Jamison is the obvious one, but they'd be dumb to cut Brad Miller. I think it's between Bruce Bowen and if it were me, Chris Bosh.
There's no way Hinrich gets cut. With his defense, shooting, and ability to run the point, he's ideal for this team.
It was just an exhibition. Before the last Olympics the US whooped up on Puerto Rico without AI, Carmelo, and Lebron a few weeks before PR beat them by 19. PR didn't really care for that game just as they didn't care for this one, I think they saw what would work for them in the first quarter and decided to hold back and experiment with some things from the second quarter on. Disappointed in their offense against PR's setup zone defense, they had no idea how to attack it trying to run pick and rolls and attempting very difficult passes, although most of them connected. I liked that they could hit their threes though, around 10 hit last night, if they could keep that up throughout the tournament (at around 35%) they will force teams to abandon the zone, after that it's pretty much over for the rest of the world. Their defense was ok I guess, I didn't like the trapping and double teaming that much because it gave up way too many open shots, a smarter more talented team will kill those traps, but I did like the man on man full court defense. They should mix in some zones, but an all-out pressure defense will work too if they dedicate themselves to it throughout the tournament no matter the results it produces. Rebounding wise we owned as usual, pigs will fly before a USA Basketball team is ever out rebounded.
Actually -- they really didn't settle down in the first quarter ... but once they did, they handled the zone defense pretty nicely whenever the Puerto Ricans threw it at them. They were hitting 3-pointers at a pretty high clip, and you have to remember, Coach K was doing a lot of experimenting too. Mixing up lineups and strategies to see what worked, and everything he tried pretty much did. Have to strongly disagree with your point about the pressure defense -- it was *great*. It took advantage of PR's weaknesses extremely well. I couldn't count how many times Wade and Johnson used their superior speed to play the passing lane and just intercept passes. They went on a 31-4 run at one point, during which Puerto Rico tried just about everything they could to buy a bucket and they couldn't. There will be lots of pessimists naturally, but anyone who thinks that Puerto Rico had any kind of competitive ability to bring to the basketball court last night against Team USA is dreaming. There are better teams, surely, and I'd like to see how USA performs against France and Argentina especially. But they certainly looked awfully good last night. Once they settled into their groove, they were practically flawless. They looked like the kind of team that should win their games by an average margin of 35 points.
IMO, there is only one Dream Team, that is, 1992 USA Team. It's some show they performed that I will never forget.
Is there any DVD out there of these games? I would gladly plunk down some cash to watch that amazing team play.
That was a fun game to watch last night. Joe Johnson looked like a natural out there as did Heinrich and Battier, they are perfect fits. And Dwight Howard, holy cow, that kid is going to be a beast. It's hard to not feel confident about this team winning the gold after last nights blast of dominance they put on PR from the 2nd quarter onward.
I thought the most amazing thing about this team was it's versatility. I'm pretty sure that it can put a team on the floor to do virtually anything. Penetrators: Paul, Arenas, Wade, LeBron/Carmelo, Brand Fast Break: Paul, Wade, Johnson, LeBron, Howard Big Lineup: Paul, LeBron, Anthony, Brand, Howard Shooters: Hinrich, Johnson, Battier, LeBron, Miller Rebounders: Hinrich, Wade, Carmelo, Bosh, Howard Defense: Hinrich, Johnson, Bowen, Battier, Howard
The way the played defense last night.. I think that was as good as USA Team 1992. The only reason why we can't be exactly like the old one is because other countries have become better and better. But in terms of skills, I would say we're even better..
Dont think Hinrich will get cut, he played well last night unlike Bowen who was the only player not to score and his only shot attempt was an airball plus his defense was mediocre. The other player that could possibly be cut is Bosh since he played poorly, kept shooting the long rangers and didn't play much defense. That would be my two cuts since Jamison showed the ability to hit those 3's last night.
If you mean they played unselfishly and defended well, yes. But the offense was much less structured than typical Dookie basketball. The strength of the team on offense is creativity and passing, and fast breaks. The amazing thing was that often, there were two or three great passers on the floor at once. Chris Paul and LeBron. Hinrich and Johnson. Hinrich, Arenas, and Miller. With that many unselfish playmakers, the creativity in offense was amazing.
I don't think duke plays that "unselfishly" all the time as much as they play effciently. I am referring to the defense, pressing, and on offense, very fast up-tempo, a lot of three point shots.
Kinda of sloppy, but overall a good tune-up game...Battier doesn't stand out, but gets in the mix...I think Gay could have done that...
