(Stein) Dwight Howard joins James Harden in Team USA Minicamp.

That would be awesome to know that they're so focused on 2016.

 

How so?

 

We won the World's last year by 30+ ppg. We don't need Howard. He is not conducive for FIBA ball. He hasn't played for Team USA since 2008. And even then, we didn't play him all that much at Beijing.

Anthony Davis, Cousins and Andre Drummond all played for Coach K in the 2014 Worlds. That's plenty. And we only had them (and Plumlee) on the team to match against Spain and their size. We don't really need that type of center size for other teams.

Thus, Howard is not needed. And why change a team that just destroyed the world in 2014.

I wouldn't really even invite someone who refused an invitation to the previous Worlds. That's our whole strategy wrt building a team, rather than an allstar team for the Olympics. I might make an exception for Lebron, if Coach K thought it better to have him sit out the Worlds to give others experience.

 

http://www.fiba.com/basketballworldcup/2014/USA#|tab=schedules_and_results

We didn't play Spain.

You are sadly mistaken if you think the competition we faced in this 2014 World Cup will be similar.

If Tyson Chandler can play on the '12 Olympics, and Drummond makes the '14 World's, it is erroneous to think Dwight cannot make an impact on an Olympic team. He is arguably the best defender on the planet.

To say he didn't have an impact is also not true. Revisionist history. He was the 5th leading scorer; he started every game iirc. He was also 22.

We do not know if they could not handle the Gasols in international play. You really want to risk throwing a skinny PF, 2 young centers not known for their defensive abilities, on the Gasol twins and Ibaka in international play?

Why would we not put the most talented team out there? Unless you think continuity with Faried would be more of an impact on the court than Howard.

So we should not include Durant, CP3, 'Melo etc. as well in the running? There is a lot of talented players that didn't play in the Worlds. Why leave the Olympics up to chance? Think of all the criticism the U.S. would receive if there were talented players just watching the game during an upset.

The (arguably) best player we played against was Goran Dragic. He is a good NBA player, but when the strengths of the team are at the perimeter, it is not a barometer of whether the team can hold up to the top talent, aka the best bigs. The strongest big man they played against was... D-Mo? D-Mo OF aside, he doesn't hold a candle to the bigs of Spain.

 

Because they lost. And we beat everyone by >30ppg. Why would you mess with that, and put Howard who clogs our offense on the court. He is not suitable for FIBA bball. I'm sorry.

I didn't say who didn't play; I said who didn't even show up. Durant did and made the team, btw, and later scratched himself due to injuries/fatigue. We don't need CP3 and Melo vs giving up the chemistry we built in 2014 by absolutely demolishing the world.

Don't be the person who wants to return to our failed methods of sending all-star teams. We have a polished 2014 Worlds team, and we should stick to the game plan of allowing Coach K to send a team, not all-stars.

Howard would be disruptive to the chemistry of Team USA. I'm a strong believer of that.

 

Explain to me how Howard would clog the court more than Faried, Plumlee, and Drummond. How was Howard successful before? Back-up the generalized statements.

At the guards, there were subpar shooters in Rose, Gay, Derozan. More offensive sieves in the international ball half-court setting. These guys are not fit for international ball at the highest level either.

In the Worlds, we did not play any of the top teams. Weaknesses were not exposed. Of course we would dominate the competition. Lithuania placed 8th in the '12 Olympics. They were the highest ranked team we played. The general powerhouses? Nope; didn't play. It's like basing player analysis when going up against non-playoff teams. We did not play the best; as a matter of fact, it wasn't even close.

But why? Because he didn't show up one year? The same way he destroys the Rockets chemistry? The Worlds team and the Rockets both play with a fast pace. From what I remember, the Rockets are doing pretty good. Unless you are saying he would tear apart the locker-room?

Howard fills a role that Team USA doesn't have at the elite level. Defense and rebounding. Clearly, it is a role they value when they brought in Tyson Chandler.

The continuity Team USA lost was the lack of commitment from many of the game's top players. That is gone, and there is not any indication of it leaving. Harden, Steph, Davis, etc. will be playing in many national teams. The continued buy-in from the top players is the continuity. It's not like Dwight is a newcomer to international ball.

Maybe Coach K will make a statement. But that's a lot of players he will be leaving out; why even extend the invitations then? It seems highly unlikely he will. But it is incorrect to say he cannot play FIBA basketball when he has had previous success.

 

^ We destroyed the Worlds, and Spain with both Gasols and Ibaka, Llull, Navarro, Rubio, Calderon, Rodriguez, Fernandez couldn't get past freaking France. They brought their A-Team with the intention of beating us. You make it sounds like they sat it out.

They didn't even score 60 points.

Obviously, there are other ways to beat them soundly without trying to match-up with their bigs. Like the way countries beat Team USA in the past?!

I simply do not agree with your position that we need to field our all-star teams. We need to field a TEAM. It has been our strategy ever since we got Coach K to take over. Team over stars. That's the way the Euro's do it (since they don't have a lockerroom full of starts), and that's the way we do it now, too.

 

It seems we have ran into an impasse. Twas a pleasure heypee. I'll leave my last thoughts below.

Similar situation: you would say that because the Rockets couldn't get past the Supersonics, they would not have had a better chance against the Bulls? Match ups matter. It's not that they sat out, it's that Team USA did not play anybody of value this Worlds.

One game is a small sample size. Look at the Clippers series for evidence of that.

I'm not sure I understand your point here, so I'll go by the 2 ways to interpret it:

Implying we haven't lost in the past, why change? In '12, Spain didn't have Marc when we beat them by 22 in the exhibition game. We also beat them by 7 when they did. I don't know about you, but that's pretty close. James and KD may not be the have the same generational superstars affect for this upcoming olympics, depending on health/age.

Implying that we do not have to use a true C: yes, true, and they didn't use Tyson much. But does that mean to not have a true C? (digression, I know). What pulled the U.S. through was Lebron being able to bang with the Gasols. Not sure we have that luxury in '16; he may not even play. AD is not a banger. I would not throw Faried against those two.

The team we have fielded has some clear weaknesses for international ball, as I explained earlier. Why not upgrade the team?

You are right. A team of... stars