It was the Ricky and Rudy show for a while there. To be fair, it was a broken play. I don't know if he knew he had time to pump fake. (What was most impressive about that was: Rubio shot, got his shot partially blocked, then followed up and got his own rebound. While every player on team USA just watched him do it. Then he threw a no-look pass to a rather surprised Rudy.)
? He was being guarded by Kevin Durant. Of course Rudy just can't shoot over him. That said, Rudy didn't look particularly good. Who knows if Cho will still be able to get that 1st for him in a month. Waiting isn't going to help.
I understand a running floater somewhere close to the hoop, in the lane, whatever. But a 3pt leaning one footed floater? Insane.
The USA team has a long ways to go. They looked like the same old world teams we have put out there for the last 12 years. A bunch of slashers with not enough shooters. Sure Durant can shoot and Rose is awesome, but I am not liking this mix of players at all. I give them all the credit for being out there when so many others passed, but this team is not very good. Lot of inconsistent players. Gay, Odom, Westbrook, Iggy, Chandler.....this game was ugly. Hopefully they will continue to improve.
Same old story. Too much star play, because they don'i play like a team, because they haven't played together as long as their opponents, because players won't stay with the team for years, because American players' loyalty is to the NBA.
You mean too much star play without having any stars? Because other than Durant, I don't see any stars. You are right it is hard for them to play like a team when you have not played together much. But when your best shooters (other than KD) are Curry and Eric Gordon you have problems. A team of slashers has not worked well for us in the past. We need more shooters to go against the zones. Kobe and Wade came up big. Smitty used to play well for the USA team. This tean worries me.
I mean not enough productive inside passing. They try, but they're all accustomed to being the last link on the chain of passing, rather than the middle link. By star play, I mean shooting prematurely, in proportion to the quality of players who could receive your pass and do something better than you can.
Yeah there is an awful lot of one-on-one happening. Then when they do pass, they have average shooters taking the shot. Iggy, Westbrook, Odom, Chandler. Chauncey needs to step up. But his better days may be behind him. This month should say a lot about how well Billups plays this year.
Why are you obsessed with Rudy and Rubio? Rudy looked terrible and can't do anything but shoot threes and he only makes 38% of them. He fails almost any time he tries to create anything. Do you really disagree with that?
Which "that"? Do you deny that Spain went on a big run in the fourth quarter with Rubio and Rudy playing? In other news: Calderon got injured enough that he's missing the Worlds. And Sergio gets dissed again, because Calderon is being replaced with total washed-up scrub Raul Lopez.
Navarro keyed that run off of the high pick and roll. When Team USA went zone on the final possession, it confused Spain, leading to Rubio chucking up a terrible shot and Rudy getting blocked at the buzzer. Crediting Rubio and Rudy and not mentioning Navarro isn't at all realistic in terms of how Spain got back in the game. Had the USA played straight man on the final possession, Navarro would have run yet another pick and roll, which couldn't be stopped in the 4th quarter.
36.8% last year, and 37.8% overall FG %. That's bad for any SG, let alone one who fancies himself as a starter.
I think it will take about 4 to 10 games for the NBA to figure out he doesn't have a jump shot and start playing him just like they did Sergio. Give him lots of room, and he can't hurt you.
For a three point specialist who can't do anything else, that isn't very good. Yeah 38% on FGs is terrible. I do not understand people who overvalue him so much.
