FIBA Americas Tournament

[Griffin]

The tournament starts today. Here's the first round schedule for Team USA:

vs. Venezuela		8/22 Wed	11pm ET		ESPN Classic
vs. Virgin Islands	8/23 Thu	11pm ET		ESPN Classic
vs. Canada		8/24 Sat	 3pm ET		ESPN2
vs. Brazil		8/25 Sun	 9pm ET		ESPN2

The roster:

• Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets)
• Chauncey Billups (Detroit Pistons)
• Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
• Tyson Chandler (New Orleans Hornets)
• Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)
• LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
• Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets)
• Mike Miller (Memphis Grizzlies)
• Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons)
• Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks)
• Amaré Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns)
• Deron Williams (Utah Jazz)

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

ESPN classic? odd, i hope they replay them in the middle of the night on espn when im at work

 

[SO91]

They will replay the game at 10pm on ESPN2 (AZ time)

 

[Errntknght]

Tanks for the info

 

[DevonCardsFan]

The tournament starts today. Here's the first round schedule for Team USA:

vs. Venezuela		8/22 Wed	11pm ET		ESPN Classic
vs. Virgin Islands	8/23 Thu	11pm ET		ESPN Classic
vs. Canada		8/24 Sat	 3pm ET		ESPN2
vs. Brazil		8/25 Sun	 9pm ET		ESPN2

The roster:

• Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets)
• Chauncey Billups (Detroit Pistons)
• Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
• Tyson Chandler (New Orleans Hornets)
• Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)
• LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
• Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets)
• Mike Miller (Memphis Grizzlies)
• Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons)
• Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks)
• Amaré Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns)
• Deron Williams (Utah Jazz)

By the way who got cut, going from Memory it looks like Durant, Battier, Bosh, Hinrich, I think maybe Riddick, does anybody know??

 

[dodie53]

i'll watch this game later..

i think they will show it live here in our place..

 

[azirish]

Bosh left due to an injury, but the others were let go to get down to 12.

 

[dodie53]

amare has a mo hawk,
US leading by 40 plus..
i didn't finish the game..

 

[mjb21aztd]

yeah that dunk by amare at the end of the game was pretty good. Looked like Amare played a good game good to see I just catched the last few minutes didnt even know they were playing today lol...

 

[arwillan]

it was a pretty boring game. a total blowout

 

[mribnik]

I believe Amare had something like 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks (one of them a volleyball spike). I think he had 7 free throw attempts and made 6 of them.

Edit: Kobe Bryant looked damn good defensively. He's always had that ability but he hasn't used it much the last few years because it takes too much energy out of him IMO. He doesn't have to carry team USA like he does the Lakers so he's obviously putting more energy into defense. He apparently lost 10 pounds during the summer and looks to be in great shape (not that he was ever in poor shape).

 

[SO91]

I thought I heard 18 lbs. but I could be mistaken.

 

[DevonCardsFan]

I believe Amare had something like 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks (one of them a volleyball spike). I think he had 7 free throw attempts and made 6 of them.

Edit: Kobe Bryant looked damn good defensively. He's always had that ability but he hasn't used it much the last few years because it takes too much energy out of him IMO. He doesn't have to carry team USA like he does the Lakers so he's obviously putting more energy into defense. He apparently lost 10 pounds during the summer and looks to be in great shape (not that he was ever in poor shape).

It was pretty boring, Kobe had some clamps on D, but it was not like he was locking down the best players in the world

 

[JCSunsfan]

Watched the Brazil/Canada game.

Barbosa looked very good. Scored 30 I think. Did an excellent job distributing. Drove to the hoop with his head up and found teammates off the dribble. That is a big change for LB.

 

[azirish]

I did not think the USA team played all that well in the first half, but they were so overwhelmingly dominant physically it didn't matter. My read on it is that the combination of Kidd, Kobe, LeBron, and Anthony is just not all that effective. I would move take or the other out of the starting lineup and insert Redd who was 3 of 5 for three. Anthony was only 1 of 3 for three LeBron did not shoot any threes.

Kobe was just dominanting: 14 points in 16 minutes 5 of 8 overall with 2 of 2 for three, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and blocked shot.

In the first quarter, it did not seem like either Howard or Stoudemire shot the ball. In the end, Howard would go 4 of 5 from the field while Amare was 4 of 4. Amare outscored Howard because Amare went 8 of 9 from the line while Howard was only 4 of 7. Howard out rebounded Amare 8 to 4; but offensively Amare was much more impressive. Chandler had 4 rebounds, but was awful with the ball.

Venezuela was just too overmatched to put up any struggle, but the USA team needs to do a better job of ball movement, get Kobe the ball, and go inside more.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

i think the hardest thing for usa to do is give 100% when they dont need to. With their blowout tonight, its not like it was a big deal, but there werent enough smooth flowing offensive plays going on, simply because they didnt have to play at NBA levels. It was a bit chaotic on the court. I doubt it will come back to bite them in the arse, but it would be very impressive to see.

I guess i just inevitably compare them to the 92 dream team for some odd reason. i wish I could watch that teamplay everyday

 

[azirish]

i think the hardest thing for usa to do is give 100% when they dont need to. With their blowout tonight, its not like it was a big deal, but there werent enough smooth flowing offensive plays going on, simply because they didnt have to play at NBA levels. It was a bit chaotic on the court. I doubt it will come back to bite them in the arse, but it would be very impressive to see.

It was chaotic, but I blame some of it on having both Anthony and LeBron on the floor at the same time. Their styles are too similar. Ideally, they would have done drive and kick but Kobe was the only real shooter on the floor. I much preferred what they were doing with Redd at SG.

 

[dodie53]

why not bring carmelo off the bench and start amare or redd instead?

kobe can be the SF and redd the SG

 

[MigratingOsprey]

agreed - redd is the type of dangerous pure shooter you want in your starting 5 - with so many people who can create and take off the dribble, it makes sense

howard was a beast they couldn't handle - chandler looked lost

all in all a pretty decent first showing - venezuela was terrible though, some good shooters making tough shots, but defensive philosophy and game pace isn't what the US should get used to

i'm interested in seeing my man Frank Elegar tonight - but other than that do not expect much from the USVI

 

[mribnik]

I thought I heard 18 lbs. but I could be mistaken.

That might be right. I do remember that the amount of weight he lost sounded like a lot, considering he was never a "huge" guy.

 

[fordronken]

Is there a box score available?

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I wouldn't mind seeing Mike Miller starting over Carmelo.

 

[azirish]

http://www.2007lasvegas.fibaamerica...langlc//roundid/5730/fe_scheStat_boxScor.html

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Barbosa scored 30 but on 9/26 shooting. Kobe-esque numbers. Did a good job at the line.

 

[Mulli]

Barbosa scored 30 but on 9/26 shooting. Kobe-esque numbers. Did a good job at the line.

26 shots? Ugh.