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AirKobe8
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Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 8586
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 Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:41 pm Post subject: Teams that will make noise in the World Champs |
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What y'all think? US has everything to win it, but which teams should have a good run?
IMO Brazil and France.
You may say Im saying Brazil cuz Im Brazilian, but take a look at the squad:
C - Nene/ Great defender, has his moments on offense
PF - Varejao/ Hustle guy
SF - Marcelinho/ Many of you dont know him, but hes a grat shooter, been scouted by the Cavs.
SG - Alex Garcia/ Very explosive guy, played one season with the Spurs and another with the Hornets
PG - Leandro Barbosa/The Suns tiny shooter will strike as a PG.
Also on the bench:
Thiago Splitter
Marcelinho Huertas (Europe's MIP)
Rafael Araujo
and France, I mean, look at that roster, all NBA players:
C - Johan Petro
PF - Ronny Turiaf
SF - Boris Diaw
SG - Mickael Pietrus
PG - Tony Longoria
so what you guys think?
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astrallionheart
Star Player
Joined: 17 May 2005
Posts: 1292
Location: Windbloom
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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The top teams are Spain and Argentina. They have the best record the last four years, although Spain tends to lose before making it to the finals.
Spain plays like the US, has driving guards and scoring bigs, they play an uptempo game. Their lack of outside shooting is usually what causes them to drop out of the tournament, despite usually having the best record overall in group play.
Argentina starts out slow but finishes big. They are the most balanced team. Their entire lineup (1-4) can hit threes, they are a very good defensive rebounding group, and Manu is unstoppable against the USA, thanks to great point guards on the team, who run screen and rolls from the 3 point line and often pull up for the three. They open up the floor for Manu to score. I think they are the favorities to win gold.
After that, its pretty wide open. Lithuania has great shooting, but no inside game. In group play, they have great records, but can't score inside, which is why they get knocked out early. They have the exact opposite problem as Spain.
Russia is a strong team, but unfortunately they didn't qualify--too many Euro teams in the Group. I think the second tier is France and Germany, but both rely too much on their marquee stars, and are not as balanced as the top two teams.
USA can be the best or middle of the pack, depending on the team they field. While I will be cheering for them the whole way, I don't think they have the personell this year to win. You need a superstar scorer like Kobe or T-mac to blow this thing open. Lebron, Wade, Carmelo, are transition scorers. They will have a lot of trouble being as effective in the Worlds. Remember, this is classical *cannonical* basketball rules, not NBA rules. Whoever can play 80s ball the best--make shots, run the floor, close out shooters, make quick, clean plays, relies on less one-on-one play (and by this we mean dribbling in circles and letting the defense collapse, not necessarily one guy taking the most shots, or playing within the offense), usually wins.
The key statistics are going to be FG%, and 3PT%. In Athens= USA 45.9%FG 31%3PT 67%FT. Opponents = 48.2%FG 44.1%3PT 68%FT.
*Don't give up the three!*
Then again, maybe Chris Paul will show us how good he really is. I think he's the best shot at Team USA winning.
PS = personally I think Larry Brown did an "OK" job in Athens. The problem was he started the equivalent of a New York Knicks lineup. Marbury can't play defense, they had no classical shotblockers (and we have an even worse shotblocking crew this time around), and Richard Jefferson can't shoot (as the starting SF, he averaged 32% FG, which is right about what he averaged during the 2003 Qualifying Tournament. Didn't anyone realize he can't shoot?).
A few tweaks here and there and we might "sneak" by to the gold. But of course, there is no real victory for Team USA unless we blow out every team in the tournament. |
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Polish_Bastard
Starting Rotation
Joined: 20 Jun 2006
Posts: 106
Location: India baby!
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:58 am Post subject: |
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| astrallionheart wrote: | The top teams are Spain and Argentina. They have the best record the last four years, although Spain tends to lose before making it to the finals.
Spain plays like the US, has driving guards and scoring bigs, they play an uptempo game. Their lack of outside shooting is usually what causes them to drop out of the tournament, despite usually having the best record overall in group play.
Argentina starts out slow but finishes big. They are the most balanced team. Their entire lineup (1-4) can hit threes, they are a very good defensive rebounding group, and Manu is unstoppable against the USA, thanks to great point guards on the team, who run screen and rolls from the 3 point line and often pull up for the three. They open up the floor for Manu to score. I think they are the favorities to win gold.
After that, its pretty wide open. Lithuania has great shooting, but no inside game. In group play, they have great records, but can't score inside, which is why they get knocked out early. They have the exact opposite problem as Spain.
Russia is a strong team, but unfortunately they didn't qualify--too many Euro teams in the Group. I think the second tier is France and Germany, but both rely too much on their marquee stars, and are not as balanced as the top two teams.
USA can be the best or middle of the pack, depending on the team they field. While I will be cheering for them the whole way, I don't think they have the personell this year to win. You need a superstar scorer like Kobe or T-mac to blow this thing open. Lebron, Wade, Carmelo, are transition scorers. They will have a lot of trouble being as effective in the Worlds. Remember, this is classical *cannonical* basketball rules, not NBA rules. Whoever can play 80s ball the best--make shots, run the floor, close out shooters, make quick, clean plays, relies on less one-on-one play (and by this we mean dribbling in circles and letting the defense collapse, not necessarily one guy taking the most shots, or playing within the offense), usually wins.
The key statistics are going to be FG%, and 3PT%. In Athens= USA 45.9%FG 31%3PT 67%FT. Opponents = 48.2%FG 44.1%3PT 68%FT.
*Don't give up the three!*
Then again, maybe Chris Paul will show us how good he really is. I think he's the best shot at Team USA winning.
PS = personally I think Larry Brown did an "OK" job in Athens. The problem was he started the equivalent of a New York Knicks lineup. Marbury can't play defense, they had no classical shotblockers (and we have an even worse shotblocking crew this time around), and Richard Jefferson can't shoot (as the starting SF, he averaged 32% FG, which is right about what he averaged during the 2003 Qualifying Tournament. Didn't anyone realize he can't shoot?).
A few tweaks here and there and we might "sneak" by to the gold. But of course, there is no real victory for Team USA unless we blow out every team in the tournament. |
I agree with you on Argentina and Spain. I'd give more credit to the Lithuanian inside game, they have Javtokas, Songaila, the Lavrinovics. Granted, of all these players only Songaila has some nice post moves but their shooters can open up the court enough even for the others to be effective.
The US needs shooting and defense. I don't think shotblocking is that important though. Any American big man is athletic enough to block shots. It's more about people following basic defensive principles and cooperating more on that side of the ball. The former can be achieved, the latter is big question mark.
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supermegamen
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Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 962
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 6:47 am Post subject: |
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Germany will surely make some noise again. They are going into every tournament as an underdog which is not surprising considering their fairly weak roster and still they almost always end up playing for a top 3 finish. Last year in the european championship they lost two starters, one of them was the teams second best player (Adamola Okulaja, played with Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison for the Tar Heels back in the days) and they still finished second just behind greece.
They're going as far as Dirk can carry them...  |
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Vancouver Fan
Franchise Player
Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Posts: 17740
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 4:08 pm Post subject: |
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 Tony Longoria...it took me a sec to get it.....at first i was like "whos tony longoria?"
(obviously forgot they're an item)
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AirKobe8
Star Player
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 8586
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 5:41 pm Post subject: |
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Nene wont play for Brazil.
He says he isnt totally recovered from his injury.
I guess Splitter will start then....
still solid team:
Splitter
Varejao
Marcelinho
Alex
Barbosa
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