FIBA Worlds thread

[Rastapopoulos]

Nic and Vic in their respective training camps.

[video=youtube;HmjIWIJrJ8Q]

 

[THE HCP]

Somebody find me the TV schedule.....I'm busy working'!

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Somebody find me the TV schedule.....I'm busy working'!

Relax, it doesn't start for a while

 

[THE HCP]

gotcha

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Casey Holdhahl article about Victor's role for Spain

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I kinda hope Victor gets more of a run at SF for Spain. We have a big hole (sorry Dorell-lovers) behind Batum at SF, and Victor was always seen as one coming up:
[video=youtube;IKKVh40m-FA]

 

[tester551]

I just hope he finds confidence in his shot & keeps it into training camp & through the season.

 

[riverman]

Smart basketball player. I think Victor is the most underrated guy on the bench. Just needs confidence in his shot.

 

[riverman]

Will France take this without Parker on the roster?

 

[Rastapopoulos]

According to this, France play traditional basketball powerhouse Belgium on Wednesday!

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Will France take this without Parker on the roster?

Unlikely anyway, but as the US are playing...

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Enjoy.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Is Victor getting a bit of a widow's peak?

 

[jlprk]

Claver

http://www.fiba.com/esp--orenga-maintains-confidence-in-claver

 

[HailBlazers]

Would love to see Claver used more this year:

Blake
CJ/Barton
Claver
T-Rob/Leonard
Kaman

 

[Rastapopoulos]

It was a mystery to me why he didn't play more this past season. Did he run over Stotts' dog?

 

[illmatic99]

It was a mystery to me why he didn't play more this past season. Did he run over Stotts' dog?

Stotts seems to like guys who can shoot (or at least have a history of being able to shoot). It's why Wright played over Claver, why Joel often played over TRob, and why Meyers even sniffed some of the PT that he did.

It's a flawed argument by Terry as he kinda disregarded all the other things Vic and TRob id better than Wright and Joel respectively

 

[VanillaGorilla]

It was a mystery to me why he didn't play more this past season. Did he run over Stotts' dog?

Why should he have played more? Even though Wright was a disappointment, there's no reason to think Claver would have done better.

 

[maxiep]

So, who on Spain's team is going to punch Nico in the nuts? Do they have Claver do it? Rudy? Sergio?

 

[maxiep]

For the record, I love Claver's game. However, he needs to lose some weight and work on his footspeed. He's not going to make it in this league as a stretch 4, but rather as a big three.

 

[BBert]

So, who on Spain's team is going to punch Nico in the nuts? Do they have Claver do it? Rudy? Sergio?

My money is on an "accidental" knee. Nico probably doesn't want to stand in for a charge defending a fast break. I don't think it will be one of those three.

 

[HailBlazers]

Stotts seems to like guys who can shoot (or at least have a history of being able to shoot). It's why Wright played over Claver, why Joel often played over TRob, and why Meyers even sniffed some of the PT that he did.

Keep forgetting about Wright, if only we could give Claver his three point shot.

 

[illmatic99]

So, who on Spain's team is going to punch Nico in the nuts? Do they have Claver do it? Rudy? Sergio?

If he weren't one of Nic's buddies, I'd say Ibaka. And Nic is close with the three you mentioned as well, so it won't be them. I'm thinking one of their scrub goons like Mumbru will do it.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

For the record, I love Claver's game. However, he needs to lose some weight and work on his footspeed. He's not going to make it in this league as a stretch 4, but rather as a big three.

I agree, but wasn't it the Blazers' idea that he should become a stretch 4? Or was that just because that's what he played for Spain last time, because Pau wasn't around.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Vamos!

I love that they have a beer plastered across the front of the national team's jersey...

 

[riverman]

It's gotta be tough coming to the bench in the NBA after being a rotation player in Spain. Rudy, Rubio, Sergio, Victor...and even Freeland played in Spain. If I'm not mistaken the FIBA MVP for back to back years was Scola. Victor can shoot. He's just spent way too much time in a suit with a DNP on the roster. Maybe he did run over Stotts dog but I think it's more a serious language barrier..he struggles to communicate in english and probably even comprehending what coaches scream out from the sidelines. He is a very, very smart defender and I agree he could lose some weight and play the 3. He said the 3 is his natural position

 

[Rhal]

It's gotta be tough coming to the bench in the NBA after being a rotation player in Spain. Rudy, Rubio, Sergio, Victor...and even Freeland played in Spain. If I'm not mistaken the FIBA MVP for back to back years was Scola. Victor can shoot. He's just spent way too much time in a suit with a DNP on the roster. Maybe he did run over Stotts dog but I think it's more a serious language barrier..he struggles to communicate in english and probably even comprehending what coaches scream out from the sidelines. He is a very, very smart defender and I agree he could lose some weight and play the 3. He said the 3 is his natural position

Its pretty simply the fact wasn't hitting any shots at all last year. He played smart when he got minutes and wasn't bad but he just couldn't hit a three to save his life. Stotts seemed to care less about D or anything else if you could hit the three.

 

[Draco]

His shooting was bad. He got a few minutes in the playoffs and couldn't make his fee throws. To bad because he does so much other stuff well.

His best game was at backup center when LMA, Trob, Freeland and Meyers were all injured. Instead of trying to make him a slow SF should he be a Boris Diaw style big man?

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Kevin Love announced today that he was dropping out (because of his trade situation, supposedly) and Blake Griffin announced earlier, and Aldridge earlier than that. Apparently the starter for the US team will be Kenneth Faried. Meanwhile, Spain has a frontcourt rotation of Gasol, Gasol and Ibaka.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Its pretty simply the fact wasn't hitting any shots at all last year. He played smart when he got minutes and wasn't bad but he just couldn't hit a three to save his life. Stotts seemed to care less about D or anything else if you could hit the three.

His shooting was bad. He got a few minutes in the playoffs and couldn't make his fee throws.

I was going to say this must be a confidence issue, because he was a good shooter in Spain, but then I checked the stats, and he wasn't that great. He shot around 35% from 3 over his career, but his FT% is worryingly low. Hmm. He needs to hire a shot coach and just work on that relentlessly. Didn't Przybilla dramatically improve his FT% over his career? So it is possible.