# Hey, are you guys watching US vs. Puerto Rico?



## Tapseer (Jun 13, 2002)

I'm just catching the last part of the 2nd qtr, but I didn't expect the game to be this competitive. Wait! That Arroyo kid just picked the pocket of the 96 million dollar man (Jason Kidd) in the open floor. Puerto Rico is playing hard out there...Nick Collison just got rejected! Whew! It's a game out there today. The game is close.


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## Sean (Jun 7, 2002)

On which network are you watching it?

NBC?
ESPN?
TBS?
ABC?


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## Tapseer (Jun 13, 2002)

My Bad...MSG. MSG. MSG. Unbelieveable! the score is 40 to 50 US. The 49th and 50th points coming courtesy of an Allen Iverson Alley-oop to Richard Jeffferson, but % seconds ago the Garden crowd was BOOING Team USA for sloppy play and CHEERING PUERTO RICO for their hard play...15,000 16,000 watching the game at the Garden


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## Sean (Jun 7, 2002)

Damn. I don't see it anywhere on my satellite's main stations.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts/review.


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## Tapseer (Jun 13, 2002)

You're not going to see it listed. MSG don't even have it listed. I have 2 MSG channels like everyone else. It's on the MSG channel the Mets ususally play on. MSG didn't change the on their TV guide. Just go to MSG. Team USA is up at the half right now 54-48. Only six points! All those MILLIONAIRES on the floor like Duncan, Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, Jermaine O'neal, Ray Allan, Elton Brand, Allen Iverson Tracy Mcgrady and so forth and we're only up by six points. You can also catch the game on the computer with NBA Ticket thru NBA.com. I only have heard of Arroyo on the Puerto Rican team, but they are doing their thing


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## MJG (Jun 29, 2003)

Boo, I can't watch  I can't believe it's that close.


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## Sean (Jun 7, 2002)

I used to get nbatv, but they re-arranged the channels and now I don't. 

Thanks for the updates.


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## Tapseer (Jun 13, 2002)

C'mon guys, you telling me you ain't got MSG? Well, with 3 minutes and change remaining in the 3rd qtr right now Team USA is up by 5...66-61. Allen Iverson just scored 68-61, but Puerto Rico keeps coming back and Team USA can't pull away. It's ugly out there for us. It's a good thing this is an exhibition game and not a real one.


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## djsunyc (Aug 14, 2003)

i just got back from the game. i think they said they sold about 16000 tickets but there was probably more like 13000 people there - probably b/c of the blackout.

it's funny how arroyo just picked jkidd's pocket like that. pretty funny - he got some skills. the crowd was BRUTAL towards collison. true, he kind of got thrown into a tough situation being right out of college but he really has no business being on the team. which kind of leads me to this question - why isn't allan houston on the team? i know he just had some surgery but he wasn't even mentioned before when they were making the team. he is one of the better, if not the best, jump shooter in the league and he is the perfect role player for a team like this. outside of ray allen (who imo is quite streaky), we have no jump shooters. h20 would have been a perfect piece to the puzzle.


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## knickstorm (Jun 22, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Tapseer</b>!
> My Bad...MSG. MSG. MSG. Unbelieveable! the score is 40 to 50 US. The 49th and 50th points coming courtesy of an Allen Iverson Alley-oop to Richard Jeffferson, but % seconds ago the Garden crowd was BOOING Team USA for sloppy play and CHEERING PUERTO RICO for their hard play...15,000 16,000 watching the game at the Garden


i was at the game. We never booed team usa, we were booing collison cuz he came in got swatted, lost the ball, and threw it to nobody out of bounds in a span of like 2 minutes. haahha people behind us were just killing him. "we're glad we aint draft you. go back to the bench" then the 2nd half "hows the view from the bench nick" but...........we did cheer like crazy and on that one play where he knocked the ball off some puerto rico guy out of bounds, sarcastic cheers but still cheers. WE all yelled like crazy when he followed his shot. AHahah anyone who was there knows the fan patrol girls are HOT!!! Them dunking squad sucked at halftime, they missed like half of them. Best line i heard was " HEY NICK GET BACK ON THE BENCH AND GET DUNCAN SOME WATER"


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## Tapseer (Jun 13, 2002)

Hey, Collison wasn't the only team USA player throwing the ball away. That's rough giving the rook the business like that. Ya'll should have given ALL of Team USA the business. Puerto Rico was competitive for 3 qtrs. They fell of dramatically in the 4th, but they were there. Shooting 58% from the line and turning the ball so much won't work against those teams that kicked our butt last year. If Team USA doesn't come to play, they are toast...simple as that. This not our Father's Dream Team...


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## knickstorm (Jun 22, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Tapseer</b>!
> Hey, Collison wasn't the only team USA player throwing the ball away. That's rough giving the rook the business like that. Ya'll should have given ALL of Team USA the business. Puerto Rico was competitive for 3 qtrs. They fell of dramatically in the 4th, but they were there. Shooting 58% from the line and turning the ball so much won't work against those teams that kicked our butt last year. If Team USA doesn't come to play, they are toast...simple as that. This not our Father's Dream Team...


i'd like to see you shoot ft's with hundreds of cameras going off, puerto rico was competetive cuz larry brown was fooling around with the lineups. If he kept the core group of players in, this would have been a blow out early. He kept bringing in bibby for kidd, collison for whoever, and jermaine o'neal has no business starting the way he's playing. Larry Brown was just tinkering around with his lineup.


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## The True Essence (May 26, 2003)

i say start Brand, he played real tough and banged inside, you need those kind of guys, since the international game looks rough

And yeah Collison deserved it, 3 straight times down the floor he did something stupid. Then it was back to the bench. but he redeemed himself in the 4th quarter, saving the ball off some guy, making a guy miss a open layup on a break, and actually making a shot


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## Tapseer (Jun 13, 2002)

Hey most of Team USA have been shooting FT's with the camera going off most of their basketball lives, so that excuse is a copout. You have hundreds of millions of dollars in salary out there, those guys can at least do better than 58% from the foul line. Granted, teams around the world are getting better and maybe the skill level between us and them is getting closer. But, remember Team USA didn't even medal last year prompting this year's team having to be is this qualifying tournament going now. Last year, just our regular NBA players wasn't good enough to medal. Now we have an All-Star NBA team just to get us to qualify for the Olympics. Beating Puerto Rico by 27 would have been impressive if we were kicking their arses all day, but it wasn't like that. And it's just Puerto Rico. Team USA will have to be sharper when playing the Europeans next year otherwise we'll be walking with egg on our face again. I couldn't believe we didn't medal last year. It was such a shock to ME at least that TEAM USA got beat last year. It bothered me alot...


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## superknickfan (Jul 2, 2003)

i missed the game but i think as time goes on they will get better with playing together more


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## Jmonty580 (Jun 20, 2003)

This team is screwed, they cant even get inside other than Tim Duncan. If this team is to win TD will have to carry them. I agree that this team really could have benifited from having Allan Houston, becuase after Ray there are no great shooters, and since they dont seem to be slashing past people for dunks they need people that can consistently knock down those 3 pointers, whichs is like a mid range jump shot for allan houston being that the line is moved in 3 feet from nba regualtion.

We add a tuff time with this team and they are puerto rico, i think we may lose to brazil on wednesday. They got Nene, Barbosa, and two projected first round picks next season, and im sure they play better team ball than our USA team. Did you see Puerto rico running pick and runs, they trulely played together. Thats why i feel that I think the team that wins the NBA finals should comete, cause they would have more chemistry. The only thing i would do is allow the team take pick 2 players from the league to help out a bit.


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## Tapseer (Jun 13, 2002)

Hey Jmonty580, I'm feeling that NBA Championship thing too. It's a good idea along with adding a couple of players from the league. You might even be able to add 3 guys being certains rotations are only 8 rarely 9 deep. I think you could have added a Kobe, a Shaq, and/or Houston (San Antonio definitely needed a sharpshooter) or Kidd to San Antonio's Team this year, but I don't think that's quite right either...You've got mad possibilities with your suggestion...


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## Jmonty580 (Jun 20, 2003)

^^^^ Thanks, I think the chemistry factor is way underrated. Even though our WC team wasnt our best, if they had some chemistry they would have easily beatin the competition. The Dream Team had so much great talent they could win simply by athleticism, but the world is catching up a bit now. The spurs could have added KG (cause shaq woudlnt play), Kobe or T-mac, and a Jason Kid or a Mabury, cause Parker will play for the French. NOw when you add these guys in, they have to adjust a bit, but its not a complete shock to the teams chemistry. One combo i like on the USA team is Jason kidd and Jefferson because they know eachothers game and will be able to connect easily for some ooops.


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## NYCbballFan (Jun 8, 2003)

Some impressions. Wasn't there but saw the game on MSG. 

Tapseer - I was mortified by last year's Team USA showing, too. Just losing was bad enough but HOW they lost was downright humiliating. US basketball fans should be nit-picky and critical about this team. Even a team like Argentina can surprise this year, but next year, with teams like Serbia-Montenegro, Team USA has to be at their best. This is it. If this Team USA doesn't bring back the gold, then the US officially is no longer the basketball capital of the world. 

Neg: Bad free throw shooting. Bad team defense. The too many stars problem, similar to last year's team. Team offense that too often degenerated into 1-on-1 play. Players like VC, AI and T-Mac only looked comfortable when they got to dominate the ball, thus playing closer to what they normally do. But, on this team they need to play off the ball at times, which is not a strength for them. When they dominate the ball, they take the game out of Kidd's control, which hurts the team play. 

As of now, Team USA looks too much like a more talented, souped-up version of last year's WC team, which is to say a travelling all-star team rather than a functioning basketball team.

Pos: Adding Duncan and Kidd makes a big difference. Jermaine O'Neal isn't tough and physical enough to be a featured post option. Under pressure, he can be shut down. Duncan, on the other hand, is a master post player, and should offer consistent post offense to anchor the perimeter scorers. Kidd is the one player who should be able to turn a travelling all-star team into a facsimile of a real basketball team on short notice, which none of the PGs on last year's team could do. Last year, without a reliable post option or a reliable team scheme, Team USA was reduced to tough outside shots and kamikaze drives to the basket. With Kidd and Duncan, our guys shouldn't be reduced to that again. It was a smart decision to add role players like RJ and Bibby. Even Brand looks competent as a role player - if it was up to me, he'd play ahead of O'Neal. They can do the necessary things on the court that the stars aren't comfortable doing. It looks like this team cares, unlike last year. AI, in particular, looks like this matters to him.

Our guys have a year to get ready for the big tournament. They need to use their time wisely.

Suggestions: like knickstorm said, Brown was tinkering. I think he should look into working combinations. Allen-Kidd-Duncan strikes me as a core for a team-oriented offense. AI-VC-TMac strikes me as a core for a Mavs-type individual-oriented offense. AI should come off the bench as instant offense while Allen starts with Kidd. Mix the role players and stars. For gosh sake, play defense and make free throws!

Future suggestions: Fewer young stars and more older veteran stars who understand the game better, enough to meld their talents more quickly and easily. On the current team, I would add a Payton or even Stockton as a 2nd HoF floor general to manage the all-star team. Why isn't Don Nelson a Team USA assistant coach? Blending multiple all-star scorers is his specialty and that's EXACTLY what Team USA needs.

Jmonty580, using the NBA championship team is not a bad idea, but that's a lot of strain to put on an NBA team. And what if it's a team like the Mavs or Kings with non-Americans in key positions? I would meet you halfway and look into building around established pairs or trios (eg, Pippen-MJ, Stockton-Malone), so that Team USA has built-in units and a headstart on forming a team scheme. Identify 2 or 3 core Team USA players, Team Captain types, who will play in international competitions for as long as a decade or more. Also, identify a coach as a long-term Team USA coach. They don't necessarily need to be the best of the NBA, but they could provide long-term continuity for Team USA.


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## Tapseer (Jun 13, 2002)

NYCBBALLFAN I'm feeling alot of what you are saying. Between you and Jmonty580 I think there is a middle ground. With Championship team teams with foreign players that's just an extra spot for another NBA All Star. I don't think you need an ALL all Star team to do what we need and/or want. Any given year I guess Allan Houston can be considered an All Star, but at the same time he can be a very good role player on a Team USA. I think sometimes we get caught up in the name of athletes rather than their game...Case in point...Who wouldn't say that Shawn Marion got EXPOSED last year by the Eueopeans? Limited ball handling skills, very streaky outside shooting and poor foul shooting showed me Mr. Marion needed a lot of help from his friends last year. Andre Miller's poor season last year with the Clippers was just an extension of last years Team USA problems. He was good on a bad team (ala Chris Childs with the NJ Nets for that one year before signing with the Knicks) and his game was exposed last year also. I know the world is catching up skillwise with the USA, but I really don't like the idea of us really having to resort to a real All Star team to be #1. You build your starting 5 with All stars maybe 6, then you start filling players who can fit a role. With outside shooting at the 2 you have Allan Houston (well maybe not Allan, because he has trouble finding his own shot when necessary) and Ray Allen. At the 3 you go with KG and wonderfully talented but tempermental Rasheed Wallace ( you can go with Paul Pierce at the 3 , but he is a real CHUCKER). At the 4 you go with Ben Wallace and Chris Webber and at the 5 you have Tim Duncan and whoever you want to play behind him. I'm not good at making teams, but I think you should/could find a balance of talents. I would take Rashhed Wallace over Vince Carter because I feel Rasheed could do more than Vince when he's not beefing, I think he's a better ball handler, he's taller, and more versatile with his game than Vince You guys can beat me on the head later with that last assesment.


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## NYCbballFan (Jun 8, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Tapseer</b>!
> NYCBBALLFAN I'm feeling alot of what you are saying. Between you and Jmonty580 I think there is a middle ground. With Championship team teams with foreign players that's just an extra spot for another NBA All Star. I don't think you need an ALL all Star team to do what we need and/or want. Any given year I guess Allan Houston can be considered an All Star, but at the same time he can be a very good role player on a Team USA. I think sometimes we get caught up in the name of athletes rather than their game...Case in point...Who wouldn't say that Shawn Marion got EXPOSED last year by the Eueopeans? Limited ball handling skills, very streaky outside shooting and poor foul shooting showed me Mr. Marion needed a lot of help from his friends last year. Andre Miller's poor season last year with the Clippers was just an extension of last years Team USA problems. He was good on a bad team (ala Chris Childs with the NJ Nets for that one year before signing with the Knicks) and his game was exposed last year also. I know the world is catching up skillwise with the USA, but I really don't like the idea of us really having to resort to a real All Star team to be #1. You build your starting 5 with All stars maybe 6, then you start filling players who can fit a role. With outside shooting at the 2 you have Allan Houston (well maybe not Allan, because he has trouble finding his own shot when necessary) and Ray Allen. At the 3 you go with KG and wonderfully talented but tempermental Rasheed Wallace ( you can go with Paul Pierce at the 3 , but he is a real CHUCKER). At the 4 you go with Ben Wallace and Chris Webber and at the 5 you have Tim Duncan and whoever you want to play behind him. I'm not good at making teams, but I think you should/could find a balance of talents. I would take Rashhed Wallace over Vince Carter because I feel Rasheed could do more than Vince when he's not beefing, I think he's a better ball handler, he's taller, and more versatile with his game than Vince You guys can beat me on the head later with that last assesment.


Good points and I agree with your assessments. Andre Miller was probably THE most disappointing player of last year's team. Ben Wallace is the player I felt most sorry for. A lot of fans still think of Team USA in terms of a 'name' NBA all-star team, when the better way is to pick and choose the players that make the best basketball team. 

Here are my Team USA picks.

PGs: Kidd, Payton. alt: Stockton. 

I want veteran HoF-level PGs. Shortcuts are necessary when forming team chemistry on short notice. That means the best floor generals, not immature shooting points, like on last year's team. The PGs also need enough stature to lead a team of egotistic stars, which means top veterans. 

SG: Allen, AI. alt: Brent Barry.

Allen's superior outside shooting and over-all game better fits as a starter in a team-oriented style. AI comes off the bench as instant offense, causing nightmares for all the bench guards of the world. Brent Barry is versatile, a veteran and would blend in well with almost any style.

SF: KG, Finley. alt: Lebron James

To me, KG is like a super-sized Scottie Pippen with a better shot. A gifted scorer, but unselfish. Versatile game, lock-down defense. I like Finley's versatility, professionalism, and his Mavs-trained ability to work with other star scorers. I'll put James as an alternate and groom him as a ten-year member of Team USA.

PF: Webber, R-Wallace. alt: Brand

I'll let you convince me on Sheed.  I still have misgivings, but I can't deny the versatility, size and talent. Webber is also big and versatile. I like Brand's low-post presence, but I'm not committed to him as an alternate. 

C: Duncan, Brad Miller. alt: Ben Wallace

Duncan is the best. It was hard to come up with a 2nd elite American center, but I wanted to pick a true C, instead of adding a tall PF. It bothers me that Team USA is small. Brad Miller may not be a top-tier star, but he has a solid game and he has true C size. Ben Wallace was exposed last year, too, but I'd like to give him a second chance as an alternate.

Role players: Martin, Artest. alt: McKie (, Pippen).

Martin and Artest are both elite role players, tough, stylish defenders at multiple positions, athletic and physical, and used to taking a secondary role. If Rodman could still play, I'd add him. McKie, when he's not hurt, is a smart, reliable, versatile combo guard who can play some 3. I'd like to add Pippen as an alternate role player, but I'm not sure of his status.

Starting line-up: PG-Kidd, SG-Allen, SF-Garnett, PF-Martin, C-Duncan.


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