Named as finalists for the USA World Championship Team were Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets); Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks); Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers); Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers); Jeff Green (Oklahoma City Thunder); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves); Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers); Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).
The 2010-12 USA National Team coaching staff is led by Duke University’s Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, and features as USA assistant coaches Syracuse University’s Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, New York Knicks head mentor Mike D'Antoni and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan.
The 15 finalists will reassemble Aug. 9 in New York City and train there Aug. 10-16. The official 12-man USA roster that will compete in the 2010 FIBA World Championship must be submitted to FIBA at the technical meeting that normally is held the day prior to the start of the competition."We had an outstanding week of training camp in Las Vegas and it is apparent we have a group of guys that are very focused, committed, and desirous of playing for USA Basketball. The identity of the team is still evolving, but it is pretty obvious we’re going to be very athletic; we’re going to be very strong in the back court; we think our shooting ability is underestimated, we think we’ve got a number of people who can shoot the ball; and so we’re pleased with our progress to date," stated Colangelo.
From the team's presser: Kevin Love moves on to the final 15 for Team USA.
about 1 month ago
Stop-n-Pop
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%Love is a cancer
on and off the court who will destroy not only the USA team, but America as well. He must be stopped%.
by PoorDick on Jul 28, 2010 2:37 PM CDT reply actions 2 recs
"I'm not coming off the bench for these guys...."
Al is in Utah and I gave up my chocolate Silk milk for this!
He gave up his chocolate milk for
a fine whine.
Breaking down cognitive dissonance and group think since gasoline was cheap.
Sounds like a special mission for
Glen Beck. Get a chalkboard in here fast (a white board, too, none of those blackboards).
"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please."
Mark Twain
Thoughts on final 3 cuts?
With Billups and D-Rose as seeming locks, I think 2 of Curry, Gordon, Rondo, and Westbrook will be out.
Jeff Green, to me, should be the 3rd.
Perhaps Lopez though if he’s not healthy (?)
I looked ahead to the open road, thought about the people and what they know, and wrote a book called "People Don't Know Nothin!"
Billups, Green, and Westbrook are proabably out
Rondo is really good on the defensive side and should stay
Curry and Gordon can shoot which is going to be important at some point
Billups is old and Green isn’t very good
Westbrook’s game doesn’t translate that well to the international game (he can’t shoot).
Rubio, who art thou savior.
Ooh, I don't agree on Billups.
Neither do most analysts.
More like captain than cut.
I agree, Westbrook is probably a “shoo-out” though, along with Green.
I looked ahead to the open road, thought about the people and what they know, and wrote a book called "People Don't Know Nothin!"
I think Westbrook is in
He gives flexibility and defense. In the press conference on NBA.com, Coach K talked about going non-traditional across positions, and specifically talked about Rose and Westbrook sharing the floor. Now I don’t know that you can combine those two non-shooters, but I could see Westbrook sticking over Rondo, depite the fact that Rondo is a better PG.
I think a lot depends on Lopez’s ability to recover from Mono. If not, he’s gone and maybe a big who would otherwise be gone, such as Green is in. Coach K mentioned playing Green a lot at the 5 in his unorthodox lineups in Las Vegas. I think that’s really a stretch, though.
I don’t see Gordon making it.
So you're thinking
Green or Lopez
Gordon
Rondo
?
I looked ahead to the open road, thought about the people and what they know, and wrote a book called "People Don't Know Nothin!"
Sure, I'd roll with that
Of course I really prefer to phrase it in a roundabout, confusing manner so that my point isn’t entirely clear and so that I can always adjust my initial argument after the fact. But sure, I’ll stick with those 3 (4).
Heh
I hadn’t heard K’s quotes on Westbrook. I may be inclined to agree with you.
Then again, I may also retreat to my non-descript “2 out of these 4” guess, and see how it rolls out.
I looked ahead to the open road, thought about the people and what they know, and wrote a book called "People Don't Know Nothin!"
I agree with everything you said
Especially considering that Iguodala’s the only real shooting guard on the roster. I bet Team USA overloads on point guards and has Rose and Westbrook spend significant time at the 2
I’d say the three most likely cuts are Green, Gordon, and Granger. Rondo I think will make it because of his pressure defense and pass-first mentality, and I think that, as much as they like Granger, they’re going to realize there’s no need for him with Durant on the roster
Sure
I guess I could see keeping Rondo over Granger. I didn’t really think much about him getting cut, but it makes sense with Durant. Of course, Coach K did mention also the possibility of Durant at the 4 for extended periods given the potential lack of a true 5. Either way Granger seems close to the bubble.
The end of the presser had either Coach or Jerry talk about 8 or 9 that are looking like locks, with the other spots TBD.
I'm most curious about what they do with Lopez
He made the cut almost entirely on reputation, because he hasn’t actually done anything in camp or in the expo. I’m sure the team is frustrated that Stoudemire can’t play right now
My guess is they give him a ton of rope
In fact he alone might be why they were talking about going to Europe with more than 12, since they don’t have to submit a final roster until just before the tournament. I think they really hope he finds his legs. I don’t know how long ago he became symptomatic, but you don’t get your strength back for quite a while after catching mono. Well, I didn’t anyway, and I’m way tougher than Lopez, or at least I was back in high school.
Colangelo did say McGee is "on call" this summer
So my guess is Lopez has one shot to really show something, and if he’s not able to, he’ll be out and McGee will take his spot
I feel the sure bets are
Rose, Billups, Westbrook, Curry, Durant, Gay, Odom, Love, Chandler.
With Rondo, Gordon, Iggy, Granger, Green, and Lopez fighting for 3 spots.
Very possible we don’t keep either Lopez or Green and instead playi Gay and Durant some at PF, with Love and Odom playing some C.
IMO Billups just serves as the tolken vet
like Kidd did at the Olympics. If you watched the games, Chris Paul and Deron Williams carried the load at PG. I could see an argument for Westbrook over Rondo since both have similar weaknesses.
Rubio, who art thou savior.
Not sure how you thin out those guards.
Jeff Green is a natural pick given his scant rebounding.
The outside shooting question is where those four guards vex me. That’s not D-Rose’s strong suit either, so you need at least one cold-blooded shot on the bench. It’s hard to imagine Rondo’s defense being left behind, shot or no. I leave Westbrook and either Curry or Gordon home…. Do we need Curry’s ability to slide between guard spots?
It is quite the conundrum...
Like I said, I think Billups and Rose are locks. On that note, I could actually see Rondo left out, because he duplicates a fair amount of Rose’s game.
Also, it’d be interesting to hear how he gets along with Coach K. That could make or break his spot.
Sooo, I’ve got:
-Green
-Westbrook
-Rondo, Curry, or Gordon
I looked ahead to the open road, thought about the people and what they know, and wrote a book called "People Don't Know Nothin!"
Who do you think starts?
PG Rose
SG Durant
SF Grainger
PF Love
C Chandler
Rubio, who art thou savior.
This team is like the punchline for the wolves
Lot’s of point guards
Rubio, who art thou savior.
It's about the only option they have
Gordon is 90% likely to get cut, leaving Igodala the only shooting guard on the roster. The roster is already overloaded with point guards, so they must be planning to use a couple of them as 2s
The team is small
especially in the front court. It’d be ideal to have another 6-6 guy play shooting guard behing Iggy
Rubio, who art thou savior.
FIBA ball favors small ball
Team USA started Melo at power forward in the last Olympics. It’s a whole different type of game….more like college basketball. What Colangelo is looking for is very different than what an NBA GM would look for
At least they have Durant and Gay who are quite long for their positions
Rubio, who art thou savior.
then does that mean love will
be playing center too? My guess is that K is hoping his C’s will be Chandler and Lopez with desparate backups in Odom and Love.
No one is getting Rubio's rights unless they pry them from our cold dead fingers.
by TheEvilProfessor on Jul 29, 2010 11:43 AM CDT up reply actions
Not likely
Coach K is very adamant that his centers have to be great defensive players. Even Chris Bosh barely got any time at center in the Olympics. It’s more likely that Odom will play center when Love gets etended burn
I know why Billups is on the team
but do you really think he starts? I guess it comes down to whether they think the steadying influence is needed right up front like that.
I do think he starts
But he’ll play limited minutes, much like Kidd did. This team is reliant on a lot of very young players who aren’t really proven even in the NBA….that’s why I’m guessing both Billups and Odom will be starters
It's like a who's who
of verge allstars.
You're not letting natural selection take its course! You're like the guy who invented the seatbelt...
It's still better than the All-Stars of the WC in 2006
that placed 6th.
Rubio, who art thou savior.
It's funny that none of this years'
draft picks are even invited to participate.
Where John Wall
Rubio, who art thou savior.
Wall would be...
redundant with and inferior to Rondo, Rose, and Westbrook… The only draft picks I could see earning a spot are Cousins and Aldrich.
They would have been redundant too
Remember that the original invite list included Stoudemire and David Lee
Not in the sense that he would actually make the team
but he didn’t even get an invite.
I remember the last team that was assembled invited Morrison and Reddick.
Rubio, who art thou savior.
Good point.
Those seem like pretty silly invites in hindsight.
They seemed reasonable at the time
Rubio, who art thou savior.
This team....
How many of these players should have been the wolves draft picks???
Would've been interesting
If Big Al showed up to compete on the USA Team (he was invited but opted out). I would’ve liked to see him and Love go head to head for a spot on the squad.
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