Starting Lineup for TeamUSA in Rio?

NZB2323 · Post #101 » by **NZB2323** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 4:14 pm

I'd go smallball. Kyrie, Klay, Melo, Durant, and Green.

hyper316 · Post #102 » by **hyper316** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 4:22 pm

John Murdoch wrote:
hyper316 wrote:Where is faried? He was one of the best player on the last usateam

Have u seen him play this season? He's garbage now. I think we all agree Barnes doesnt deserve a spot tho. Id love to see Devin Booker on there tbh

Saw melo played too, he's also garbage

MrBaynes · Post #103 » by **MrBaynes** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 4:37 pm

Cousins
Melo
KD
Thompson
Kyrie

George, Green and Lowry as the first three off the bench (George as the primary backup for both the 2 and 3 spots, Green for the 4 and 5 spots, Lowry at the 1). Throw in some spot minutes for Jordan, Butler and Demar. Give Barnes the pom-poms for his role as lead cheerleader, and we should be good to go.

Post #104 » by **Duke4life831** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 10:14 pm

moocow007 wrote:
Duke4life831 wrote:I would go with

Kyrie
Klay
KD
George
Cousins

I know Melo is great in international play but I dont think that will be the case this year. I can see the argument for Jordan starting over Cousins because they dont need Cousins scoring. But damn those 5 would just be filthy on offense

Because? The great competition that they will be facing? Because opposing teams will be able to shut Melo down but not anyone else (and we can't risk losing)? No one is beating the US. This is just a show.

Uhm I don't recall anywhere in my post where I said starting Melo will maybe make the team lose. All I said was I think Paul George is a better player now. I get it we are going to win, we would still win if we started Barnes and had KD be the 10th man. I was just saying I would think it would be cool to see the 5 best players start, that would include George not Melo

Mumbles · Post #105 » by **Mumbles** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 3:10 am

All Star Jimmy Butler is going to play a key role on this Olympic team in my opinion. I've been impressed with his competitive approach in this training camp. It is his first go with Team USA and you can tell he wants to leave a great first impression.

Just about all of Colangelo and Coach K's USA basketball squads have featured a talented player who sacrifices for the squad and lays it out there as a energy man, whether it be tremendous defense, offense off the bench or crashing the boards..we have been accustomed to seeing at least one guy emerge and simply embrace the role.

Dwayne Wade 2008, Rudy Gay 2010, Russell Westbrook & Andre Iguodala 2012, Kennth Faried, Klay Thompson 2014. Jimmy Butler seems like the perfect candidate to fill this type of role for the 2016 edition of Team USA. A tough physical guy who can pretty much guard 1 through 3 and more than hold his own on offense. I just have a feeling he is going to be one of those unsung heroes who makes big time noise in Rio.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlYzzX_Bp48[/youtube]

Winsome Gerbil · Post #106 » by **Winsome Gerbil** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 4:01 am

ClipsFanSince98 wrote:DeAndre Jordan is more mobile on defense and the offense already has a ton of shoot first guys. So I expect him to start over Cousins TBH, unless they run complete small ball. Not to mention that Jordan is the better player probably.

Well, you got the ton of shoot first guys right.

Jordan is an awkward player at the international level, but it all depends on what system Team USA uses. In 2012 and prior years the heavy reliance on our SF scorers, playing at both SF and PF, meant that they could turn the center position into just defensive beanpoles (it didn't hurt that that was all the talent the U.S. was producing at the position at the time). But low skilled offensive players cause issues in international play as opposing teams take advantage of them to gang up on the scorers and attack them with 3pt spacers on offense. In 2014 George breaking his leg, and Durant panicking and showing us an early glimpse of those skirts he wears under the shorts, saw a rethinking of the inside guys' roles. Davis and Fareid became primary scorers for the U.S. (I think Davis was always intended to be, Faried surprised). Davis and Cousins were the two main centers, which is about as far from low-skill as you can get.

Now the big SF scorers are all back, and so that opens up the possibility we'll turn back to them as the big scorers, and that does indeed open the possibility Jordan will just be thrown out there to defend and stay out of the way. Those scrimmage highlights seemed to show an emphasis on postups and 5 man passing games however, and that would suggest Cousins and even Green.

bb22 · Post #107 » by **bb22** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:48 am

Melo, Kyrie, Klay and KD are locks, so the only question is Cousins vs DeAndre. Cousins deserves to start, but I see coach K picking DeAndre as the starting center in order to enforce their defensive presence (similar to Chandler in 2012). DeMarcus will come off the bench and provide instant energy/offense like he did in 2014, and probably log more mpg.
Mumbles is right about Jimmy. He will be an absolute beast this tournament. Although some people are already labeling him as this year's Iggy/Faried, I would argue that this team has 3-5 players who can fill that physical role: Jimmy, Klay, Green, Cousins, PG. The special part of this team is that those 5 guys are such incredibly versatile players and great scorers, so they won't have to sacrifice dominant offence for lock-down defense and hustle.

Post #108 » by **Rerisen** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 11:18 am

Mumbles wrote:All Star Jimmy Butler is going to play a key role on this Olympic team in my opinion. I've been impressed with his competitive approach in this training camp. It is his first go with Team USA and you can tell he wants to leave a great first impression.

He looks ready to me.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHe99ohaDvM[/youtube]

peja_the_legend · Post #109 » by **peja_the_legend** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:31 am

For Gods sake put this topic back the general board.Noone visits this sub forum.There was a team Usa exhibition last night and there is no discussion about it.

dalton749 · Post #110 » by **dalton749** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 4:12 pm

I'm not sure jimmy has done that much to earn the spot over derozan. It looks like derozan has been used as a secondary playmaker whenever he is on the floor. They've run a lot of action through him, and kept him up top as a release valve a lot.

His efficiency in the pnr, ability to find shooters, and being one of the best on the team at getting to the rim brings a different skill set that not many of the other wings on the team offer.

Ancalagon · Post #111 » by **Ancalagon** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 6:51 pm

peja_the_legend wrote:For Gods sake put this topic back the general board.Noone visits this sub forum.There was a team Usa exhibition last night and there is no discussion about it.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do this.

Mumbles · Post #112 » by **Mumbles** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 8:01 pm

Ancalagon wrote:
peja_the_legend wrote:For Gods sake put this topic back the general board.Noone visits this sub forum.There was a team Usa exhibition last night and there is no discussion about it.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do this.

Yes yes Yes, i don't see why we can't have Team USA discussion in the general board and all other Olympic discussion on this board. Hopefully we don't sacrifice discussion for the sake placing topics in certain forum. Please consider allowing Team USA discussion on the general board.

Post #113 » by **Mr. E** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 8:29 pm

With the General Board as such a high traffic forum it is standard practice to divert certain topics to appropriate boards when they are available. That is the case with Olympic discussion for the General Board.

jpm312 · Post #114 » by **jpm312** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 11:34 pm

Mr. E wrote:With the General Board as such a high traffic forum it is standard practice to divert certain topics to appropriate boards when they are available. That is the case with Olympic discussion for the General Board.

Move this to the General Board!

Post #115 » by **Mr. E** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 12:00 am

jpm312 wrote:
Mr. E wrote:With the General Board as such a high traffic forum it is standard practice to divert certain topics to appropriate boards when they are available. That is the case with Olympic discussion for the General Board.

Move this to the General Board!

It's not happening.

If you do not like this decision then you can voice your objections on the Feedback forum.

Winsome Gerbil · Post #116 » by **Winsome Gerbil** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 12:30 am

Mr. E wrote:
jpm312 wrote:
Mr. E wrote:With the General Board as such a high traffic forum it is standard practice to divert certain topics to appropriate boards when they are available. That is the case with Olympic discussion for the General Board.

Move this to the General Board!

It's not happening.

If you do not like this decision then you can voice your objections on the Feedback forum.

It does seem an odd one given the close relationship of Team USA basketball to the NBA, in fact the NBA itself even runs the boxscores of even this prelimary matches on NBA.com, and all 12 members are NBA stars. Its an obvious traffic draw right in the deadest part of the offseason.

At the very least you could use a much clearer road map off to this dusty little forum. If I did not know it existed, there is no way I would ever have found it.

jpm312 · Post #117 » by **jpm312** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 12:56 am

Mr. E wrote:
jpm312 wrote:
Mr. E wrote:With the General Board as such a high traffic forum it is standard practice to divert certain topics to appropriate boards when they are available. That is the case with Olympic discussion for the General Board.

Move this to the General Board!

It's not happening.

If you do not like this decision then you can voice your objections on the Feedback forum.

And what good is that going to do?

Post #118 » by **Mr. E** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 1:23 am

Winsome Gerbil wrote:It does seem an odd one given the close relationship of Team USA basketball to the NBA, in fact the NBA itself even runs the boxscores of even this prelimary matches on NBA.com, and all 12 members are NBA stars. Its an obvious traffic draw right in the deadest part of the offseason.

At the very least you could use a much clearer road map off to this dusty little forum. If I did not know it existed, there is no way I would ever have found it.

We just re-opened this forum last week. There should be an announcement about the Olympic Forum when the Games are closer. In the meantime there have been mentions on other boards, including a stickied topic on the General Board where this thread originated.

Once this forum re-opened the decision was made to move the Olympic discussion off of the General Board and to this forum.

Little Digger · Post #119 » by **Little Digger** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 3:01 am

Well the move here will probably kill off 80 or 90 % of the TeamUSA discussion..Too bad...

99 Knicks · Post #120 » by **99 Knicks** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 11:28 am

Duke4life831 wrote:
moocow007 wrote:
Duke4life831 wrote:I would go with

Kyrie
Klay
KD
George
Cousins

I know Melo is great in international play but I dont think that will be the case this year. I can see the argument for Jordan starting over Cousins because they dont need Cousins scoring. But damn those 5 would just be filthy on offense

Because? The great competition that they will be facing? Because opposing teams will be able to shut Melo down but not anyone else (and we can't risk losing)? No one is beating the US. This is just a show.

Uhm I don't recall anywhere in my post where I said starting Melo will maybe make the team lose. All I said was I think Paul George is a better player now. I get it we are going to win, we would still win if we started Barnes and had KD be the 10th man. I was just saying I would think it would be cool to see the 5 best players start, that would include George not Melo

Your post screams I'm a Melo hater. You still haven't stated why he won't play well...he played well in the first game and that's without a bunch of breakaway lay ups like your precious Paul George. I just don't get some of you. Wade came off the bench in 08, Melo in 12 but somehow Paul George, who's overrated, is way too great to come off the bench for the Olympic team. Melo is the 2nd/3rd best player on the team for Gods sake and an international basketball stud just cut the crap and cheer for your country and not Paul George.