Anonymous
Years ago

Predict the USA team roster at the next olympics.

Who they choosing?

Most guys they want in now will be too old.

Eg

No
Lebron 39
Paul 39
Curry 36
Durant 35
Westbrook 35

Maybe
Lillard 34
Harden 34
Thompson 34
Butler 34
George 34

Rest of the stars will be early 30s, late 20s

Topic #49004 | Report this topic


Anonymous  
Years ago

Irving
Young
Morant
Mitchell
Thompson
Butler
Leonard
George
Williamson
Davis
Collins
Wiseman


Big stocks are terrible atm but one is in form and one has potential.
Didn't choose harden because of attitude.

Reply #862556 | Report this post


MACDUB  
Years ago

Pretty hard thread to answer given the variables with people pulling out, injuries etc.

Reply #862563 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Yeah, if you had to 'predict' the team for this year, I don't think anyone would have had Javale McGee and Keldon Johnson on it. But I'm equally surprised to see the 3 Finals guys there, given the turnaround.

One thing to predict the best team available, totally different to try and guess at who'll be healthy, who'll commit, who'll be out because of contract stuff, who'll need to stay home and work on their shot.

Reply #862566 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Second redeem team, just 3 years away.

Reply #862576 | Report this post


Anon  
Years ago

Come on guys, they should be able to pick 3-4 teams to win the gold medal.

Reply #862579 | Report this post


Perth fan.  
Years ago

Undeniable talent in the US they just don't have cohesion.
The following is a list of key 30 or younger guys that could be in mix
Trae Young
John Collins
Jayson Tatum
La Melo Ball
James Wiseman
Zion Williamson
Anthony Davis
Brandon Ingram
Karl Anthony Towns
Julius Randle
Devin Booker
Donovan Mitchell
Bradley Beal
Kyrie Irving.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Towns is not from USA, he represents Dominican republic.

Reply #862587 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

The world will be getting much closer talent wise in 2028.

Reply #862589 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Simmons might go USA if he thinks he's in.

Reply #862592 | Report this post


ME (he/kangaroo)  
Years ago

Some great names listed but what strikes me is the USA could name their best possible team with all their best options and they still wouldn't exert Dream Team type domination of the tournament. They may go undefeated but you wouldn't be seeing 20-30 point smashings every game. World teams are too well drilled, too well coached, have too much cohesion. Even at their theoretical best they'd still not be an invincible Dream Team.

But I for one do want to see their best possible team. USA always has some excuse when they lose. I remember when they failed at the world cup it was because they didn't have Durant apparently. Before the Olympics they were arrogantly posting "ha, the world thinks they can compete with this team?!?" Team USA has just lost three of its past four games, and now they're sitting there rattling off the players they don't have.

So for me, I want to see their best team. And I want to see their best team lose! I find American commentators and personalities to be incredibly arrogant and I hope this is a period of humbling and learning for them. The USA doesn't have the monopoly over basketball anymore and I want to thank our frog friends for helping to display that to them.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

They really should re-imagine team construction to have 2 outright go-to-guys, 2 'supporting stars' with 6 or 7 willing role players. A mix of shooters, defensive specialists (best case scenario have multiple weapons).

Just thinking out loud about the types this could include:

Kevin Huerter
Malcolm Brogden
Pat Connaughton
Tyrese Halliburton
Keldon Johnson
Christian Wood
Mikal Bridges

Reply #862602 | Report this post


ME (he/kangaroo)  
Years ago

Oh yeah, absolutely no thought has been made to team construction or the roles players are playing. It's like they're blindly picking names out of the sky and saying "yeah, he'll do".

Reply #862603 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

^ I think this is spot on. Rather than hanging out for stars who might or might not commit, and then bellyaching about how they haven't had time to build chemistry, get a core of 12-16 guys who are locks to participate if selected, and get them in camp every summer. Build the chemistry. Add a couple of superstars for World Cup and Olympic play, and expect them to fit the system except in crunch time when you throw them the ball and let them go to work.

Too many of the best NBA players these days are not American. You can't rely on transcendent talent when Doncic, Jokic, Embiid, Antetokounmpo and Gobert are all on someone else's team.

Reply #862605 | Report this post


ME (he/kangaroo)  
Years ago

I don't think Team USA really respects the FIBA thing. They just throw out whatever they can bothered to and expect to win gold. They're being shown now that it isn't going to be that way anymore and I fucking love it.

Reply #862607 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

The reality is NBA is not real basketball. It's one on one iso athletic brilliance with some sweet shooting. But when they get into the FIBA game with a smaller court, the different defensive structures they just struggle. They are the best athletes in the world on the court. But walk the ball up so its a half court game, run them off 3 or 4 screens and their D is rubbish and with teams clogging the paint if they can't hit from outside (Lillard 3/9, Durant 1/6, Tatum 1/5) they are toast because they can't just beat their man and get to the cup with ease like they can in the NBA.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Imagine that, actually building it like a basketball team, not a fantasy team.

Reply #862613 | Report this post


Nostraballmus  
Years ago

T20/20 : Cricket
NBA : Basketball

Reply #862619 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Ok so thinking a bit more about my above post about role players and willing role players, here is an overall team concept.

2 go-to guys, 2 supporting stars, 7 role players, 1 veteran hand. The final 3 categories could each be +/- 1 depending on the mix.

Go-To Guy (2 players)

Speaks for itself. Someone sits at the top of team hierarchy, can you get a bucket in the clutch, and generally fits the team concept - and the balance of the roster.

Trae Young

Kevin Durant

Anthony Davis

Zion WIlliamson



Supporting Star (2)

A high calibre player who doesn't disrupt the team concept. A great teammate who doesn’t need the ball.



Jrue Holiday

Bam Adebayo



Wow. I could only find two players that really fit this bill. Other suggestions welcome. I think Klay Thompson in a perfect world would be in this category, but he is too injured/ageing, and drops into the 'veteran hand’ category.





Willing Role Players (7)

Must be willing to run a motion offense, shoot, have off-ball and/or playmaking ability, play defense.

Fred VanVleet

Malcolm Brogdon

Tyrese Halliburton

Kevin Huerter

Pat Connaughton

Duncan Robinson

Mikal Bridges

Larry Nance Jnr

Christian Wood



Veteran Hand (1)

A locker room leader who knows who they are, won’t whine about not playing, but still has seniority to keep the rest of the team somewhat in check. Oddly, I think current Blake Griffin is actually a good candidate here.

Klay Thompson

Blake Griffin

Seth Curry

Thad Young

Carmelo Anthony

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Maybe throw in DeJounte Murray into the above as a Thybulle type...

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PyroCross  
Years ago

A possible team with defense, toughness, multi-positional options and some X-factor:

Anthony Davis / Bam Adebayo / Evan Mobley
Jayson Tatum / Chet Holmgren
Mikal Bridges / Jimmy Butler
Jaylen Brown / Duncan Robinson
Trae Young / Damian Lillard / Fred van Vleet

In terms of noteworthy stars missing from this rotation: Curry (old), KD (old/Brooklyn chemistry), Zion (load management), Kawhi (load management), Kyrie (Brooklyn chemistry), Beal (defense?), Booker (defense?)

An Olympic team is wise to have three guys who can play the 5, and three guys who are definitely 1s. Trae leads the on-court activity, Jimmy and Dame Time lead the off-court. A sometimes needed 5-man of Adebayo, Bridges, Butler, Brown and van Vleet rings Miami toughness. And Holmgren could be the star of the whole thing.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Young
Mitchell
Leonard
Williamson
Davis

Morant
Thompson
Butler
Randle
Wood

Ball
Wiseman

Reply #862713 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Patty and Evan Fournier show that NBA rotation guys can be plenty effective at the top levels of FIBA competition. Heaps of Americans who could do the same job, just need to set them up for it.

ME, you're right - now. But their success under Colangelo/Krzyzewski was built on taking FIBA seriously, and setting higher standards for anyone who wanted to wear the USA uniform. It surprises me that they've dropped the ball so badly in the transition away from Coach K. I wonder whether Pop is hamstrung a bit by his NBA role, and needing not to alienate guys the Spurs might want to sign. Whereas Coach K could turn around to anyone and say "if you're not going to show up and take it seriously, we're not interested."

We can all sit here and laugh about the mediocrity of NBA defences but it's not like the guys setting the Olympics on fire aren't NBA players. Team USA lost to a French team led by NBA players. The Boomers are led by NBA guys. Luka showed what an MVP candidate can do. They're still the best players in the world and the Americans still have the most of them.

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BALLER#3  
Years ago

A big part of it comes down to the culture of basketball in the US compared to that elsewhere generally. These guys even in high school have just been iso only and many never really been asked to defend at a high level.

Whilst someone like Luka is an NBA MVP caliber player, he grew up with the fiba game and understands it.

It is difficult because in reality, the US only have 2 or 3 weeks to prepare a team for a completely different play style. Not to mention they have next to zero continuity in their team, just take a look at the 19 worlds team to this team and how different it is...

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Hoopie  
Years ago

There's a major difference between the USA players and the rest of the world. The rest of the world grew up under FIBA rules and team-based principles and then transitioned into the NBA without losing their knowledge of FIBA ball, whereas the USA players were never exposed to anything other than iso ball and the emphasis on offense while preparing themselves for the NBA.

You’d expect the studs to always struggle with the transition to team-based, tough-defense FIBA ball. Better to use the supporting players who at least know how to set up and support their teammates, and probably play a bit of d as well.

Reply #862727 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

This thread goes seriously overboard about the lack of defence in the NBA. Just because they spend a lot of time not playing defence doesn't mean they can't. The struggle for stars adjusting to being guarded aggressively might be real, but the US still possesses more of the best defenders on the planet than anyone else.

Yes, the lack of familiarity with FIBA and too much focus on individual play is a problem for them. It's hard to imagine they won't win gold in Paris, though, because just as they found a solution after Athens, they'll do so after Tokyo. Which other national team has their room for improvement?

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Why didn't the US have enough prep time ? A lot of other teams had NBA players and had to wait for Playoffs to finish or their players to become available to practice, why was the US's prep time more of a hinderance than anyone else ? Middleton, Booker & Holiday joined late form Finals. Fair enough.

Adebayo - Miami (KO'd first round, end of May)
Booker - Finals
Durant - Brooklyn (Conf SF's, finished June 20)
Grant - Detroit (No Playoffs)
Green - GSW (No Playoffs)
Johnson - Spurs (Play in tournament only)
Lavine - Bulls (No Playoffs)
Lillard - Blazers (KO'd first round, end of May)
McGee - Nuggets (Conf SF's, finished June 14)
Middleton - Finals
Holiday - Finals
Tatum - (KO'd first round, end of May)

Didn't the Australian team only arrive in California end of june start of July ?
Nigeria would be in a similar boat ?

Reply #862802 | Report this post




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