NBA Thread 2020-21 Season

[Alsacs]

Pop didn't forget how to coach. It's not 1992. Other countries have good players now. They had like 4 days to practice before that Nigeria game.

Coach K had as many losses as USA HC in his career as Team USA has lost the last week.

Some of the problem is coaching.
The talent isn’t inferior. Pop is part of the group that selected this roster.
The team needs Jrue Holiday’s guard perimeter defense badly.
They have absolutely no defense from the guard position right now.
That is on Pop.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

They had like 4 days to practice before that Nigeria game.

Pop has to rally the troops. It's not like he is introducing brand new offensive and defensive sets. It's basketball and these guys are high level.

 

[Melancer46]

Honestly, I don't really care about Team USA basketball (in the Olympics anyways; the dream team stuff is boring to me), but even if I did care, I wouldn't care about the results of a couple exhibition games.

At any rate, it isn't 2012 anymore. The rest of the world is catching up to the US in basketball. USA still has by far the most talent but they aren't playing against accountants that play basketball sometimes anymore either. Nigeria had like 1 NBA player back when we beat them by 83 and even he was just a bench scrub. Almost all of their players have played in the NBA at some point now. Australia and pretty much all of Europe can hang with the US on any given night now.

It'll still be embarrassing if this team looks like this in the real games but again, it's whatever to me.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Honestly, I don't really care about Team USA basketball (in the Olympics anyways; the dream team stuff is boring to me), but even if I did care, I wouldn't care about the results of a couple exhibition games.

At any rate, it isn't 2012 anymore. The rest of the world is catching up to the US in basketball. USA still has by far the most talent but they aren't playing against accountants that play basketball sometimes anymore either. Nigeria had like 1 NBA player back when we beat them by 83 and even he was just a bench scrub. Almost all of their players have played in the NBA at some point now. Australia and pretty much all of Europe can hang with the US on any given night now.

It'll still be embarrassing if this team looks like this in the real games but again, it's whatever to me.

Agree with most of what you wrote, but Ryan Russillo said it best. If any of these squads played 7 game series against a US NBA team built like this we would expect a sweep.

 

[Newhouser]

The IOC should announce an age limit for the basketball portion - move on from the repeat players and older guys and limit it to 25 and under. The games have no juice.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

The IOC should announce an age limit for the basketball portion - move on from the repeat players and older guys and limit it to 25 and under. The games have no juice.

That's discriminatory.

 

[Alsacs]

The IOC should announce an age limit for the basketball portion - move on from the repeat players and older guys and limit it to 25 and under. The games have no juice.

Men’s Soccer at the Olympics is all under 23 players + 3 overage players.

I wouldn’t mind basketball being 10 players under 23 + 2 overage players.

But the Olympics have more juice than the world championships for American players typically.

 

[Melancer46]

Sixers opening up Ben Simmons trade talks, Knicks interested in Collin Sexton, plus more NBA news

NBA Insider Shams Charania's latest Inside Pass notebook has updates from around the NBA as trade talks and offseason improvements heat up.

theathletic.com

Per Shams:

• 76ers have officially begun trade talks around Simmons and are looking for an all star caliber player in return. Interest in Simmons around the league is "robust".
• It's believed that John Collins may get a max offer in free agency, with Miami, Minnesota, Dallas, and San Antonio expected to pursure him. Those teams think Atlanta may let him walk rather than matching.
• The Knicks are aggressively pursuing Collin Sexton.
• Houston is aggressively trying to trade up to #1 and are separately trying to find a trade for Eric Gordon.
• Chicago and the Clippers are expected to pursue Lonzo Ball and New Orleans will likely let him leave if he receives a significant offer.

 

[Cusefan0307]

The basketball board is really going in on bashing Pop? That’s something.

 

[Alsacs]

The basketball board is really going in on bashing Pop? That’s something.

He is the basketball Belichick in my
Books.

He deserves some blame for this roster construction but he is an alltime legend.

Beal and Lillard are awful defensive guards and they shouldn’t play together as much.
The defense from those two is terrible and that is being nice.
Klay Thompson was the perfect international guard for Team USA.
He could shoot and played good defense.

Team USA needs to find a defensive unit that can work in crunch time.

 

[Melancer46]

He is the basketball Belichick in my
Books.

He deserves some blame for this roster construction but he is an alltime legend.

Beal and Lillard are awful defensive guards and they shouldn’t play together as much.
The defense from those two is terrible and that is being nice.
Klay Thompson was the perfect international guard for Team USA.
He could shoot and played good defense.

Team USA needs to find a defensive unit that can work in crunch time.

I feel like there must be some pressure pulling Pop in two different directions with the pressure to just take the best players vs. taking players that fit together in a way that makes sense.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Honestly, I don't really care about Team USA basketball (in the Olympics anyways; the dream team stuff is boring to me), but even if I did care, I wouldn't care about the results of a couple exhibition games.

At any rate, it isn't 2012 anymore. The rest of the world is catching up to the US in basketball. USA still has by far the most talent but they aren't playing against accountants that play basketball sometimes anymore either. Nigeria had like 1 NBA player back when we beat them by 83 and even he was just a bench scrub. Almost all of their players have played in the NBA at some point now. Australia and pretty much all of Europe can hang with the US on any given night now.

It'll still be embarrassing if this team looks like this in the real games but again, it's whatever to me.

Amen

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Pop has to rally the troops. It's not like he is introducing brand new offensive and defensive sets. It's basketball and these guys are high level.

Well, they will all go and share some really, really expensive wine and Pop can wax on about how sophisticated and erudite he is.

 

[kirbivore]

Coach K had as many losses as USA HC in his career as Team USA has lost the last week.

Some of the problem is coaching.
The talent isn’t inferior. Pop is part of the group that selected this roster.
The team needs Jrue Holiday’s guard perimeter defense badly.
They have absolutely no defense from the guard position right now.
That is on Pop.

Once again that rat jumps ship at the right time

 

[OttoinGrotto]

https://theathletic.com/2703448/202...rested-in-collin-s e xton-plus-more-nba-news/

Per Shams:

• 76ers have officially begun trade talks around Simmons and are looking for an all star caliber player in return. Interest in Simmons around the league is "robust".
• It's believed that John Collins may get a max offer in free agency, with Miami, Minnesota, Dallas, and San Antonio expected to pursure him. Those teams think Atlanta may let him walk rather than matching.
• The Knicks are aggressively pursuing Collin s e xton.
• Houston is aggressively trying to trade up to #1 and are separately trying to find a trade for Eric Gordon.
• Chicago and the Clippers are expected to pursue Lonzo Ball and New Orleans will likely let him leave if he receives a significant offer.

Sexton is a restricted FA, right?

 

[Knicks411]

s e xton is a restricted FA, right?

After next season. He's extension eligible this summer

 

[OttoinGrotto]

After next season. He's extension eligible this summer

Ah, so they're pursuing via trade.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

I think the NBA players enjoyed K and his staff for sure. I know they all respect the hell out of Pop but K was probably a break for a lot of them, hall of fame college coach etc. It just seemed like the right fit for all parties. It just seemed like K, JB etc had a ton of fun and took winning every game as the only outcome that was acceptable. Not really Pop's MO.

Am I the only one who doesn't mind seeing team USA get beat? I kind of enjoy watching some of these overmatched teams from a pure talent perspective beat team USA, maybe just me

 

[Knicks411]

Ah, so they're pursuing via trade.

Yeah they'd presumably end up extending him at a pretty big number if they traded for him.

I'm not sure what to think of him as a player. I think I prefer putting an offer sheet on Lonzo.

 

[MikeSU02]

Kawhi partially torn ACL. Surgery today. Bummer.

 

[samspann1]

#CalculatorBoys.

Love that hashtag. Spot on, too.

 

[MikeSU02]

The basketball board is really going in on bashing Pop? That’s something.

Out of the US’s elite players, the team has one. Literally just one in KD. And I’d concede Dame if you want.

No Steph, Bron, Harden, Kawhi, AD, etc.

We should still win, but this a team thrown together with no practice time. If they stink in the games that count, fine. But give them a beat to get it together.

But the team co structuring just isn’t great. At the same time, a lot of the elite players aren’t playing.

 

[OrangeDW]

Out of the US’s elite players, the team has one. Literally just one in KD. And I’d concede Dame if you want.

No Steph, Bron, Harden, Kawhi, AD, etc.

We should still win, but this a team thrown together with no practice time. If they stink in the games that count, fine. But give them a beat to get it together.

But the team co structuring just isn’t great. At the same time, a lot of the elite players aren’t playing.

If I was an elite player, I sure as hell wouldn’t sign up to go sit in my hotel room in Tokyo for the entire Olympics.

If this was possibly my only crack at the Olympics I’d be all in for that though.

Hopefully in 4 years the world is more normal, and we get back to getting our main guys there.

 

[MikeSU02]

Kawhi partially torn ACL. Surgery today. Bummer.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

If I was an elite player, I sure as hell wouldn’t sign up to go sit in my hotel room in Tokyo for the entire Olympics.

If this was possibly my only crack at the Olympics I’d be all in for that though.

Hopefully in 4 years the world is more normal, and we get back to getting our main guys there.

Three years. 2024.