They were also a much better team w/10 of the 12 man roster on the "50 Greatest" list - all of whom were mature vets at the time. Out of the current crop, I see Wade & James with a chance at the 50 greatest list - maybe Howard if he matures. That's a significant drop in talent - and that's not considering the other factors.
That's, exactly my point. This is not a Dream Team. If American basketball wants to dominate the world like it used to, they need to get the very best players. What is Bruce Bowen doing on that squad (and Battier, for that matter)?
They can't be bothered, the novelty has worn off and the NBA season is too long; so you do the best you can with what you got- which really shoudl be good enough, truthfully.
i had a big question that ive been wondering. lets say by the end of this years summer games, all of the players have great chemistry, get along well, and we do great all summer. do we make any changes to the team future summers? or do we stick with the guys now that are gelling. should coach k just let kobe come on and off the team whenever he pleases? i dont think its fair to kick someone off whos dedicated this summer. everyones playing well.
I totally agree, unless you are gonna have these guys practice every chance they get, this whole build a unit concept is doomed to failure. building a unit is more about getting role players.
Well, Kobe is too big a star to exclude. He is way more clutch than anyone on this team that is hard to ignore. It is not fair in a sense but Kobe earned that privilege with the way he played.
I wouldn't look too much into minutes right now.. most likely Coach K is trying out various combinations.
USA-Brazil Post Game Quotes (August 8, 2006) COACH KRZYZEWSKI Opening comment: Look at all the adversity that we faced. Carmelo gets hurt, Dwyane plays about, I don't know how many minutes, but he was out of the ball game. LeBron was having his worst offensive night. A little bit of chaos there, especially for a team that's only been together for a short period of time. Guys stepped up. Joe did. I thought Kirk Hinrich really stepped up. Our big guys, Elton and Brad Miller, also gave us some stability. But our guys made big plays down the end, they made winning plays and that was the story of the basketball game. On Brazil: You have to give a lot of credit to Brazil. They are an experienced team. Welcome to international basketball. That's the way it is. On winning a close game: I'm not sure you are going to blow out people. That's the thing we have to understand. These teams play this brand of basketball very well. If we're playing our brand of basketball, it's a little bit 'different. The calls are different, just everything. It's a different basketball game. They are more familiar with it and therefore no matter what the situation is, they're comfortable in it. We're learning to get comfort and I think playing in a game like that helps us immensely. On the game: It's a game of a lot of adversity for both teams. For them, Barbosa was in foul trouble. For us, Carmelo Anthony got hurt and was out. Dwyane Wade was in foul trouble and left the game. It was a game of adversities. I thought both teams handled them pretty well. I'm proud of our guys. They made winning plays, especially that great defensive play at the end. On being outrebounded: It's not a trend. We've only played three games. It was just one of those games where the ball just bounced real funny and it bounced over our rebounders some times But, they were aggressive. You have to give them credit. They ran down balls. I thought our guys tried. We just didn't rebound as well as we can. At times, they were bigger than we were. When we went to the two bigs, that's when some of those bounces happened. It was a crazy game, there was no question about it. On Brazil: We knew Brazil would be a very good basketball game for us because they know one another. We are still learning about one another. We have utmost respect for them. On Anthony's injury: Anthony is not a serious injury but we took precaution not to use him in the second half because we don't play for a while. We're not at the tournament. There is no reason for us to push that. On the pressure defense not being as effective as it had been in other games: Well, one there a better team. Two, we forced double-figure turnovers in the first half. We didn't score off of them. We were loose with the ball after we forced the turnovers. We didn't turn them into points. And we fouled too much. In that first period, I thought we were going to set a record for most fouls in the history of China basketball. It was very disruptive for both teams there were so many fouls in the first quarter. On the USA point guards vs. Brazil point guards: We're younger. We're a young team. I'd rather not compare (against other ) teams because I haven't coached the other point guards. But my guys are playing hard so I like them and I think they are going to keep developing. I'm happy with my guards. On the free throw shooting: Well, we hit some clutch ones. We must have had about eight of them that were in and out. It wasn't liked the guys were missing left or right. Even Dwight Howard early in the game. It was just one of those games. I've coached over 1000 games and they are crazy some times. And it was a crazy game tonight. On the third quarter drought: Actually, our offense to start the second half, we had two great shots for 3's and we missed them. If we hit them, we're up by 20 points. When people miss open shots, the other (team) gets confidence and it seemed like the Brazilians just had a lot of confidence. It happens in sport where the ball just doesn't seem like it can go in. And we had about six minutes there, it just didn't seem like the ball would go in the basket. Thank goodness our guys had the composure to still save the ball game and win the ball game. A lot of different things happened to our team tonight. Like Joe said, we showed a lot of toughness to win the basketball game. On playing against the zone: We missed some shots against the zone. I think we scored enough points. If we hit free throws and don?t throw the ball away, we would have scored like 110 points. I thought our defense wasn't as good as it needs to be. There are nights when the ball doesn't go in, you've have to be saved by your defense and that?s why we put such a premium on playing good defense. On LeBron James and his leadership: We played three exhibition games and I think we've practiced for two weeks. So, someone doesn't just become a leader. You develop that. He'll be fine. He didn't have one of his great games, but he hit the biggest basket of the game and that shows that he's a winner. That's a good way of leading to hit that basket. Is that your starting lineup: I don't know. That's part of playing these exhibition games is to try different lineups. Joe, to me, is a starter. The number of guys can start, Elton, Brad Miller, Kirk Hinrich, we felt that was the way to start tonight and try to get some type of rotation but the fouls and injuries, we weren't able to develop that. That's the way the game goes. CARMELO ANTHONY On the injury: It's doing good. I'm icing it and get a couple of days of rehab and I'll be back. It hurts a little bit, it's a little bit sore right now, but a couple of days of rest and I'll be back. On what he did after the injury: I came back out to the court and sat on the bench, giving my team support even though I couldn't be out there with them. On the next game: I'm hoping to play Sunday and hopefully I'll be back on the court on Sunday. SHANE BATTIER On the game: I give a lot of credit to Brazil. They came out and played aggressive and didn?t play scared at all. They were very effective in driving to the basket, especially by Barbosa. We made the plays we had to down stretch and we'll take this victory. On playing against a zone: We missed a lot of shots obviously. And we could have done a better job of penetrating the zone, but it's still early and we're learning. And that's the good news. On the game: This was a tough game. Obviously, Brazil had some NBA players and some very good international players. They played a very good game. On Brazil: They just played a good game. Give them credit. It's still early and we?re learning about ourselves and about each other. We?ll take from this game what we need to take from it and hopefully not have a repeat performance. On the crowd rooting for Brazil: That always happens. When you are playing a team that is considered the underdog, the crowd sniffs potential upset. The crowd always gets behind the underdog. I don't care what sport you are playing or where you are at in the world. That always happens. Comparing Brazil to China: Brazil did a very good job of penetrating and getting open shots. And China did a very good job of penetrating but they didn't finish their shots. ELTON BRAND On the USA Team: Guys will step up different days. It?s not just one player. I?ll have a good game, Dwyane Wade will have a good game, LeBron James, anybody is capable of having a good game. On Brazil: They are a very different team. Brazil got us in foul trouble. They hit some shots and came back and took the lead. We had a 16-point advantage and when we do that, we have to keep our lead. On Brazil's zone: That was key, having a zone. But, we didn't have Dwyane Wade obviously and didn't have Carmelo Anthony - two of our best penetrators and shooters. So, that really hurt us. On the offensive execution: We should have attacked it more and got it in the post a little more. But, we're learning and we're growing and that's what this process of exhibition games is about. On if a close game came earlier than expected: We weren't sure but we're glad it did. It builds character and we can learn from it. And we won't take any teams for granted. KIRK HINRICH On his role: Defensively, I want to set the tone and offensively, keep us organized and be a basketball player. I feel like I can score. But for this team to be successful, it's not my number one option to try to score. It's try to set guys up. Obviously, I take my shot when it's there, but I?m not coming down court trying to find ways to score. I'm trying to find ways I can set somebody up, make passes and help us move fluidly on offense. On what they learned in the game tonight: Hopefully, we learned a lot tonight. We have to realize you can?t just show up and win. We have to know coming in that it?s going to be different every game. It?s going to be tough; things aren?t going to go our way. It?s a big deal and it?s obviously a big deal to us too. We just have to learn from it and get better. On the team's flexibility: I think it just naturally fit like that. A lot of times we have four guys that can bring the ball up the court. It's just the flexibility and versatility that we have. It's not like I feel like I have to bring the ball up and make a play every time down. I can run the floor and wait for a play to develop and knock down a shot. I don't have to make everything happen. A lot of times on my team in the NBA, I'm counted on to make all the plays and that's not the case here. LE BRON JAMES On the game: We're not going to just blow every team out even though we want to. But, Brazil has a good team They have a lot of pro players on their team. They got a lot of future pros. Doesn't matter if you win by 50 or win by one point, a win is a win. On the closeness of the game: Some of the guys were a little nervous of course being in this position for the first time. But, I've been in this position before, playing in the games before. And I know what to expect when games get close. But, we took care of business and made the plays at the end to win the ball game and that's all that counts. On the referees: They did a great job. There is a lot of things going on during the game that refs miss and they catch a lot of things that some people might not catch. They got one of the hardest jobs in the world to try to referee two teams and they did a great job. On Coach K: He's very intense and he wants his players to be the same way and we have to respond. We did a good job of trying to respond to him tonight. We had a big lead in the first half; we weren't able to capitalize and make it better but we did win the game. On the trip to China: It was great. We came here and took care of business, got two wins. Met some new people, new friends and we were able to showcase our talents to new people in new parts of the world. On the 2008 Olympics in Beijing: Its going to be awesome. They got two years to prepare till we get there in Beijing, but I think its going to very electrifying. And the USA team will be there in red, white and blue to represent. JOE JOHNSON On his late steal: I tried just to stay in front of my man and make it as difficult as possible. I just had my hand right there; he tried to cross over and I hit it so I just dove for it. On the game: I definitely thought it was a tough game. I think that now we'll take a different approach to every other game. This is a great game for us; we needed this. We needed to be tested and tonight we showed a lot of pride and we came through when we needed each other. On playing without Carmelo: I' m going to give Carmelo Anthony a lot of credit. The guy plays with a lot of heart. But those guys that came off the bench, we gave everything we had. We stepped in up on defense and offense. We're just trying to make basketball plays. It?s not necessarily about who scores the most points. It's about us making plays and making plays easier for our players. It's just about creating. We came off the bench and gave everything we had.
thanks for posting that champ06 the US are gonna have more nights like this where they are tested to the limit. But ultimately they will take the gold.
outrebounded BIG time 41 to 25. How's Tiago Splitter (Mr. Mock Draft lotto man 7 years running) on Brazil? I thought he was from Spain like Gasol. And why isnt Nene or Rafael Araujo on their team? Oh well who cares, US should be glad they're not playing
