World Championship Update
It’s time to switch gears from Phish back to basketball and get ready for what should be an exciting NBA season. I was still on tour when Team USA started up their training but I have managed to watch all three World Championship games thus far plus a few of the friendlies leading up to the tournament.
Here’s my take on the state of affairs…
This team plays hard and really hustles. It’s not above them if they have to out work the opposition to get the win. This attitude has led them to be able to pretty much out-athletic everyone they face and is the main reason I like watching them play.
USA has the best #1 scoring option in entire tournament in Kevin Durant as well as the best #2 option in Derrick Rose. Chauncey Billups plays the Jason Kidd veteran leader role and Andre Iguodala is the team’s defensive stopper. The bench has also been good with Rudy Gay providing instant offense, Russell Westbrook energy and insane athleticism, Eric Gordon shooting and Kevin Love rebounding.
Now to the bad; we are really, really small across the front line as Tiago Splitter showed in the Brazil game. Lamar Odom is NOT a staring center in ANY league. He just doesn’t have the beef to bang with the big boys possession after possession. Tyson Chandler flat out plays like he has no clue what a foul is and can’t make a shot from anywhere on the court. Which leaves Love as our best option to defend big men, and the fact that I even typed that says a lot.
We also are inconsistent from the 3-point line (as usual), but our biggest problem by far is turnovers. This team needs to embrace the old John Wooden axiom of “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” This especially applies to Iguodala, Rose and Gordon. This version of Team USA also takes far too many quick/bad shots early in the shot clock. There’s nothing wrong with pushing the ball, backing it out and running some half court offense.
If we can keep our turnovers down and not get killed in the paint we will be in every game regardless of our shooting/offense. But make no mistake; we will be tested in the knockout round and probably more than once if we make it to the gold medal game.
And just for the record, Splitter and Ricky Rubio (Spain) are NBA ready right now.
Here’s my take on the state of affairs…
This team plays hard and really hustles. It’s not above them if they have to out work the opposition to get the win. This attitude has led them to be able to pretty much out-athletic everyone they face and is the main reason I like watching them play.
USA has the best #1 scoring option in entire tournament in Kevin Durant as well as the best #2 option in Derrick Rose. Chauncey Billups plays the Jason Kidd veteran leader role and Andre Iguodala is the team’s defensive stopper. The bench has also been good with Rudy Gay providing instant offense, Russell Westbrook energy and insane athleticism, Eric Gordon shooting and Kevin Love rebounding.
Now to the bad; we are really, really small across the front line as Tiago Splitter showed in the Brazil game. Lamar Odom is NOT a staring center in ANY league. He just doesn’t have the beef to bang with the big boys possession after possession. Tyson Chandler flat out plays like he has no clue what a foul is and can’t make a shot from anywhere on the court. Which leaves Love as our best option to defend big men, and the fact that I even typed that says a lot.
We also are inconsistent from the 3-point line (as usual), but our biggest problem by far is turnovers. This team needs to embrace the old John Wooden axiom of “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” This especially applies to Iguodala, Rose and Gordon. This version of Team USA also takes far too many quick/bad shots early in the shot clock. There’s nothing wrong with pushing the ball, backing it out and running some half court offense.
If we can keep our turnovers down and not get killed in the paint we will be in every game regardless of our shooting/offense. But make no mistake; we will be tested in the knockout round and probably more than once if we make it to the gold medal game.
And just for the record, Splitter and Ricky Rubio (Spain) are NBA ready right now.
posted by D$ at 7:40 AM
2 Comments:
Very sound write up...however, Rubio is not NBA ready IMO. I'm a believer he will be an average NBA player at best....
*Mediocre stats internationally and in his Spanish League
*Horrible defender
*Poor shooter
*More turnover prone than the entire US Team combined
Seems to be more flash than substance......
By NBA ready I mean he would be a contributor on most teams immediately...at least as a backup.
I'm not big on international stats and how they translate, but you are right about that.
The shooting is obvious as his technique is not good. His feet are too close together (needs a wider base) and his elbow tilts in towards his chest rather than going straight up and down.
Where we differ is on his defense and turnovers. He's a gambler in both areas. If people say Allen Iverson is a good defender because of how he plays the passing lanes, well Rubio is the same. He'd rather make a big steal than play solid positional D.
Same with the passing. He prefers the spectacular over the solid in almost every situation. I don't view either of these as fatal flaws though. With some experience and good coaching both of those can be corrected. Plus he seems to have a good BBIQ and will understand those plays don't fly in the NBA with time.
Now will he get what he needs to be successful in Minnesota under the Taylor/Kahn/Rambis regime? I kinda doubt it
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