OT: US squeaks by Brazil without Nene and Varejao

[Rastapopoulos]

Anyone watch it? Brazil had two chances to tie in the final seconds. Durant was the best player on the floor, but the next two were probably Splitter (who is excellent - the Spurs should be interesting) and their PG Huertas. That guy is GREAT. I can see why Caja Laboral (which has both Brazilian players) was able to upset Barcelona in the ACB finals this year.

Brazil would have won if they hadn't gone COMPLETELY cold in the fourth. Rose was a deer in the headlights. I think this is a game where they missed Rondo. Chauncey made up for it a bit though - he was a rock when the US needed it. Can we get him, please?

 

[andalusian]

I got to watch most of the 2nd half. One of the reasons I do not bemoan the Oden vs. Durant pick still - is that Durant showed you exactly why he is one of the best scorers to ever set a foot on a basketball court, and also that he has no way to make any of his teammates better.

I know people say how he will be the best player in the NBA in 3 years - but what LeBron has over this guy, any day of the week and twice on Tuesday - is the ability to make his teammates much better.

This USA team is not good. It will be a big surprise if they make it to the finals game, imho.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I got to watch most of the 2nd half. One of the reasons I do not bemoan the Oden vs. Durant pick still - is that Durant showed you exactly why he is one of the best scorers to ever set a foot on a basketball court, and also that he has no way to make any of his teammates better.

I agree. If anything, he seems to make his teammates more timid. However, I will say that he puts much more of an effort in on defense these days, and gets a lot of deflections with those ridiculous arms of his. However, that's not to say that he's a good defender - he got faked out easily by fairly slow players this game. He's certainly no LeBron, even if, right now, he seems a lot more lovable.

 

[tlongII]

This USA team is good enough to win the gold. Easily.

 

[retroblazers]

why is the title US squeaks by Brazil without nene and varejao, couldn't it also say, Brazil loses to US without lebron, kobe, wade, bosh, howard, etc?

 

[Rastapopoulos]

This USA team is not good. It will be a big surprise if they make it to the finals game, imho.

I think the reason they should still be favorites is because, overall, they have a much better team defense than usual. However, a smart veteran team with good ball handlers and outside shooters always stands a chance. They destroyed Greece in the pre-tournament game. If they play in the tournament, though, I think it'll be a much different story. (And I wonder if Brazil held out Varejao because they didn't want to show everything they had.)

Incidentally, what did you think of Huertas?

 

[Rastapopoulos]

why is the title US squeaks by Brazil without nene and varejao, couldn't it also say, Brazil loses to US without lebron, kobe, wade, bosh, howard, etc?

Fair enough. Of course, as I've said before, let's compare payrolls of the teams, shall we?

 

[Rastapopoulos]

This USA team is good enough to win the gold. Easily.

That should always be true of any US team. The question is, will they? And given that they just have to screw up once, and some of the US players (Iguodala and Odom in particular) seem to have forgotten how to score altogether (both bricked absolutely completely totally wide open layups on more than one occasion), I think they're easily capable of doing that.

 

[andalusian]

Incidentally, what did you think of Huertas?

Smart player. Could be a nice NBA PG, if this game is indicative.

 

[maxiep]

Quick question: Are these the players we're taking to the 2012 Olympics? Or are the big name players sitting out now and joining the team later in the process?

 

[hasoos]

Somebody cares about the olympics?

 

[illmatic99]

I was sorta busy and couldn't watch the games this morning, but I did hear that Patty completely beasted in his game. Any of you have first hand reports?

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Splitter was impressive. He really reminds me of Brook Lopez.

 

[zeded]

I was sorta busy and couldn't watch the games this morning, but I did hear that Patty completely beasted in his game. Any of you have first hand reports?

I watched. Patty was tremendous. He was bombing from 3-4 feet outside the line. Slashing and finding open mates. And he played some not bad defense against a German back court that I wouldn't think of as being any better than an average to poor US college team. His plus/minus must have been huge ++. When he was out, things were kind of even, but when he was in they doubled up the score.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Splitter was impressive. He really reminds me of Brook Lopez.

Splitter is also a whiner (at least he was today), was playing against a team with no legit post defenders, and looks vaguely like Ashton Kutcher. He's good, but he's not any better than Luis Scola (who was dominant today, BTW).

 

[BGrantFan]

I got to watch most of the 2nd half. One of the reasons I do not bemoan the Oden vs. Durant pick still - is that Durant showed you exactly why he is one of the best scorers to ever set a foot on a basketball court, and also that he has no way to make any of his teammates better.

I know people say how he will be the best player in the NBA in 3 years - but what LeBron has over this guy, any day of the week and twice on Tuesday - is the ability to make his teammates much better.

This USA team is not good. It will be a big surprise if they make it to the finals game, imho.

So, your criticism of a 21 year-old Kevin Durant is that he isn't as good as LeBron James? What does that have to do with Greg Oden?

 

[illmatic99]

I watched. Patty was tremendous. He was bombing from 3-4 feet outside the line. Slashing and finding open mates. And he played some not bad defense against a German back court that I wouldn't think of as being any better than an average to poor US college team. His plus/minus must have been huge ++. When he was out, things were kind of even, but when he was in they doubled up the score.

Thanks, sounds promising for his chances to make the team.

 

[MickZagger]

So, your criticism of a 21 year-old Kevin Durant is that he isn't as good as LeBron James? What does that have to do with Greg Oden?

Your so full of shit, your eyes are brown.

 

[andalusian]

So, your criticism of a 21 year-old Kevin Durant is that he isn't as good as LeBron James? What does that have to do with Greg Oden?

It's not really a criticism of Durant, it's support for a decision not to pick him over a guy that to me, still, looks like a better cornerstone for a championship run (health permitting).

Of course, if injuries derail it, it was a bad pick - but at this point I still think that if Greg can stay healthy (which I hope he does) - it was the right pick.

If anything, the real criticism is for the people that think Durant will be the best player in the NBA in the upcoming years, something I just do not see happening for a while, given that LeBron is not on the decline.

 

[BGrantFan]

It's not a criticism of Durant, it's support for a decision not to pick him over a guy that to me, still, looks like a better cornerstone for a championship run (health permiting).

Of course, if injuries derail it, it was a bad pick - but at this point I still think that if Greg can stay healthy (which I hope he does) - it was the right pick.

Wouldn't it be a bit premature to say that Durant doesn't make his teammates better? Granted, his team was flukish last year in terms of injury, but he averaged 30 ppg/8 rpg/3 apg/1 spg/1 bpg/ 26 PER/ 16.1 WS on a 50-win team. He did this at the age of 21. I hope Greg pans out as much as anyone, but ripping on Durant for going for 27/10 against Brazil today in a win seems like a stretch. It's possible that both can be great players, and that both can be great draft picks, but at this point, it's not Durant who needs to prove that he was worth his pick.

 

[BGrantFan]

Your so full of shit, your eyes are brown.

u r boring

 

[andalusian]

Wouldn't it be a bit premature to say that Durant doesn't make his teammates better? Granted, his team was flukish last year in terms of injury, but he averaged 30 ppg/8 rpg/3 apg/1 spg/1 bpg/ 26 PER/ 16.1 WS on a 50-win team. He did this at the age of 21. I hope Greg pans out as much as anyone, but ripping on Durant for going for 27/10 against Brazil today in a win seems like a stretch. It's possible that both can be great players, and that both can be great draft picks, but at this point, it's not Durant who needs to prove that he was worth his pick.

This was observation from today's game that is not different from my prior observations - when Durant plays and dominates the ball as he does, his teammates do not seem to play better than I have seen them without it. It was certainly the case today for Rose, Iggy, Rudy Gay, Odom - things seem to stagnate and he mostly gets the ball and goes to the basket somehow.

It is criticism, valid one, imho, and does not change the fact that he is one of the greatest scorers to ever set foot on a basketball court as I said in the original post. Unless he can become a better facilitator and much better defender - which he could still do - I do not see him as the main-cog of a championship team - but as a T-Mac/D-Wilkins kind of guy.

On the other hand, based on what we have seen of a dominant Greg in the 21 games before he went down last year, I do believe the Blazers, with a healthy Greg, are contenders immediatly.

As usual, YMMV.

 

[JDC]

Exciting game. Most of the 4th was hard to watch but the end made up for it.

USA has a good chance to win gold, but their half-court execution is still terrible and they're vulnerable on defense against a team with solid ball handlers and a post threat.

Splitter was a mixed bag for me.

He's great on both sides of the floor in the PNR where he really moves his feet well and has good instincts, but I don't think he's going to be a huge threat offensively next season for the Spurs. He has no range and his post-game doesn't translate well to the NBA (His footwork is solid but slow and methodical and his release points are low on both his turnaround and his hooks). He also doesn't seem to be a great finisher in traffic.

Overall I see him as a decently efficient, low usage offensive player, with solid rebounding and defense.

He will probably start for the Spurs, and be an upgrade for their front court, but I don't see a huge impact player, at least not right away.

 

[Minstrel]

It is criticism, valid one, imho, and does not change the fact that he is one of the greatest scorers to ever set foot on a basketball court as I said in the original post. Unless he can become a better facilitator and much better defender - which he could still do - I do not see him as the main-cog of a championship team - but as a T-Mac/D-Wilkins kind of guy.

McGrady was a great passer and facilitator for a wing. He wasn't a "main cog" on a championship team because he never, in his healthy prime, had the talent around him to be on a championship-level team.

Durant resembles Kobe and McGrady as a scorer, but not as a passer or, IMO, as a defender. He's probably a bit better a rebounder though.

 

[JDC]

Durant is going to have to get much better with the ball in his hands if wants to be number 1 on a championship team. We saw in the playoffs that he tends to settle for contested jumpers and become bit turnover prone when used mainly as an Iso scorer in the half-court.

 

[BGrantFan]

Durant is going to have to get much better with the ball in his hands if wants to be number 1 on a championship team. We saw in the playoffs that he tends to settle for contested jumpers and become bit turnover prone when used mainly as an Iso scorer in the half-court.

I agree, but how many 21 year-old players finish 2nd in the voting for MVP? With Durant's work ethic, and barring injury, we're going to see a Tier 5 Pyramid player (stolen from Simmons' brilliant idea for the Hall of Fame) within the next 5 years.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Splitter is also a whiner (at least he was today), was playing against a team with no legit post defenders, and looks vaguely like Ashton Kutcher. He's good, but he's not any better than Luis Scola (who was dominant today, BTW).

Of course he's not better than Scola! Scola is the best post player in the entire tournament. But he's a lot younger, and he's taller, so he has a chance to be as good. Brook Lopez is a very apt comparison, only Brook Lopez with a history of winning big games in the pros. (So Splitter is the best Center in the entire tournament, but that's not saying all that much.)

It's funny: the only position that I think you can say the US has clearly the best player in the tournament is at SF. Maybe if Rose counts as a SG, he'd be in the running for that, since Ginobili isn't playing, although probably Navarro is more important to his team. So the US is winning on depth and athleticism and defense.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I watched. Patty was tremendous. He was bombing from 3-4 feet outside the line. Slashing and finding open mates. And he played some not bad defense against a German back court that I wouldn't think of as being any better than an average to poor US college team. His plus/minus must have been huge ++. When he was out, things were kind of even, but when he was in they doubled up the score.

Patty is so hot and cold. He put up big numbers in the first half against Argentina (when I wasn't watching), but I was disappointed watching him in the second half. He was jacking it up way too much and not running plays. Meanwhile Prigioni was picking Australia apart without shooting (except for a clutch three near the end). Watching that game, which should have been a great day for the Aussies, actually made me okay with letting Patty go.

In general I love how a lot of international PGs play. Not just the usual Spanish suspects (actually just Rubio - Lopez is terrible) but Prigioni, Huertas and the Greeks in particular. Always moving the ball and more concerned with precision bounce passes (sometimes through traffic) than jacking it up. The contrast with players like Rose and Westbrook is eye-opening. Obviously Rose and Westbrook are made for the NBA game, but I can see why some international fans don't like the NBA style for that reason.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Durant is going to have to get much better with the ball in his hands if wants to be number 1 on a championship team. We saw in the playoffs that he tends to settle for contested jumpers and become bit turnover prone when used mainly as an Iso scorer in the half-court.

8 turnovers today! To be fair, at least a couple were the old international travel calls that would never be called in the NBA.

 

[The Professional Fan]

Durant's defense went a long, long way to the American's pulling this game out.