# Arenas Not Playing In WC



## K-Dub (Jun 26, 2005)

> SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas strained his groin during practice Monday and won't play for the United States at the world championships.


 Injured Arenas won't play in Worlds


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## KrispyKreme23 (Dec 22, 2003)

Nice excuse to cover up for the truth :banana:


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I think he had a pretty fair chance of not playing in Japan whether he was injured or not.Not saying this isn't a legit injury,but Gilbert does seem to have been the most likely candidate for the final cut


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## kzero (Apr 30, 2006)

Second most-likey behind Bruce Bowen


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## Big Mike (Jun 7, 2005)

KrispyKreme23 said:


> Nice excuse to cover up for the truth :banana:


Well Arenas did miss nearly half of the 03-04 season with the same injury, its not like its new to him. Arenas wouldn't fake injury, I just hope its not as serious as before.


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## MiamiHeat03 (Mar 28, 2003)

lets see Arenas has to much pride in him so i wouldnt be completely shocked if Arenas did infact fake a injury so he can avoid a another embaressment;2nd round pick,allstar snub,and arrested in Miami.

Hinrich and CP will be just fine and will do good.


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## Shanghai Kid (Mar 7, 2003)

MiamiHeat03 said:


> lets see Arenas has to much pride in him so i wouldnt be completely shocked if Arenas did infact fake a injury so he can avoid a another embaressment;2nd round pick,allstar snub,and arrested in Miami.
> .


 Yeah but Arenas has used all those 'embaressments' as motivation to become a top 15 player in the league. You don't think he's going to be killing himself in personal workouts for the rest of the offseason? Just another chip on his shoulder.

Honestly I think he was going to be cut either way, so it's a nice way of leaving the door open for him to come back if they ever need him.


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## pliumbum (Mar 23, 2004)

team USA will be better without such selfish piece of sh**. Same goes for Kobe.


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## Air Fly (Apr 19, 2005)

Man, thats an obvious excuse. Dude was getting cut anyway. lol


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## Rockets111 (Oct 29, 2005)

the team is not set, with arenas gone, and we all knew that bowen is going to be cut... the final roster is....

guards
paul/hinrich/wade/johnson

forwards
melo/lebron/battier/bosh/brand/jamison

centers
dwight/miller


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## rainman (Jul 15, 2002)

not sure it was him faking injury it could have been the coaching staff presenting an out there. the old resign or you'll be fired trick. he's a good player but i think they wanted more versatility there in someone like hinrich.


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## reHEATed (Jun 29, 2003)

he played 6 minutes in each of the last 2 games

he either quit the team and asked for team USA to use this excuse (most likely option), or this is what Team USA is saying instead of outright cutting him which was going to happen

he was not going to make the team. He cant play a role. He needs to control the offense to be effective, and that was not happening with Lebron, Wade, Carmelo on the team.


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## The lone wolf (Jul 23, 2003)

wadeshaqeddie said:


> he played 6 minutes in each of the last 2 games
> 
> he either quit the team and asked for team USA to use this excuse (most likely option), or this is what Team USA is saying instead of outright cutting him which was going to happen
> 
> he was not going to make the team. He cant play a role. He needs to control the offense to be effective, and that was not happening with Lebron, Wade, Carmelo on the team.


 :no:

I would have prefered Arenas over Paul


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## Lebbron (Nov 20, 2005)

The lone wolf said:


> :no:
> 
> I would have prefered Arenas over Paul


There really hasn't been anything wrong with Paul I keep hearing how his defense is terrible his shooting is terrible etc. but I'm not actually seeing it. I think he's played some good games and is the teams best ballhandler in the press. And his shooting has been impressive except for FT's.

Also, he's very fun to watch which matters to me since I want to be entertained not just win (I'm not really a nationalist I just want to see fun basketball).


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

Lebbron said:


> There really hasn't been anything wrong with Paul I keep hearing how his defense is terrible his shooting is terrible etc. but I'm not actually seeing it. I think he's played some good games and is the teams best ballhandler in the press. And his shooting has been impressive *except for FT's.*
> 
> Also, he's very fun to watch which matters to me since I want to be entertained not just win (I'm not really a nationalist I just want to see fun basketball).


This is what has surprised me. He's usually much better at the free-throw line. During the 5 exhibition games his % was .538.

Cumulative stats


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## The lone wolf (Jul 23, 2003)

Lebbron said:


> There really hasn't been anything wrong with Paul I keep hearing how his defense is terrible his shooting is terrible etc. but I'm not actually seeing it. I think he's played some good games and is the teams best ballhandler in the press. And his shooting has been impressive except for FT's.
> 
> Also, he's very fun to watch which matters to me since I want to be entertained not just win (I'm not really a nationalist I just want to see fun basketball).


well - the thing is that paul is better/ more fun than arenas only when it comes to running a fast break. The advantage ends there. And even that - I don't consider much of an advantage because bron, melo, wade, JJ all can just get the ball and finish a break - they don't really need a good feeder.

And the most important reason i prefer Arenas is that he can make open shots at a much better rate. As the tournament progresses - I can see paul getting lesser and lesser minutes


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## Lebbron (Nov 20, 2005)

The lone wolf said:


> well - the thing is that paul is better/ more fun than arenas only when it comes to running a fast break. The advantage ends there. And even that - I don't consider much of an advantage because bron, melo, wade, JJ all can just get the ball and finish a break - they don't really need a good feeder.
> 
> And the most important reason i prefer Arenas is that he can make open shots at a much better rate. As the tournament progresses - I can see paul getting lesser and lesser minutes


I think what I don't understand is the idea that Paul is a terrible shooter. Paul is not a bad shooter. People think after one season of shooting few three's and missing most of them he is a terrible shooter, but he was a phenomenal shooter in his college days and his jumper looks good when he's shooting it. I think he doesn't really have the defensive and shooting defeciencies that many people attribute to him he seems to be pressuring the ball well. Anyways, I don't care too much I was just sticking up for Paul since the Hornets don't seem to have many fans.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

The lone wolf said:


> well - the thing is that paul is better/ more fun than arenas only when it comes to running a fast break. The advantage ends there. And even that - I don't consider much of an advantage because bron, melo, wade, JJ all can just get the ball and finish a break - they don't really need a good feeder.
> 
> And the most important reason i prefer Arenas is that he can make open shots at a much better rate. As the tournament progresses - I can see paul getting lesser and lesser minutes


I have difficulty seeing what you are basing your arguments on.Have you had your eyes open?Was your television working?Arenas is basically a shooting guard that isn't hitting his shots.He's never been a really great point guard except that the only time that he's effective is when he's allowed to dominate the ball.

We have 12 players who have been playing together for three weeks and we are using a fast break offense based on what D'Antoni uses in PHX.The thing we need most is unselfish play at the point and a point guard willing to put his own offense last.Arenas got a chance to start games and he got plenty of minutes.He was ineffective at running the team and he was not able to score.

What the hell has Arenas done to make any sane observer believe that he deserved a spot on this team over SHane Battier,much less Chris Paul.He wasn't only outplayed by Paul.He was outplayed by every single player on this team except for Bruce Bowen.

Incidentally Paul has shot 10-17 or 59% in training and 4-9 on 3pt fgs(44.4%).He's had 21 assists and 10 turnovers in spite of the stingy way in which assists are given out by FIBA.Gilbert Arenas is 5-18(28%) and 2-9 on 3pt fgs(22.2%).He's had 4 assists and 2 turnovers.


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## The lone wolf (Jul 23, 2003)

Diable said:


> I have difficulty seeing what you are basing your arguments on.Have you had your eyes open?Was your television working?Arenas is basically a shooting guard that isn't hitting his shots.He's never been a really great point guard except that the only time that he's effective is when he's allowed to dominate the ball.


Relax - no need to get ultra defensive and ask questions about my TV. Yes. Arenas is basically a shooting guard. And he hits his shots better than paul - i base that on what i have seen the past season.



> We have 12 players who have been playing together for three weeks and we are using a fast break offense based on what D'Antoni uses in PHX.The thing we need most is unselfish play at the point and a point guard willing to put his own offense last.Arenas got a chance to start games and he got plenty of minutes.He was ineffective at running the team and he was not able to score.


As I said earlier - wade, bron, melo and JJ can all run the break by themselves. In a game where the opponent guards are competant against pressure defense and the zone is in effect - another shooter will be more effective. Arenas started in ONE game.



> What the hell has Arenas done to make any sane observer believe that he deserved a spot on this team over SHane Battier,much less Chris Paul.He wasn't only outplayed by Paul.He was outplayed by every single player on this team except for Bruce Bowen.


Arenas has shot the ball better over the course of last year and that is arguable reason for any sane observer to believe that he deserves a spot over paul. Battier serves a different role so don't confuse yourself with just picking the best players - factor in the role that they would be playing.
I don't care about who outplayed who - I care about what the team needs more - someone to run a fastbreak or a better shooter. My opinion is that we need a better shooter. 



> Incidentally Paul has shot 10-17 or 59% in training and 4-9 on 3pt fgs(44.4%).He's had 21 assists and 10 turnovers in spite of the stingy way in which assists are given out by FIBA.Gilbert Arenas is 5-18(28%) and 2-9 on 3pt fgs(22.2%).He's had 4 assists and 2 turnovers.


Is this the "plenty" of minutes you were talking about? Would you like to mention the total number of minutes played? Arenas played a total of 44 minutes in 4 games.
I could care less about the fast-break assists - those are 95% sure baskets for our team whether paul is running it or steve francis is running it. What we need is shooters that will draw a defender to the 3 point line and Arenas is better at it.


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## The lone wolf (Jul 23, 2003)

Lebbron said:


> I think what I don't understand is the idea that Paul is a terrible shooter. Paul is not a bad shooter. People think after one season of shooting few three's and missing most of them he is a terrible shooter, but he was a phenomenal shooter in his college days and his jumper looks good when he's shooting it. I think he doesn't really have the defensive and shooting defeciencies that many people attribute to him he seems to be pressuring the ball well. Anyways, I don't care too much I was just sticking up for Paul since the Hornets don't seem to have many fans.


I don't think / never said that paul is a terrible shooter - just that Arenas is better than him in that aspect


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

The lone wolf said:


> I don't think / never said that paul is a terrible shooter - just that Arenas is better than him in that aspect


Why was Arenas cut? Apparently he was cut based on his play during these exhibition games and not his regular season games. His regular season games were what got him invited in the first place but his play wasn't really good during the WC. Yes, Gilbert shot the ball better over the course of last season but if he had been doing that during the exhibition games, he might still be around.


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## The lone wolf (Jul 23, 2003)

girllovesthegame said:


> Why was Arenas cut? Apparently he was cut based on his play during these exhibition games and not his regular season games. His regular season games were what got him invited in the first place but his play wasn't really good during the WC. Yes, Gilbert shot the ball better over the course of last season but if he had been doing that during the exhibition games, he might still be around.


I know why he was cut - just saying my opinion that it was a mistake.


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## Anima (Jun 3, 2003)

Arenas was cut because he was injured and not physically able to play.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...37aug15,1,5504931.story?coll=cs-college-print

Would have he been cut had he remained healthy? That's up for debate but I would venture to say yes, both Paul and Hinrich have out played him and with the ability of players like LeBron to play minutes at PG there wasn't room on the team.


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