Team USA

[Consigliere]

Was anyone else surprised that MCW wasn't named to the player pool for Team USA for the upcoming World Championships and 2016 Olympics? 24 players named - 12 veterans and 12 newcomers and apparently no spot for the consensus NBA Rookie of the Year at the halfway point. Carter-Williams unique skill set would create matchup nightmares in international ball. Heck, his current stat line (17.5 ppg; 6.9 apg; 5.9 rpg) suggest it creates matchup nightmares in the NBA! And the ONLY other player averaging better than 17 ppg, 6 apg and 5 rpg is some guy named Lebron James!

 

[KaiserUEO]

Was anyone else surprised that MCW wasn't named to the player pool for Team USA for the upcoming World Championships and 2016 Olympics? 24 players named - 12 veterans and 12 newcomers and apparently no spot for the consensus NBA Rookie of the Year at the halfway point. Carter-Williams unique skill set would create matchup nightmares in international ball. Heck, his current stat line (17.5 ppg; 6.9 apg; 5.9 rpg) suggest it creates matchup nightmares in the NBA! And the ONLY other player averaging better than 17 ppg, 6 apg and 5 rpg is some guy named Lebron James!

no.

who are u suggesting they drop?? irving or lillard??

 

[jordoo]

no.

who are u suggesting they drop?? irving or lillard??

Either or both who cares. Irving will be injured anyways and like he is every other month. Lillard is a very good player but MCW is going to be a star and his multifaceted game will only look better next to better players. Like early at SU when he didn't have to score and torched teams with his passing. He's proven to be a special talent but the NBA and USA bball will catch on in the near future so not that big a deal.

 

[Full_Rebar]

No surprise at all. He's not at the level of either Irving or Lillard yet.

 

[Consigliere]

no.

who are u suggesting they drop?? irving or lillard??

Why limit it to pure point guards. Position is becoming somewhat irrelevant. It's skill set that matters. At this point I'd take MCW over Kyle Korver, Klay Thompson and Kawhi Leonard in a heartbeat. And that's just the guys with names that start with K!

 

[Alsacs]

No, MCW is not one of the top 26 players in the USA pool. He may be part of the select team that USA basketball brings in to scrimmage against the veterans. MCW's game doesn't translate well to the FIBA game either. He is better suited for the NBA game. MCW's shooting would need to improve to make a team USA in the future.

My predictions for the 2014 USA World Cup team.

PG- R.Westbrook, K. Irving, S. Curry hybrid PG/SG
SG- J. Harden, K. Thompson
SF- P. George, A. Iguodala
PF- K. Durant(captain), L. Aldridge
C- K. Love,D. Cousins, A. Davis

Lebron, CP3, Melo, Rose, D.Howard, B. Griffin will sit out IMO.

 

[Full_Rebar]

Doubtful Westbrook goes this summer after all of his injuries. Lillard or Wall might be added.

Thompson and Korver get consideration because both are over 40% from 3. Leonard won't go but his defensive versatility (like Iguodala) is a bonus with a small roster.

 

[Knicks411]

Thompson is more than just a shooter, though is a fantastic shooter; Korver would litertally on make the team (which I can't see) for the situation where the US needs a 3 and he at least occupies a defender. MCW is of course a better player than Korver but it isn't just about that.

 

[Knicks411]

Marc Stein is saying Blake has said he wants to play this eyar

 

[Alsacs]

With Durant, Curry, Thompson, and hell even Kevin Love the USA team will have plenty of shooters. Korver is sorta like the old Michael Redd player who was on the 2008 Olympic team and barely played, but team USA learned from 2004 they need a pure shooter in case teams exclusively zoned us and we had to have Richard Jefferson out there shooting 3-pt shots scared. I don't Korver has a chance to make the 12 man squad. If Russell Westbrook pulls out I would think D. Lillard would be the guy. The USA team needs a 3rd PG just in case for injury or foul trouble I guess Harden could be that guy, but I don't think the USA team would risk it.

 

[orange79]

The NBA hates us as much as the media does

 

[Alsacs]

Marc Stein is saying Blake has said he wants to play this eyar

How does your squad predictions look in comparison to mine? If Blake wants to play I would think D. Cousins is the guy who he takes the spot of, but I like the idea of Boog Cousins playing with that nasty edge against the Spanish who are the hosts this year. Anthony Davis is liked by the coaching staff, and I like Aldridge's game in FIBA more than Blake Griffin's.

 

[jordoo]

No, MCW is not one of the top 26 players in the USA pool. He may be part of the select team that USA basketball brings in to scrimmage against the veterans. MCW's game doesn't translate well to the FIBA game either. He is better suited for the NBA game. MCW's shooting would need to improve to make a team USA in the future.

My predictions for the 2014 USA World Cup team.

PG- R.Westbrook, K. Irving, S. Curry hybrid PG/SG
SG- J. Harden, K. Thompson
SF- P. George, A. Iguodala
PF- K. Durant(captain), L. Aldridge
C- K. Love,D. Cousins, A. Davis

Lebron, CP3, Melo, Rose, D.Howard, B. Griffin will sit out IMO.

Did Melo quite USA bball? He was great last run,

 

[edowd26]

no.

who are u suggesting they drop?? irving or lillard??

Irving. Faux pg. Team cancer.

 

[Alsacs]

Did Melo quite USA bball? He was great last run,

He won't play this year because he will opt-out and be a FA. If your a FA then playing international ball is a no-no in case you get hurt and I don't think they can insure the player if they are a FA. I don't think Melo quit and he is a great FIBA player I remember his 2006 game against Italy where he broke the USA Sr men's points in a game international record till Durant destroyed it in 2010. However, I think he may be done just because the younger kids are getting better. He will be 32 in 2016 and that would maybe be his swan-song with Lebron if they decide to play. Melo/Lebron and co. sat out the 2010 FIBA championships and Durant led the USA team to gold in Turkey.

 

[MikeSU02]

Irving. Faux pg. Team cancer.

Yeah, I agree that Irving is overrated and not a true PG, plus they'll want someone who cares about playing defense. But if he is hurt or dropped, I would think an additional invite, if there were one to be given, would go to John Wall.

 

[Alsacs]

K. Irving could have played for Australia as he was born there, but Coach K his college coach recruited him to the USA basketball program. He was part of the USA select team in 2012 and lit it up during the scrimmages. K. Irving may have a beef with Dion Waiters and us SU fans will support DW over him, but K.Irving is a top 3 PG in the NBA and Coach K is going to select him on this team as long as he wants to play and is healthy.

 

[Knicks411]

Melo isn't playing this year not because of the opt out (he'd sign before any games, as far as I know) but more that he and some of the other veteran team USA players are being given the summer off cause they have played a ton of games for them in the past. My guess is Melo and Bron play 2016 and that's it.

Your team is pretty close to it, I bet. Not sure if Russ is gonna play though. I would swap Blake in for Cousins if he plays. And I think Lillard makes it.

 

[edowd26]

Yeah, I agree that Irving is overrated and not a true PG, plus they'll want someone who cares about playing defense. But if he is hurt or dropped, I would think an additional invite, if there were one to be given, would go to John Wall.

Yea. No doubt. But I hate john wall too. But yea, there are better options than MCW. In due time though He could be legit

 

[Alsacs]

In 2010 during that huge FA year A'mare Stoudemire wanted to play for Team USA in Turkey, but couldn't because he was a FA and USA basketball couldn't get insurance for him as a result when he just signed with the NY Knicks. I am sure your right that Melo and the veterans want a rest, but FAs have a hard time getting the insurance paperwork done in time for USA basketball to allow them to play.

 

[Knicks411]

In 2010 during that huge FA year A'mare Stoudemire wanted to play for Team USA in Turkey, but couldn't because he was a FA and USA basketball couldn't get insurance for him as a result when he just signed with the NY Knicks. I am sure your right that Melo and the veterans want a rest, but FAs have a hard time getting the insurance paperwork done in time for USA basketball to allow them to play.

Just did some research, it was that the contract he had signed with the Knicks didn't have insurance for him playing in the world championships. All the FA are going to sign by July 10 or so and the tournaments are usually Aug or Sep.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/olympics/news/story?id=5395588

 

[PoppyHart]

I wonder what will happen if Kobe makes a public spectacle of this.

 

[Alsacs]

Just did some research, it was that the contract he had signed with the Knicks didn't have insurance for him playing in the world championships. All the FA are going to sign by July 10 or so and the tournaments are usually Aug or Sep.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/olympics/news/story?id=5395588

What that tells me is that Knicks were desperate for Amire that they signed him without insurance on his knees. Also, I agree with your overall point that Melo, Lebron, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard won't play because they did their WCs in 2006 and are now just doing the Olympics for the Sr. team to rest during the summers. Kevin Durant is the guy who volunteered and is the new face of USA basketball because he has committed to the FIBA World Cup.

 

[Knicks411]

Yeah Knicks were very desperate to sign Amare, and it worked out about as bad as a contract like that can, barring an Aaron Hernandez type deal.

 

[orangefan13]

I am pretty sure JB had Dion in the first cuts for the summer basketball tour a few years back.