USA vs. Turkey - Part deux

[Chaz]

Early in the second tied at 25.

I forgot this was on.

 

[Chaz]

USA leads by one at the half.

 

[George O'Brien]

The USA team continues to struggle defensing three point shooters. Screens and picks are getting guys open. By contrast, the USA team continues to struggle from the outside.

Marion clearly does not want to shoot from the outside. He is very active getting to the basket, even in traffic, but I think he has taken only one outside shot so far. I'm not excited about Marion shooting from the outside, but he is a lot better outside shooter than LeBron.

 

[elindholm]

Marion is not a strong shooter fundamentally. I think he does reasonably well on corner three-point shots. He isn't a good three-point shooter from other spots. In the corner, it's exactly the same distance and angle every time, so he doesn't have to assess those -- he just has them "measured," like free throws.

For what it's worth, Karl Malone was similar (even when he was healthy) -- he seemed to shoot very well from intermediate distance, but if you looked at "maps" of where his shots were coming from, they were almost all from the same, small, well-defined areas.

If you had an all-around shooting contest with shots from varying spots on the floor, Marion would be below average among NBA players. Among wing players earning eight-figure salaries, he would be close to the bottom.

My guess is that Brown has asked Marion not to shoot from the outside, because the three-point distance is different and it is confusing to him. In the Germany game, Marion attempted one three-point shot and it wasn't even close.

 

[F-Dog]

Interesting to see that Anthony was the odd man out when the US went down to a nine-man rotation in the second half. Now if they can only get rid of Boozer (hint, hint) they'll look better on both sides of the ball...

Is it just me, or did the Turks start diving in the second half? It didn't work at all, if that's what they were doing.

Marion still doesn't want to take a shot from outside; he also had a little trouble against Turkoglu today, but he's earning his minutes anyway with his quickness and activity. It'd be nice to see him shoot a couple of jumpers, though.


It's obvious by now that the US won't see zone defense again until the games count. They keep looking better, though--it's starting to look like they have a chance to win gold after all. Maybe I'm just drinking the Larry Brown kool-aid?

 

[George O'Brien]

Is it just me, or did the Turks start diving in the second half? It didn't work at all, if that's what they were doing.

I haven't seen that many flops since Lambeer left the game. The refs have left a lot to be desired, but they ignored most of the interior flops.

The USA team is still getting caught by opponents sneaking up behind them and then flopping when the man turns. This is a classic case of where communication between teammates is crucial.

 

[Joe Mama]

BTW Walton and his cohort mentioned that the reason Amare Stoudemire hasn't been playing is that he has been sick.

Joe Mama

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Marion is not a strong shooter fundamentally. I think he does reasonably well on corner three-point shots. He isn't a good three-point shooter from other spots. In the corner, it's exactly the same distance and angle every time, so he doesn't have to assess those -- he just has them "measured," like free throws.

For what it's worth, Karl Malone was similar (even when he was healthy) -- he seemed to shoot very well from intermediate distance, but if you looked at "maps" of where his shots were coming from, they were almost all from the same, small, well-defined areas.

If you had an all-around shooting contest with shots from varying spots on the floor, Marion would be below average among NBA players. Among wing players earning eight-figure salaries, he would be close to the bottom.

My guess is that Brown has asked Marion not to shoot from the outside, because the three-point distance is different and it is confusing to him. In the Germany game, Marion attempted one three-point shot and it wasn't even close.

Agreed completely, he is significantly more effective from the wings. Other than that, I would say he is below average from every other spot (behind the three point line).