Post-game: USA barely survives test from Brazil

He looked very coasty again today.

but he was still clearly the second best player on the team without getting many plays called for him.

This was the third game in 3 days, I am sure they will look much better after some rust.

Also, I am excited about Asik but I really wish we had Splitter.

their perimeter players shot pretty poorly except for one guy who went 3/3 but also had 0 assists and 5 TOs.

Anyone know how to bypass the login/password on the ESPN3.com site?

and he got blown by on the defensive end a bunch of times. Just a poor outing all the way around. On the other hand, everyone on USA looked pretty crappy and the only one who looked really good was Durant and even he had 8 TOs.

Every time I watch Team USA I get excited about Rose and then get a little bummed out that we don’t have Durant because he’s so much better. The real shitty thing about it is that if Stern hadn’t passed the 1 year rule for college, Durant and Oden likely would have entered the draft that year and we’d have drafted Durant instead of LMA/Tyrus.

- i think a bigger problem than the 2 point guards, is the no big man. Team USA should play pick and roll, but Odom and Durant aren’t really pick and roll players. Odom was especially bad today on pick and rolls. He can’t shoot and he doesn’t know how to roll to the basket. Bad combo.

- Along those lines, Iggy and Odom are zeroes on offense. I haven’t been impressed with Iggy, Gay or Granger as the teams small forwards. Can one of these guys put the ball on the floor and take 2 dribbles without bouncing it off their leg?

- Odom D is a plus – when he’s hustling. When he isn’t, please sit him down. Chandler/Love/Odom should be getting equal time at least.

- I thought the entire team played like it was game 70 of the NBA season. And Team USA depends on energy. Their whole thing is pushing the ball, getting turnovers and running. Its hard to get turnovers when you are running through the motions.

- Love should play more. I’m not as big as fan as some here, but he can rebound and he can score which is more than what Odom and Chandler are providing.

- Tiago Splitter looked nice. Has a bunch of skills, can score, rebound, defend. San Antonio has a nice player going forward.

Rose put up the second best numbers in the game, and when compared with Igoudala, Billups and Odom he looked like an absolute genius (I thought Durant looked pretty stupid at times as well).

We have a tendency to go over each Rose performance with a fine tooth comb, often times at price of understanding the context. This was the third game in three days and everyone looked like it; Coach Ks rotation and offense was stagnant and really put the team in the position it was in. Just step back and look at the situation; with no real inside scorer and an offense that is almost entirely ISO, how do you expect someone with a game like Rose’s, especially beside another point jacking up a ton of shots, to look great?

He still needs to improve his play off the ball (hopefully Thibs will get that into his head) and his defensive lapses leave a lot to be desired, but I remember his rookie year when he and Gordon could let teams back into games purely through their terrible defense.

Yeah, we have the guy who will be the 12th man on the Redeem team, but…well…whatever, that is fucking sick.

includes the friendlies

Rose over 36% from 3. A crazy-awful turnover rate but it seems like everyone’s high on that mark, what with being unorganized and uncoached and all.

The last few games. I know he’s not a 4, but he REALLY is not a 4.

He forces too many shots, he seems incapable of team ball. He’s good at defending transition but is often lost in defending set plays, and having a whole in the pivot d is really hurting htis team especially when pared with skilled bigs like Brazil.

I’d hope if we face another big skilled pivot team that we’d slide Odom to the 4 spot and start Chandler. Chandler’s the only real tried and true lock down defender on the team and I felt the move for only a few minutes in the 3rd is what helped change the game.

Hell I think Rudy Gay is totally outplaying the oddly more popular because he plays in a bigger market Iguoldala. I used to think Deng and Iggy were like peanut butter and jelly as a comparison, pretty darn equal, where Iggy’s got the flashy athleticism, and Deng’s got the decent mid range shooting…..but wow watching Iguoldala these 6 games, it’s become apparent to me that he has been a big reason why Philly’s been so crappy. I know Collins is going to force feed him even more—perhaps in the hope of bringing up his value for a trade—but I say steer clear….

the roster is set, but couldn’t a Danny Granger get replaced with an Okafor or LeMarcus Aldridge to get some help up front, Coach K is running a college style line-up out there, 2PGs, 1SG/SF, 1SF, 1PF/SF/C

Asik was pretty huge down the stretch. Big rebounds, attacking the rim, really active on the offensive glass. He could be really good.

It looks like he must be out of shape, it’s strategy, or the knee might be bothering him. The turkish coach played him for the first 6 minutes of the 1st quarter. He was very effective. He basically either blocks shots, forces really bad shots, or passes out to the perimeter. Then he was pulled. He didn’t return until the 4th quarter.

In the 4th he was just as good. Had to dunks in traffic. Almost threw one down on Greek Shaq. He took the ball at the free throw line, faked a pass right, then dribbled left twice, gathered for a left hand dunk. He missed, but he got hit pretty hard with no call. It was a make up call for some contact the officials called on Greek Shaq the possession before.

Here’s the good news. Asik has moves with left hand AND his right hand. He can dribble with both. He takes some long strides. If he took shorter steps his handles and his hand size make him look like he could finish like Amare at the rim if he’s got a player like Rose pulling his big and Rose’s defensive assignment with Rose an actual 3pt threat. He appears very athletic. It doesn’t look like he’s had any big man coaching. He has athletic gifts that you can’t teach. Mainly, he likes to go strong to the rim with both hands. If he just palms the ball with one hand he’s going to get hacked like crazy. If he can get that Rik Smits one hand attack going he’ll live at the line. Of course that’s where he needs a ton of work.

His FT shooting form is good. His follow through is not so good. His misses are clanks left and right, but rarely long or short.

If we ran the pick and roll for Rose with Love or Rudy Gay and had Durant, Billups and/or Gordon/Curry around the perimeter, we would be blowing teams out and this would easily play to both Rose and Westbrook’s strengths.