Because he's 29 and is going into a contract year? That's my guess. Love is 25 and did the same thing. LMA had two chances before. He chose to spend the first time in 2010 with his mother, who was battling cancer, and in 2012, he was coming off of hip surgery.
This makes no sense to me. He is never going to be a "power" forward. Slowing him down and adding weight is not his game. He is already 236 lbs and moves well. Being active and guarding stretch 4's is his strength (as well as bigger 3's) I see no reason to change his game other than shooting a higher percentage of his open shots. But being active, getting loose balls, making good passes, playing solid D....that is his game. Maybe not for us, but he will fit in with some NBA team the way he plays now. If he really does hit wide open shots in practice than he can in real games too. He just needs consistent minutes.
I'd been ignoring this thread because I thought it was about soccer and I'm not planning to pay attention to soccer again until 2018. barfo
They are going to have the next FIBA tournament in 5 years so it isn't the same year as the world cup. Going forward it'll just be the year prior to the Olympics.
They should chose the 12 men based on merit. With Derrick Rose shaky outside shooting and 3 years without basketball I can't imagine he'll be in a position to outplay all the other elite PG's at camp. His timing was off last year when he played at the start and his shot was bad. He'll need months to get back into top shape. Glad to hear Millsap has a chance to make the squad he deserves the recognition he's finally getting. I can't wait until we start having games on TV, team USA is way better then any allstar game we get to see the best players on the same team in actual competitive games. Spain is going to be a legit threat and some other teams have good NBA players as well it should be a heck of a tournament.
For some reason, I forgot that John Wall was also on the list of guys trying out. So, Dame has to beat out at least one (maybe two) of Curry/ Kyrie/ Rose/ Wall.
Then let him go. Stotts wants shooters. Without a radical change (like becoming a true PF), Claver will not play.
It would appear that way. The thing is, no matter what shooter we bring in for the end of the bench (13-15) that player is going to struggle shooting when he finally gets in the game. Those guys are basically there in case of injuries. Their shot will be inconsistent until their minutes are more consistent.
We need a guy at that spot with potential, so that we're not wasting time on him. A guy who may move up several spots a year later. Claver (and Leonard) won't be moving up. They're deadwood on this team, but would improve under a different coach. Then our assistant coaches could develop players with more Stottsian potential.
I don't disagree with that, however doesn't Leonard kind of fall in to your "Stottsian" profile. A center who can shoot from the outside? (Both FA targets could....Kaman and Hawes ) Not saying that should be a criteria for our center, but if it is then Leonard may be who you are describing.
Leonard with several years experience in a rotation might be Stottsian, but he won't get the several thousand minutes here. He'll be in the league many years, like Webster, Outlaw, and McRoberts, having some good moments, but as with them, we won't regret moving on.
Re: Lillard on team USA. Curry's definitely going. Irving is almost certainly going (especially after being better than actual Team USA members the last two times he was scrimmaging against them) Lillard is like a poor man's version of those two, so doesn't add anything new. One out of Lillard, Rose and Wall is not going, and Wall gives you something new (defense, athleticism) and Rose was the starting PG on the US team last time, and loyalty is rewarded by Colangelo. Now, Lillard is a better shooter than Wall, but Wall might be the replacement for Iguodala, who got big minutes last time despite not being a shooter. Still hoping Lillard doesn't get included. I think his biggest chance is if Curry or he get classified as SGs.
Would love to see the French, Spanish and US squads games streamed on a thread here. Sly? You have the talent to make it happen dude!
On the BS report today, Simmons said he'd take Dame over Kyrie for Team USA because he's been in big situations, fearless, and flat out better. And he can't figure out why people just assume Kyrie is higher on the list than Dame. Said he'd put Dame as the PG on the "all testicles team."
Apparently Thompson, Wall and Irving are the only ones happy to be there... It's funny to see how some people's height is in their torso (Parsons) while others in their legs (Davis).
