Usa Basketball

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Here's an article that pretty well sums up my feelings about Kidd although I do probably hate him.http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont...F?urn=nba,89639Monday quibblesBy Kelly Dwyer It may become a summer staple, it may not. Either way, here's a bit of reaction to some of the things you might have read in the Sunday papers yesterday. It's gotten to the point where I continually have to remind people that, no, I don't "hate" Jason Kidd. I will cop, however, to not feeling as if he deserves the sainted on-court aura that most NBA scribes don't hesitate for a second to surround him with. The man has been brilliant for years, but most that are paid to observe the NBA don't seem to be satisfied with that declaration. And, as the roster of the USA Men's Basketball Team takes shape and Kidd sets to begin his first go-round with the squad since 2000, prepare to see a litany of Kidd-love along the lines of this piece, from the Boston Globe's Marc Spears. Here's a choice quote: "NBA fans can argue all day about who is better, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James.But as great as Bryant and James are, the most important player in this country's hopes of winning an Olympic gold medal for the first time since 2000 is Jason Kidd." That sounds nice and insightful and without pretense and makes you think, really, when you're made to think about it such things to think through, but you know it's off. You really know it is. And you're about to sit through a few months of it, more and more breathless as the days trudge along, especially if the US actually leaves Beijing with a gold medal.Jason Kidd is not this team's most important player. He's a very good point guard who is probably the NBA's eighth or ninth-best point man at this point (Paul, Nash, Williams, Billups, Davis, Parker, Calderon, Miller, Harris ... where does Kidd fit in? I'd say behind Harris), and he does specialize in a pass-first attack that would seem to fit in line with what Team USA's roster full of scorers needs most. Let's hear Marc tell it: "The biggest thing missing when the Americans won bronze at the 2004 Olympics and 2006 World Championships was a veteran point guard to get all the superstars on the same page. With that in mind, [Team USA men's basketball national director Jerry] Colangelo worked his magic to get Kidd back in red, white, and blue last year."Funny, I could have thought that the biggest thing missing from those losses in 2004 and 2006 was a consistent batch of strong and level-headed defense (especially in 2006), and solid outside shooting (2004). That's what I remember. I could be wrong. It was a while ago. Then again, the "last year" mentioned by Spears wasn't that long ago, and though Kidd was brilliant in his time at the FIBA Americas Tournament, it also came against less-than-stellar competition, and a watered-down Americas bracket. Nothing like what Team USA saw in 2002, 2004, or 2006, and nothing like they'll see this summer. And, on top of that, though Spears mentions Team USA last winning the gold in 2000 with Kidd at the helm, he neglects to mention that this particular team horribly underachieved, and was nearly denied a championship shot when Sarunas Jasikevicius' three-pointer in the final seconds of a semifinal pairing with Lithuania missed. But this is where we're at. It's no fun to talk about help-side defense from small forwards-turned-big forwards like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony (as was the case in 2006) being the biggest problem when you can talk about a star everybody knows about as incessantly-unselfish acting as a soothing balm for what ails Team USA. Again, this isn't to knock Kidd. He's 34, he never was a great shooter, and his defense has been lacking in consistency and quickness for the last two NBA seasons. Even with that, what he does will help Team USA. His rebounding will encourage transition forays for those who aren't used to running, and his passing will constantly put the opposing defenses on edge. That said, Team USA's winning answer - should it even come in China this summer - won't come that easy. There are a host of little things this team needs to do to succeed, and the appearance of a great passer getting everyone on the "same page" won't be paramount among them. The keys that lead to a gold medal win won't be as simple as people would like you to believe.

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

If Kidd gets more playing time than CP3 and D Will I am going to be very upset.In fact, Kidd should have been left off the roster. Another big man should have been in his place.

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

I think you'll see Kidd look a lot better with these players. If not, no problem they got more than suitable backups.

[fleung22 1]

If Kidd gets more playing time than CP3 and D Will I am going to be very upset.In fact, Kidd should have been left off the roster. Another big man should have been in his place.

If Kidd gets more playing time then it'll mean he's kicking butt.I'm hoping to get tickets to catch the dream team in Macau. w00t!

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

If Kidd gets more playing time then it'll mean he's kicking butt.I'm hoping to get tickets to catch the dream team in Macau. w00t!

How much are tickets?

[fleung22 1]

How much are tickets?

oh cool...I just realized the Orlando Magic are doing pre-season games in Macau too.anyways, tickets are priced strangely. according to Venetian Macau website Game 1 & 2 are HKD 380-1280. Game 3 is HKD 180-780. hmm...I suppose they must have a round robin between USA, Lithuania and Turkey. Game 3 must be a non-Dream Team game.I'm hoping to just get free tickets...contacts are g00t!

[tskillz187 0]

I think no Kidd and Chandler would be better as well. That said, I think they'll get a Gold and have an Avg marin of victory over 15ppg. So it'll be nice.In other news Ginobs might sit out the Olympics to rest his ankle WTF is wrong with it! Why can't they diagnose and fix the effing thing!!!!!!!!!

[fleung22 1]

I think no Kidd and Chandler would be better as well. That said, I think they'll get a Gold and have an Avg marin of victory over 15ppg. So it'll be nice.In other news Ginobs might sit out the Olympics to rest his ankle WTF is wrong with it! Why can't they diagnose and fix the effing thing!!!!!!!!!

Forget Ginobs...at least he's being smart about his injury. I wonder how the Rockets feel about Yau risking further injury to play for China. There's so much pressure for Ming to lead the Chinese on home court. He'll play and he'll play a lot unless he can't walk.What's worse is that if he doesn't produce then China will give him crap AND he may miss or suck during the 08-09 campaign.

[tskillz187 0]

Yeah but China has no chance at winning. And I don't like Yao and I love Ginobs. And Arg has a a gold to defend. I think Ginobs will play hurt, not be effective and unless they luckbox into not playing Spain or USA in the semis they will be playing for a bronze.

[fleung22 1]

Yeah but China has no chance at winning. And I don't like Yao and I love Ginobs. And Arg has a a gold to defend. I think Ginobs will play hurt, not be effective and unless they luckbox into not playing Spain or USA in the semis they will be playing for a bronze.

Well obviously the Dream Team is expected to win and I don't see them collapsing this time. China would be happy getting any medal.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

The problem the USA has, is international play is so much different. Star players don't get star treatment, and it's extremely non-physical. All the banging that goes on down low, will get whistled. All the foreign players grew up playing this style, and none of the NBA players did. People tend to poo-poo the difference, but it's really a different game, and it's easy to get into foul trouble.

[fleung22 1]

The problem the USA has, is international play is so much different. Star players don't get star treatment, and it's extremely non-physical. All the banging that goes on down low, will get whistled. All the foreign players grew up playing this style, and none of the NBA players did. People tend to poo-poo the difference, but it's really a different game, and it's easy to get into foul trouble.

but if you can't bang a guy like Kobe or Lebron then how can you stop them?I think the US has everything including leadership this time around

[FCP Bob 1,312]

The problem the USA has, is international play is so much different. Star players don't get star treatment, and it's extremely non-physical. All the banging that goes on down low, will get whistled. All the foreign players grew up playing this style, and none of the NBA players did. People tend to poo-poo the difference, but it's really a different game, and it's easy to get into foul trouble.

Actually the International game allows a lot more physical contact from the defensive players. Unlike the NBA where the rules are designed to help the offensive player in the International game defensive players get away with a lot more.I loved watching Duncan whine when the refs wouldn`t cheat for him like they do in the NBA and the defensive players were allowed to actually play defense on him.

[outsider13 0]

Actually the International game allows a lot more physical contact from the defensive players. Unlike the NBA where the rules are designed to help the offensive player in the International game defensive players get away with a lot more.I loved watching Duncan whine when the refs wouldn`t cheat for him like they do in the NBA and the defensive players were allowed to actually play defense on him.

With that being said, it should be funny to watch people try to bang with Howard. He is the perfect type of center for the international game. His defensive ability is super good, and his rebounding is phenomenal. Plus, he can grab missed shots that are still over the cylinder.....something he can't do in the NBA.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

Actually the International game allows a lot more physical contact from the defensive players. Unlike the NBA where the rules are designed to help the offensive player in the International game defensive players get away with a lot more.I loved watching Duncan whine when the refs wouldn`t cheat for him like they do in the NBA and the defensive players were allowed to actually play defense on him.

I remember Duncan being perpetually in foul trouble, am I just hallucinating that?

[FCP Bob 1,312]

I remember Duncan being perpetually in foul trouble, am I just hallucinating that?

Art. 40 Five fouls by a player40.1 A player who has committed five (5) fouls, personal and/or technical, shall beinformed thereof by the referee and must leave the game immediately. He must besubstituted within thirty (30) seconds.With only 5 fouls allowed including technical fouls in International play it`s much easier to get into foul trouble which Duncan certainly did. If I recall the Athens games Duncan was getting really frustrated at not getting the calls the way he does in the NBA both because they cheat for him in the NBA and also the different way things are called Internationally and he went on a bit of tilt and committed some silly fouls. Also the rest of the US team played some pretty bad defense and that put Duncan in situations where he took some fouls.One of the biggest differences in how the games are called is when the offensive player initiates the contact like Iveson jumping into the defender or when the defender has postion with his arms up and the offensive player contacts him a little bit. In the NBA those are called fouls on the defensive player, in International ball a lot of those plays are no calls.

[tskillz187 0]

LOL. The NBA cheats for Duncan. Because they market him and the Spurs a lot. That argument makes no sense. He was in a ton of foul trouble, and it's basically because the refs aren't used to big men being athletic enough to shut down guards and not let them score ever. They'd call him for bogus over the backs and fouls on every contested layup.It's very frustrating. I hate international referees, ugh. They are not nearly as skilled as the NBA refs and I don't even like them!It's one of the big reasons I think USA isn't bringing big men this yr. They get taken away by the reffing game. Dwight Howard might be more effective, he's a beast, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him in foul trouble quite a bit as well.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

LOL. The NBA cheats for Duncan. Because they market him and the Spurs a lot. That argument makes no sense. He was in a ton of foul trouble, and it's basically because the refs aren't used to big men being athletic enough to shut down guards and not let them score ever. They'd call him for bogus over the backs and fouls on every contested layup.It's very frustrating. I hate international referees, ugh. They are not nearly as skilled as the NBA refs and I don't even like them!It's one of the big reasons I think USA isn't bringing big men this yr. They get taken away by the reffing game. Dwight Howard might be more effective, he's a beast, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him in foul trouble quite a bit as well.

Take your Spurs blinkers off for a minute. The NBA cheats for all it`s superstars and Duncan more than most. There is no question that in the NBA who is making the play is just as important as the play itself.It`s universally accepted as if it isn`t wrong that rookies etc don`t get the benefit of any calls.

[tskillz187 0]

Take your Spurs blinkers off for a minute. The NBA cheats for all it`s superstars and Duncan more than most. There is no question that in the NBA who is making the play is just as important as the play itself.It`s universally accepted as if it isn`t wrong that rookies etc don`t get the benefit of any calls.

This is such a dumb argument. I don't like Tim Duncan. Stars get more calls than non-stars if that's what you call cheating, so be it.Duncan more than most? That's a pretty ridiculous statement. I'm sure his domination at Wake Forest was the reffing too. It makes much more sense that refs at the Olympics ref poorly with very good big men than it is that everyone is cheating for Duncan in the USA.

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

I'm sure his domination at Wake Forest was the reffing too.

Randolph Childress

[fleung22 1]

Everyone keeps saying this team is small and I was thinking really? How small could it be?? They have Dwight, CB4 and Boozer. Gee, I guess I just named all the big men. I'm surprised KG wasn't considered since he's so versatile. oh well...according to him he plans on sleeping for months anyhow...The official 12-man roster: * Center - Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic * Guard - Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers * Guard - Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks * Guard - Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets * Guard - Michael Redd of the Milwaukee Bucks * Guard - Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz * Guard - Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat * Forward - Carlos Boozer of the Utah Jazz * Forward - Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets * Forward - Tayshaun Prince of the Detroit Pistons * Forward - LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers * Forward - Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors

[fleung22 1]

Yeah but China has no chance at winning. And I don't like Yao and I love Ginobs. And Arg has a a gold to defend. I think Ginobs will play hurt, not be effective and unless they luckbox into not playing Spain or USA in the semis they will be playing for a bronze.

So I was reading the South China Morning Post and they had an interview with Yao about his ability to play. He says the fracture has healed 80% and will be able to go through full training in mid-July. the last 20% won't be healed for another year or so.Anyways, he pretty much came out and conceded to the US and Spain in their bracket and hoped to make the final 8 by sneaking in 2 wins against weaker teams. The China goal is all on bronze all the way.Also, did you know Yao's salary and sponsorship pulled in $55 USD last year? Holy crap, I had no idea he made that type of money!

[quadaces 0]

I personally hope that USA doesnt place in the olympics, and yes I am an American

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

I personally hope that USA doesnt place in the olympics, and yes I am an American

I probably know the answer to this, but why?

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

I probably know the answer to this, but why?

he's obviously a fuckin communist. or a racist.