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Basketball World Cup


Sarex

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Strange that no on started a thread, shame on you guys. Anyways discuss.

 

Btw the judges totally ripped us off in the game against France, it should have been our win but w/e.

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"because they filled mommy with enough mythic power to become a demi-god" - KP

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Good opportunity to scout out some international talent.

 

Really impressed by Dario Saric of Croatia. Inevitable Toni Kucoc comparisons.

"Things are funny...are comedic, because they mix the real with the absurd." - Buzz Aldrin.

"P-O-T-A-T-O-E" - Dan Quayle

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USA trounced Finland by 59pts including a shut out 2nd quarter in which the Finns only managed 2 free throws.

 

For game 2, The Turks were actually up by 5 over USA at halftime before the Americans got their pride going and went on to blow out Turkey. To be fair, the Turks did as well as they possibly could, but not for two whole halves, and they managed to not get into garbage time until well into the 4th.

 

USA doesn't really run any semblance of an offense - just jumpers, post ups, and pick n rolls - relying on superior basketball skills and athleticism. Their defense though is super aggressive and tenacious (except for James Harden -he doesn't even pretend to try), pressuring opposing trams into committing turnovers and quick shots, thereby accelerating the overall pace of the game.

 

For the most part, USA is playing their B team talent - which is still more than enough to cruise through the tourney, atleast until the knockout stage.

"Things are funny...are comedic, because they mix the real with the absurd." - Buzz Aldrin.

"P-O-T-A-T-O-E" - Dan Quayle

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Young International players I'm interested in keeping tabs on:

 

Dario Saric and Mario Hezonja - Croatia

The Brothers Antetokounmpo - Greece

Donatus Motiejunas (sp?) and Jonas Valanciunas - Lithuania

 

These guys all have NBA star potential (except for the Greek Freak's older brother) and I'd like to see them I situations where they have to carry their teams, especially Motiejunas. The 2 Croats in particular won't be playing in the NBA next season but they have the most upside of the group.

"Things are funny...are comedic, because they mix the real with the absurd." - Buzz Aldrin.

"P-O-T-A-T-O-E" - Dan Quayle

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For game 2, The Turks were actually up by 5 over USA at halftime before the Americans got their pride going and went on to blow out Turkey. To be fair, the Turks did as well as they possibly could, but not for two whole halves, and they managed to not get into garbage time until well into the 4th.

 

 

 

Don't let the score of that game fool you.  The Turks kicked our butts in the first half.  They were patient, ran their offense and pounded the boards outrebounding the US by a 2-1 margin in the first half.   Their zone forced the US to take contested 3s (going 1 for 9 in the first half).   Faried, Davis, Drummond and Irving are carrying the US right now.  Curry can't buy a shot atm and with the exception of Irving our guard play has been mediocre (and that's being nice).  I wish the US had added Lillard (and possibly Korver or Parsons) and dropped Plumlee (and possibly deRozan)

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For game 2, The Turks were actually up by 5 over USA at halftime before the Americans got their pride going and went on to blow out Turkey. To be fair, the Turks did as well as they possibly could, but not for two whole halves, and they managed to not get into garbage time until well into the 4th.

 

 

Don't let the score of that game fool you.  The Turks kicked our butts in the first half.  They were patient, ran their offense and pounded the boards outrebounding the US by a 2-1 margin in the first half.   Their zone forced the US to take contested 3s (going 1 for 9 in the first half).   Faried, Davis, Drummond and Irving are carrying the US right now.  Curry can't buy a shot atm and with the exception of Irving our guard play has been mediocre (and that's being nice).  I wish the US had added Lillard (and possibly Korver or Parsons) and dropped Plumlee (and possibly deRozan)

I saw the game too. Turkey outplayed USA in the first half and were up by 5 at the half. That's hardly kicking butt. Far from it. Shots weren't falling and offensively they were rushing with some heroball. Once they settled down and played inside out with the bigs and got out in transition, USA was fine. Curry even got his rhythm back and made three triples. Give all the credit to Turkey, but they wouldn't have been able to keep up for the full 40. Hell, they recovered enough that the game became a blow out anyway.

"Things are funny...are comedic, because they mix the real with the absurd." - Buzz Aldrin.

"P-O-T-A-T-O-E" - Dan Quayle

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Curry even got his rhythm back and made three triples.

 

 

Looks like it carried over to today's game - at least thru the 1st half +

Before that he got his shot back though he was shooing 1 for 13 or something like that.  :)

 

Not even close so far US up by 28 against NZ.  still in the third period

Edited by kgambit
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The thing about Curry is that the conventional rules of what constitutes a good shot does not apply to him at all. For a shooter of his caliber, any open look is a good shot, no matter how far or how much time has elapsed from the shot clock. His Expected Value per shot is as good as Lebron James in the paint.

 

He goes through some dry spells but given a large enough sample size, his percentages and EV are among the all time great, and even more impressive especially when you consider difficulty and volume.

 

I'm biased though.

"Things are funny...are comedic, because they mix the real with the absurd." - Buzz Aldrin.

"P-O-T-A-T-O-E" - Dan Quayle

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He goes through some dry spells but given a large enough sample size, his percentages and EV are among the all time great, and even more impressive especially when you consider difficulty and volume.

 

 

It just seemed like he was in a mini-dry spell.  Looks like it was short duration.  :)

 

PS:  Faried and Davis are just freaking awesome. 

Edited by kgambit
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Do you realistically expect the US to lose?

 

Against Brazil? I think it will be a close game and I doubt they will win against Spain. Anyways I was talking about Serbia vs Brazil.

"because they filled mommy with enough mythic power to become a demi-god" - KP

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Things aren't looking good for Nemanja Nedovic or Ognen Kucmic. This is an important summer for both of them in terms of their survival in having an NBA career. Injuries to both and lost time for development is going to cost them.

 

They are both dropping fast in Golden State's depth chart and being labeled as injury prone is a poison pill for bubble players. Nedo was especially inconsistent for both GS and Serbia last year and Kucmic was a non factor.

Edited by Leferd

"Things are funny...are comedic, because they mix the real with the absurd." - Buzz Aldrin.

"P-O-T-A-T-O-E" - Dan Quayle

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Do you realistically expect the US to lose?

Against Brazil? I think it will be a close game and I doubt they will win against Spain. Anyways I was talking about Serbia vs Brazil.

??

 

Spain is certainly the best team outside of the US but as to what are you attributing this doubt that the US will handily defeat the Spaniards?

 

As individual players, I respect Juan Carlos Navarro, Rudy Fernandez, and Sergio Rodriguez. They were each legitimate NBA rotation players. Navarro in particular was for a long time the best player not playing in America.

 

Ricky Rubio is a magician with the ball and a hawk on defense. Pao Gasol is still a dangerous post threat. Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka are elite defenders.

 

Along with this accumulated talent, they have been together for a long time and play team ball.

 

That said, they only have an outside chance at best in defeating USA. To say otherwise is delusional or grossly uninformed.

"Things are funny...are comedic, because they mix the real with the absurd." - Buzz Aldrin.

"P-O-T-A-T-O-E" - Dan Quayle

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