Team USA Announced: Harden, Griffin, Iguodala added

[VanillaGorilla]

NBA.com article

Roster
Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers)
Deron Williams (Brooklyn Nets)
Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)
James Harden (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers)
Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)
LeBron James (Miami Heat)
Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers)
Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks)

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Have they not noticed igoudala and his decline?

{Poasted via palm pilot}

 

[DaLincolnJones]

Have they not noticed igoudala and his decline?

{Poasted via palm pilot}

repped

bah spread around block pfffft

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

CP3, Westbrook, and Williams... Durant, Lebron, Anthony... how the hell are they gonna find enough playing time!

 

[bigbailes]

I have a feeling you'll see A LOT of LeBron at the 4 spot especially with a lack of bigs on this team. Why not run a starting lineup of CP3, Kobe, Durant, LBJ, and Chandler out there with Anothny your sixth man.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

CP3, Westbrook, and Williams... Durant, Lebron, Anthony... how the hell are they gonna find enough playing time!

Games will be over at halftime

{Poasted via palm pilot}

 

[Draco]

I'm extremely excited to watch these games. So much better than all-star events.

It'll be the most talented team that has taken a court in at least the last 4 years.

 

[Draco]

I have a feeling you'll see A LOT of LeBron at the 4 spot especially with a lack of bigs on this team. Why not run a starting lineup of CP3, Kobe, Durant, LBJ, and Chandler out there with Anothny your sixth man.

Is it even possible to have a bad lineup with this team? I think they could pick numbers out of a hat and still kick ass HAHA

 

[bigbailes]

Is it even possible to have a bad lineup with this team? I think they could pick numbers out of a hat and still kick ass HAHA

yes but do you not agree that is the best starting five? I do think the Spanish team might give them a run because of their size inside but there isn't much doubt in my mind, or just about anyone's it seems, that the gold is ours to lose this summer.

 

[RedHotRollin]

NBA.com article

Roster
Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers)
Deron Williams (Brooklyn Nets)
Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)
James Harden (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers)
Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)
LeBron James (Miami Heat)
Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers)
Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks)

Team lacks size.

 

[OregonHuskerMan]

CP3/Kobe/Lebron/Love/Chandler (Against Spain). No one can fuck with Love's rebounding.

 

[KingSpeed]

Team lacks SERIOUS size. Love/Chandler have to play major minutes. If one of them gets hurt, we're screwed. It's too bad LaMarcus can't play. They need him and it would've been cool to see one of our own play.

 

[KingSpeed]

Where's Roy Hibbert, by the way? They could use him Bigtime.

 

[KingSpeed]

A he plays on Jamaican team. But he was born in NY.

 

[Draco]

Team lacks SERIOUS size. Love/Chandler have to play major minutes. If one of them gets hurt, we're screwed. It's too bad LaMarcus can't play. They need him and it would've been cool to see one of our own play.

I agree they'd be better with 1 more center, but I don't think its a very big deal. Lebron played PF in the finals he can easily do that against some Euro's. Carmelo and Durant can play PF too. Those players are all great rebounders. Then you have Love and Griffin.

Now if Chandler gets dinged up they will be without a shotblocker to patrol the paint. With all the athletes and depth they should do a bunch of pressing and fast break all game. Should be very exciting.

 

[Draco]

yes but do you not agree that is the best starting five? I do think the Spanish team might give them a run because of their size inside but there isn't much doubt in my mind, or just about anyone's it seems, that the gold is ours to lose this summer.

No I like your starting five. I was just impressed how stacked the whole roster is.

Such a contrast from those years (2004?) when Iverson was ball hoging surrounded by a team of terrible shooters.

 

[Mediocre Man]

A he plays on Jamaican team. But he was born in NY.

Obama was born in Kenya, but he is our President. Birth place is over rated

 

[bigbailes]

No I like your starting five. I was just impressed how stacked the whole roster is.

Such a contrast from those years (2004?) when Iverson was ball hoging surrounded by a team of terrible shooters.

yea, those teams were brutal to watch. It will be interesting moving forward if some of the top NBA guys stop playing for team USA and we revert back to the 2nd tier players. As it is this will be another fun one to watch, if only to see how much they blow teams out. And hopefully its US/Spain in a rematch for the gold again.

 

[NOVoodoo]

Team USA should be the favorite and will probably win, but I have had some concerns.

Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Jorge Garbajosa is an intimidating frontline for Team USA. It shouldn't be, but it is.

Does anyone else get the impression that a lot of the better American players embellished their injuries? I'm pissed that Bynum just flat out said that he didn't want to play, but at least he was honest. I feel like a lot of other American players are being disingenuous.

Another thing... wouldn't you have liked to see Greg Monroe or Demarcus Cousins be given a chance to play? I know that Cousins is a "headcase," but we're talking about less than a month of Olympic play here, and his talent is bigger than his attitude, given the stakes. Moreso, what's the problem with Monroe? Given our lack of size, why ask Anthony Davis to try-out but not consider Monroe after coming off of a very impressive sophomore campaign? He's a legit 6'11", 250 lbs. Center who has done nothing but improve.

Also, where was the invitation for Zach Randolph? I know he was hurt for most of the year, but he started to get back into form during the Clippers' playoff series (19/10 and 18/16 in back-to-back wins). He pretty much dominated Griffin when given the opportunity. The biggest questions about his play during the playoffs were about his health and physical shape, not his post skills. In other words, he couldn't be effective for extended minutes coming back from his injury but still dominated in the minutes he played. However, in the Olympics, he'd only have to play 10-20 minutes. Was he even considered? And if not, why? When healthy (which he was at the end of the season), he's a legitimate 20/10 low-post anchor on the NBA level, and this team which seems desperate for post players completely overlooked him.

Tyson Chandler is a decent center, but as our likely starting center, he's probably the worst we've had in years. He's an overrated defender. He's good, but he couldn't score twenty points in an open gym, and his defense doesn't compensate for that.

As for Roy Hibbert, doesn't it seem like he capitalized on his ancestry to get a potential Olympic roster spot, as if he was assuming that he would never be talented enough to make Team USA? Given his prospects as a player in his earlier twenties, he probably never thought he would have been good enough to make Team USA, and so he joined Jamaican's national team. Just a theory, but it makes sense to me. It's sort of like how Kyrie Irving was seriously contemplating playing for Australia until he realized he could be a legitimate Team USA prospect and therefore withdrew his name to "save himself" for American competition.

I've had conversations with friends where they cite the core of LeBron-Wade-Durant-Kobe-etc., but those players will have to play out of position to compensate for our lack of frontcourt depth. Most people assume that just accumulating that many big names will create wins, but it could also realistically create logjams and issues with the team's offensive flow. I'm just thinking back to the 2006 World Championships where Team USA only took the Bronze, we lost to a Greek team without any real NBA prospects, and we still had LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade,... AND we had size in the frontcourt with Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, and Elton Brand (in his prime).

I'm glad that we chose Iguodala over Gay though. Iguodala's play may be seen as "declining," but his spot on the roster was basically won over Rudy Gay, and I just didn't see where Gay would fit on the roster. He's a one-dimensional scorer who would be added to a roster full of really adept scorers. Iguodala doesn't have the best jumper in the game, but anyone who has watched Gay for an extended period knows that he shouldn't be trusted shooting the ball unless it's on a drive to the basket. At least Iggy can add some defense that Gay can't.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

It's absolutely ridiculous that Anthony Davis was even considered for team USA. As mentioned, there are so many better bigs.

 

[NOVoodoo]

It's absolutely ridiculous that Anthony Davis was even considered for team USA. As mentioned, there are so many better bigs.

I agree. Anthony Davis would be a great addition to Team USA (better than guys like James Harden at least), but you have to wonder why other players weren't seriously considered over Davis. How come Davis got to jump right to Team USA auditions, but Cousins and Monroe were ignored and designated to the practice squad?

Cousins and Monroe are actively participating on the "Select Team" (aka the practice squad/JV version of Team USA). Demarcus Cousins, despite his attitude problems, was actually gung-ho about representing his country in the Olympics. He was looking past his "Select Team" designation and still trying to get a call-up to the real team.

None the less, we enter the Olympics with a lack of size in our frontcourt. Thanks, Jerry and Mike...

 

[roywonder07]

and this is why Griffin was added...
[video=youtube;hUSPDDpNUH4]

 

[Sedatedfork]

i wonder if MWP is going to troll Harden on twitter during the olympics like he did during the finals.

 

[jlprk]

Have they not noticed igoudala and his decline?

His whole NBA reputation has increased because Coach K praises him so much. So of course he's back.

CP3, Westbrook, and Williams... Durant, Lebron, Anthony... how the hell are they gonna find enough playing time!

And in only a 40-minute game.

 

[Minstrel]

I've had conversations with friends where they cite the core of LeBron-Wade-Durant-Kobe-etc., but those players will have to play out of position to compensate for our lack of frontcourt depth.

I don't think power forward counts as "out of position" for James anymore. I think his game has naturally evolved to the point that it might make sense for him to play that position long-term.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Roy should be on the team in place of Harden.

 

[Minstrel]

Roy should be on the team in place of Harden.

I dunno, Brandon's knees are kinda shot even though he unretired just in time.

 

[bigbailes]

I'd rather run LBJ at the 4 then bring in Cousins or Monroe. With LeBron in the post that opens up the wings for Kobe/Wade/Durant etc and takes care of the log jam of guards. As noted Spain could give us problems but you counter the lack of size by playing aggressive D on their guards and forcing difficult passes into the post, and disrupts their movement off the ball.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

and this is why Griffin was added...

Not impressed

 

[Minstrel]

Not impressed

Don't you mean:

Not.

Impressed.