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As Hahn said - all of our Knicks made it out of the tournament healthy. That's a win!

That end of regulation from Mikal though...damn!

Clean wrote:No matter who commits next year they need to add actual centers. Clueless people will probably laugh if he is included but Mitch is the perfect center for Team USA. Dude is top 2 off rebounding big. He is a great Def rebounder. He is a good lob finisher. Can you imagine him with actual good passers for once? He is a good blocker and learned that changing shots is as good as a block if it stops you from fouling out. He is good on defense and won't need touches. If he could ever learn to set a decent pick he would be unstoppable.

Your not wrong. But.....
He just had a baby so its nice he spend time off this year.
Also, he had a good year as he got to spend last off season healthy and able to train.

As discussed on "Hoop collective" this morning continuity matters. Some of these teams have been together a while. Schroeder been with Team Germany for 10 years.
Team USA tries to get this but its hard to get the top stars to commit.
Team Canada will benefit from its experience this summer. Add Wiggins and Murray and if they can blend in they will be formidable.
Serbia with Jokic?

Tatum, Booker, lebron and Durant added to any team is a talent infusion that should kick ass by itself! Add Anthony Davis and I can't see them losing even if they are not in synch. Tournaments are different type of contests and things happen.

blkexec wrote:

Nalod wrote:

Clean wrote:No matter who commits next year they need to add actual centers. Clueless people will probably laugh if he is included but Mitch is the perfect center for Team USA. Dude is top 2 off rebounding big. He is a great Def rebounder. He is a good lob finisher. Can you imagine him with actual good passers for once? He is a good blocker and learned that changing shots is as good as a block if it stops you from fouling out. He is good on defense and won't need touches. If he could ever learn to set a decent pick he would be unstoppable.

Your not wrong. But.....
He just had a baby so its nice he spend time off this year.
Also, he had a good year as he got to spend last off season healthy and able to train.

As discussed on "Hoop collective" this morning continuity matters. Some of these teams have been together a while. Schroeder been with Team Germany for 10 years.
Team USA tries to get this but its hard to get the top stars to commit.
Team Canada will benefit from its experience this summer. Add Wiggins and Murray and if they can blend in they will be formidable.
Serbia with Jokic?

Tatum, Booker, lebron and Durant added to any team is a talent infusion that should kick ass by itself! Add Anthony Davis and I can't see them losing even if they are not in synch. Tournaments are different type of contests and things happen.

Yes, continuity matters, but also talent and basketball IQ. We've seen it all the time. When you put the right players together, it's like they've been together for years. But when you have a bunch of ISO players, 1 player can shoot the team off it's rhythm. Even if it's the guy carrying the team. We've all played pickup and watch some hog the ball all game. Then mad at you for missing your one shot attempt.

1. I'm not so sure we can guarantee anything. Until there's a new sport called ISO BALL, USA will struggle in international TEAM basketball. Not only that, majority of the top NBA players are all internationally born.
2. Tournaments are different. I agree. The problem is the NBA has turned into ISO ball. So unless we bring our best ISO players, we will struggle every time with our second tier players.

The CURRENT NBA culture promotes speed, points and ISO hero ball. But a ball mover, slasher, help defender, or even a lock down defender like Deuce, will never get the large contracts and recognition in todays game and eventually will phase out. I believe Josh Hart got his bag for his relationships with players and staff.

I heard an ex NBA player say, some players go through the offensive sets at half speed. This justifies their tendencies to play ISO BALL. Basically Jason Williams (White Chocolate) talked about seeing the infusion of street ball in the NBA. Yes it's entertaining, I grew up in the ISO Ball era, and I love the new NBA vs the old dribble, dribble, dribble and pass (black and white tv days). But I believe the NBA is evolving into an ISO BALL heavy culture that hopefully will soon spread internationally, and thats when the tables will turn and USA will dominate again. Until then, don't hold your breath getting any top superstars to play. They don't pay enough and the risk of injury is real, when you have 300 million plus invested in 1 player.

All true. Read Lebron wants in next year.
perhaps Steph Curry as well?
Getting them to all move without the ball would produce blow outs. The "Iso" you mention, and its real, for the star its about "closing in crunch time". Note, team USA can blow teams out but fall behind or a close game you need the hot hand or iso player to do his thing. If not, the team is out of rhythm and thats when it loses.
No absolutes here. GSW plays great with great ball movement born from the Splash Bros. outside shooting prowess. These fundamentally sound teams have unathletic players that can shoot and pass.

ToddTT wrote:If the Knicks had represented the USA in this FIBA World Cup… what happens?

Knick RJ would have shot 1-9 from 3 while Canada RJ torched him on the other end.

Todays iso players are terrible defenders. So not only do you shoot your team out, you can’t stop your own man from scoring. This is my pet peeve. Building around Volume shooters who don’t play defense is a recipe for disaster and doesn’t produce wins.

2) The 2022-2023 Knicks would have been one of the top teams in this tournament - better constructed than team USA. Mitch/Hartenstein over JJJ, no doubt!

3) Lebron, Curry, and KD on the Olympic team? Yeah, sure. All 3 of them are serious injury risks, esp Lebron and his wonky groin issues over the past 2 years, and KD (somehow this guy manages to play without a heart).

There is occasionally a huge talent gap, but in the World Cup almost no team goes with their best players.
They reserve that for the Eurobasket, which also may have a few absences, and the Olympics unfortunately isn't the special event that the US media will convince you about because there's so few countries playing and 1/3 of them kinda suck (typically that's China, Angola or Nigeria and another Asian or African country), while Eurppe isn't represented always by their best due to the qualification system in place.

Either way, this is a sport where the USA should be running with Gold before they step on the court. Problem is that the directors are using this as some sort of stepping stone in their career or they want to be on good terms with NBA people.

If I were building a US team, I'd get only 3 star players from the NBA, get 3 glorified role players that are good defensively and can offer a bit more. Talking about key rotation players of contenders here, think Robert Horry, Draymond Green, Bruce Bowen etc. I'd look into Europe to fill up the next 6 spots. Especially centers and point guards. And the final 3 spaces I'd give to dependable rookies who ended their season.

You don't need 10 superstars in basketball. You need a team. And unless you have a trident that's like Michael Jordan and two legends who're about to retire in Bird and Magic, there's no way the rest of the stars will just line up and form a hierarchy.