Watching Jokic play the US team with a few peripheral NBA guys and a handful of dudes that were working at the Serbian equivalent of Target 2 weeks ago is mind boggling.
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Watching Jokic play the US team with a few peripheral NBA guys and a handful of dudes that were working at the Serbian equivalent of Target 2 weeks ago is mind boggling.
I'm also worried about the nugs. Murray looked bad in the olympics and they have had back-to-back bad offseasons, losing Bruce Brown and KCP both key players in their championship run.
Less concerned about paying Aaron Gordan and MPJ as the salary cap is going to increase soon
Remember when Jokic got picked last in the All Star game?Quote:
Originally Posted by EWG
So does Jokic.
Holy crap he's got this Serbian team ready to play.
And I agree - the Nuggets brass have got to be watching this, and the Canada games, and wondering if Murray is actually a good player or if they should pay more attention to the fact that somehow, Jokic has 7 assists at halftime and Serbia is shooting over 50% from both the field and the arc against the fucking United States. Good god.
Aaron Gordon never shot over 47% from the field in Orlando, and usually more like 44%. In Denver he's never been below 50% and is averaging around 54%. KCP has only been over 43% 3 times in 11 years. 2 were the last two years with the Nuggets. He only shot over 40% from the arc 3 times - 2 of them with Denver. Hmmmm...
i take back what i said about embiid
him and curry keepin the usa alive against serbia
Giannis and Greece is even more lopsided. The worst 3pt% team in the Olympics and perhaps the worst supporting cast. Just give the ball to Giannis and watch him get pummeled isn't much of a game plan. They had a good run tho before falling to Germany.Quote:
Originally Posted by EWG
Yea, I always thought players would be lining up to play with Jokic. Play a few years in Denver, boost your stats, sign a bigger contract because Jokic made you look so good. Just like KCP and Bruce Brown did.Quote:
Originally Posted by EWG
I also think the Serbian coach deserves some credit, Karl Pesic has a solid resume.
Bogdanovic playing for Serbia is very good too. They have a good team. Today's game was probably the real, albeit unofficial, gold-and-silver medal game.
Agree from Dubs’ POV, too. Seemed like Danny was asking for too many picks. Dubs are not going to be good. They’ll need the picks.Quote:
Originally Posted by brutah
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They’ll be better than last year. Probably a first round exit.Quote:
Originally Posted by 54-46
With decent health, I think they’ll be better also, but it may not show up in standings.Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeJ
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I don't consider Bogdanovic "peripheral".Quote:
Originally Posted by EWG
He’s not even the better bogdanovic
Can we talk about France having to pull Rudy Gobert? Lol… Minnesota fans are like, fuck. Haha.
Was there any players on Serbia without a Vic ending in their name? Aside from Jokic.
That was a fantastic game to watch. Kerr can eat a bag of dicks for benching Tatum the entire game, especially with a lot of people struggling to find any flow and being down by 15. I hope Tatum absolutely destroys GS next year
Attachment 497821 Tatum had a great seat!
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The Tatum thing is interesting. Even a huge Boston homer like Bill Simmons said he agreed with Kerr’s decision. Tatum is a jack of all trades, master of none. That makes him one of the very best players on the planet, but when it comes to matchups and the other guys on the roster he just doesn’t quite fit. His shot has also been way off. So you’re going to pull LeBron KD or Curry to give him those minutes? Nope.
Considering they barely squeaked by fucking Serbia, with its 2 nba players (one of the peripheral :) ) maybe Kerr and his matchups…kind of sucks? The players clearly don’t suck.
Also nobody gives a fuck what bill simmons says. He’s never played or coached basketball at any level above 7th grade. He also said the warriors were done so I guess it’s back to 40 years of anonymity. Sorry.
Attachment 497842Attachment 497843
Players stoked
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Maybe go outside for a walk or something?Quote:
Originally Posted by Brock Landers
Kerr knows what he’s doing. Accept it and move on you dumbasses.
Dammit! Screwing over Celtic Jrue Holiday and starting KD in the Gold Medal game instead.
Kerr doesn’t care about winning and has a personal agenda against the Celtics.
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To be fair, what has KD done besides being one of the best team USA players ever?
Now THAT is a hot [and steamy] take!Quote:
Originally Posted by 54-46
This might just be the fanboy in me talking here but I like the way the off season has played out for the Celts. JT and JB got their ring and they’’ll still feel like they’ve got something to prove next season after this Olympics drama.
JB proceeded to kind of talk shit about his teammate getting the spot. So… there’s that angle too.
Damn, Curry was out of his mind at the end of that game. Glad that non Warriors fans got to experience a taste of how fun he is to watch when on your team.
Prediction: Wembanyama will finish top 5 in MVP voting this year.
This is why #33 is still the most common jersey at Celtics games. I maintain that Bird and Curry are the best comps for each other despite the glaring differences. Creativity, feel, unparalleled shooting ability, and huge fucking balls.Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeJ
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My favorite player didn't play today. And I'm good with that.
Yeah, but I didn't expect Larry Legend to suit up.Quote:
Originally Posted by riser4
Curry at the end of that game was insane. Yelling at Carmelo Anthony and that row that I think had his wife and Kobe‘s family and Draymond, etc. Yelling: “You don’t need to worry about me!”
Crazy.
LOL. You know darn well who I'm talking about.Quote:
Originally Posted by Danno
Nice to see Curry bail out Kerr again! He’s an all timer. Congrats on the gold!
Yea, I came into the Olympics liking JB and Tatum and left with a bad taste in my mouth about those players. The Tatum camp bitchin' about his playing time was cringy especially because he played like shit. He was passing up wide open looks and didn't shoot the ball well, made zero 3s. If you take away the Brazil and South Sudan games, he shot 25%, mostly making layups and dunks.Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeJ
At least Derrick White and Jrue looked awesome and understood the assignment..... But I don't think the Celtics are a lock to repeat.
Bail out Kerr for not playing Tatum more? Tatum was 0-16 from the field on jump shots. I don’t know, maybe play better? Just a thought.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest that relying on 3 of the top ~15 players of all time was smart.
D White is still my favorite NBA player. He's not a superstar. He's definitely not a GOAT. He's just plain D White and I like that. He shoulda duck boated on the Seine.Quote:
Originally Posted by brutah
I'm not criticizing Kerr's team selection, I thought it made sense, but Tatum wasn't 0-16 from the field. He was 8/17. I've seen the 0/16 number bandied about, but I think that was for jumpers including the warmups (though I can't find jumper stats broken out, so I can't confirm it's true).Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeJ
Still, I agree that there wasn't really any minutes that made a lot of sense to give to him given the other guys on the team in the games he barely played. LeBron was clearly the engine of the team and runs an offense in a way that Tatum simply isn't going to. KD is a better scorer. The problem for him - in my mind - was that the US's rivals weren't really full of big athletic wings. If they were, he makes sense as a defensive assignment, but for teams like Serbia (where he got his DNPs), they need to play big in the frontcourt and if he isn't making jumpers, it doesn't make sense to play him over one of the guards in a jumbo lineup.
I get that Tatum is behind Lebron and Durant and playing more or less the same position. But the guy is tall, strong, a plus defender, great facilitator. He can play big or small. I don't necessarily think he should have been getting big minutes, I understand that playing 5 guys out there isn't about playing the best 5, it's about playing the 5 that makes the most sense, which is why White and Holliday got more minutes than some bigger stars, because they're more used to just fitting in a doing the little things. But when you have a team full of all-nba players, all stars, the very best of the best, *everyone* should get in the game. To not play a guy at all with this kind of team is just disrespectful IMO and -- this is the part that nobody talks about -- may hurt your future recruiting efforts. Do you think Tatum or some other all star is going to want to commit to Team USA if they think they're sitting on the bench for an entire elimination game?
I just think when you have a team of superstars, even if you think a certain lineup incrementally improves your chances of winning, you surely don't know that because we're talking about superstars. So you put aside that incremental belief you have and get everyone some minutes, out of respect for what these guys are sacrificing to be there. It is, IMO, disrespectful to Tatum, regardless of whether Steve Kerr thinks his second unit is a little better as currently constructed. I mean, the guy was the 2nd leading scorer on the last Olympic team, 3 time 1st team All NBA, and current NBA champ.
And Tatum never said a word, so disliking a guy because his family was upset or whatever, that seems lame. And Brown certainly had a legit beef in not getting picked, though I understand why they picked D White.
No…For not coming in 4th like he did last year (with a team full of NBAers including all stars). Nice matchups.Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeJ
If you need 3 of the top 15 players ever to squeeze past Serbia and France…you’re not doing anything as a coach.
Absolutely.Quote:
Originally Posted by Danno
I think their best 5 was lebron,curry, KD,tatum, adebayo (maybe Davis). Fuck matchups, let Serbia match up. (I don’t think Bam is better than embiid, I think embiid doesn’t fit on that floor with the other 4 as well as Bam or AD)
You're objectively wrong. Tatum was experiencing a shooting slump during the Olympics. He only shot 38% from the field and 0% 3PTs. Even the very best players go through shooting slumps. It happens. Booker was shooting better and also playing excellent defense. That doesn't mean Booker is better than Tatum, only that Booker was much better than Tatum during the 2024 Paris Olympics.