Dime Mag admits Bowen oversight

[Clutch20]

(This one on Team USA's loss last night to Greece from DimeMag...............)

So what now?

It was pretty evident that we were hurting for shooters. Michael Redd and J.J. Redick would have both been a huge help this morning. Also, there was no one to step forward and really lead. 'Melo did scoring-wise, but we didn't see anyone really step up.

And we can't believe we're saying this, but Bruce Bowen's D would have helped.

Read the rest here: http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/DimeMagazine

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Not to mention the fact that when Lebron said what he did in that timeout when they were up double figures, Bowen would have smacked him and every other player on that team and remind them they hadn't won a damn thing yet.

[Fabbs]

What did MeBron do during the timeout?

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

I don't know but if it deserves a bitch slap it's somethin' good. :lol

[milkyway21]

i can see Bowen feeling so sad for not given the chance helping his team USA buddies right now. They've been together for camp practice for awhile he had a connections with those guys...I'm sure he's sad and wish he was there to help them out.

i was asking myself WHY Coach K benched Dwight Howard at the last minutes of the game? He could have knocked out and blocked those lay-ups.

[boutons_]

Bruce could have helped but he wouldn't have changed the outcome vs Greece.

The Greeks were shooting too damn hot, all of them, and Bruce would have guarded only one of them, and not played all 48 minutes.

Single-elimination sucks. Would the Greeks have won 3 of 5 vs USA?

FIBA needs go to playoff series, gets them more TV revenue.

[ChumpDumper]

Bruce could certainly fight through/work around picks better than anyone else out there, but he wouldn't have kept the other guys from choking so badly at the line.

[Guru of Nothing]

This may be totally out of context, BUT ...

The United States will once again rise to international basketball prominence after Gregg Popovich retires, which will coincide with TD's retirement.

It is then Pop will coach the Americans.

The story practically writes itself, so why should I?

[ChumpDumper]

Pop will coach the Serbians.

[milkyway21]

they lost just a few pts. if that clutch 3pt shot by Anthony to make it just a 1pt game, they could have won the game.

they also lost bec of the 3pt shot(50%) by Greece and a bad perimeter defense. I actually shot my eyes everytime i see another opponent positioning again beyond the arc bec i knew he's gonna make it again.

how sad this is for me to see the U.S. lost. I just wish they put their best effort against Argentina(they lost to Spain right?), to avenge themselves. Argentina is maybe the best team if not one of the best teams in the tournament, they're the Olympic Gold Medalist and beating them is kind of huge to me.

[BUMP]

Bruce could certainly fight through/work around picks better than anyone else out there, but he wouldn't have kept the other guys from choking so badly at the line.

im not sure what to say. the US team is a mess. you might be right. Bowen is a nonselfish guy who plays teamball well. now i think Bowen shouldve made it. here is a list of 12 guys that i would want to see everytime when we play internationally.

1 chauncey billups
2 kobe (the team needs a captain)
3 bruce
4 Brad Miller
5 Duncan
6 bibby
7 lebron
8 J johnson
9 ben wallace
10 chris wilcox
11 battier
12 jamison

[rr2418]

Well, I might be wrong, but that's what happens when you have too many "human highlight players" on the team. LaBron, Duane, Anthony on the same team? On paper this would be great, but did they really play well together? Was the team really playing as a whole? Apparently not!!!!! I thought that USA Basketball was trying to get away from this "superstar" concept. Team USA still thinks that the rest of the world will roll up and die when James or Wade dunks 20 times a game. No lesson was learned in the Olympics! What a waste!!!

[Kori Ellis]

im not sure what to say. the US team is a mess. you might be right. Bowen is a nonselfish guy who plays teamball well. now i think Bowen shouldve made it. here is a list of 12 guys that i would want to see everytime when we play internationally.

1 chauncey billups
2 kobe (the team needs a captain)
3 bruce
4 Brad Miller
5 Duncan
6 bibby
7 lebron
8 J johnson
9 ben wallace
10 chris wilcox
11 battier
12 jamison

Why Chris Wilcox? He can just run and dunk.

[Kori Ellis]

Well, I might be wrong, but that's what happens when you have too many "human highlight players" on the team. LaBron, Duane, Anthony on the same team? On paper this would be great, but did they really play well together? Was the team really playing as a whole? Apparently not!!!!! I thought that USA Basketball was trying to get away from this "superstar" concept. Team USA still thinks that the rest of the world will roll up and die when James or Wade dunks 20 times a game. No lesson was learned in the Olympics! What a waste!!!

I disagree totally. LeBron, Wade, and Carmelo played well together. They played unselfishly (for the most part). LeBron concentrated on rebounding and passed really well, while the other two were more the go to guys. Wade had a horrible outing against Germany and sometimes got caught up shooting from outside, but he played well. Carmelo did all he physically could.

Those 3 aren't the problem, but the team still wasn't built (or coached) right. They need to have those three, DHoward, CBosh, Kobe, Chauncey, Redd and the rest role players, including a couple 3pt specialists and defenders.

And they need to be coached by someone who, when times get tough, doesn't just start substituting like crazy and acting like he has no game plan.

[ALVAREZ6]

Team USA just needs a bunch of shooters. If you've watched any FIBA this summer, you probably realized how often a 3-pointer is taken. International ball is completely differet than NBA, it's all based on perimeter shooting. I'd put Ray Allen on the team and a bunch of other 3-point shooters.

[ChumpDumper]

It's not that big of a mess. Bowen could've helped with his P&R defense and veteran big-game poise, but I'm not sure it would've gotten them past both Greece and a healthy Spain. I would've given Bruce the spot to be the designated defensive fireman since he can do a passable job guarding positions 1-4.

Brad Miller was a horrible choice since he only really played against Senegal. Senegal! A lazy and uninspired selection considering the way they wanted to build this team.

I do think that Amare, Kobe, Redd and Marion would've probably put this team over the top had they been available. The guys there in their stead just weren't great fits with the guys who turned out to be the main players.

[milkyway21]

I disagree totally. LeBron, Wade, and Carmelo played well together. They played unselfishly (for the most part). LeBron concentrated on rebounding and passed really well, while the other two were more the go to guys. i was thinking the same thing. And i never imagined those guys to be so unselfish esp. LeBron who concentrated more on defense, didn't care if Wade or Melo shoots more than he did, and had such great job on Dirk when Battier was struggled on chasing.

they lost but i say :tu to the captains for being so unselfish.

[ca®lo]

“I’m going to be the silent assassin this year. I can’t wait to play the Suns and Portland. Against Portland, (Team USA assistant) Nate McMillan, I’m going to try to score 100 in two games and against (Team USA assistant Mike) D’Antoni, I’m going to score 100 in two games.”

kinda childish and cocky. i know hes hurtin and all but hes a pro and he should act like one.

[judaspriestess]

(This one on Team USA's loss last night to Greece from DimeMag...............)

So what now?

It was pretty evident that we were hurting for shooters. Michael Redd and J.J. Redick would have both been a huge help this morning. Also, there was no one to step forward and really lead. 'Melo did scoring-wise, but we didn't see anyone really step up.

And we can't believe we're saying this, but Bruce Bowen's D would have helped.

Read the rest here: http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/DimeMagazine

can someone enlighten me on dime's disbelief?

[dbestpro]

From here on out they should just combo the two conference champions. Imagine when the Pistons and Spurs played.
C Wallace, Ben
PF Duncan
SF Bowen
SG Hamilton
PG Billups

or this years best combo
C O Neal
PF Haslem
SF Possey
SG Wade
PG Williams
hmmmm, I guess it would be just a Heat rep.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

If you try to combine teams, that still doesn't mean the team will mesh.

They need to send the team that just won the world title (ie, the Heat this year). Give them a break on their early season schedule or something to accomodate it.

[milkyway21]

this article from CNNsi.com...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/marty_burns/09/01/usa.loss.reax/1.html


...The good news for Team USA is that there is still time to develop that cohesion before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Unlike past American teams, this U.S. squad was put together with long-term goals in mind. All the players have given three-year commitments, meaning they should be able to work out the kinks.

Of course, the U.S. now has to qualify for the 2008 Olympic field by participating in next summer's FIBA Americas tournament in Venezuela. The U.S. should have no trouble against that relatively weak competition, but it will require another summer of work for the team and staff. It will be very interesting to see if James, Wade, Anthony and the other bigger-name members of Team USA actually take part in those games as well.

With a true commitment from its star players, the U.S. can regain its throne atop the international hoops world in '08. But Friday's loss makes it all too clear that the Americans are going to have to put in the work next summer. If not, it will be déjà vu all over again in Beijing.

..whoa they have to play to qualify again? hope Kobe will play with them.

[ChumpDumper]

If you try to combine teams, that still doesn't mean the team will mesh.

They need to send the team that just won the world title (ie, the Heat this year). Give them a break on their early season schedule or something to accomodate it.So if it was the Spurs we'd field a nine man team?

[milkyway21]

So if it was the Spurs we'd field a nine man team?:lmao

or play small ball against Baby ShaQ's Greece? :lol

[ChumpDumper]

Well, that's what Coach K did, so that wouldn't be much different.

[dirk4mvp]

C O Neal
PF Haslem
SF Howard
SG Wade
PG JET


I made the corrections in bold.

[TheSanityAnnex]

Artest would have brought the USA gold.

[Cherry]

Artest would have brought the USA gold.

Think again.
Artest would have been fouled out in the 2nd cuarter with FIBA rules :lol


...Bruce would play some defense :depressed

[TheSanityAnnex]

Think again.
Artest would have been fouled out in the 2nd cuarter with FIBA rules :lol


...Bruce would play some defense :depressedWhat is the basis of your claim?

Does Artest play dirty?

Unlike the one dimensional Bowen, Artest could have really helped this team.

[Kings241]

Artest > Bowen in almost every category. The only thing Bowen might be slightly better at is perimeter defense.

Artest has above avg perimeter defense and can also play post defense unlike Bowen who showed this weakness against Bonzi in the playoffs.

[ChumpDumper]

You guys forget one thing.

Artest is insane.

WTF would Bowen have to play post defense in the WCF anyway?

Kingfan has blinders on.

[Kings241]

where the fuck did I say Bowen has to play post defense? I just threw that in when comparing Artest and bowen. You can't argue that Artest > Bowen overall can you?

[Kings241]

You guys forget one thing.

Artest is insane.

So What? That doesn't have anything to do with his talent level. Point is he's a defender/team player/leader

[ChumpDumper]

Point is he was the epicenter of the biggest PR debacle in NBA history. USA Basketball would pick Richard Melzer before Artest. Hell, they would pick Richard Belzer before Artest.

[my2sons]

wow, maybe an artest bowen combo, since one of the complaints is that bowen can't cover everyone. Two lockdown defenders would have been nice, the only problem is that you can trust bowen, can you trust artest

[cheguevara]

Team USA just needs a bunch of shooters. If you've watched any FIBA this summer, you probably realized how often a 3-pointer is taken. International ball is completely differet than NBA, it's all based on perimeter shooting. I'd put Ray Allen on the team and a bunch of other 3-point shooters.

So a team like Argentina or Spain can pick u apart?


THe US needs a well-balanced team. But most of all they need a team that plays as a team.