sense. Send Melo to the bench


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## BG7

Feed_Dwight said:


> Are you kidding? Coack K has been coaching Team USA since Skiles was in high school. He's 50-6 with 5 gold medals. What exactly has Skiles done?


Oh please.

Lets look at his work as HEAD COACH for USA Basketball.

2006 World Championships= 8-1, Bronze Medal
1990 World Championships= 6-2, Bronze Medal
1990 Goodwill Games= 3-2, Silver Medal
1987 University World Games= 7-1, Silver Medal
1983 US Olmypic South Festival= 3-1, Gold Medal

He has proved to be an absolute failure for USA basketball so far.


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## EGarrett

bballlife said:


> Feed_Dwight has a very valid point. You can look at any top caliber team that has played this game and they all have certain things in common. One being the ability to share and move the ball well. This has been USA's biggest problem in recent years in tight games. Forget the terrible pick and roll defense against Greece, that team was not sharing/moving the ball on offense and it cost them big time.
> 
> Melo only looking to score the ball on offense could be a problem, depending on where they ask him to score. Inside, I have no problem, and interior scoring looks to be a weak area for the team, but Melo doesn't have to go jumper crazy.
> 
> He wasn't too bad last night, opposed to the scrimmage last month were he looked ridiculous gunning at every opportunity.
> 
> Remember a key point here with the successful, unselfish play we saw last night. Against weaker teams everything tends to run smooth and like it should but at the first sign of trouble, against a good team, TEAM USA has gone away from that and relied on a lot of poor 1-on-1 basketball and 3-point attempts.
> 
> Quite surprising how bad a job Krzyzewski did last summer.


I agree with you. Some of the shots they took last night (especially when the second-unit was in) were downright bad. Miller was gunning, Michael Redd ignored a few open people, and Tayshaun Prince tried to go one-on-one Jordan-style for some reason. It's obvious that Lebron and Kidd (and possibly Kobe for some stretches) understand basketball at a deeper level than the other guys on the team...it really demonstrated the difference between those guys and the rest.

I can see that being a major problem against a better team. The starters seem to keep their poise and make the best plays, but the other guys will really need Coach K to make sure they stay disciplined. 

He has to remind Miller and Redd that they're there to shoot when they're open, not when they have a hand in their face...and show Tayshaun Prince a piece of paper that says *"You =/= Michael Jordan."* Coach K didn't seem to do that yesterday.


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## EGarrett

BTW also, Kobe's bizarre "I'm a great basketball player, no wait I'm just a gunner, no wait I'm a great basketball player" spurts confirmed why Phil Jackson said in his book that Kobe knows how to play basketball the right way, but apparently doesn't realize that that way IS the right way and he should always play like that.


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## HB

Man you guys sure complain a lot. The team won by 43. I can understand all the bickering after a loss.


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## Astral

EGarrett said:


> I agree with you. Some of the shots they took last night (especially when the second-unit was in) were downright bad. Miller was gunning, Michael Redd ignored a few open people, and Tayshaun Prince tried to go one-on-one Jordan-style for some reason. It's obvious that Lebron and Kidd (and possibly Kobe for some stretches) understand basketball at a deeper level than the other guys on the team...it really demonstrated the difference between those guys and the rest.
> 
> I can see that being a major problem against a better team. The starters seem to keep their poise and make the best plays, but the other guys will really need Coach K to make sure they stay disciplined.
> 
> He has to remind Miller and Redd that they're there to shoot when they're open, not when they have a hand in their face...and show Tayshaun Prince a piece of paper that says *"You =/= Michael Jordan."* Coach K didn't seem to do that yesterday.


You're right. Some of the players Team USA ran was reminiscent of the previous teams'. They didn't run plays. They run and gunned. That was proven to fail miserably against a good defensive squad like Greece. They basically need to keep either LeBron or Kidd on the court at all times, otherwise the offensive goes to crap.


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## 604flat_line

Like A Breath said:


> Misc. thoughts:
> 
> - Never noticed Michael Redd was so bald. Must be taking the Yi news worse than expected.
> - Amare is an average rebounder and shot blocker, which makes much less dominating than a player of his caliber should be in international ball.
> - Prediction: Dwight Howard's free throw shooting will cost the United States a game.
> - LeBron(********, LOLLERSKATES it was kind of cute the first 50 times but got old really fast) is a demon of a finisher and is a perfect fit with J-Kidd's passing and Kobe's steals.
> - When did Tayshaun Prince mysteriously lose his ability to hit 3's? The guy was a marksman in college.
> 
> Also, does anybody think Kobe looks like a PG now? I think he lost too much weight, he seems uncomfortable driving.


Averaging 10 rebounds a game against the Spurs in their series last playoffs doesn't make an average rebounder in my eyes, especially when the guy was playing with Marion and Kurt Thomas.


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## Arclite

For all the hype around the wing players, I think Howard might prove to be just as, if not more important as any of them save maybe Kobe. Granted it was against a pretty sad front line, but the 3 bigs combined for 28 points (on 9 FGA's), 16 rebounds and 7 blocks in 42 minutes. Howard looked like he was playing against a bunch of little kids.

Here's a boxscore by the way, didn't see one posted: http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/07...odeids//roundid/5730/fe_scheStat_boxScor.html


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## Feed_Dwight

604flat_line said:


> Averaging 10 rebounds a game against the Spurs in their series last playoffs doesn't make an average rebounder in my eyes, especially when the guy was playing with Marion and Kurt Thomas.


Yeah, Amare had a good all around game. IMO, he should be starting next to Dwight. Unfortunately, that only leaves Tyson on the bench, which would not work. I don't know why they only put one center on this team.



Mebarak said:


> Oh please.
> 
> Lets look at his work as HEAD COACH for USA Basketball.
> 
> 2006 World Championships= 8-1, Bronze Medal
> 1990 World Championships= 6-2, Bronze Medal
> 1990 Goodwill Games= 3-2, Silver Medal
> 1987 University World Games= 7-1, Silver Medal
> 1983 US Olmypic South Festival= 3-1, Gold Medal
> 
> He has proved to be an absolute failure for USA basketball so far.


And how much HEAD COACHING experience does Skiles have with USA Basketball? I'm not in love with Coach K, but I think Skiles's huge ego would clash with the many other huge egos on the team. You also have to consider that K wasn't working with NBA talent in any of those tournaments except 2006, where he had mostly young and unproven NBA talent. Also, being an assistant coach for 4 other gold medals counts for something.


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## Feed_Dwight

Arclite said:


> For all the hype around the wing players, I think Howard might prove to be just as, if not more important as any of them save maybe Kobe. Granted it was against a pretty sad front line, but the 3 bigs combined for 28 points (on 9 FGA's), 16 rebounds and 7 blocks in 42 minutes. Howard looked like he was playing against a bunch of little kids.


I was going to say something like that, but didn't want to be accused of homerism. I do think Kidd is the most important though.


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## BigMac

they didn't play their best but still won by 40 points. Something i'm alitte worry about is the size of this team, they only have two main guy Amare and Howard. I wish they can add another big Duncan, KG or some other big that has skills. Can you guy think of other bigs that can be added to this team?


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## BG7

Am I the only one who found it funny when every single kid on the Venezuela team started crying after the little due from Curacao hit the walk off?

They were all crying. Never seen that before.


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## EGarrett

Mebarak said:


> Am I the only one who found it funny when every single kid on the Venezuela team started crying after the little due from Curacao hit the walk off?
> 
> They were all crying. Never seen that before.


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## EGarrett

BigMac said:


> they didn't play their best but still won by 40 points. Something i'm alitte worry about is the size of this team, they only have two main guy Amare and Howard. I wish they can add another big Duncan, KG or some other big that has skills. Can you guy think of other bigs that can be added to this team?


For next time? How about Marcus Camby? He can block shots, rebound, and run the floor with Kidd and Lebron.


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## BULLHITTER

> For next time? How about Marcus Camby? He can block shots, rebound, and run the floor with Kidd and Lebron.


camby should have been selected over chandler. tyson can't catch, can't shoot, and can't set a decent pro level pick. there's no time to teach mr. "team usa" the fundamentals of basketball.:naughty:


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## Feed_Dwight

BigMac said:


> they didn't play their best but still won by 40 points. Something i'm alitte worry about is the size of this team, they only have two main guy Amare and Howard. I wish they can add another big Duncan, KG or some other big that has skills. Can you guy think of other bigs that can be added to this team?


The pace of this team doesn't really fit with Duncan. Camby would be nice. KG would be awesome.


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## King Sancho Fantastic

OT but im watching the Uruguay/Argentina game right now and ive counted at least 15 flops by both teams. It really is rediculous.


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## HKF

Yes, Camby should be there even though he declined huh? Common sense is lacking.


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## BG7

They invited Camby at the same time they invited Chandler. Chandler accepted the invitation, Camby denied.


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## Air Jordan 23

EGarrett said:


> Amare Stoudemire checks in, with a weird white patch on his ear.
> 
> I'm guessing it's an earpiece connecting him to Steve Nash, who's telling him what to do while taking time out from a moose-hunting trip in Canada.



LOL!:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Air Jordan 23

Mebarak said:


> Oh please.
> 
> Lets look at his work as HEAD COACH for USA Basketball.
> 
> 2006 World Championships= 8-1, Bronze Medal
> 1990 World Championships= 6-2, Bronze Medal
> 1990 Goodwill Games= 3-2, Silver Medal
> 1987 University World Games= 7-1, Silver Medal
> 1983 US Olmypic South Festival= 3-1, Gold Medal
> 
> He has proved to be an absolute failure for USA basketball so far.



I was about to say. I've never heard of K having 5 Gold medals. I thought I was on Bizarro World or somethin'.


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## BG7

Air Jordan 23 said:


> I was about to say. I've never heard of K having 5 Gold medals. I thought I was on Bizarro World or somethin'.


Exactly. 

Coach K has been a monumental failure for USA Basketball.

He's never gone undefeated, and he's only got the gold once as a head coach (and it was in some weird offshoot competition). 

Anything short of winning every game is a failure for USA. 

At the end of the day, it seems like Coach K just isn't that good of a coach. He is good for the college game, but when you get up to pro level players, there are just better coaches out there, a good portion of the NBA coaches (Skiles, Jackson, Riley, etc.). It seems like they primarily just took Coach K to recruit Kobe on board. While I prefer Coach K over an egoist like Larry Brown, there are clearly better coaches that could have been asked.


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## HallOfFamer

Was 2006 the only time that Coach K had pro players though? Those 4 previous tournaments all had amateurs right?


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## Feed_Dwight

Air Jordan 23 said:


> I was about to say. I've never heard of K having 5 Gold medals. I thought I was on Bizarro World or somethin'.



Mike Krzyzewski's International Record

Year Team	Record / Medal	
2006 U.S. FIBA World Championship Head Coach 8-1 / Bronze
1992 U.S. Olympic Team Assistant Coach 8-0 / Gold Medal	
1992 U.S. Olympic Qualifying Team Assistant Coach 6-0 / Gold Medal	
1990 USA World Championship Team Head Coach 6-2 / Bronze Medal	
1990 USA Goodwill Games Team Head Coach 3-2 / Silver Medal	
1987 USA World University Games Team Head Coach 7-1 / Silver Medal	
1984 U.S. Olympic Team Special Assistant 8-0 / Gold Medal	
1984 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Assistant Coach Not Applicable	
1983 U.S. Olympic Festival South Team Head Coach 3-1 / Gold Medal	
1979 USA Pan American Games Team Assistant Coach 9-0 / Gold Medal	

Totals Eight International Competitions 58-7 (.892)	

5 Gold Medals 
2 Silver Medals 
2 Bronze Medal

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=208713

EDIT: Added 2006


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## HB

I stick by Mikki Moore addition from a few weeks back, he would look nice in a USA uni


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## Damian Necronamous

*Re: Team USA vs. Venezuela tipping off nowhttp://www.basketballforum.com/newreply.php*

Basically all the other teams in this tournament stink, since Argentina doesn't have some of their best players. I'm looking forward to seeing our new Dream Team go up against the top competition when they are at full strength in the 2008 Olympics.

Spain...
Jose Calderon
Sergio Rodriguez
Rudy Fernandez
Juan Carlos Navarro
Jorge Garbajosa
Pau Gasol
Marc Gasol

Argentina...
Pepe Sanchez
Emmanuel Ginobili
Andres Nocioni
Carlos Delfino
Luis Scola
Fabricio Oberto

France...
Tony Parker
Mickael Pietrus
Yakhouba Diawara
Boris Diaw
Ronny Turiaf
Ian Mahinmi

Brazil...
Leandro Barbosa
Nene
Anderson Varejao
Tiago Splitter


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## Feed_Dwight

Mebarak said:


> Coach K has been a monumental failure for USA Basketball.
> 
> He's never gone undefeated, and he's only got the gold once as a head coach (and it was in some weird offshoot competition).


How many gold medals do Skiles/Jackson/Riley etc have as head coach? What makes you think they'll do any better?



Mebarak said:


> Anything short of winning every game is a failure for USA.


Does that mean every time USA looses a game that everyone is to blame? Should they never invite any of the players or coaches back if the team loses a single game? Why is the coach the only one responsible?



HallOfFamer said:


> Was 2006 the only time that Coach K had pro players though? Those 4 previous tournaments all had amateurs right?


Exactly


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## Arclite

*Re: Team USA vs. Venezuela tipping off nowhttp://www.basketballforum.com/newreply.php*



Damian Necronamous said:


> Basically all the other teams in this tournament stink, since Argentina doesn't have some of their best players.


Argentina is not at full power obviously but they still have Scola and Delfino, they're not exactly going to be a pushover.. and Brazil is still stacked even without Varejao.


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## EGarrett

HKF said:


> Yes, Camby should be there even though he declined huh? Common sense is lacking.


Or, you could try conducting yourself like an adult and let people know without personally attacking them.


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## EGarrett

*Re: Team USA vs. Venezuela tipping off nowhttp://www.basketballforum.com/newreply.php*



Damian Necronamous said:


> Basically all the other teams in this tournament stink, since Argentina doesn't have some of their best players.


Well, neither does the USA, so they're actually even.


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## Jizzy

I don't understand one thing. If the International 3 point line is 3 feet shorter then an NBA one, why are our guys so bad at shooting from three? It should be a basic midrange shot for them


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## The lone wolf

That's it - it's a mid-range shot - now tell me how many in the NBA are good at it

which is why i want miller and redd playing significant minutes every game - we need them


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## Jizzy

The lone wolf said:


> That's it - it's a mid-range shot - now tell me how many in the NBA are good at it
> 
> which is why i want miller and redd playing significant minutes every game - we need them



Carmelo makes a living off midrange jumpers and I assume guys like Kobe, LBJ Chauncey etc.. have capability to knock down a midrange jumper.


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## jman23

team usa was raw yesterday, man they had me laughing at the other team.

GO!!!!! TEAM!!!!!!!!!!! USA!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## BG7

Jizzy said:


> I don't understand one thing. If the International 3 point line is 3 feet shorter then an NBA one, why are our guys so bad at shooting from three? It should be a basic midrange shot for them


Because they don't have Ben Gordon, Rip Hamilton, Luol Deng (stolen away by Britain), Kevin Martin, guys who are good at hitting those midrange jumpers on the team. Michael Redd is good at hitting them too, so he works, I think thats why they should have stuck Durant on the team too.

Mike Miller has no place on the team, and is better at the long range bombs.


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## Brandname

Jizzy said:


> I don't understand one thing. If the International 3 point line is 3 feet shorter then an NBA one, why are our guys so bad at shooting from three? It should be a basic midrange shot for them


Well it is a little bit longer than a midrange jumper.

In fact, it's the type of shot that players are strongly advised *not *to take in the NBA (a step inside the 3 point line), so it's very possible that it's one of the less-practiced shots for NBA players. But in any case, we're not really terrible at shooting. If I remember, we were still one of the better teams in the tournament last time in terms of 3 point shooting percentage. I think we just expect them to be a lot better.

Guys like Carmelo and Kobe can knock down that shot pretty consistently. Lebron (with the exception of last year's finals) can hit the midrange jumpers as well. I'm more concerned about why our guys can't seem to convert free throws at a high percentage than anything. That could really haunt us.


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