Your Team USA Final Cuts

why did they even invite Redick? he is garbage.

Having a hard time understanding how Melo is not on some starting units in this thread.

TXLAKERFAN wrote:Having a hard time understanding how Melo is not on some starting units in this thread.

exactly. Melo has to be on the starting unit. Even over Lebron i say. Melo is a better scorer and can spread the floor with his sweet J.

LUUUKE wrote:

TXLAKERFAN wrote:Having a hard time understanding how Melo is not on some starting units in this thread.

exactly. Melo has to be on the starting unit. Even over Lebron i say. Melo is a better scorer and can spread the floor with his sweet J.

But thats the thing, he's probably our 2nd best scorer, behind Kobe. He'd be useful off the bench and provide some punch when our starters get a rest. But, I see your point.

TXLAKERFAN wrote:Having a hard time understanding how Melo is not on some starting units in this thread.

good question

gonna edit lebron out now.

two0one7 wrote:

LUUUKE wrote:

TXLAKERFAN wrote:Having a hard time understanding how Melo is not on some starting units in this thread.

exactly. Melo has to be on the starting unit. Even over Lebron i say. Melo is a better scorer and can spread the floor with his sweet J.

But thats the thing, he's probably our 2nd best scorer, behind Kobe. He'd be useful off the bench and provide some punch when our starters get a rest. But, I see your point.

This is not sub in 5, take out 5 basketball. Melo has earned the right to get alot of minutes. This is not the all-star game, the best players will be out there the majority of the time.

Having finally watched the entire scrimmage, the 5 players I'd cut are:

Amare
Hinrich (with Deron getting the nod over Kirk)
Redd (quite dreadful and much too trigger-happy)
Reddick
Carmelo Anthony (total black hole on offense and completely inept when facing a zone)

Anthony and Amare especially are just there because they are a "name". Carmelo is completely wrong for the European rules. Sure he can score but the ball doesn't move with him on the team. And if you want to win in FIBA rules, ball has to move as crisply as possible. And Amare is useless, when you already have Howard, Chandler and Bosh. As one-dimensional as bigs come.

Rotation:

PG - Kidd, Billups, Williams
SG - Kobe, Miller
SF - Lebron, Battier, Prince
PF - Bosh, Durant
C - Howard, Chandler

Two observations:

a) Durant should play SF in the NBA. he won't cut it as PF.

b) The key player for the success of this USA team isn't Kobe or Lebron or wade. It's Jason Kidd. If he is healthy and in form, he is the only player who truly guarantees team USA will bring home the gold.

A Rush wrote:Anthony and Amare especially are just there because they are a "name". Carmelo is completely wrong for the European rules. Sure he can score but the ball doesn't move with him on the team. And if you want to win in FIBA rules, ball has to move as crisply as possible. And Amare is useless, when you already have Howard, Chandler and Bosh. As one-dimensional as bigs come.

Many could argue Melo is a better fit than LeBron. If any1's game doesnt fit FIBA, it's LeBron. Dood cant shoot and once a zone comes in his offensive game is stagnant. Melo was the best player for USA last time around. He's just a good BASKETBALL PLAYER. He just has basketball skills. He doesnt rely on getting to the rim or getting calls to score. That's what we need. I sorta agree with Amare. He's just not NEEDED. Couldnt disagree more with Melo though.

nameant wrote:

A Rush wrote:Anthony and Amare especially are just there because they are a "name". Carmelo is completely wrong for the European rules. Sure he can score but the ball doesn't move with him on the team. And if you want to win in FIBA rules, ball has to move as crisply as possible. And Amare is useless, when you already have Howard, Chandler and Bosh. As one-dimensional as bigs come.

Many could argue Melo is a better fit than LeBron. If any1's game doesnt fit FIBA, it's LeBron. Dood cant shoot and once a zone comes in his offensive game is stagnant. Melo was the best player for USA last time around. He's just a good BASKETBALL PLAYER. He just has basketball skills. He doesnt rely on getting to the rim or getting calls to score. That's what we need. I sorta agree with Amare. He's just not NEEDED. Couldnt disagree more with Melo though.

couldnt agree more i mean melo was their best player last time and once the zone is placed prepare for lebronze to fade

A Rush wrote:Having finally watched the entire scrimmage, the 5 players I'd cut are:

Amare
Hinrich (with Deron getting the nod over Kirk)
Redd (quite dreadful and much too trigger-happy)
Reddick
Carmelo Anthony (total black hole on offense and completely inept when facing a zone)

Anthony and Amare especially are just there because they are a "name". Carmelo is completely wrong for the European rules. Sure he can score but the ball doesn't move with him on the team. And if you want to win in FIBA rules, ball has to move as crisply as possible. And Amare is useless, when you already have Howard, Chandler and Bosh. As one-dimensional as bigs come.

Rotation:

PG - Kidd, Billups, Williams
SG - Kobe, Miller
SF - Lebron, Battier, Prince
PF - Bosh, Durant
C - Howard, Chandler

Two observations:

a) Durant should play SF in the NBA. he won't cut it as PF.

b) The key player for the success of this USA team isn't Kobe or Lebron or wade. It's Jason Kidd. If he is healthy and in form, he is the only player who truly guarantees team USA will bring home the gold.

Did you miss out on what happen last time around. Without Melo we pobably don't even get the bronze medal.

A Rush wrote:Having finally watched the entire scrimmage, the 5 players I'd cut are:

Amare
Hinrich (with Deron getting the nod over Kirk)
Redd (quite dreadful and much too trigger-happy)
Reddick
Carmelo Anthony (total black hole on offense and completely inept when facing a zone)

Anthony and Amare especially are just there because they are a "name". Carmelo is completely wrong for the European rules. Sure he can score but the ball doesn't move with him on the team. And if you want to win in FIBA rules, ball has to move as crisply as possible. And Amare is useless, when you already have Howard, Chandler and Bosh. As one-dimensional as bigs come.

Rotation:

PG - Kidd, Billups, Williams
SG - Kobe, Miller
SF - Lebron, Battier, Prince
PF - Bosh, Durant
C - Howard, Chandler

Two observations:

a) Durant should play SF in the NBA. he won't cut it as PF.

b) The key player for the success of this USA team isn't Kobe or Lebron or wade. It's Jason Kidd. If he is healthy and in form, he is the only player who truly guarantees team USA will bring home the gold.

WOOOHOOO Lets base it off one game! How do we know Melo didn't just have an off night? Ohh maybe because he was the best player last time. How do we know Durant didn't just have a really good game?

It's hard to base everything off that scrimmage. Bosh/Howard both outperformed Amare, but how many talented bigs of Bosh/Howard's caliber are they going to see in FIBA and the Olympics?

I say this is the rotation

Kidd/Deron/Kirk
Kobe/Prince
Melo/LeBron/Durant
Bosh/Amare
Howard/Chandler

Mike Miller- I just don't like him. Prince is better, not as effective 3pt shooter, but plays A+ defense.

Billups- Tough cut. You can't argue with Kidd, Hinrich played good last time around, and Deron is a stud.

Battier- Another tough cut. But you only need one of Prince or Battier, and I prefer Prince.

Reddick- A joke.

Redd- May be more valuable in an international style game over Lebron, but we all know that wont happen.

Miller needs to be cut. HE shot 5-15 from the 3 and everyone's on him.

Yeah I'll go with Klewfish's roster, it looks the best.

TXLAKERFAN wrote:

A Rush wrote:Having finally watched the entire scrimmage, the 5 players I'd cut are:

Amare
Hinrich (with Deron getting the nod over Kirk)
Redd (quite dreadful and much too trigger-happy)
Reddick
Carmelo Anthony (total black hole on offense and completely inept when facing a zone)

Anthony and Amare especially are just there because they are a "name". Carmelo is completely wrong for the European rules. Sure he can score but the ball doesn't move with him on the team. And if you want to win in FIBA rules, ball has to move as crisply as possible. And Amare is useless, when you already have Howard, Chandler and Bosh. As one-dimensional as bigs come.

Rotation:

PG - Kidd, Billups, Williams
SG - Kobe, Miller
SF - Lebron, Battier, Prince
PF - Bosh, Durant
C - Howard, Chandler

Two observations:

a) Durant should play SF in the NBA. he won't cut it as PF.

b) The key player for the success of this USA team isn't Kobe or Lebron or wade. It's Jason Kidd. If he is healthy and in form, he is the only player who truly guarantees team USA will bring home the gold.

Did you miss out on what happen last time around. Without Melo we pobably don't even get the bronze medal.

I'm of the opinion that it's because you had guys like Melo that you only won the bronze. Like it or not, the ball stops moving once carmelo gets hold of it and that spells death in international competition, especially against the Zone. It also doesn't help that carmelo seems to have the basketball IQ of a peanut. Huge talent but dumb as a rock basketball-wise.

BTW if Kobe wasn't on the squad, I'd keep Carmelo. Having Kobe there eliminates any need for Melo since the two play similar style basketball. Ball movement tends to stop with Kobe as well but since Kobe is the better player of the two, Melo is the odd man out. If you have too many players like Kobe and Carmelo on the team, you won't get anywhere in international competition.

Klewfish wrote:

A Rush wrote:Having finally watched the entire scrimmage, the 5 players I'd cut are:

Amare
Hinrich (with Deron getting the nod over Kirk)
Redd (quite dreadful and much too trigger-happy)
Reddick
Carmelo Anthony (total black hole on offense and completely inept when facing a zone)

Anthony and Amare especially are just there because they are a "name". Carmelo is completely wrong for the European rules. Sure he can score but the ball doesn't move with him on the team. And if you want to win in FIBA rules, ball has to move as crisply as possible. And Amare is useless, when you already have Howard, Chandler and Bosh. As one-dimensional as bigs come.

Rotation:

PG - Kidd, Billups, Williams
SG - Kobe, Miller
SF - Lebron, Battier, Prince
PF - Bosh, Durant
C - Howard, Chandler

Two observations:

a) Durant should play SF in the NBA. he won't cut it as PF.

b) The key player for the success of this USA team isn't Kobe or Lebron or wade. It's Jason Kidd. If he is healthy and in form, he is the only player who truly guarantees team USA will bring home the gold.

WOOOHOOO Lets base it off one game! How do we know Melo didn't just have an off night? Ohh maybe because he was the best player last time. How do we know Durant didn't just have a really good game?

It's hard to base everything off that scrimmage.

Carmelo played international ball before. He shot well but otherwise, he was one of those who shot his team in the foot by not moving the ball and looked totally inept facing the zone (hell, he looked totally inept facing the USA zone which was pretty substandard). Too bad all fans today see and admire is scoring. Subtleties of the game which usually determine the outcome just fly over most fans' heads. Just flash no substance.

In general though, Carmelo Anthony is one of the most overrated superstars in quite some time. That guy will never win anything on the NBA level, no matter who his teammates are.

A Rush wrote:In general though, Carmelo Anthony is one of the most overrated superstars in quite some time. That guy will never win anything on the NBA level, no matter who his teammates are.

Quoted for future reference.

L4L wrote:In general though, Carmelo Anthony is one of the most underrated superstars in quite some time. That guy will win things on the NBA level, no matter who his teammates are.

The true version of the above statement.

melo061 wrote:

A Rush wrote:In general though, Carmelo Anthony is one of the most overrated superstars in quite some time. That guy will never win anything on the NBA level, no matter who his teammates are.

Quoted for future reference.

Please do. It'll be nice to have on record at least one of the rare quotes of mine which will be proven right.

L4L wrote:

L4L wrote:In general though, Carmelo Anthony is one of the most underrated superstars in quite some time. That guy will win things on the NBA level, no matter who his teammates are.

The true version of the above statement.

In Never never land perhaps.

A Rush wrote:

L4L wrote:

L4L wrote:In general though, Carmelo Anthony is one of the most underrated superstars in quite some time. That guy will win things on the NBA level, no matter who his teammates are.

The true version of the above statement.

In Never never land perhaps.

Carmelo is highly underrated as a basketball player, but the second part I was just joshin' ya. He's one of the only so-called "superstars" that relies on basketball skills instead of freakish athleticism or size.

A Rush you just seem to have this biasness against Melo for whatever reason. Not sure how you can say Melo is what caused us to win the bronze. Without him there we win no medal at all. And the ball has to stop at some point for someone to put it in the basket. One scorer in Kobe is certainly not enough for this team to win the gold medal.

Final Roster:

Kidd / Billups / Hinrich
Kobe / Redd
Lebron / Miller / Battier
Carmelo / Bosh
Howard / Stoudemire

We need shooters. Redd, Miller, and Battier are those shooters. I only added Hinrich because he knows the international game already.

TXLAKERFAN wrote:A Rush you just seem to have this biasness against Melo for whatever reason.

Biases? I just happen to think he is greatly overrated, that's all. Quite simple, really. It's not psychology 101. I don't know why people take it so personally.