So we get a Team USA starter in our squad. Nice, huh? http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...ug=cnnsi-adelicatebalanc&prov=cnnsi&type=lgns A delicate balance Marty Burns, SI.com Marty Burns SI.com Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski can breathe a sigh of relief. A minor injury to Suns forward Shawn Marion (knee) made it that much easier to make "cuts" Tuesday for the 15-man squad that will represent the U.S. at this summer's World Championships in Japan. It also makes for one less headache, even if Marion's all-around versatility will be missed. Marion's injury left Krzyzewski, who had to trim three players from the 18 who have participated in the Las Vegas training camp this week, with essentially one tough choice: Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich, who has been battling a leg injury, or Sonics guard Luke Ridnour at point. One could make a strong case for both players, but Coach K ultimately went with Hinrich. Captain Kirk can play both guard positions and is a better three-point shooter. The other player sent home, Adam Morrison of the Bobcats, came as no surprise. The former Gonzaga sharpshooter could be a major weapon for the Olympic team down the road, but he's not there yet. Morrison, after all, is still a rookie -- and he was stuck in a crowd of small forwards. In this case, Coach K had no choice but to trim the 'Stache. It's hard to argue with Team USA's selections. Keep in mind, several key players were already out of this year's World Championships with injuries or prior commitments: Chauncey Billups (personal reasons), Kobe Bryant (knee), Greg Oden (wrist), Lamar Odom (personal reasons) and J.J. Redick (back). But all will be back in the mix for the '08 Olympics. ADVERTISEMENT While Coach K might have dodged a proverbial bullet on this "cut-down" date, he now faces the real challenge. The 15 players who will travel to Japan next month are all great players: Carmelo Anthony, Gilbert Arenas, Shane Battier, Chris Bosh, Bruce Bowen, Elton Brand, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Antawn Jamison, Joe Johnson, Brad Miller, Chris Paul, Amar Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade and Hinrich. How do you pick a starting five from this group? Before listing my choices, I want to make one thing clear: Team USA's stated goal this time around is not to put together another All-Star team. It is to put together a group that plays a cohesive game and, most important, can thrive within the international rules. In other words, I'm not saying these five are the best NBA players. I'm just saying these are the guys I would make the starting core. My starting unit when official practices for the World Championships begin next week would be Hinrich at PG, LeBron at SG, Battier at SF, Brand at PF and Miller at C. Yes, I know. I can hear the catcalls already. Where's Dwyane Wade? Where's Carmelo Anthony? Where's Dwight Howard? Hinrich at point guard? Ahead of Arenas and Paul? Again, I'm not saying Wade and Anthony aren't superior NBA talents. I'm not saying Hinrich is a better NBA point guard than Arenas or Paul. But for this team, and in this particular tournament, this starting lineup makes the most sense. The U.S. has struggled in past international tournaments because foes zone up on them and take away their penetration. When Team USA has tried to make them pay from outside, it hasn't made enough outside shots. At the other end, the U.S. has been unable to play cohesive team defense, partly because individual stars were too used to freelancing and partly because the group didn't have enough time together. My lineup features five players who all know how to share the ball, know how to play team defense and can knock down the open shot. Hinrich (37 percent from downtown a year ago) is a better three-point shooter than Paul (28.2 percent) and doesn't look to score first like Arenas. With Billups sitting out the World Championships, the Chicago bulldog is the best combination of three-point shooter/defender/setup man at the point of attack. Battier should be on the floor because he defends, rebounds, scraps for loose balls (like Hinrich) and shoots a high percentage from three-point range (39.4 percent last season) without needing a lot of touches. Anthony is a scoring machine, and reports out of Vegas are that he's been tearing up his fellow All-Stars, but he's not good enough yet on defense. Team USA is going to have enough offense. It doesn't need another guy looking to create as much as it needs somebody who is willing to shut down opponents and take them out early. Brand (6-9) gets the nod with a slight advantage over Howard at power forward because he's smart and unselfish, a good defender and more experienced in international competition. Miller (7-feet) provides some much-needed size and physical defense under the basket, and he's a gifted passer who can work the high post. This could be a key, since the U.S. won't be able to rely on one-on-one play as much for its offensive attack. Stoudemire eventually could supplant Miller at center, if Team USA can establish its defense in other areas and play a more up-tempo style, but he's still at less than 100 percent health-wise. For now, Brand and Miller are the right one-two punch because they provide a low-post (Brand) and high-post (Miller) dimension while being able to step out and hit jumpers -- a necessity in the international game. As for LeBron, he's a no-brainer. The Cavs superstar is the designated offensive catalyst and penetrator when it's needed. Period. He gets the nod over Wade because he's bigger and a better passer and rebounder. The starting unit doesn't have to feature the best players. It just has to feature the right combination of skill sets. Hinrich and Battier and Miller aren't as good as Arenas/Paul and Wade and Stoudemire. But the former trio will be willing to set screens, give themselves up on defense and spread the floor better than the latter trio. The last point, by the way, can't be emphasized enough: Team USA needs to have at least two three-point threats on the floor at all times. This will open it up for James and Brand, who are more than good enough to carry the team offensively. It's going to be tempting for Krzyzewski and his staff to fall in love with the sublime scoring skills of guys like Wade, Anthony, Arenas and Paul. But the international game is different than the NBA's. There is less of a premium put on one-on-one ability. Those guys should instead be used strategically off the bench, against certain matchups and to fit certain needs. The starting unit, by contrast, needs to have balance, play hard-nosed defense, knock down long-range shots and set a tone. Too many cooks will leave the U.S. once more in the soup.
why does this guy consider marion a head case. marion's team is more successful than battier's, oh that's right battier's team sucks, except they won 50 games, except they still have never one a playoff game, with shane battier. battier is marion, extremely light.
I think what the author's trying to say is that Marion's injury saves Coach K the headache of trying to figure out who to cut.
Umm, he didn't say Marion was a head case, at all. He said that it would relieve the headache FROM HAVING TO CUT DOWN THE ROSTER. No offense, but you criticize other people for overlooking the faults of a Tracy McGrady, Clyde Drexler, and Shane Battier. Yet, Hakeem Olajuwon, Mario Elie, Steve Francis, Rudy Tomjanovich, Kenny Smith, etc. - I could find "dirt" on almost any one of these individuals, as well. What about Mario Elie sulking after the 1994 championship because he didn't get to play that much? What about Olajuwon's conflicts with management in the late '90s? Really, your obvious dislike for certain players (WITHOUT GIVING THEM CREDIT FOR PRACTICALLY ANYTHING) and the way you pick the most negative aspects to focus on is really very tiring and old. You know, the act was good initially, but we all know it's a rabbit in the hat, so how about a new schtick? Like, I don't know, giving some degree of credit to anyone not named Hakeem or Otis?
Elton Brand you can't argue with. If he went to UNC he would be starting. Also, K might start Paul and called him the purest PG there... Paul who went to Wake and openly hates Duke.
I like his list, except I'd start Brand at center, Howard at PF. Miller is skilled just not as good as Brand; I suspect that international big men would match up with Brad Miller easily. They will not know what to do with Dwight Howard.
Judging by all those skinny foreign playes all over the world, I'd imagine that the world championships should be more fast paced than the NBA games. So Brand should start at center, because he has more mobility than Dwight Howard.
while I admit I did get what he was saying about marion and battier totally wrong I have to respond to this. the only reason battier is on team usa is because of what he provides to team success. and that's the irony, the battier supporters pump up what he brings to team success, but memphis hasn't been that successful in the playoffs.
Mario should have played vs. the Knicks in 1994, for whatever reason Rudy went to the ultra short bench and decided to match the knicks brick for brick with a slowdown game that nearly cost us the series. Mario was right, perhaps he didn't express it, but he was right. They will do with Howard the same thing they did with Brand and Jermaine O'Neal and Antonio Davis in 2002 and Carlos Boozer 2004. Bring them outside on defense and use the zone/larger lane to stifle their offense.
Well, T-Mac and Yao aren't successful either. Note that team successful or not also nepends on overall team talent. Therefore, IMHO, whether a player is good for team should be determined by the +/- team stat when he is on or off the court. This is where people like Battier makes the biggest splash. Also, Battier was a winner. He was the best player on the Duke team that won NCAA. Yao was also a winner in CBA. At least they have proven record of helping team to be successful.
That's a ridiculous assertion. How much worse would Memphis have been WITHOUT Battier? Does it ever cross your mind that maybe, just maybe, Memphis just never was that good or talented, and that they have been over-achieving quite a bit the last couple of years? And that Battier, instead of 'not bringing success' to the Grizz, is a major reason why that team has over-achieved as much as it has? Using your logic, when Quitten came here, we should have been assured of more championships, because, naturally, the teams he played on in Chicago had a lot of success in the playoffs.
I love to see Battier to be starting. But if that happens, they should the US team "Duke Retro 1" intead of "Dream team 7"
the assertion that memphis isn't talented to defend battier is ridiculous. memphis is a fifty win team. yes, battier helped that, but the rockets don't need battier to be a fifty win team. the rockets need players to get them to the next level. battier hasn't proven that, but that's supposedly what he was brought here for.
