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[quote name='Raze Lupin' timestamp='1341250729' post='38261']

ANTHONY DAVIS IS OUT WITH ANKLE INJURY!



http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/221...r_Team_USA

[/quote]

Personally, I really want to see Taj Gibson in team USA!!! <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':thup:' />
[URL="http://www.eonline.com/news/2012_olympics_lamar_odom_will_not_play/327520"]2012 Olympics: Lamar Odom Will Not Play for Team USA[/URL]



Odom having a quick change of heart. He plans to work with a team and prepare for the next season with the Los Angeles Clippers. Yeah USA is F'D
Good news about Odom. He doesn't have the physical size to be able bang with the Spains and Brazils. To me it looks like Cousins is the obvious answer and I don't think that Cousins would take issue with being the 12th man on the bench at this point.
9 PLAYERS CHOSEN FOR FINAL ROSTER!http://www.iamagm.com/news/2012/07/03/usa.basketball.nine.players.chosen.team.lamar.odom.drops.out.anthony.davis.injured
[quote name='skangles' timestamp='1341316609' post='38276']

Good news about Odom. He doesn't have the physical size to be able bang with the Spains and Brazils. To me it looks like Cousins is the obvious answer and I don't think that Cousins would take issue with being the 12th man on the bench at this point.

[/quote]



I disagree we lose depth for one. He played great against Russia, Brazil and Turkey. Lamar Odom played excellent in the 2010 WC. By all reports Odom was getting himself in shape for the Olympics. Defense, rebounding, passing and scoring when needed was all that was required of him and he did it well. In a team of starters and super-stars USA needs role players. Lamar Odom is an excellent role player. With Howard, Bosh, Lemarcus Aldridge, Anthony Davis, all out USA could have used his height and rebounding. USA only has 2 bigs Kevin Love and Tyson Chandler. That is down from the 3 or 4 bigs USA was likey to bring. One of USA advantages was depth! Being able to throw fresh bodies at our opponets would ware them down. We have no front court depth now.
Chris Paul hurt his thumb in practice today but they expect that the injury is minor. Anthony Davis is still in contention for the roster despite his injury.
Iggy and Harden get the last two spots. USA is going with a small ball lineup.



Anthony, Bryant, Chandler, Durant, Griffin, Harden, Iguodala, James, Love, Paul, Westbrook, Williams.



http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/national/roster.html
I'm not upset with the roster. I like it!
[quote name='Raze Lupin' timestamp='1341707484' post='38344']

I'm not upset with the roster. I like it!

[/quote]

Yeah, I would have liked to see another big instead of either Harden or Iguodala just in case Chandler or Love gets injured but otherwise I like it. They're going to be able to run and gun like we've never seen.
[quote name='skangles' timestamp='1341708541' post='38345']

Yeah, I would have liked to see another big instead of either Harden or Iguodala just in case Chandler or Love gets injured but otherwise I like it. They're going to be able to run and gun like we've never seen.

[/quote]



There was no other big available in the player pool after Odom dropped out. Coach K explained that Blake Griffin is the 3rd big. Griffin decision continues the theme of versatility. According to K all the players can play multiple positions except Tyson Chandler(True center) and Chris Paul(True Point guard).



Harden replaced Wade and Eric Gordon. Igudola has team USA equity and he will become the most valuable player on the team because of his defensive versatility. He is a stopper. I'd assign Iggy to Saras, Tony Parker, Manu Ginoboli etc.



My only concern is the front-court. What happens when Tyson Chandler, Blake Griffin, or Kevin Love get in foul trouble? How USA adjusts to that scenario is important. Defensively the front court is thin because other than Tyson Chandler there is no defensive interior presence. Love and Griffin aren't great defenders by American standards. I'm not worried about the rebounding. Every player on this team is a solid to superb rebounder per position.
[quote name='Raze Lupin' timestamp='1341768805' post='38366']

There was no other big available in the player pool after Odom dropped out. Coach K explained that Blake Griffin is the 3rd big. Griffin decision continues the theme of versatility. According to K all the players can play multiple positions except Tyson Chandler(True center) and Chris Paul(True Point guard).



Harden replaced Wade and Eric Gordon. Igudola has team USA equity and he will become the most valuable player on the team because of his defensive versatility. He is a stopper. I'd assign Iggy to Saras, Tony Parker, Manu Ginoboli etc.



My only concern is the front-court. What happens when Tyson Chandler, Blake Griffin, or Kevin Love get in foul trouble? How USA adjusts to that scenario is important. Defensively the front court is thin because other than Tyson Chandler there is no defensive interior presence. Love and Griffin aren't great defenders by American standards. I'm not worried about the rebounding. Every player on this team is a solid to superb rebounder per position.

[/quote]



I agree with this, especially the comment about rebounding. To me Colangelo put his own ego ahead of the what's good for the national team. I sincerely hope it doesn't come back to bite him.



You're right that there was no big in the "player pool", which is some fictitious figment of Colangelo's imagination. Harden wasn't part of the player pool nor was Griffin but these guys are still on the team. Colangelo had Cousins and Favors who are both in Las Vegas as part of the USA select team to scrimmage Team USA. It would have been a cake walk to promote either to the national team. I'm not a huge fan of either player but I would definitely would have given one of them the Christian Laettner 12th seat on the bench for an insurance policy.



Harden and Iguodala are both fine players who will help this team but I don't think that their absence would risk US elimination like an injury to Love or Chandler and no insurance could. In a close game against a large team like Spain or Brazil, I will have no confidence in Griffin's ability to own the paint.
[quote name='skangles' timestamp='1341773307' post='38367']

I agree with this, especially the comment about rebounding. To me Colangelo put his own ego ahead of the what's good for the national team. I sincerely hope it doesn't come back to bite him.



You're right that there was no big in the "player pool", which is some fictitious figment of Colangelo's imagination. Harden wasn't part of the player pool nor was Griffin but these guys are still on the team. Colangelo had Cousins and Favors who are both in Las Vegas as part of the USA select team to scrimmage Team USA. It would have been a cake walk to promote either to the national team. I'm not a huge fan of either player but I would definitely would have given one of them the Christian Laettner 12th seat on the bench for an insurance policy.



Harden and Iguodala are both fine players who will help this team but I don't think that their absence would risk US elimination like an injury to Love or Chandler and no insurance could. In a close game against a large team like Spain or Brazil, I will have no confidence in Griffin's ability to own the paint.

[/quote]



Right on Skangles! Harden is understandable to me but Griffin makes less sense. Cousins, Favors would be better than Griffin. After those guys I'd put Javele McGee, David Lee, and a couple others over Griffin.
So Colangelo has come out and said that Cousins is not mentally mature enough to play for the national team at this point. To me this just reeks of incompetence by Colangelo. If Cousins and Favors aren't mature enough to play for the national team, fine but then why hasn't Colangelo identified quality alternatives in the event that injuries limit his candidates as per the current reality? He simply isn't doing his job.



In my opinion it is a pretty simple role, sit on the bench and come in to clog up the paint if our main players get injured or in foul trouble. If Cousins and Favors aren't qualified to do that, ok, but give us somebody who can. The obvious candidate would have been Roy Hibbert but if he wasn't interested you could have had your pick of the litter of old "mature" vets that can do that role. Vets like Hawes, Okafor or even Birdman Anderson are a dime a dozen but they could be important in certain situations.



EDIT: Good Call with David Lee, Raze. He would have been just fine except for the fact he doesn't defend. That probably could have been covered up with some of the other players though. McGee could have done the trick too but he is one of the lowest IQ players I have ever seen. If Cousins isn't mature enough for this team there is no way that McGee meets the minimum requirements.
Davis Lee is an ok defender. He showed improved skill this passt year. Again you are right their are many other options in NBA, D-league and College ranks. Hell Steisma could play, robin Lopez. USA is full of servicible bigs.
Fiba's made the schedule public so apparently the draw is done. Group's after the OQT are



Group A

USA

Argentina

France

Tunisia

Nigeria

Lithuania



Group B

Spain

Australia

China

Great Britain

Brazil

Russia



http://london2012.fiba.com/pages/eng.../schedule.html
Since it is a slow day let's throw out a few questions.



1) The US plays the Dominican Republic on Thursday. After the DR crashed and burned in Caracas what will we see from them?



This could go either way, they could be motivated to show that the DR deserves to be ranked with basketball powers and as this is the USA's first competitive game in 2012 they may be able to catch them off guard and make a game of it.



Or they may be totally deflated and decide to use the game as a wild hooker filled trip to Vegas at which point the US will wipe the floor with them.



2) There are a lot of debates ongoing about whether the 2012 team is as good as the dream team. This is both premature and totally ridiculous so here is a better question: If you have the 1992 and 2012 player pools at your disposal what is your 12 man team? I'm happy to include injured players like Rose, Dwight, Wade and Bosh in the discussion to make it more interesting.



I think that the Dream Team is becoming underrated because we want to convince ourselves that what we have now is better than what we had then. The truth is contrary and for me the better question is which players from 2012 could earn their way onto the Dream Team?



In my opinion LeBron and Durant are absolute beasts and can match up with anyone on the Dream Team. Laettner is an easy spot to give up and sorry Mullin you're not LeBron or Durant. My next debate is Kobe vs Drexler. It's not that easy as Clyde was a stud and really you can't go wrong but I'll give the edge to Kobe. Nobody else from 2012 can overtake the incumbent and while I'm a bit thin at PG so was the Dream Team. I'll call on Pippen to play Point Forward if necessary.



Thus my team would be:



Magic / Stockton

Jordan / Kobe

Durant / Pippen / Bird

LeBron / Barkley / Malone

Robinson / Ewing
[quote name='skangles' timestamp='1341955328' post='38390']

Since it is a slow day let's throw out a few questions.



1) The US plays the Dominican Republic on Thursday. After the DR crashed and burned in Caracas what will we see from them?



This could go either way, they could be motivated to show that the DR deserves to be ranked with basketball powers and as this is the USA's first competitive game in 2012 they may be able to catch them off guard and make a game of it.



Or they may be totally deflated and decide to use the game as a wild hooker filled trip to Vegas at which point the US will wipe the floor with them.



2) There are a lot of debates ongoing about whether the 2012 team is as good as the dream team. This is both premature and totally ridiculous so here is a better question: If you have the 1992 and 2012 player pools at your disposal what is your 12 man team? I'm happy to include injured players like Rose, Dwight, Wade and Bosh in the discussion to make it more interesting.



I think that the Dream Team is becoming underrated because we want to convince ourselves that what we have now is better than what we had then. The truth is contrary and for me the better question is which players from 2012 could earn their way onto the Dream Team?



In my opinion LeBron and Durant are absolute beasts and can match up with anyone on the Dream Team. Laettner is an easy spot to give up and sorry Mullin you're not LeBron or Durant. My next debate is Kobe vs Drexler. It's not that easy as Clyde was a stud and really you can't go wrong but I'll give the edge to Kobe. Nobody else from 2012 can overtake the incumbent and while I'm a bit thin at PG so was the Dream Team. I'll call on Pippen to play Point Forward if necessary.



Thus my team would be:



Magic / Stockton

Jordan / Kobe

Durant / Pippen / Bird

LeBron / Barkley / Malone

Robinson / Ewing

[/quote]





D.R. is acting as a scout team. John Calapari said he told coach K he would play whatever style was needed. It will be a full level scrimmage game. USA will use Calapari and DR experience and data from the OQT. NBA TV showed over 2 hours of team USA practice. including a scrimmage with the select team. It will reair this evening. The real test will be Brazil.
[quote name='Raze Lupin' timestamp='1342049904' post='38394']

D.R. is acting as a scout team. John Calapari said he told coach K he would play whatever style was needed. It will be a full level scrimmage game. USA will use Calapari and DR experience and data from the OQT. NBA TV showed over 2 hours of team USA practice. including a scrimmage with the select team. It will reair this evening. The real test will be Brazil.

[/quote]



Shoot I don't get NBATV. Did you watch the scrimmage? Anything noteworthy? I saw that Kyrie Irving was tearing them apart a few days ago. It's a shame that he is in the US Select team, I would have rather seen him in the Olympics with the Boomers.
BLAKE GRIFFIN twisted his knee during practice and is most likely out of team USA. Anthony Davis has been called up. Yahoo news is reporting this.
ESPN confirms Blake is out. http://forums.interbasket.net/showthread...post715855



Quote: Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin injured his knee during a scrimmage at Team USA training camp and is returning to Los Angeles to be examined by the Clippers' doctors, Yahoo! Sports reported.



Yahoo! Sports reports that Griffin "twisted" his knee and is expected to undergo an MRI exam as soon as Thursday. The website said the severity of Griffin's knee injury was unclear.



New Orleans Hornets rookie Anthony Davis, the NBA's 2012 No. 1 overall pick out of Kentucky, has been asked to report to Team USA training camp in Las Vegas "immediately," Yahoo! Sports reported.



Griffin signed a five-year extension with the Clippers that could be worth as much as $95 million on Wednesday.



Griffin averaged 20.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 66 games last season, helping the Clippers to a 40-26 record -- their first winning season since 2005-06 and their first playoff berth since then, as well. They beat Memphis in the first round, with Griffin averaging 18.0 points and 6.4 rebounds, before losing to San Antonio in the conference semifinals.



Davis had been added to the Hornets' summer league roster on Monday.



Davis was in Las Vegas last week for U.S. Olympic team tryouts, but a sore left ankle hampered his already slim chances to make the 12-man roster for the London Games.



The 6-foot-11 Davis had been listed as an Olympic alternate.

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