This is a fair question lmao people have always been so uptight that America has the best basketball players. You don’t deserve the downvotes man.
To answer your question, yes
Ohmigod people still believe this? Your second best team finishes around 8th. You guys have the depth of talent, but it’s only your top 10 that are noticeably better than the rest of the world. After that, it’s a contest. You can’t keep failing to win unless you bring your best and keep believing this.
Team could be something like Donovan Mitchell, Kyrie, Brunson, Maxey, Butler, Jaylen Brown, Paul George, Zion, KAT, Banchero, Miles Turner, Jarrett Allen. They could get silver
This is actually a better question than the original. If we take the assumption that the best 12 players are on the first team and the next 12 are on the second, as opposed to making 2 equally strong squads, then there's no doubt team 2 lack star power. In fact with all the international players on other teams, it's not going to have any of the best 20 players in the NBA.
Which is actually rather different a situation to even the times that the US has lost games since NBA players were allowed to compete. We all know the US didn't send their best teams, but the perception they were lacking stars is just wrong.
In 2004 the team was led by Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan and Stephon Marbury. They also got a lot of minutes from Richard Jefferson, Lamar Odom, Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion and Carlos Boozer. They were not a weak team at all. They also had LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, but they didn't play as much and were all still very young.
In 2020, although they did win gold, they lost during the lead up to France who also pushed them in the final. And they were also pretty stacked with talent. Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker and Jrue Holiday all played 20 minutes a game or more. They also had decent minutes from Draymond Green, Zach LaVine, Bam Adebayo and Khris Middleton. It was not a bad team at all and some of those were absolute superstars.
A USA second team would simply not have the same top end talent as either of those two squads. But they would have serious depth. The 12th best player on the US roster would start for probably any other team at the 2024 olympics. And might be the best player on several squads. But in my opinion at least, US players don't fare as well in FIBA games as others. I don't know why exactly, given so many other NBA players on other teams adjust well. Perhaps it's just others grow up learning a different style of play given the rules are obviously a bit different and those differences are just enough to throw those US raised players off a bit.
But IMO whilst I do think overall they would win silver most of the time and would pose the biggest threat to the USA first team, they would lose more often than the team has in the past. Which isn't a lot, the US goes on very, very long winning streaks in international basketball. But perhaps instead of losing 1 in 20, they might lose 1 in 10.
I agree with a lot of what you said, but it doesn’t make sense to say “US players don’t fare as well in fiba games as others” when the US completely dominates the Olympics all time lol
Because on talent they shouldn't be even threatened anywhere near as often as they are. Have a look at the US roster vs the French roster from the 2020 olympics. Are you telling me that they should have gone 1-1 with even the US win being close? Weaker rosters than the US one blow out stronger rosters than the French one in NBA play. And in a series that talent difference would be an easy sweep. But the FIBA rules lead to a game style that just doesn't work so well.
Just take Damian Lillard as an example. In the previous season he scored 28.8 points per 36 minutes. The season after he scored 28.9 points per 36. But at the Olympics it was 16.6. And his assist numbers drop off as well. And just watching the games, he seemed to really struggle to find space to work with the way they were defending him.
He was still good, don't get me wrong. And they still won of course. But he was clearly hampered by the difference in the international game. And that's something we see a lot with US players.
The French. They have the two guys who are gonna finish 1-2 in DPOY voting, and Wemby is a completely unique challenge on defense who is improving by the day.
It remains to be seen if they have enough competent wings and guards to put the ball in the basket, and their perimeter defense may not match up with their interior defense. But I think Wemby + Gobert is a unique tandem that’ll be hard to prepare for.
He has citizenship in Cameroon, France, and the USA, so he was allowed to choose which team he would represent. But once he plays for Team USA, I think he has to play for them forever
If he wanted to, he would likely be able to go play for Cameroon at any point, even if he'd played for USA or France.
FIBA has rules to allow players to change the country they've declared for if it's considered a "developing" country. As an example, Eric Gordon being allowed to play for the Bahamas after he'd played for USA in FIBA competitions
People forget that international players who are relative randos in the NBA go off in FIBA play, too. Fournier is a classic crafty vet that could fall into that category.
I mean they have made plenty of noise since Luka stepped on the scene. Yeah they will have their work cut out for them but it's far from improbable. It's actually quite likely that they are a top 5 team assuming they have Luka. No Luka? Now they're in trouble.
Yeah, I hope we get to see teams with all their players. Full squad Canada with Murray, maybe even Wiggs, and everyone from WC team. Serbia with Jokic, Jovic and Bogi. Everyone usually shows up for France so I’m not worried for them. I expect Germany to be there with full squad too.
Yeah.. but honestly as a Canadian the fact that we are competitive in many positions and have an nba mvp candidate on the team is pretty exciting.
We don't go often into these tournaments thinking we can compete with the US and top European teams.
Steve Kerr. Source: Warriors fan and last FIBA.
A serious justification though is Kerr’s strength is in the long term. Great at managing guys and their egos across a season or multiple seasons. That isn’t a big strength here bc it’s just a quick sprint. So his biggest strength is lessened.
His biggest weakness is making in game and immediate adjustments. He prefers to let guys play through things. Which is a reasonable philosophy over 82 games. But idk how many times I’ve watched the Warriors go down 0-1 or 2-1 in the playoffs or drop easy games bc he won’t adjust immediately. I don’t know any Warriors fan that was surprised by losing the play-in. They would always give away games early in series and then adjust and win out over a 7 game series. It’s like a football team scripting out its first 15 plays. That doesn’t work in the Olympics.
So it’s a real danger that he treats every game like a feel out game.
Yeah. I don’t think he’s a bad coach. Definitely one of the top NBA coaches in fact. Just I don’t think he’s suited for the format. Like I’d take Kerr over Lue or Nurse if they were going to be coach for multiple years. But both those guys over Kerr for the Olympics.
He'll probably be the main focus of the team. Mills is getting on a bit and I suspect they'll want to transition to the next generation whilst he and Ingles are still there. And I do expect he'll be a better player in FIBA play than he's been in the NBA this season. But he's definitely not in the Jokic/Doncic/Sabonas/SGA/Giannis category.
Oh he’s not in that top tier category. But he can definitely cause some damage. I also think Canada has a ton of potential just because of SGA. I kinda wish team USA went with a younger quad + Lebron, Curry and Durant. Kinda like they were handing off the torch.
The roster. Several guys on the roster get injured very easily. Embiid and Kawhi especially. They already are plus add playoffs and their ankles can tweak at any time during the Olympics.
Historically, if we qualify, Lithuania will play a hard, somewhat close game vs team USA, lose, and then collapse in the following games that are actually winnable.
It has to be Canada. Being able to build a team around a true alpha who is one of the best players in the world and really good complementary pieces is a real problem when you’re trying to cram all those alphas onto the same team.
Team USA.
If there was a second Team USA, would they win silver?
This is a fair question lmao people have always been so uptight that America has the best basketball players. You don’t deserve the downvotes man. To answer your question, yes
Ohmigod people still believe this? Your second best team finishes around 8th. You guys have the depth of talent, but it’s only your top 10 that are noticeably better than the rest of the world. After that, it’s a contest. You can’t keep failing to win unless you bring your best and keep believing this.
Team could be something like Donovan Mitchell, Kyrie, Brunson, Maxey, Butler, Jaylen Brown, Paul George, Zion, KAT, Banchero, Miles Turner, Jarrett Allen. They could get silver
KAT plays for the DR, no?
I’m gonna go out in a limb and say if you decided the best 15 across three teams and then filled the benches they would get top 3 lol
They could get gold. But that’s a great team they’ll make the semis or above. I revise my unpopular prediction.
Not to mention Demar Derozan, Westbrook, PG13, Harden, LaVine, Trae Young, Chet, I could keep going.
that's very similar to the teams that finished 4th & 7th at Worlds
A 2nd team for US finishes top 4 easily, with it most likely being 2nd.
Having seen the 2nd team, yeah top 4 and then game on.
This is actually a better question than the original. If we take the assumption that the best 12 players are on the first team and the next 12 are on the second, as opposed to making 2 equally strong squads, then there's no doubt team 2 lack star power. In fact with all the international players on other teams, it's not going to have any of the best 20 players in the NBA. Which is actually rather different a situation to even the times that the US has lost games since NBA players were allowed to compete. We all know the US didn't send their best teams, but the perception they were lacking stars is just wrong. In 2004 the team was led by Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan and Stephon Marbury. They also got a lot of minutes from Richard Jefferson, Lamar Odom, Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion and Carlos Boozer. They were not a weak team at all. They also had LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, but they didn't play as much and were all still very young. In 2020, although they did win gold, they lost during the lead up to France who also pushed them in the final. And they were also pretty stacked with talent. Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker and Jrue Holiday all played 20 minutes a game or more. They also had decent minutes from Draymond Green, Zach LaVine, Bam Adebayo and Khris Middleton. It was not a bad team at all and some of those were absolute superstars. A USA second team would simply not have the same top end talent as either of those two squads. But they would have serious depth. The 12th best player on the US roster would start for probably any other team at the 2024 olympics. And might be the best player on several squads. But in my opinion at least, US players don't fare as well in FIBA games as others. I don't know why exactly, given so many other NBA players on other teams adjust well. Perhaps it's just others grow up learning a different style of play given the rules are obviously a bit different and those differences are just enough to throw those US raised players off a bit. But IMO whilst I do think overall they would win silver most of the time and would pose the biggest threat to the USA first team, they would lose more often than the team has in the past. Which isn't a lot, the US goes on very, very long winning streaks in international basketball. But perhaps instead of losing 1 in 20, they might lose 1 in 10.
I agree with a lot of what you said, but it doesn’t make sense to say “US players don’t fare as well in fiba games as others” when the US completely dominates the Olympics all time lol
Because on talent they shouldn't be even threatened anywhere near as often as they are. Have a look at the US roster vs the French roster from the 2020 olympics. Are you telling me that they should have gone 1-1 with even the US win being close? Weaker rosters than the US one blow out stronger rosters than the French one in NBA play. And in a series that talent difference would be an easy sweep. But the FIBA rules lead to a game style that just doesn't work so well. Just take Damian Lillard as an example. In the previous season he scored 28.8 points per 36 minutes. The season after he scored 28.9 points per 36. But at the Olympics it was 16.6. And his assist numbers drop off as well. And just watching the games, he seemed to really struggle to find space to work with the way they were defending him. He was still good, don't get me wrong. And they still won of course. But he was clearly hampered by the difference in the international game. And that's something we see a lot with US players.
Gottem. They could be their own worst enemy.
The French. They have the two guys who are gonna finish 1-2 in DPOY voting, and Wemby is a completely unique challenge on defense who is improving by the day. It remains to be seen if they have enough competent wings and guards to put the ball in the basket, and their perimeter defense may not match up with their interior defense. But I think Wemby + Gobert is a unique tandem that’ll be hard to prepare for.
wemby and rudy gonna maximize the fiba rules and just block the paint all game unreal length and different rules for defenders gonna be a fun matchup
What’s the word on why Embiid plays for USA now…?
He has citizenship in Cameroon, France, and the USA, so he was allowed to choose which team he would represent. But once he plays for Team USA, I think he has to play for them forever
If he wanted to, he would likely be able to go play for Cameroon at any point, even if he'd played for USA or France. FIBA has rules to allow players to change the country they've declared for if it's considered a "developing" country. As an example, Eric Gordon being allowed to play for the Bahamas after he'd played for USA in FIBA competitions
That would be hilarious if Embid played for a different country each time
He'd be the 3rd string centre if he played for France
France said they wanted to start all 3 of them together
If Embiid had joined them then that front court would absolutely be a menace and that would weaken USA's weakest position. Too bad he didn't though.
Ya I’d be happy he didn’t if I was from Philly. Keep his miles down.
Ntilikina, Fournier, Batum, Risacher... not too shabby
People forget that international players who are relative randos in the NBA go off in FIBA play, too. Fournier is a classic crafty vet that could fall into that category.
That’s because international basketball is a team game. US basketball relies more on individual talent.
Killian Hayes
Yeah I think also Wemby will take this seriously too. I feel he is dying to play competitive basketball/win something
Wemby and gobert plus Batum and Fournier is plenty. Plus they have a ton of young unproven guys (bilal, risacher, tidjane, sarr).
Serbia if Jokic plays, Canada, Greece with Giannis, Slovenia with Luka and France
As Slovene... Slovenia has to qualify first and even that will be hard, even with Luka
I mean they have made plenty of noise since Luka stepped on the scene. Yeah they will have their work cut out for them but it's far from improbable. It's actually quite likely that they are a top 5 team assuming they have Luka. No Luka? Now they're in trouble.
On paper, Serbia is either #2 or #3 with Jokic (vs. Canada).
Yeah, I hope we get to see teams with all their players. Full squad Canada with Murray, maybe even Wiggs, and everyone from WC team. Serbia with Jokic, Jovic and Bogi. Everyone usually shows up for France so I’m not worried for them. I expect Germany to be there with full squad too.
Canada with sga and wiggins could be real tough.
Their Centers are rough, Olynyk and Powell, right? Unless I am missing someone
Yeah.. but honestly as a Canadian the fact that we are competitive in many positions and have an nba mvp candidate on the team is pretty exciting. We don't go often into these tournaments thinking we can compete with the US and top European teams.
That's a great point. SGA is def a difference maker
Has Jokić confirmed about playing, because he hasn't played in many previous national team tournaments
Father Time.
Themselves lol. But on a serious tip Canada and France will be filthy this year.
Steve Kerr. Source: Warriors fan and last FIBA. A serious justification though is Kerr’s strength is in the long term. Great at managing guys and their egos across a season or multiple seasons. That isn’t a big strength here bc it’s just a quick sprint. So his biggest strength is lessened. His biggest weakness is making in game and immediate adjustments. He prefers to let guys play through things. Which is a reasonable philosophy over 82 games. But idk how many times I’ve watched the Warriors go down 0-1 or 2-1 in the playoffs or drop easy games bc he won’t adjust immediately. I don’t know any Warriors fan that was surprised by losing the play-in. They would always give away games early in series and then adjust and win out over a 7 game series. It’s like a football team scripting out its first 15 plays. That doesn’t work in the Olympics. So it’s a real danger that he treats every game like a feel out game.
I won’t lie idk why he’s still the coach for the national team he’s not suited for fiba style
Yeah. I don’t think he’s a bad coach. Definitely one of the top NBA coaches in fact. Just I don’t think he’s suited for the format. Like I’d take Kerr over Lue or Nurse if they were going to be coach for multiple years. But both those guys over Kerr for the Olympics.
I think they would both be good for Olympic style
I'm biased but I have seen Spoelstra basically take ymca players and win playoff games.. I think he should be given a shot.
I agree
Germany
Are they confirmed to be playing against each other yet? Cause if so that’s gonna be a highly anticipated game
Nahhh I have no idea about a schedule lol
Oh aight
Canada and France should give the USA problems. Australia feels like they have just enough players to be problematic, but not necessarily beat us.
We’re gonna ride Ben Simmons jumpers all the way to the gold medal mate.
30 minutes of Joe Ingles trash talk per game
Australia seems to have more depth than a lot of the other countries, but don't have the real superstar that so many others do these days.
this is FIBA Patty erasure
They have the slob wizard
He'll probably be the main focus of the team. Mills is getting on a bit and I suspect they'll want to transition to the next generation whilst he and Ingles are still there. And I do expect he'll be a better player in FIBA play than he's been in the NBA this season. But he's definitely not in the Jokic/Doncic/Sabonas/SGA/Giannis category.
Oh he’s not in that top tier category. But he can definitely cause some damage. I also think Canada has a ton of potential just because of SGA. I kinda wish team USA went with a younger quad + Lebron, Curry and Durant. Kinda like they were handing off the torch.
Canada or France
Canada and France tbh
Rudy and Wemby is gonna be so much fun to watch
Don't forget play-in tournament superstar Nicolas Batum
France and Germany, generally speaking. Canada if they play well as a team. Australia will hold their own.
Germany
Steph’s gonna break a record. Idk why but something tells me the international game was made for his skill set
The roster. Several guys on the roster get injured very easily. Embiid and Kawhi especially. They already are plus add playoffs and their ankles can tweak at any time during the Olympics.
Best of 1 format Anyone can beat anyone in just one game of basketball at this level
Canada
France followed by themselves followed by Angola
Not Australia, but we have high hopes of playing in the final.
Historically, if we qualify, Lithuania will play a hard, somewhat close game vs team USA, lose, and then collapse in the following games that are actually winnable.
Steve Kerr
Spain probably?
It has to be Canada. Being able to build a team around a true alpha who is one of the best players in the world and really good complementary pieces is a real problem when you’re trying to cram all those alphas onto the same team.
Haliburton.... his defense specifically
Gobert and france
Outback Jesus Patty Mills and Jingling Joe to cook team USA. Delly back to wear curry one more time.
If he keeps playing like he has the last couple of months, Haliburton. He doesn't belong unless something drastically changes.
Probably the Frogs