Running FIBA World Championships thread

I know football season is almost upon us and the US isn't at full strength, but is anyone paying attention to this?

The US leads Croatia 48-26 at halftime, having held the Croats to six points in the second quarter.

 

Beat me by like 15 minutes to start this one. US has looked great behind Durant and Rose since a slow start.

 

It's getting big play out here despite the peculiar start time.

 

US 106-78 Croatia

Some questions about the US's level of comfort in a zone and Kevin Love's one-on-one defense, but otherwise a nice, low-key opener.

 

Although this is being touted as the "B team," I wouldn't be surprised if 4-6 of these guys are on the team in London.

You never know who is gonna be injured, have a major career slump, legal trouble, not feel like playing, etc etc. so I suspect there will be more turnover from 2008 than most believe.

Plus, if Krzyzewski is smart, he will include a few of these guys on the roster so he can have a "shock platoon" -- a younger, faster, more aggressive unit he can send in for 6-8 minutes of high-pressure full-court blitzkrieg to bust open a game (although really he should be playing that way nonstop from buzzer to buzzer, but most of the starters are used to walk-it-up sludgeball).

 

I think Rose and Durant are Olympic starters.

 

If Kobe, LeBron, Carmelo and Wade (not to mention Howard and C. Paul) are all on the roster and healthy, it will be tough to crack the starting lineup. But Kobe will be 34 a week or so after the end of the Games; I think he sits it out.

 

True, but Wade didn't even start in Beijing, right? I'd start Durant over 'Melo and the team needs someone to run the point.

 

Wade didn't start in Beijing, but I think he was hampered by the shoulder injury.

 

US looking quite bad.

 

As usual, no defense and 1-on-1 offense. As history has shown, that's not a blueprint for success in international play.