Bowen officially doesn't make it

[Supergirl]

I'm calling it - USA doesn't win it all without Bowen.

He's the only one who will be able to stop Manu or Dirk and players like them.

[Kings241]

Why the do you guys want Miller cut. He fits perfectly for the soft international game. Did you see how many three pointers he's made so far. Plus he's been passing well off the fast break and half court. USA needs more team players like that.

[Obstructed_View]

Why the do you guys want Miller cut. He fits perfectly for the soft international game. Did you see how many three pointers he's made so far. Plus he's been passing well off the fast break and half court. USA needs more team players like that.

Miller on a fast break.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

For the 2012 olympics:

C Howard/Bosh/Oden
PF Brand/Okafor/Noah
SF Lebron/Carmelo/Durant
SG Wade/Bryant/Joe Johnson
PG Paul/Hinrich/Mayo
Already thinking ahead........

I don't know why I posted this.

[Kings241]

Miller on a fast break.

Hahah I'm glad you found it funny but go ahead and check the video against China. Just look a little bit past the half.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=p_zaSCmRQJ4

[stretch]

Carmelo Anthony
Carlos Boozer
Tim Duncan
Allen Iverson
LeBron James
Richard Jefferson
Stephon Marbury
Shawn Marion
Lamar Odom
Emeka Okafor
Amare Stoudemire
Dwyane Wade

- - - - -

Carmelo Anthony
Shane Battier
Chris Bosh
Elton Brand
Kirk Hinrich
Dwight Howard
LeBron James
Antawn Jamison
Joe Johnson
Brad Miller
Chris Paul
Dwyane Wade

-----------------------------

Okay, so we still have Bron, Melo, and Wade, though they will obviously be much more of the focal point under Coach K.

Instead of RJ/Marion/Odom....we have Battier/Jamison/JJ. Not much of an upgrade. Battier is the only one in that group that plays defense with a passion, so I'll give that to you. If Jamison knows how to defend, it sure as isn't helping the Wizards much.

Instead of Tim Duncan/Amare Stoudemire/Carlos Boozer, we have Brad Miller/Chris Bosh/Elton Brand. Even though both Bosh and Brand are manchilds, this is definitely a downgrade if you ask me. (Duncan/Amare before his surgery > Bosh/Brand any day of the week, even the ones that don't end in Y)

And then instead of Marbury/Iverson playin ballhog, we'll have Chris Paul and Kirk Hinrich distributing. This is probably the only real improvement the US team has made. Should hopefully keep the team involved and encourage team play, but like I said, when you have 6 guys who all want to charge the post and drop a lob, it's hard to play like a team and use the whole court.

Yeah, they're all decent shooters, defenders, and team players. But, for the most part, they were in years past too. And it's gotten painfully obvious that them just showing up on the court isn't going to get this country a gold.

Battier, Jamison, and Johnson are all FAR better shooters than Jefferson, Odom, and Marion. Jefferson, Odom, and Marion all need the ball to be effective. Battier, Jamison, and Johnson dont. Battier has great defense and hits thress. Jamison is a solid rebounder and gets a lot of points on putbacks and open jumpers. Johnson is one of the most well rounded players on the roster. he can shoot, drive, dish, defend, whatever you need. but the key is that none of these players need the ball or have to have plays run for them to be effective. they find ways to be effective.

I agree that duncan, amare, and boozer is a better trio of interior players, but they are also very different. Duncan fouled out in every game because he cant get away with his dirty tricks in FIBA like he can in the NBA, so he was rather ineffective. Bosh and Brand are both very strong defenders, and are very versatile scorers. they can shoot mid-range shots, or post up. Miller is also a solid center, and can hit threes, and is one of the best passing centers in the game. and again, they dont need the ball or plays run for them to be effective, like Amare and Boozer does. Duncan is the only one of those three that can be effective no matter what he does. oh, and you forgot about Dwight Howard. hes another very good interior player and defender, and doesnt have to have the ball to help.

Lebron, Carmello, and Wade definitley are going to be the focal point, instead of Marbury and Iverson. I'd say thats a MAJOR upgrade. unselfish players that can score from anywhere on the court, play defense, and pass the ball well. we have our main interior players, in Bosh and Brand, who both can score and dominate the boards without getting into much foul trouble. then we got plenty of role players, in Hinrich, Chris Paul, Brad Miller, Dwight Howard, Antawn Jamison, Shane Battier, Joe Johnson.

i think after this discussion with you, i have learned that you CLEARLY lack basketball knowledge, and have no clue what the you are talking about. anyone that knows a damn thing about basketball knows that this is a VERY well balanced team without any selfish players. and although its exhibitions, they DOMINATED every game so far except for one, and in that one, they showed their resiliency by making the big plays in the end, when they needed them, despite having a poor game, which all teams will have from time to time. if i recall, in Athens, they lost several of the exhibition games, and didnt really dominate much. this is a much different team. its a shame that you cant see that, and are such a misguided homer that you think simply having bruce bowen on the team would solve all the US's problems. if he was on the team, i doubt you would be ing about the "lack of balance" or whatever it is you are whining like a little about. i wonder if you even know the what you are complaining about.

[stretch]

Why the do you guys want Miller cut. He fits perfectly for the soft international game. Did you see how many three pointers he's made so far. Plus he's been passing well off the fast break and half court. USA needs more team players like that.

agreed. i really like that they put miller on this team. he fits perfectly into what this team needs.

[Kings241]

I can't believe some of you guys are turning your back against USA just because Bowen got cut. You should be ashamed for that...

GO team USA!!!!

[stretch]

I can't believe some of you guys are turning your back against USA just because Bowen got cut. You should be ashamed for that...

GO team USA!!!!

again, agreed. i cant believe some of the bags on this forum, hoping that this team would lose just because they didnt put bowen on the roster. thats the stupidest ive ever heard. so if the spurs cut Bruce Bowen because they had better players, would they start to boycott the spurs as well? it makes no ing sense.

[Obstructed_View]

Hahah I'm glad you found it funny but go ahead and check the video against China. Just look a little bit past the half.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=p_zaSCmRQJ4

Okay, he went on a fast break, in definition only, against Korea too. He's still soft as tissue paper and can't play defense.

[SequSpur]

I'm calling it - USA doesn't win it all without Bowen.

He's the only one who will be able to stop Manu or Dirk and players like them.

What is cosmopolitan.com shutdown today?

[Dex]

Battier, Jamison, and Johnson are all FAR better shooters than Jefferson, Odom, and Marion. Jefferson, Odom, and Marion all need the ball to be effective. Battier, Jamison, and Johnson dont. Battier has great defense and hits thress. Jamison is a solid rebounder and gets a lot of points on putbacks and open jumpers. Johnson is one of the most well rounded players on the roster. he can shoot, drive, dish, defend, whatever you need. but the key is that none of these players need the ball or have to have plays run for them to be effective. they find ways to be effective.

I agree that duncan, amare, and boozer is a better trio of interior players, but they are also very different. Duncan fouled out in every game because he cant get away with his dirty tricks in FIBA like he can in the NBA, so he was rather ineffective. Bosh and Brand are both very strong defenders, and are very versatile scorers. they can shoot mid-range shots, or post up. Miller is also a solid center, and can hit threes, and is one of the best passing centers in the game. and again, they dont need the ball or plays run for them to be effective, like Amare and Boozer does. Duncan is the only one of those three that can be effective no matter what he does. oh, and you forgot about Dwight Howard. hes another very good interior player and defender, and doesnt have to have the ball to help.

Lebron, Carmello, and Wade definitley are going to be the focal point, instead of Marbury and Iverson. I'd say thats a MAJOR upgrade. unselfish players that can score from anywhere on the court, play defense, and pass the ball well. we have our main interior players, in Bosh and Brand, who both can score and dominate the boards without getting into much foul trouble. then we got plenty of role players, in Hinrich, Chris Paul, Brad Miller, Dwight Howard, Antawn Jamison, Shane Battier, Joe Johnson.

i think after this discussion with you, i have learned that you CLEARLY lack basketball knowledge, and have no clue what the you are talking about. anyone that knows a damn thing about basketball knows that this is a VERY well balanced team without any selfish players. and although its exhibitions, they DOMINATED every game so far except for one, and in that one, they showed their resiliency by making the big plays in the end, when they needed them, despite having a poor game, which all teams will have from time to time. if i recall, in Athens, they lost several of the exhibition games, and didnt really dominate much. this is a much different team. its a shame that you cant see that, and are such a misguided homer that you think simply having bruce bowen on the team would solve all the US's problems. if he was on the team, i doubt you would be ing about the "lack of balance" or whatever it is you are whining like a little about. i wonder if you even know the what you are complaining about.

Learn to debate without calling someone a little , and maybe I'll give two s about your response.

Oh, and next time, read my posts before responding. I didn't say anywhere that Bowen was going to fix all of Team USA's problems. I just said that them cutting Bowen symbolizes the fact that they've forgotten what they were looking for in the first place.

[Kings241]

Okay, he went on a fast break, in definition only, against Korea too. He's still soft as tissue paper and can't play defense.

Hey he must be good at something if Coach K keeps him on the team and cuts Bruce Bowen.

Oh and that wasn't Korea. It was China.

[monosylab1k]

There is still no predication on defense (which is obvious, since you could only name 2 out of the 12 who have any sort of defensive credentials).

i think there's plenty of emphasis on defense. just because not every player has all-world defensive accolades doesn't mean that they can't play great team defense. it appears that coach K has infused a defensive mentality with these guys. if guys like lebron and carmelo want to be good defenders, there's no doubt in my mind that they could do it, they're talented enough. and they appear to have the motivation to do it.

team play (5 Lebron/Wade wannabes don't make for good team play, even if you DO have Chris Paul on the ing floor),

i don't see a team full of lebron/wade wannabes in the least bit. besides lebron/wade/carmelo...it looks like a group of guys that are able to be role players (joe johnson was a role player in phoenix, jamison was in dallas, hinrich is one, battier is one, miller is one, etc.)

and jump shooting (once again, you said yourself that we've only had one or two people able to knock down the jay consistently).

and how exactly does Bruce Bowen help out with that? i've never known bowen to be a good shooter at all. sure, he can hit a wide open three, but so can 8 other guys on the team.

To me, Bruce getting cut just symbolizes the fact that they've thrown all these 'prerequisites' out the window, if you get rid of the ONE guy that was still there for team morale, defense, and a solid shot).

aside from the solid shot remark, i agree. i wanted him on the team for his intelligence and locker room leadership. plus he was the best defender they had.

i agree that bowen should still be on the team, and i'm disappointed that he's not. but i guess it just irritates the out of me that Spurs homers all of a sudden have turned on Team USA and wish failure on them just cuz Bowen's cut, either that or they insist that the team is totally ed without him, and that simply isn't the case.

[stretch]

Learn to debate without calling someone a little , and maybe I'll give two s about your response.

Oh, and next time, read my posts before responding. I didn't say anywhere that Bowen was going to fix all of Team USA's problems. I just said that them cutting Bowen symbolizes the fact that they've forgotten what they were looking for in the first place.

and what was it that they were looking for? unselfish players? players that can pass, shoot, and defend? role players? looking at the roster, they have all of that. if you had read my earlier post you would have seen that. i think you are taking this whole bowen thing a bit too hard.

oh, i mean you are taking this whole bowen thing a bit too hard, little . perhaps you should learn to debate without being a total ing homer, little . perhaps you should realize that just because they cut a spur player, doesnt symbolize a damn thing, other than the fact that he was the weakest player, little .

[polandprzem]

I told you so

[SequSpur]

little ?

[polandprzem]

little ?

Not so little dwarfman

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I'll never root against Team USA.

I'm just saying Bowen was supposed to be the poster child for the new and improved Team USA that was built on something other than just jersey sales.

Colangelo and Coach K held Bowen up as proof that they were changing things, and then when push came to shove they proved they haven't learned a damn thing, despite all the talk.

[stretch]

I'll never root against Team USA.

I'm just saying Bowen was supposed to be the poster child for the new and improved Team USA that was built on something other than just jersey sales.

Colangelo and Coach K held Bowen up as proof that they were changing things, and then when push came to shove they proved they haven't learned a damn thing, despite all the talk.

well, obviously Bowen wasnt good enough. and you guys keep saying you are upset with the team not having role players, but if you look at it, most of the team consists of role players (Battier, Johnson, Miller, Hinrich, Paul, Jamison), then some players that can play either as a star or as a role player (Bosh, Brand, Howard), and a few very unselfish stars (Lebron, Wade, Carmello). but once again, the thing to remember is that NONE of these players HAVE to have the ball or have plays run for them to be effective and productive. all of them can find other ways to contribute, such as rebounds, defense, and passing.

you all need to quit whining about bowen not making the cut, and trying to make ty excuses for being upset. however, at least you are respectable aggie. you arent going to root against the US like some of these faces.

[Obstructed_View]

Hey he must be good at something if Coach K keeps him on the team and cuts Bruce Bowen.

Whatever gives you validation for your charmin soft center.

Oh and that wasn't Korea. It was China.

I don't know what you are talking about, because I didn't see the China game, I saw the Korea game, and since I saw the world's slowest fast break by Miller, I know it must have been the Korea game.

[BIG IRISH]

This is very simple: If Shane Battier didn't play for Coach K at Duke, there is no way he would have made this USA team.

[rascal]

I really don't care if the US wins or loses and won't waste my time watching any of the games. I'm more interested in my fantasy sports leagues now.

[Obstructed_View]

This is very simple: If Shane Battier didn't play for Coach K at Duke, there is no way he would have made this USA team.

The man got Christian Laettner onto the Dream Team, guys. There was no way Battier wasn't making this team.

[milkyway21]

GAMES BETWEEN ARGENTINA'S MANU MINUS USA's BRUCE BOWEN

SPOILER!!!