Return to dominance? The USA Basketball thread

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Watched a bit of the US Basketball "friendly" against China tonight. Even though Yao didn't play, it actually made me excited about NBA basketball again. I really was impressed. It's all unselfish team game, and the players are really focused on regaining the crown. Can't wait for the World Championship, even if it's been relegated to ESPN2.

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 04:04 (nineteen years ago)

go figure, the first game that's not televised and my boy K Hin has his best game by far. a lot of the play in the china and pr games was ymca-esque, with lebron playing the part of the Ringer. you can tell that the intn'l refs have a hard-on for Dwyane, eager to whistle him and show how FIBA rolls.
hopefully the bugs in their full-court, (overly?) aggressive defense will be worked out, because although at times it was very very effective, other times it led to breakdowns and easy buckets for the opponent.
elton brand has really impressed me. somehow the stability and technical flawlessness of his game is made more evident by playing on a team that, at this point, isn't very cohesive. any time he's on the court you can count on getting some quality possessions and sound D.
dwight howard is a fucking monster. 10 boards in 12 minutes or thereabouts. i can't see anyone else on any other team able to match or handle is combo of speed/power. and if we have amare too....whoa.
i'm gonna be in yellowstone for the heart of the world championship. no cabins have a tv :(

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 August 2006 18:46 (nineteen years ago)

hopefully the bugs in their full-court, (overly?) aggressive defense will be worked out, because although at times it was very very effective, other times it led to breakdowns and easy buckets for the opponent.

Aren't you describing any and all full-court presses?

― c('°c) (Leee), Wednesday, 9 August 2006 23:12 (nineteen years ago)

kinda yeah (some are riskier than others and there's a huge range in effectiveness amongst presses obv, and i'm not convinced that theirs has a good enough risk-reward ratio. only played 3 games though) but i was including the style of half-court D (ie traps, gambling at nearly every opportunity, etc) they've been playing, which is supposedly employed to take advantage of Team USA's speed and athleticism yadda yadda but strikes me as being a wee bit too arrogant. not every guard (esp one with blazing speed like barbosa) is going to crumble at the mere sight of two of our players running out at them.

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 10 August 2006 03:21 (nineteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

anyone else catch usa vs andrew bogut this weekend? the aussies put up a good fight for 10 minutes and got utterly stomped in the second quarter. they looked good on occasion but that massive run (and a bucket of fouls) sucked the life out of them.

interestingly, usa started with a small lineup (sort of) with melo and battier at forwards and brand at center. i approve, but it didn't quite click that quarter and it took joe johnson's ludicrously hot hand to turn into a blowout.

melo looks cut and on a mission, though. i think he's going to be damn fierce this season. frankly he's outplaying lebron, who seems content to kick back (fine), hit some sweet passes (also fine) and occasionally go one-on-one from 25 feet out to the rim as is his wont (not that fine).

chris paul is the business, man! i'd barely seen him until the tournament since there was like, one hornets game on national tv last year. provided he and david west are healthy and peja hits some jumpers they seem like a mortal lock for the playoffs. didn't he have them in striking distance last year? and that team was capital-K crap last year.

anyway, international ball. germany next. i fear teh nowitzki but if he couldn't beat wade and the miami moose lodge, he probably can't beat wade and 11 other all stars.

― metonymus prime (rgeary), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 04:43 (nineteen years ago)

yeah melo has really surprised me. i had kinda written him off as a soft, self-satisfied, now-i-have-money-and-fame-so-i-don't-have-to-focus-on-basketball type guy, but i think all the attention on lebron and wade has put a fire under him, to make people take notice of him once again.
paul is indeed great with the ball, but i haven't seen him play a lick of D. maybe he's just been getting caught in bad spots, but everytime he's in it seems that the other team's point guard either penetrates coast-to-coast, or gets a touchdown-pass layup. shit doesn't happen when hinrich is in.

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 16:02 (nineteen years ago)

GREEK TRAGEDY!

(and subsequent nice showing against Argentina.)

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Saturday, 2 September 2006 15:51 (nineteen years ago)

the inability of professional basketball players is both perplexing and infuriating.
wrt team usa, since the problem clearly isn't a lack of talent, here's my idea: take 20 of the best (american, obv) players in the d-league or whoever else is just shy of making it in the nba. assign them to be full-time members of team usa. every weekday morning, they'll grab their lunchpail and head to work as such. shit, maybe after 4 years of practice they'll actually be able to run a play or two. maybe even an effective pick and roll. call me a dreamer. please tell me why this is a moronic idea.

― oops (Oops), Sunday, 3 September 2006 06:58 (nineteen years ago)

or just send the pistons (with ben wallace)

― Sym Sym (sym), Monday, 4 September 2006 19:36 (nineteen years ago)

Or just have a pro coach that knows the personnel do the coaching.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 15:08 (nineteen years ago)

Question: what are the rules differences between international and NBA basketball?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 21:23 (nineteen years ago)

off the top of my head: obv there's the trapezoidal lane. the court is both narrower and shorter. the ball can be smacked off the rim, or tipped/dunked in ie no basket interference. 5 fouls and you're out. travelling rules may be the same, but in int'l play they're actually, y'know, enforced. 3 pt line significantly shorter. after scoring, a player must face towards mecca and salute.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 23:13 (nineteen years ago)

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