If you’ll excuse me, I have some blog doting to do.
M. Haubs and Jay Aych have been absolutely killing it with their previews and coverage of the FIBA World Championships at The Painted Area. This is nothing new. TPA has been an established go-to source for both NBA and international basketball content for some time, and the only thing that gives me more pleasure than taking in one of Haubs’ or Aych’s fantastic pieces is seeing them get their due.
And a plug by Fran Fraschilla on today’s Team USA broadcast? Not too shabby.
Fraschilla: “You know, Mark, I love reading the blogs. We have a guy, Jay Aych, The Painted Area, great blog this week. (I hope I said his name right.) But he made a great point about teams in Europe and international play, they run their offense like the Utah Jazz run it – very crisp, disciplined, lot of touches. And that’s why the Jazz give teams in the league – you know, Jerry Sloan’s team gives teams so much trouble. Team USA is not used to guarding all 24 seconds of the shot clock, in my opinion.”
For reference, Fraschilla was referencing this post by Aych following USA’s win over Brazil:
This is not a surprise as NBA players don’t see that type of off-ball movement in the U.S.–lots more moving parts to deal with in FIBA ball. Brazil ran a lot of continuity sets, like the ones Magnano’s Argentina teams used to perplex Team USA with. It’s not just pick/roll that befuddles Team USA, it’s the off-ball action and screens coming from all angles. You will see a lot of variations on Princeton sets or flex sets in this tourney. Constant offensive motion is a staple of int’l basketball. Offenses with reads, counterplays, and counterplays to the counterplays.
If we were preparing Team USA for what to expect in this tourney, we’d tell them that it’s like playing the Jazz many times. And if you ask NBA players about defending the Jazz offense, we’re sure most would say it’s not fun. (More on this topic as it relates to Team USA, from ’07.)
Somewhere along the way, the Oklahoma City Thunder became every NBA fan’s mistress. We have and hold our respective teams in injury and in health, in good times and bad, until death do us part, but even the truest of die-hards have been known to flirt with League Pass now and again. It’s nothing major. Just to see what else is out there. Just to pass the time when our teams are away on business. It doesn’t mean anything, we tell ourselves.
But it means everything. NBA fans have wandering eyes, and the Thunder ooze sex appeal. We can try our best to explain away the Thunder’s allure, but there is genuine meaning in it.
Kevin Durant is the obvious draw. Not only is he a phenomenal All-World scorer with a rapidly improving all-around game, but his on-court demeanor and obsessive hunger for all things basketball blend together beautifully. His feet are planted firmly on the ground, even as he reaches higher and higher with his trademarked, absurdly long arms. The man simply loves what he does and works hard to improve himself, and that’s endearing. That he happens to already be an incredible player while maintaining that hunger is what elevates him to cult favorite and Wheaties box role model.
Of course, Durant is but one reason why the Thunder have captivated NBA audiences. They’re young and new, and like it or not, hip. They’re athletic and dynamic, from Russell Westbrook’s jams to Serge Ibaka’s swats. Their success is somehow bizarre, improbable, and yet all part of the plan. They’re 50-win underdogs, tightly knit with an old-school, one-goal fabric, but envisioned with modern basketball sensibilities. There is, really and truly, nothing quite like the Thunder.
There’s also nothing quite like Kevin Durant’s other team. The one that won’t make your steadfast commitment as an NBA fan the least bit confusing. The one that’s playing right now, in the stretch of the off-season that’s most barren.
They’re young. They’re athletic. They’re hungry and humble. They’re incredibly talented even if they’re in a bit over their heads. They are wholly committed to playing great defense, and above all, they have Durant to lead them. There is, really and truly, nothing quite like Team USA either, and if one were forced to conjure the most natural team comparison? It just might be Oklahoma City.
But even though the national squad may bear the country’s name on their unis, the Thunder are America’s Team. For some reason, Team USA has yet to really grab hold of the basketball nation’s attention, despite the oddly fascinating collection of players and the highly competitive field at the FIBA World Championships.
What is it that basketball fans want, exactly? What makes the Thunder so special when Team USA, despite taking two of OKC’s players and so many of its components, can’t find widespread appeal with a nearly identical formula? Are we really to believe that Derrick Rose and Andre Iguodala are less riveting as basketball talents than Jeff Green and James Harden? Is it simply the nature of the World Championships to have a team like this one fly under the radar?
Regardless, this year’s Team USA has been given a rather ho-hum treatment thus far, despite carrying with them the same underdog appeal that people value in the Thunder. Smartwriters the NBA world over have told you that while the Americans have the most talent on their roster, Spain should be considered the tournament favorite. They are the likely champions. Yet while the Thunder’s relative standing is a substantial part of their charm, Team USA gets no benefit from a similar underdog aura.
I think ultimately, what separates OKC from USA is an issue of ownership, and what that ownership signifies. There’s no question that Oklahoma City owns the Thunder. They proved that at every home game last season, as Durant and company benefited from one of the most insanely supportive home arenas in the league:
At least a part of the Thunder’s widespread appeal is the understandable desire to be a part of that. That, ladies and gents, is a truly special fan base, going absolutely bonkers for an interesting team playing meaningful games.
That hearth of basketball fandom in Oklahoma City is an affirmation: an affirmation of the dedication of the players and the Thunder organization. Team USA, for whatever reason, isn’t perceived to have that same level of dedication. Nevermind that Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo have worked hard to make the USA Basketball program as consistent as possible. Nevermind that stars like Kevin Durant have said how badly they want to win, and how much that means coming straight from the Durantula’s mouth. Nevermind that this year’s team came to work, put in the time, and prepared for the challenges ahead.
Apparently none of that matters. As a result, not only does Team USA face questions over the team’s intrigue and the games’ meaning, but they lack that dedicated fan base. They lack ownership. There’s nothing to want to be a part of, because the national team has no dedicated following. They technically belong to all Americans — or even anyone who chooses to actively root for this collection of NBA players, if you’d like to take it that far — but the diffusion of that ownership over such a huge number of supposed “fans,” combined with disappointment over the lack of top-tier NBA talent, and a misunderstanding of the value of the World Championships makes Team USA more of a passing thought for the average NBA fan than anything significant.
Team USA has failed to intrigue basketball fans because of an assumed lack of effort and interest. Events like the World Championships, which don’t have the benefit of the Olympic marketing machine, then become uninteresting by association. So begins the vicious cycle, whereby international competition is uninteresting because Team USA is disinterested, and Team USA is disinterested because the competition itself must somehow be uninteresting. But before things get too out of control, consider the following: If Team USA is no longer disinterested, the team is as charismatic and likable as ever in spite of its limitations, and the World Championship field is saturated with top-notch international talent, where does that leave us?
It leaves us on Friday, August 27, 2010 — the eve of the FIBA World Championships. Cling to your contradictory love of the Thunder and indifference toward Team USA if you will, but starting tomorrow, an invested and engaged USA squad will begin to hold court against some of the top national teams in the world. Team USA won’t be around forever, and they’re not looking for much. Just a little love. Just a little attention. Just to be your summer fling on the side, until you go back home in October.
It doesn’t have to mean anything to you, but it could mean everything for them.
There are a million bits to watch as Team USA resumes its pre-Worlds exhibition schedule this weekend, but keep the Americans’ use and execution of the zone defense front and center. There are a lot of things Team USA has absolutely no control over at this stage (the limitations of the roster being the most obvious), but Mike Krzyzewski’s choice to employ more and more zone is a philosophical error that could up costing the Americans immensely.
When Team USA broke camp in Las Vegas last month, before reuniting this week in New York for more workouts, implementing a zone defense wasn’t even on its radar. Pressure was the word of the week, with U.S. coaches convinced that the team’s length and athleticism would make it a dangerous pressing unit in the upcoming FIBA World Championships.
However, recent circumstances — specifically the withdrawal of most of the team’s top big men — has led to a shift in that thinking. With Amar’e Stoudemire, David Lee and Brook Lopez bowing out of the tournament, which begins Aug. 28, rebounding has become a major point of concern. Tyson Chandler and JaVale McGee are the only natural centers on the roster, while Kevin Love and Lamar Odom are the only true power forwards.
Playing zone, coaches say, will position more bodies near the backboards. To that end, the U.S. has tapped assistant coach Jim Boeheim, who has employed the zone at Syracuse for more than three decades, to teach the principles of the defense to the U.S. team.
In principle, the zone offers a nice counter to Team USA’s more aggressive man-to-man sets, and could briefly confuse their opponents as the defense makes a stylistic shift. However, the zone approach really is getting away what this group does best, and making some fairly odd concessions in the process.
The zone defense is, by nature, reactive. It shifts and adjusts to what the opponent tries to do, in an attempt to deny them from reaching the court’s prime real estate. A well-executed zone is quick to react and meticulous in its rotations, which is often a product of extended preparation, trial, and adjustment. Just by understanding the fundamental nature of the zone we already begin to see some of the problems with Team USA implementing it. Team USA’s specific strengths (speed, anticipation, athleticism) and weaknesses (lack of size, shot-blocking, defensive rebounding) pretty much require a pressure-heavy approach. It’s the best strategy to help the Americans disguise just how cold they’re capable of going on offense, while also hiding the defensive inadequacies on the back line.
The zone would likely help the Americans to defend the post, particularly when Tyson Chandler is resting, but at what cost? The biggest concessions of the zone are rebounding and three-pointers, one of which is already problematic given the makeup of this roster, and the other has been noted repeatedly by Team USA players and coaches as a point of defensive emphasis. “Don’t give up threes to these guys,” they say. “Every opponent on the floor can shoot,” they say. “We have to respect their range,” they say. So naturally, Team USA moves to feature the zone defense more prominently, as a way to exacerbate their own rebounding concerns while also surrendering more open three-point attempts than ever. And that’s if the zone is at least fairly competent, which seems like a long-shot due to to Team USA’s limited practice time.
The zone isn’t some catch-all for when man-to-man coverage fails. Like any defensive system, it takes the proper personnel, but even more importantly, a certain amount of time for absorption and implementation. A group of NBAers accustomed to playing man/help defense year-round won’t run a proper zone after a weekend seminar.
Also, playing a true zone in the FIBA World Championships isn’t the same as throwing in a look against UConn, or an NBA team experimenting against bewildered opponents in mid-January. Other national teams are filled with professional players who encounter a ton of zone defense on a regular basis. They won’t be baffled when Russell Westbrook doesn’t go with them through a screen. They’ll just set up the offense, hit the high post, and milk the hell out of backdoor cuts.
This is nothing against Boeheim. He’s a vital member of the Team USA staff, but I’d argue that he’s most useful as an offensive coach; who better to teach the players the best way to attack the zones they’re sure to encounter in the World Championships than a man intimately familiar with the scheme’s weaknesses? But defensively, Team USA desperately needs to take control. They need to dictate, not react. Team USA’s guards and wings should be flying about at all times: jumping passes, pressing full-court, trapping at every opportunity. Deviating from that level of pressure exposes Team USA in potentially damning ways, and handcuffs a roster teeming with athleticism.
I had the chance to go catch Team USA’s final exhibition on American soil before they head off to Turkey for the 2010 FIBA World Championship starting on August 28. As expected, the US boys rolled over the French in Madison Square Garden, winning 86-55, although they didn’t look particularly good on offense or defense early and were deadlocked with France at 16-16 after one quarter.
It was just an exhibition, but it still offered a little insight into what we might be might see from Team USA in Turkey. Here’s a few thoughts from Madison Square Garden.
The team started off sloppy early in the first quarter, at one point turning the ball over on two consecutive possessions, mishandling easy passes in semi-transition. Unforced errors like that shouldn’t be happening with Rajon Rondo and Chauncey Billups on the floor (although it was more KD and Iggy’s fault, respectively, in these two specific instances). As for the starters, I think what we saw today will likely be the same group we see starting the first game in Turkey: Rajon, Chauncey, Iggy, Durant and Tyson Chandler. Chauncey’s vet savvy and shooting make him a good fit at the two, Durant and Tyson are locks, and Iggy/Gay seems like essentially a coin-flip as both bring some much-need athleticism/slashing to the wing, but Iggy does play a little more D, so I would take him. Rajon/Rose could go either way, too, I suppose, but Rajon has the experience, and that seems like the go-to tiebreaker for USA coaches.
Speaking of Rondo … On Saturday, Rajon mentioned that he had not yet gotten the chance to return a phone call to chat with his new teammate Shaq, but when asked if he’s looking forward to running the break with the big fella, he said “hopefully he can keep up with me … I’ll wait for him.” He also expressed that playing for Team USA was a change since, compared to guys like Steph Curry, Eric Gordon and Jeff Green, he’s “like a veteran,” he said. “On my team, I’m the young guy so it’s a different look.”
The play of the day went to one of those young’ns. Steph Curry forced a nice steal around half court by playing pesky D then was able to tip toe the sideline to keep it inbounds, immediately whipping a behind-the-back dribble to get by two defenders and pushing it up the floor. He was far from done, however, freezing a defender in transition around the elbow with a sharp crossover and getting all the way to the cup. Rather than take a contested layup, he dumped it off to Rudy Gay for a power dunk. The sequence was MSG-approved and marked one of the many dunks that sent the near-capacity-eventually (started about half full and then filled up most of the way) crowd into a frenzy.
Rondo had a pretty nice play of his own, however, Rondo-ing his way by a France defender for a sweeping, easy lay-in. It was impressive, sure, but at this point I almost expect one of those per game. Unconfirmed reports lead me to believe that the French kids watching at home are calling the play “Le Rondo’d.”
Rudy Gay wasn’t gonna let the little guys have all the fun and added to the highlight reel with back-to-back breakaway dunks early in the fourth. The first, a Harold Miner-esque, leaning reverse two-hander, gets a 9 out of 10 from me, while the second, more of a 270-degree, spinning one handed reverse, deserves a solid 8 out of 10 on the in-game dunk-o-meter. Iggy added a nice power windmill dunk of his own on a first-half breakaway. I was well aware of MSG’s affinity for dunks, but it seems that patriotic dunks are that much sweeter.
Eric Gordon barely saw the floor early (93 seconds in the first half ), but got some run in the second (about 12 minutes) as, presumably, Coach K and company wanted one final look at the kid. He hit two treys and added one other bucket, but my gut tells me he’ll be the last man cut from Team USA. Steph Curry just seemed to be a little more ingrained in the rotation from the two games I saw this weekend, bringing the ball up on occasion and spacing the floor with his shooting. And if it’s just shooting they care about keeping, Danny Granger also did this yesterday — although I never actually thought Granger had a chance of getting cut anyway unless his finger was actually injured. (It’s not. He’s fine.)
Nando De Colo of France (a player who the Spurs own the rights to and RC Buford, according to Jeff Garcia of Project Spurs, has called the best point guard currently playing in France) hit a nice trey right in front of the press box during the first half. He easily has the best name of anyone who was in Madison Square on Sunday.
Team USA’s most obvious element of intrigue is the finality of its roster. Each team participating in the FIBA World Championships can only bring 12 players, and with 15 Americans in New York set to resume training camp today, the “THREE WILL BE SENT HOME” angle is understandably pulling. It’s intertwined with non-contextual player comparisons (“Rose or Rondo???”), but more importantly, the roster crunch naturally creates its own drama. There are a limited number of spots for a slightly larger number of players. The tension in that discrepancy is hard to ignore and generates a very organic interest.
Yet at this point in the process, choosing who will play is far from Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo’s biggest concern. The roster has undeniable flaws: a lack of elite talent, few legitimate big men, players ill-suited for success in the international game. However, this more or less the same pool Team USA has had from the beginning, and relocating from Vegas to NYC doesn’t change that. Brook Lopez wasn’t going to recover quickly enough to become some great hope in the middle. LeBron James was never going to walk through that door. This is the kind of team we’ve expected for weeks, and while it does matter if K and Colangelo cut Jeff Green or Danny Granger or Eric Gordon or whomever, none of the remaining roster choices would significantly shift the Americans’ chances one way or another. The key players are locked in, and those on the fringe are neither much better nor worse than their counterparts. Some are better fits than others and a few have desirable skills that many lack, but the difference between Eric Gordon and another guard will not end up deciding Team USA’s fate.
Right now, Team USA’s focus should be on repetition. The style that the Americans are looking to play in the World Championships requires that everything they do is easily replicable. The team’s ball-handlers need to be able to make on-target passes to their teammates time and time again, be they on the break or in a half-court set. While having a Chris Paul or Deron Williams might help in that respect, the group of talent Team USA has at point guard is fully capable of making the necessary plays…provided they reach the desired comfort level with their teammates. Putting together the right lineups is one thing, but Coach K needs to run those lineups into the ground. In drills, in scrimmages, in exhibition games, and in the preliminary contests in Turkey. Everything before the elimination stage is a trial, and every second of playing time brings those players closer to the lofty chemistry level needed for extended success.
Beyond that, this team needs to run. Constantly. Mike D’Antoni would be the first to tell you that it takes a well-disciplined and well-conditioned team to run for an entire game, and based on Team USA’s aggressive defensive strategy, these players need to be in regular season shape. That wasn’t the case in Vegas, even at the intrasquad scrimmage at the camp’s conclusion. A number of players admitted to showing up out of playing shape, and despite going through half-speed and full-speed workouts with the Team USA staff, the Americans don’t quite look ready to run the ball down the throats of their elite competition. Here’s to hoping that the remaining 15 have stayed fresh during their break from camp, because while Team USA may have the commitment to run the break on offense and attack ball-handlers on defense, it won’t mean all that much unless the players have the endurance necessary to implement those strategies.
However, above all, Team USA needs to focus on specific applications of their defensive philosophy. The US team that competed in the 2006 World Championships was fairly stacked (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, Joe Johnson, Antawn Jamison…and Brad Miller all competed), but was eliminated by Greece in the semifinal due to their lack of preparation. The Greeks meticulously dissected Team USA’s defenders by way of the pick-and-roll, despite their game plan practically being written on their foreheads. Krzyzewski referred to the opposing players by number rather than name while conducting post-game interviews — not because Greek pronunciation is overly difficult, but because Team USA’s scouting and preparation were clearly subpar. If the Americans had done their homework in 2006, they certainly could have bested Greece in the semifinals. Spain would still have been a tough out in the final, but a national team that talented deserved better from its coaching staff.
The 2008 Olympics were a different story. The Americans’ defense was absolutely suffocating, in part due to personnel, but also thanks to an added emphasis on defensive prep. It’s not enough for Team USA to put in their defensive rotations and assignments and call it a day. They’ll have to do better. While playing pressure defense is a neat idea in theory, to do so intelligently demands far more than long arms and a hot motor. It requires anticipation, and that anticipation requires both instinct and instruction. There are certain things that Team USA will do well naturally. But knowing which players are the most threatening, which act as their team’s crutch, and which are the most capable ball-handlers/passers are all going to aid in the Americans’ ability to force turnovers. That exercise runs deeper than a glance at the depth chart to see who’s running the point.
To say that basketball requires repetition is the furthest thing from a novel concept, yet it really does need to be said with this team. This isn’t summer camp, nor is it an All-Star Game or a charity exhibition. This is supposed to be a real basketball team, and soon they’ll be taking on formidable opponents. The World Championship isn’t the Americans’ for the taking this year. They’ll need to continue to work hard, but even more importantly, they’ll have to work hard toward successful execution, team familiarity, and intelligent defensive play.
Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo made four cuts from the Team USA roster on Wednesday, each with its own unique context. One was a wise choice, another an unfortunate one, one a no-brainer, and the other a tad curious. Which player fits which description matters, yet it really, really doesn’t. We could argue and discuss the merits of the first cuts all day, but none of the four players eliminated from contention would have seriously impacted the final roster. Right or wrong, the first cuts don’t really mean anything.
A bit pessimistic, I know, but K and Colangelo already have their pets in place, and it’s going to take a tectonic shift to disturb the current order. Whether Team USA reps will admit it or not, there is a pecking order to this team, and at its base are the likes of JaVale McGee, O.J. Mayo, Tyreke Evans, and Gerald Wallace. They’re not foundational, but buried underneath the weight of the rest of the program, important to establish the rest of the team by contrast yet anything but invaluable.
JaVale McGee’s importance to Team USA has been inflated by circumstance, and kudos to Coach K for finally letting out the hot air. JaVale is athletic, talented, and fairly promising, but he was never going to make the final roster. Even if Tyson Chandler had trouble shaking off the rust and Brook Lopez struggled to get back into basketball shape after slogging through a bout with mononucleosis, Krzyzyewski would have thought long and hard about the center alternatives before putting Team USA’s fate in McGee’s hands. Though JaVale will still be a phone call away should the injury curse strike again, McGee is exactly where we thought he’d be.
O.J. Mayo and Eric Gordon occupied the same space on Team USA’s training camp roster, and their fates throughout this process were inextricably linked. However, though there was an implicit understanding that one would go to New York with the team while the other would not, there too seemed to be the implication that neither is likely to make the roster at all. The token shooter is not all that useful of an archetype in this bunch, even if having the ability to space the floor opens up the game in FIBA-style ball just as it does in the NBA. Still, the Americans have shooters. Kevin Durant, Chauncey Billups, Danny Granger, Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, Rudy Gay, and even Lamar Odom and Kevin Love can help to space the floor. The number of designated shooters may not be all that high, but there are obvious limits to what both Mayo and Gordon can provide. The fact that O.J. has some point guard skills isn’t all that interesting on a team flush with PGs, and Gordon faces the reality that there are just better players vying for the same roster spots. Maybe keeping Gordon while sending Mayo home really is a mistake, but considering the unlikelihood of either player surviving the final cut anyway, the decision is mostly a formality.
Gerald Wallace is a terrific stylistic fit for the Americans, yet no one seems to really know it. Defensively, Krzyzyewski wants to throw all kinds of pressure at Team USA’s opponents, and no one seems to acknowledge just how valuable Wallace would be in that defensive framework. Offensively, he’s an open-court weapon, though clearly a bit limited in half-court sets. In the final analysis, Wallace fits in perfectly with everything Team USA says they want to be and do, but his departure symbolizes their acknowledgment of the team’s future concessions. Every possession won’t be a fast break off of a forced turnover. At some point, the Americans will be forced to play rather traditional defense and function in half-court sets, and it’s been made quite clear that Krzyzewski and Colangelo don’t see Wallace operating well under the confines of that compromise. They’re wrong, but considering the public diagnosis of Team USA’s past struggles, one could never expect a player like Wallace to take a roster spot from a full-time shooter like Danny Granger, for instance.
Ah, Tyreke. It was never meant to be. Even the Rookie of the Year, he of the 20-five-and-five, can’t come close to a roster spot with this bunch. There are too many positional hurdles for Evans to be a viable roster candidate, and that wouldn’t have changed even if Colangelo and Krzyzyewski gave him a chance to shine beyond Wednesday. He’s not going to win over the staff like Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook have. He won’t somehow conjure up Chauncey Billups’ leadership abilities or experience. He won’t suddenly trump Rajon Rondo on either end of the court. I can’t imagine it’s a sensation Tyreke is all that familiar with, but on this roster, he’s expendable. Ankle injury or not, his inclusion was never meant to be.
Though the sequence of some of Team USA’s cuts may seem peculiar, these four choices were all steps towards the inevitable. Right or wrong, McGee, Mayo, Wallace, and Evans were never a part of the national team’s core. Even if one of them had managed to stow away on the bottom half of the final roster, they’d have been little more than an accessory to the true ensemble. We’re getting closer and closer to seeing who will shine for the Americans in Istanbul, but based on the final, expected roster, the first wave of cuts yielded no real surprises.
Due to this incarnation of Team USA’s various deficiencies, they’re put in a tough spot. Not only will the Americans be forced to go into Turkey with odd fits at various positions, but in the meantime, they’re forced to compromise talent and performance due to their specific needs. Between Chauncey Billups, Rajon Rondo, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry, and Tyreke Evans, someone will have to stay home. And in their place will likely be a Tyson Chandler or a JaVale McGee — less effective overall players, but with strengths thought to better complement the rest of the national team.
During most of Team USA’s runs, injury was a threat. If this player goes down, the games are wide open. If that player goes down, Team USA would fall apart. Yet in the case of this year’s squad, not only were various players ruled out beforehand due to injury — Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Kendrick Perkins — but Robin Lopez was declared out on arrival, David Lee is a no-go after injuring his finger, Danny Granger missed a bit with a shin injury, and Tyreke Evans tweaked an ankle. Someone clearly put a hex on the Team USA program (Ron? Gil?), and if they’re not careful, the few centers they have left could be watching (or sulking) from the sidelines.
Plan A was Dwight Howard with help. Plan B was some combination of Chris Bosh and other bigs. Plan C was Amar’e Stoudemire. Plan D was the Lopez twins. Now that we’re going to Plans E and beyond, is it perhaps time for us to admit that there are greater forces of chaos at work here, pining to see Lamar Odom and Gerald Wallace play center? Have we really come all this way just to see Team USA trot out JaVale McGee?
It was never my intent to turn McGee into a scapegoat, but in this scenario, his positioning is far too convenient. In truth, JaVale is growing as a player, and one day he may be a fine part of a complete starting lineup. He’s just not there yet. That’s not a problem in itself (How many players on this year’s Team USA roster have actually come close to fulfilling their potential?), but with the pool of players given, the team seems to have better options. Even if they aren’t centers. Even if they aren’t conventional power forwards. McGee will be a part of the roster going forward because Team USA needs to cover itself lest the hex strikes again. That’s the safe approach, and the smart approach. Yet one can only hope that when the team is finally ready to dive into the murky waters, they choose to take off their life vest first.
The World Championships are going to be dangerous. Spain is obviously equipped to topple the Americans, but there are plenty of other capable teams that could do the very same. At a point, injuries are going to be a legitimate risk. That doesn’t mean that Mike Krzyzewski should compromise the rest of his game plan to accommodate a nightmare, no matter how destructive its potential.
With Team USA bleeding centers training camp day by training camp day, positional creativity was inevitable. Mike Krzyzewski was going to have to dig deep into the team roster and the select roster to find viable candidates to play the 5 for the Americans this summer, but things seem to have escalated a bit quickly. We’ve gone from toying with the idea of playing a power forward as the team’s starting big (It’s not such a big deal when the power forward is Amar’e Stoudemire, but otherwise?) to potentially having Lamar Odom or Gerald Wallace play minutes in the middle.
Before we make a decision on what exactly that means, let’s all take a deep breath.
Lineups are determined by effectiveness, and positions really only matter in deciding which players should hold which responsibilities. Offensively, there’s a lot of fluidity, particularly with the talent Jerry Colangelo and Coach K have amassed in Vegas; it doesn’t matter which player brings the ball up as long as someone does, and it doesn’t matter who shoots as long as someone can. Is O.J. Mayo a point guard? Sure. Is Kevin Love a center? As long as he can defend one. Care to run Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, and Tyreke Evans together? Fine by me, but they’re going to need shooting help from both bigs. With players this versatile, the concern isn’t who plays where, but who can play well together.
That’s why in principle, I’m not opposed to the types of lineups Team USA trotted out in their scrimmage with the Select Team on Thursday…with one exception (per John Schuhmann):
1. Rajon Rondo, Chauncey Billups, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Lamar Odom
2. Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, Durant, Jeff Green, Gerald Wallace
3. Westbrook, O.J. Mayo, Durant, Jeff Green, JaVale McGee
4. Westbrook, Mayo, Durant, Love, McGee
Honestly, I’m not sure what JaVale McGee would bring to the World Championships. McGee, impressive Summer League dunker though he may be, isn’t a very good rebounder, defender, or even a consistent offensive threat. He can’t create his own shot, and aside from picking up blocks, really isn’t to the point where he can contribute defensively against top-flight competition. McGee may be a center, but it’s not like he’s going to be some great interior defender. He’s still a bit too lean and too jumpy for that.
So what would McGee’s purpose be, aside from having that elusive “C” next to his name on the roster sheet? He’s a center who can’t dominate or defend like one, and to me that makes him more or less useless for Team USA. If the Americans are going to give up something defensively in the middle, I’d rather they just go small and make a run for it. Rather than putting a legitimate center (which they don’t have) or a usable, useful non-center on the floor, they’d be splitting the difference by playing JaVale.
Brook Lopez is a no-brainer for the starting job, but behind him, I’m inclined to go in just about any direction other than JaVale’s. Tyson Chandler gives the team a pretty conventional look, but Chandler’s not even a competent offensive player and he was actually pretty ineffective overall last season. He’s supposedly healthy, but with reports that Chandler is woefully out of shape, I’m inclined to look elsewhere for help in the middle.
That’s where Kevin Love comes in. He’s not a center, which means that there is a 100% assurance that he is not JaVale McGee. Yet Love, when plugged in at the 5 (if that’s what you care to call it) can contribute to a team. He can act as a big body between a post player and the basket, even if he’s just as poor of a defender. Yet offensively, Love can both facilitate and score, and above all, he’s going to hit the boards. Hard. Love led the league in offensive rebounding rate as a rookie, and would have done so again as a sophomore if he had played enough to qualify as a statistical leader. His defensive rebounding rate (28.6) was also top-5 last season, making Love about as good of a rebounder as anyone in the NBA. That’s what Team USA needs. They’re not going to have an elite defender manning the paint and aside from Lopez, the potential for low-post offense is limited. That makes rebounding even more important, and in that realm, McGee and Chandler can’t even compete with Love.
Odom and Wallace may be taking the undersized center concept a bit too far, but I’m curious to see how it would turn out. We know what McGee and Chandler can do as centers, but those two? Maybe they could ignite a fast-breaking offense that would allow Team USA to compensate for its defensive limitations. Or maybe they could cue a pesky, frenetic, 2007 Warriors-style defense that forces all kinds of turnovers in lieu of grind-it-out defensive stops. The bottom line is that nobody really knows how a team with Odom or Wallace at center would fair against international competition, and that at least presents an intriguing possibility.
There may not be many true superstars on the roster, but Team USA has talent. A lot of it. It fits together in odd fashion and looks a bit funny as a collective whole, but there are capable players that should play very well in Turkey. JaVale McGee and Tyson Chandler just aren’t them, and it’d be a shame that if after all of this talk of versatility and positional fluidity, Coach K neglects truly talented and productive impact players for an arbitrary positional standard.
Nothing spectacular about this set, but how fantastic is it that we live in a world with this kind of media readily available? NBA fans will never have a fully embedded experience (doing so would obviously cede all kinds of competitive advantages), but we’re nearing that comfy place where teams are sharing more and more with their fans, even if it’s just one practice at a time.
The somewhat insidious union of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh has already become a tall tale. We know where they are, but not how they got there; through some turn of events — either perfectly ordinary, completely bizarre, or flat-out devilish, depending on who you talk to — three of the league’s biggest stars decided to sign with the same team. Their paths are convoluted and their motives unclear. However, the 2008 Olympics are almost universally considered to be the genesis of the idea, and yet no one seems all that interested in the possibility of a repeat occurrence.
That same tier of stars may not be redeeming Team USA this summer, but all kinds of NBA talents will be forming preliminary bonds at this year’s World Championships. Kevin Durant is the headliner, and his name alone should be enough to spark a discussion. Yet how about this for an interesting turn: With Durant’s cozy seat in OKC, a great set-up with Sam Presti and Scott Brooks running the show, and even his Thunder teammates Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green along for the ride, what if it’s KD and the Thunder pulling the coup?
OKC already has one of the top defenses in the league and one of its most dynamic stars, so to have the faces of the franchise potentially playing recruiter to the NBA’s near-elite is an invaluable opportunity. The Thunder don’t need LeBron James and Chris Bosh to make the leap. Instead, what if Durant, Westbrook, and Green made a subtle pitch to Brook Lopez? Or Kevin Love? All prospective additions will likely sound a bit far-fetched now. That’s probably because they are. After all, in 2008, who would have believed the events that have transpired this summer?
It’s just curious that shortly after delving into the hijinx James and Co. got into at summer camp, we’re witnessing teams all across the league send their stars to canoodle without the slightest hesitancy. With newly christened free agents like David Lee or Rudy Gay, there’s hardly need for alarm. Yet for teams delegating young, talented players just a few seasons away from testing the free agent waters? The very possibility of Superfriends Redux should make those GMs shake in their boots.
Durant aside, there aren’t any established (Sorry, not yet, ‘Reke and Rose) franchise-making stars of the bunch, but that doesn’t mean their departure wouldn’t do serious damage to the plans of their respective squads. Team USA isn’t just collecting these players because they smile well for the cameras. These are some of the best and brightest young talents in the league, and while there’s nothing to stop their extracurricular talking and plotting in normal settings, international competitions like this one offer a unique opportunity to compete with their fellow stars under highly competitive conditions. The strongest bonds are those that have been tested, and this year’s national team will walk through the fire together. If they come out with shiny new gold medals on the other side, this year’s World Championships could potentially influence the members of Team USA the same way that the 2008 Olympics did.
