Projecting USA Basketball 2012
by Imyourhuckleberry on Feb 3, 2012 1:13 PM CST
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With about 1/3 of the NBA season in the books(that was fast), most of the USA basketball finalists are making strong cases for themselves. Lamar Odom, Chauncey Billups and Eric Gordon would probably be happy to go, but so far have proven themselves unworthy of the high honor. That being said, there is no shame of being cut from a list this prestigious.
The remaining cuts are far more challenging, but with the focus on bringing the best team, rather than just the biggest names, my projections are below the jump.
|
Player Name |
Pos |
Ht |
Wt |
|
C |
7'1 |
235 |
|
|
F/C |
6'11 |
265 |
|
|
F/C |
6'11 |
240 |
|
|
F |
6'10 |
260 |
|
|
F |
6'10 |
230 |
|
|
F |
6'8 |
250 |
|
|
F |
6'8 |
230 |
|
|
G |
6'6 |
205 |
|
|
G |
6'4 |
220 |
|
|
G |
6'3 |
207 |
|
|
G |
6'3 |
190 |
|
|
G |
6'0 |
175 |
|
|
*Denotes Starter |
|||
Considering all of the skill sets, these are the guys I roll with. You might ask why I left some bigger name guys off the list like Bosh, Griffin or Carmelo. Well, that is a question of strategy. And for strategy questions, I defer to Herm here. Well spoken Herm. I believe that Mike Krzyzewski will definitely take that into consideration with the final roster decisions.
This 1st unit is the who’s who of MVP candidates and I like a 2nd unit of Aldridge, Love, Gay, Kobe and Paul. Chandler, Gay and Deron Williams all will be fine as deep bench players and they bring things to the team that the other finalists do not. Chandler brings size, efficient scoring and defense without demanding the ball or playing time—great 12th man. Deron Williams is the perfect backup guard who I don’t think with be upset about minutes, but will bring production whether asked to play PG or SG. Gay is an ideal 10th man backing up the 2 and 3 positions. I don’t think he’s got too much ego for this role either—he can score it well, pass and play D. Melo might be the expected selection for backup SF, but he really only brings shooting to the table and this lineup doesn’t need that. Plus, Melo is barely over 40% from the floor so far this season. Many people say gay is not a choice, but Gay is the choice here.
I’ll also add that while I am nothave never been a Kobe fan, his will to win is enough for me to stick him on this team. Plus, he and Rubio were already exchanging trash talk about it, so they both should be there to see who backs it up.
Rebounding should not be an issue with Howard and Love on the team. There are a number of solid defenders here. On offense, everyone under 6’11" can score from anywhere on the court, which is perfect for international play. I am also including the cuts in order of how deserving I think they are considering their age/health, their current skill sets and who I have in front of them.
|
F |
6'10 |
251 |
|
|
F |
6'10 |
230 |
|
|
F |
6'8 |
230 |
|
|
G/F |
6'6 |
207 |
|
|
G |
6'3 |
187 |
|
|
G |
6'3 |
222 |
|
|
G |
6'3 |
202 |
|
|
F |
6'10 |
230 |
Feel free to agree, disagree, mock, ridicule, or just discuss amicably…
My apologies to Blake Griffin, but Love rebounds better, shoots it far better from beyond 10 feet and can make free throws. As in the world Jenga championships, Griffin gets my first alternate designation.
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that lineup and strategy is perfectly sound
I propose the following nitpickery, mostly for the sake of conversation:
Rose/Kobe/James/Bosh/Howard
Paul/Wade/Durant/Love/Aldridge
Chandler/Iggy
Wade and Lebron never look that great while playing together, so I push them into seperate units. The biggest challenge in the tourney is likely to be Spain, who will throw Gasol/Gasol/Ibaka in our face. For that reason I put a more natural PF/C on the frontcourt, pushing James to his more natural SF, kicking Gay off to the deep bench. Then replace Gay w/ Iggy for just personal preference.
I really like the Love/Aldridge pairing, and concur on Griffin. My lineup doesn’t really have a backup PG, so I suppose that makes it Wade (making Iggy the 2nd unit SG).
No Melo?
I think I’d take him over both Aldridge or Gay. His game is well-suited to FIBA rules, he loves playing in international competitions, and he was one of the most important players on the 2008 Olympic team.
He doesn’t need to be a starter but I think he should/will be on the team.
They could just play
USA V Spain, give the Spainards 15 points start, play the Star Spangled Banner and draw the bronze medallist out of a barrel.
That’s how interesting Olympic Men’s basketball is.
I think this is the first time in history one man managed to destroy an entire city by himself. Even the Enola Gay had a flight crew.
by Auswolf on Feb 3, 2012 3:34 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
just call off all the competitions...
because we all know, that in sports, always win the best…
by Jonas79 on Feb 3, 2012 10:37 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
I look forward to the riveting analysis
Of the 65 point beat down of Angola.
Few top level competitions in the world have as great a discrepancy in talent and skill.
I think this is the first time in history one man managed to destroy an entire city by himself. Even the Enola Gay had a flight crew.
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