FIBA Worlds thread

Rasta I never understood your obsession with international players.


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I can understand the leap that some people might make about Giannis Antetokounmpo. The guy is an insane athlete. He reminds me a bit of Darius Miles mixed with some Kevin Durant, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. The guy is extremely raw. He has all the physical tools, but he's a project.

Last season he averaged 6.8 ppg, 4.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists on 41% shooting. That's not exactly setting the world on fire. He had a good summer league, 17 ppg, 5.8 boards, 46% shooting, but so did CJ (20 ppg, 3.2 boards, 48% shooting).

I think the reason why people are so excited about Antetokounmpo is the impressive dunks and the raw athleticism. People love potential. They look at CJ and they think, "that's probably about as good as we're going to see. Sure, he might polish his game a bit, but he's not going to be a superstar." But they look at Antetokounmpo and see the potential to be a star. Yes, that potential is there, but he could also just be another Darius Miles.

I like CJ. I think he's going to end up being a really good bench player for us. I don't know if he's starting material because of his height, but I think he could be a Rodney Stuckey / Jamal Crawford type guy. I hope he accepts that kind of role. Hopefully he works on his ball handling so he can log some spot minutes at point guard, otherwise it's going to be hard to find minutes for him with both Wes and Dame playing minutes at the two.

Also, while we're talking about Dennis Schroder, he logged 16 ppg, 4 boards, 3 assists, and an abysmal 40% from the field / 31% from behind the three point line.

 

He's still pissed we took Lillard over Festus Ezeli.

 

We could all use a little more Festivus.

 

That's a funny way to spell "Andre Drummond".

 

Non-US players in the CJ draft first round in bold:

1. Cavaliers Anthony Bennett PF
2. Magic Victor Oladipo SG (Could also count: Mother is Nigerian and father is from Sierra Leone, so if he wanted he could probably play for either)
3. Wizards Otto Porter SF
4. Bobcats Cody Zeller PF
5. Suns Alex Len C
6. Pelicans Nerlens Noel C
7. Kings Ben McLemore SG
8. Pistons Kentavious Caldwell-Pope SG
9. Timberwolves Trey Burke PG
10. Trail Blazers C.J. McCollum PG
11. 76ers Michael Carter-Williams PG
12. Thunder Steven Adams C
13. Mavericks Kelly Olynyk PF
14. Jazz Shabazz Muhammad SF
15. Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo SF
16. Celtics Lucas Nogueira C
17. Hawks Dennis Schroeder PG
18. Hawks Shane Larkin PG
19. Cavaliers Sergey Karasev SG
20. Bulls Tony Snell SF
21. Jazz Gorgui Dieng C
22. Nets Mason Plumlee C
23. Pacers Solomon Hill SF
24. Knicks Tim Hardaway Jr. SG
25. Clippers Reggie Bullock SG
26. Timberwolves Andre Roberson SF
27. Nuggets Rudy Gobert C
28. Spurs Livio Jean-Charles PF
29. Thunder Archie Goodwin SG
30. Suns Nemanja Nedovic SG

Now, there're certainly some stiffs in there (I don't rate the Canadians, for example, and Len isn't looking good (perhaps because Len is a Canadian band)) but I would be very excited to have a young bench lineup of Schroder, Antetokounmpo, and one or more of Adams, Dieng and Gobert. Karasev can shoot, but I dunno if he can play otherwise. Nogueira would be good if his knees aren't shot to hell.

And I think it should be clear that international players (other than Len and Bennett, who played for US college teams) were undervalued in that draft in favor of US stiffs like Cody Zeller, Otto Porter, Ben McLemore and Shabazz Muhammad. (I actually have a soft spot for Porter, but he's certainly on a slow curve.)

Of course, the best two players in the draft are almost certainly Oladipo and Noel, and if I had to take one player I would be very torn between Noel and Giannis, and if you could assure me that Noel would stay healthy, he'd be my choice. But that can't be! I'm obsessed with international players! I guess I'll have to find out if Noel has a granny from Burkina Faso or something.

 

Zags is obsessed with stiffs from Gonzaga. You're obsessed with stiffs from Europe. It's okay dude. We've all got our "things."

 

France kicks Australia's ass!

Baynes has looked really good for Australia - every time I've looked he's been leading them in scoring. He may be a scrub but he works really hard. Is he on the Spurs' roster for next year or is he a FA?

 

Thanks for the understanding, dude. You should be charging money for this keen psychological insight you're displaying.

 

Now that Dame is out I want to see Victor hit the buzzer beater from distance for the championship and Nic to be the high scorer against him for France.

 

Spain trample all over poor old (literally) Argentina

 

It's "Spain tramples."

Just sayin'.

 

Im not sure if this is real or just guessing but if so the plot thickens ....

[TWEET]504328931223158786[/TWEET]

Edit : Sorry just realized he was being facetious

 

Dragic brothers carving up the US "defense" right now.

 

What do they call that shade of green that Slovenia wears? Slime? Bile?

 

Is it a good thing for the US that their most impressive player right now is Kenneth Faried?

 

I get the impression that teams have been told to foul the US players hard. If nothing else, it'll give their US team owners kittens, and maybe get them held out of future competitions...

 

It's cute when Harden actually makes an effort on defense. He'll have to be careful though, Kevin McHale might get ideas.

 

I don't want my 11 year old seeing Stephen Curry's reaction to having a foul called on him. Not when he's progressed so far past that stage.

 

Rose with a turnover the first time he touches the ball. He is quick but her had been rusty handling and passing the ball