Rosen: Step forward, but job not complete

[RonnieBrewer (Reverse Layup)]

Step forward, but job not complete
Charley Rosen
Special to FOXSports.com, Updated 18 hours ago

Now that the rims have stopped vibrating from Team USA's perpetual dunks, now
that the nets are stilled after being routinely twitched by the barrage of
3-pointers, now that the scoreboard has cooled off, what are the prospects
for gold in Beijing?

As dominant as Team USA was, the FIBA Americas Championship provided some
mitigating circumstances and several red flags as well.

# A close look at the teams that the U.S. dominated in Las Vegas reveals
three second-rate squads (Argentina's B team, Brazil, and Puerto Rico), one
third-rate ball club (Canada), and a collection of teams that could probably
be bested by several of America's mid-ranked college teams.

# A team can only play against whichever opponents the schedule provides, but
running rampant through such an impotent field is no indication that a gold
medal will be guaranteed next summer.

# For sure, Team USA's long-range shooting was impressive, but virtually all
of their 3-pointers were launched with no defenders in the immediate vicinity.
Will they be able to shoot as well under much better defensive pressure?

# The zones they faced in Sin City were relatively loose and slow to react.
So much so that it was an easy task to create zone-free interior spaces where
Dwight Howard and Amare Stoudemire could work one-on-one. How will Team USA
handle the tighter and quicker-moving zone defenses they'll face in China?

# Against the best teams in the world, all of the gambling and snipping on
defense will not be nearly as successful. This will mean far fewer breakouts
and fast-breaks. In fact, the most veteran international squads have the
talent and the know-how to make the U.S. pay dearly for their habitual forays
into passing lanes.

# Better post-up players will cause serious problems, especially since
neither Howard nor Stoudemire proved capable of providing sufficient
defensive resistance to the lesser pivot-men they faced in Las Vegas. Also,
experienced teams will take full advantage of any double-downs the U.S. will
attempt ─ and their superior perimeter shooters won't miss nearly as often
as did the Argentineans, the Puerto Ricans, etc.

# Even against a sub-par field, Team USA's rebounding was problematic. Their
failure to command the defensive boards was particularly significant.

# While they handled virtually every screen-and-roll they saw, the teams
they'll face in China run these formations with much more force and
sophistication.

# In various spread formations, Team USA's guards were frequently beaten into
the middle by unilateral ball-penetration, and the bigs were slow to react.
Against infinitely more talented guards (and wings), this failing could be
extremely costly the next time out.

# The level of point-guard play behind Jason Kidd was unacceptable.

All things considered, then, what adjustments should be made in Team USA's
Olympic roster?

The essential players are J-Kidd, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Kobe
Bryant. These guys represent the core of a gold-medal winning team.

The players whose return is important but not quite as critical include
Michael Redd (for his shooting and creativity with the ball), Dwight Howard
(for his big-shouldered presence near the hoop), and probably Stoudemire (for
his quickness).

POINT GUARD 

Chauncey Billups took too many ill-advised shots and seemed a step slow.
Deron Williams had difficulty recognizing situations and wound up
over-handling. Undoubtedly, Dwyane Wade will take one of these spots ─ most
likely replacing Billups. Other candidates include Chris Paul (who isn't
strong enough) and Gilbert Arenas (who irked the powers that be with his
public complaints over being snubbed last summer). The best bet is to
anticipate that, with another season playing for Jerry Sloan, Williams will
continue to mature and will be able to speed up his decision-making.

Wade in. Billups out.

WINGS 

Mike Krzyzewski got away with playing Melo and LBJ at power forward. This
strategy will often be counter-productive in Beijing simply because neither
of these two can rebound with the proficiency that this position requires,
nor can they play acceptable post-defense. Most likely Coach K will try
playing Anthony here as much as possible, if only to keep Kidd, Bryant, LBJ,
and Anthony on the floor at the same time. So, with Anthony getting more
wing-time, Mike Miller is expendable (because of his poor defense and his
poor ball-handling skills) and does not have to be replaced. Tayshaun Prince 
does play defense, but the addition of D-Wade makes him redundant.

Miller out. Prince out.

POWER FORWARD 

In Las Vegas, Team USA functioned without one. They certainly won't try to
repeat this strategy in China.

The leading candidates are Elton Brand (assuming his Achilles injury is fully
healed) and Chris Bosh. It's expected that Bosh will certainly be added, but
this would be a huge mistake.

Why?

Mainly because his frail defense was regularly chumped in last summer's world
championship tournament. Remember how he could barely find any playing time?
If Brand can't go, then Carlos Boozer should be tabbed. Boozer can score
inside and out, he can bang, he can 'bound, he's effective without the ball,
and he's already proven to be a valuable player in international competition.

Boozer in. Bosh in.

BIG MEN

Howard is still too raw to be consistently effective against wizened
international vets. Stoudemire can't play a vestige of man-to-man defense.

Unfortunately, there's no true center on the expanded squad who can supply
the beef, the rebounding, and the interior straight-up defense that Team USA
will need.

Boozer could do double-duty in the front-line. And the NBA's publicity
machine will be anxious to add Greg Oden to the mix.

Too bad Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal are out of the picture. With the
latest edition of Team USA's having been fortified with so many outstanding
3-point shooters, there should be plenty of room in the middle of stretched
zone-defenses in which TD and the Biggest Big could operate.

Tyson Chandler out. Greg Oden in.

The wild-cards will include Chris Paul (for Williams) and Kevin Durant (for
either Boozer, Oden, or Bosh).

Overwhelming the less-than mediocre competition in Las Vegas does not
necessarily mean that the USA has regained its prominence on the international
basketball scene. If the right changes and tweaks are implemented, however,
then Team USA should indeed be unbeatable next summer in China.

But that's then and this is now.

All that has been accomplished so far is that the American basketballers have
taken a first step in rectifying the many humiliating failures of recent U.S.
teams.

Sometimes first steps are the hardest. In this case, they were the easiest.



                                http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7186060 

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◆ From: 61.140.111.108
推 monmo:這篇大好物耶...某位剛開部落格的大大建議翻一下造福鄉民
→ monmo:他對小胖的成長性還真有信心...小不點更是稱讚到讓人臉紅
推 amox:Rosen一直都很喜歡D-Will
推 Actus:都被他講完了 那我要講什麼
推 KarlMalone:Power Forward=Karl Malone
推 CarlosBoozer:樓上是爵士隊的孟達
推 SULICon:     樓上是爵士的吳孟達
→ monmo:原來小不點是爵士版的三叔!? 那小胖就是星爺囉!?
推 KarlMalone:孟達是沙小?
推 monmo:輩分 他應該是你的流蕩在海外未曾謀面的徒孫XD
推 SULICon:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PECoNL1iWH8 孟達!!!!
→ SULICon:馬龍曾到中國開班授課?
→ CarlosBoozer:刑法都出來了..那ejection是不是違憲？
推 Stockton:孟達和孟獲有什麼關係＠＠？？
→ yellowboy: 咦???
→ SULICon:都是中國西南方人
→ Kiri1enko:我是爵士人
推 Stockton:孟達好像是到處歸降的叛將＠＠？？
→ muxiv: 這篇大好物耶...某位 https://muxiv.com