USA Team Selected
Don't get me wrong he's certainly a great up and coming player, but tough to keep him for a fourth string PG role behind Rose, Curry, and Irving. He will have his turn for USA basketball in the near future. Hope him and Aldridge can continue improving this summer for another good run next season.
I know they have to battle Spain but I don't know if keeping 3 centers plus anthony davis and Faried (the starters) was wise (plud Rudy Gay probably gobbling up some PF minutes). I would've rather had Parsons or Korver. Parsons could easily play the Fiba 4 against anyone but Spain.
I just worry about a lack of shooting off the bench
It is a lot of centers. But keep in mind that Davis can easily play PF. And frankly so can Plumlee since that was the position he played in college. I think they brought all the Centers because the coaches really don't trust any of the backups. Davis will start. Cousins can do what they need, but if he acts stupid he could be a disaster. Drummond is going to produce, but teams could just foul him and if he shoots below is pathetic 41% career average, then he will need to be sat down. Plumlee has probably the least risk, but if he just plays to form, he won't be great.
i've been out of the country the past 3 weeks celebrating turning THE BIG 4 O (august 2nd) and havent been keeping up with player performances in scrimmages and exhibition games...Last night's game was the first 1 i saw...D Rose looked great..That 2 handed tomahawk dunk was incredible......Cant wait to see what he does this season...
but im kind of surprise to see both parsons & hayward go...i thought 1 of them might make it..both guys can play multiple positions,rebound,create plays and shoot...
Hayward was never even close to being in the running. He is young and frankly a jack of all trades who doesn't do anything specifically good enough.
I thought Parsons had a shot as being their stretch four. It seems Team USA is really big on Rudy Gay though. They panicked at not having the long athlete after losing Paul G. and Durrant and brought in Gay. Gay has been playing better since his second embarrasing trade. Remember he has now been traded twice by his team for basically a collection of players who's salary matches his. I don't think either the Grizzlies or the Raptors really cared who they got back as long as Gay was gone. True the Grizzlies got T. Prince and played him to good effect. But Prince was 33 and it wasn't like they had long term plans for him The Raptors were doing a straight salary dump and were just taking back contracts that would expire. I guess Paterson was a player they liked and as a young guy they might have had long term plans. But basically they just wanted out.
It might be that Gay got the messege after the second trade and has rededicated himself to basketball. Team USA says he "keeps getting better". But I would have taken Parsons any day of the week over Gay.
I'm also a bit surprised that Korver didn't make the team. Again, I think that was a bit of a panic move based on not having enough totally dominant athletes. Derozan gives them a great athlete at the 2 and 3. Though in my opinion a wide open Korver shooting a three is one of the best offensive weapons in basketball and so it would have been a nice second or third option when running sets. DeRozan isn't nearly as deadly without the ball in his hands.
Really I think Team USA kind of screwed up their process this year. I'm really happy that Plumlee made the team. He is a nice fit in that he can finish dunks and won't take bad shots. But he isn't close to being a top US player. I feel the same way about Gay. The potential is there, but over the last few years it has been very clear that his teams get much better after they get rid of him.
Winning should still be a fairly easy thing for the US to accomplish though even with some of the questionnable players who ended up on the team.
Rudy is a guy who can take and make the last shot. Great 3 or 4 for international ball. He's a good player. Hopefully he gets a shot at making the 2016 Olympic team or at least an all star team.
He should be a tough matchup for other teams.
He has also played with 3 of Spain's guys (Gasol brothers and Navarro).
So all the centers made it, including Plumlee.
Gay and Derozan made it. Showing a preference for athleticism at the wing. I guess with Curry and Klay on the team there was enough shooting that Korver could be left home.
One concern is Rose playing back to backs. I bet he goes on minute restrictions in the group play where there are a bunch of blowouts that he doesn't have to play in.
I wonder if Gay salvages his reputation with this play. Maybe he figures out that missing tons of shots is a bad thing.