Kawhi & LMA Team USA Updates

[jon123spurs]

Y'all see this garbage?


Sam Smith (@SamSmithHoops) tweeted at 8:58 PM on Fri, Aug 14, 2015:
USA Basketball media operation always first class. Exception Thursday was Kawhi Leonard, both miserable and insulting. The new 'sheed?
(https://twitter.com/SamSmithHoops/st...394422784?s=03)

[AFMadison]

Y'all see this garbage?


Sam Smith (@SamSmithHoops) tweeted at 8:58 PM on Fri, Aug 14, 2015:
USA Basketball media operation always first class. Exception Thursday was Kawhi Leonard, both miserable and insulting. The new 'sheed?
(https://twitter.com/SamSmithHoops/st...394422784?s=03)

Yea, it was okay if he ignored the media when he was rookie, but now he is a star! How dare him!
Let them whine all they want, "it's family business."

[daslicer]

LOL

Coach KGOAT saved USA basketball after gots like Larry Brown and George Karl let us down and embarrassed us in front of the world. You have to build a program now to compete with the rest of the world. Can't just fly guys in two weeks before the games start and roll a ball out. CROFL at acting like 2004 didn't have enough raw talent. Who did Argentina have besides Manu? Carlos Delfino and Ncioni?


I guess i'm the only one on here in a managerial position? No one who was would claim not talking to the media is the reason they lost, but rather another symptom of the lack of program that led to a loss.

Terrible poster like always but anyways Coach K didn't save US basketball the fact is the '04 team was garbage. Nobody on that team could hit open 3's. The strategy was to clog the paint and force team US to hit the open shots but nobody could hit open J's. None of the guys on the team were good jump shooters. Also the team was super young with Wade,Lebron,Melo. Those guys were not in the their primes yet and were not the players they would become later on. That faulty thinking is as stupid as Laker fans believing Parker and Ginobilli were all-star players back in '03. On top of that the team was filled with a lot of crap in having Odom,Okafor,Boozer,RJ,Iverson,Marbury .If you are going to diss '04 how about bringing up '06 when Coach K failed to beat a Greek team filled with garbage and ended up making a fat 300 pound slow non athletic black greek guy look like Shaq in that game.

Another thing you have to consider is the '03 team USA team that qualified for the Olympics was superior to the crappy '04 Squad. The '03 team easily beat Argentina in the Fiba tournament of the Americas.

The '03 Roster was
Ray Allen G 6-5 205 28 Seattle SuperSonics / Connecticut '96
Mike Bibby G 6-1 190 25 Sacramento Kings / Arizona '98
Elton Brand F 6-8 265 24 Los Angeles Clippers / Duke '99
Vince Carter G/F 6-6 225 26 Toronto Raptors / North Carolina '98
Nick Collison F/C 6-9 250 23 Seattle SuperSonics/Kansas '03
Tim Duncan C 6-11 248 27 San Antonio Spurs/ Wake Forest '97
Allen Iverson G 6-0 165 28 Philadelphia 76ers / Georgetown '96
Richard Jefferson F 6-7 222 23 New Jersey Nets / arizona '01
Jason Kidd G 6- 4 212 30 New Jersey Nets / California '94
Kenyon Martin F 6-9 234 25 New Jersey Nets / Cincinnati '00
Tracy McGrady G 6-8 210 24 Orlando magic / Mount zion Christian Academy '97
Jermaine O'Neal F/C 6-11 242 24 Indiana Pacers / Eau Claire H.S. '97

vs

'04 Roster
Carmelo Anthony F 6-8 229 20 Denver Nuggets (Syracuse) Denver, CO
Carlos Boozer F 6-9 258 22 Utah Jazz (Duke) Bratenahl, OH
Tim Duncan C 7-0 248 28 San antonio Spurs (Wake Forest) San Antonio, TX
Allen Iverson G 6-0 165 29 Philadelphia 76ers (Georgetown) Villanova, PA
LeBron James G 6-8 240 19 Cleveland Cavaliers (St. Vincent-St. Mary High School) Cleveland, OH
Richard Jefferson F 6-7 222 24 New Jersey Nets (Arizona) West New York, NJ
Stephon Marbury G 6-2 205 27 New York Knicks (Georgia Tech) Purchase, NY
Shawn Marion F 6-7 215 26 Phoenix Suns (UNLV) Paradise Valley, AZ
Lamar Odom F 6-10 225 24 Los Angeles Lakers (Rhode Island) Miami, FL
Emeka Okafor F 6-10 252 21 Charlotte Bobcats (Connecticut) Houston, TX
Amare Stoudemire F 6-10 245 21 Phoenix Suns (Cypress Creek High School) Phoenix, AZ
Dwyane Wade G 6-4 212 22 Miami Heat (Marquette) Miami, FL

If the '03 team played in the olympics the US easily wins gold. In conclusion Coach K lucked out with a better roster by '08 and that is the reason why US won the gold and not his great coaching. If your honest with yourself the '02, '04, and '06 rosters were not that good and that's why the world beat the US during those years.

[RayTdropout]

Fuke sam smith

[Ice009]

Solid, solid take Daslicer.

Some people are really stupid thinking that '04 team failed primarily because of coaching. The '03 team was much, much better, would have completely whipped the '04 team, but most of those guys pulled out for one reason or another. I recall hearing/reading that some of them were scared and didn't want to go just for that reason alone. Not sure how true that is/was.

[DenialTwist]

Sam Smith really had to compare Kawhi to Rasheed? really? and "Miserable and Insulting" Geez. Honestly, what was there to talk about after the exhibition game? Nothing.

Oh and legendary NBA reporter, Steve Aschburner said something about Kawhi as well.

Steve Aschburner ‏@AschNBA 11h11 hours ago
Steve Aschburner retweeted Sam Smith

Better off back when considered "boring" vs. now "blowing off" requests.

[spursistan]

What kind of of narcissistic got goes for a three-peat in international ball? Common courtesy should be to win a gold then let another great coach add that to their resume, instead this got Coach K wants a three-peat on his resume. Should be Pop at the reigns right now getting ready to hand them over to Carlisle/Thibs after '16.

This..someone needed to call out his egotistic ass..I'm not even yet sure he is good coach after all; he has been avoiding the NBA like the plague and ensconcing himself in a couple of niche gigs..Even it is not Pop and his toxic history with Colangelo , somebody in the caliber of Carlisle should have already taken over this ..

[manu2timdynasty]

smh seriously what is wrong with these s? since when are elite players scared of going hard at other elite players.

Look another moron talking ebonics, when are you fools gonna learn it doesn't work on the internet. Doesn't matter if your black or not, you sound like an ignorant clown. Lot of the sort here on ST. BTW, I don't really want my players “going hard" for a meaningless game in the middle of the offseason. Was Paul George's injury caused by defense? No, but that's the whole point injuries can happen at any time. Could they have played better defense? Of course, does your internet thug wannabe opinion matter? Of course not. GTFO.

[SuperCam]

lol you spursfan can keep about the US having no real talent or shooters but you will lose this argument every time someone brings up the "talent" that PR and Argentina had, which was nobody besides manu and Ncioni. It was an embarrassing failure!

[loveforthegame]

They're pissy because he bailed on a voluntary press thing? So did others but I don't see them getting called out for it.

Until he starts ditching his real duties then I'm not going to criticize him for stuff like this.

[SpursIndonesia]

lol you spursfan can keep about the US having no real talent or shooters but you will lose this argument every time someone brings up the "talent" that PR and Argentina had, which was nobody besides manu and Ncioni. It was an embarrassing failure!

u

You forget a stud named Scola back then, and that Argentina NT is bigger than the sum of its parts. Exactly where the inspiration for coach Pop in making the Spurs relevant again the last few years.

[Obstructed_View]

^^^ If all you care about is "superior basketball players" and not building a sustainable program, you end up with epic and embarrassing failures like the 2004 Bronze.

You mean a sustainable program like the Spurs team that Kawhi is a perfect fit for?

[Obstructed_View]

u

You forget a stud named Scola back then, and that Argentina NT is bigger than the sum of its parts. Exactly where the inspiration for coach Pop in making the Spurs relevant again the last few years.

Argentina had Manu, Scola, Oberto, Nocioni, Delfino, Hermann and Sanchez, all of whom played in the NBA IIRC. The point you make above is important, that it was more that those guys had played together for years, which is the model USAB ended up copying. After the rest of the world beat the college players, people thought you could just send NBA players to any event and they'd win in a walk, and I guess those people thought it would last forever. Once the shine of the dream team wore off, you had spoiled pro athletes backing out of their commitment, combined with resentment from the rest of the world, and you ended up with 2004.

[DPG21920]

Sam Smith really had to compare Kawhi to Rasheed? really? and "Miserable and Insulting" Geez. Honestly, what was there to talk about after the exhibition game? Nothing.

Oh and legendary NBA reporter, Steve Aschburner said something about Kawhi as well.

Steve Aschburner ‏@AschNBA 11h11 hours ago
Steve Aschburner retweeted Sam Smith

The Aschburn tweet is hilarious. So players get the blame no matter what . So when media was acively mocking Spurs, calling them boring and not wanting to give them the time of day even when winning, it's on the players and they can't whine about it now that the media is "willing" to interview them

What a bunch of egos these guys have. Really incredible. Especially if this was not a mandatory presser.

[SpursIndonesia]

Argentina had Manu, Scola, Oberto, Nocioni, Delfino, Hermann and Sanchez, all of whom played in the NBA IIRC. The point you make above is important, that it was more that those guys had played together for years, which is the model USAB ended up copying. After the rest of the world beat the college players, people thought you could just send NBA players to any event and they'd win in a walk, and I guess those people thought it would last forever. Once the shine of the dream team wore off, you had spoiled pro athletes backing out of their commitment, combined with resentment from the rest of the world, and you ended up with 2004.

Yeah, i remember those players you've mentioned, but Scola was just amazing in 2002's Indiana WC, at times he had made Jermaine O'Neal & Elton Brand his es down low. Right after we drafted him in summer 2002, the Scola thread's origin.

[DenialTwist]

Hoops Hype just released the Readers vote results for who people thought should make Team USA. Kawhi made the cut and received 82% of the readers vote. The top vote getter was Anthony Davis with 99% of the total votes.

http://hoopshype.com/2015/08/22/read...2016-olympics/

Here is the infographic for those who made the cut and those who didn't:

[Phenomanul]

So LaMarcus Aldridge doesn't meet the cut according to that poll... interesting.

[random21]

Hoops Hype just released the Readers vote results for who people thought should make Team USA. Kawhi made the cut and received 82% of the readers vote. The top vote getter was Anthony Davis with 99% of the total votes.

http://hoopshype.com/2015/08/22/read...2016-olympics/

Here is the infographic for those who made the cut and those who didn't:

Lebron "Best player on the planet" with the 5th place percentage.... Lol... got

[apalisoc_9]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Kawhi is a lock for the US team.

Aldridge has zero chance.

[Obstructed_View]

I hope neither of them make the team.

[buttsR4rebounding]

Hoops Hype just released the Readers vote results for who people thought should make Team USA. Kawhi made the cut and received 82% of the readers vote. The top vote getter was Anthony Davis with 99% of the total votes.

http://hoopshype.com/2015/08/22/read...2016-olympics/

Here is the infographic for those who made the cut and those who didn't:

Looks like fans don't give a crap about media self-tweeting butthurt about a player. This is the public peeing in the media pool.