NBA GURU

World Championships in Turkey

Just that good

Kevin Durant was spectacular in the US win over Turkey and simply could not be stopped. Turkey could not do anything against the Americans and Turkoglu was completly shut down. The Americans once again proved that they are still way ahead of the rest of the world.

Two questions interest me about this tournament. The first one is this B Team as they where originally called better than the redeem team that won gold in the olympics. No. Kevin Durant was this team. They looked at him in every game to take over. He was the offencive gameplan. The redeem team had an unlimited source of weapons. Jame, Bryant, Wade, Paul, Howard, Williams, Bosh just to name a few where part of team that could attack you from all angles. So this B team was in fact the B team with one player who deserves to be on the A team. Two years from now we will see Durant join the big boys in the London Olympics.

The second question is will the rest of the world ever catch up. The answer to that proven throught this tournament is again no. Skill wise the europeans can match the Americans any day. Everyone on the floor can shoot threes and they play highly structured basketball. But what they will never have is the stuff you can not teach. And that is the athletes found so abundantly in the US. You will never find a european Lebron James because it is simply not possible. Brazil and France produce the best athletes outside the US but with both these countries pushing their best athletes to soccer it is unlikely they develop a combination of both skill and athletic ability.

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And the Finals are Set  

Turkey will face the United States in what should be a moderatly exciting final. Turkoglu will start for Phoenix suns while Illysova and Erden will come off the bench for thier NBA clubs. So you think if I said this plus the fact that they are playing at home I would give them more of a chance. But no. The first quarter Turkey will feed off the crowd and get a two or three point lead. But as the second quarter goes on the speed of the US guards will become to hard for teams to handle. Either getting to the basket and getting the opposing bigs in foul trouble or have the opposing guards gasping for breath. The USA is simply to good and with Kevin Durant playing the way he is, thier is no team outside of Spain that could put a fight.

If this tournament where in any other country Serbia would have one that game. They where the better team throughout. But thier is no doubt that Turkey played a very smart game. Big shot after big shot kept  them in the game however none came from the players you would expect. To beat the USA they will need every one to step up but if Turkoglu and Illyasova do not come to play then they might as well get up on the second place podium. I can't see this game being interesting because the USA has proved that thier only weekness a lack of a true big man has not really affected them. The Turks have big men but none with great skill. Feeding off the crowd is thier only chance and a 35 point game from Turkoglu is a must. Illyasova has to get hot from behind the arc to keep them within striking distance until the 4rth.

Look for Eric Gordon to move into the starting lineup as Derrick Rose seems not to be well suited for the international game.

Tyson Chandler

Its official, Team USA will enter the championships with one center. And you know what every team in the world is thinking, get him in foul trouble. He is the only defencive presence this team has inside. And I think it is a huge mistake. This is a guy who missed around 100 games in his career due to injury. And they are counting on him as thier only center. With all the incredible talent the US has why give yourself a weakness? Why give the other teamsa viable game plan. The US will push the break on every play and will give the ball to Kevin Durant in every half court set. This just doesn't sound like a great formula for a one and done knock out system. If they took Javale Mcgee instead one of thier small guys who will likely see no minutes like OJ Mayo they would atleast have another big body to throw at the teams with big centers who will likely be Team USA's greatest competitors. Tiago Splitter, Anderson Varajao, Nene, and Mark Gasol must be licking their chops knowing they are only a couple of fouls drawn or an injury to Chandler to having Kevin Love guarding them. And you know these guys are getting the ball on every posesion. Watch out Team USA this will not be a free ride to the gold and you will surley not have the best center in allot of games you are about to play.

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FIBA World Championship

Why are so many superstars dropping out the tournament. What happened to national pride. Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Mehmet Okur, Manu Ginobli. This list is endless. I can actually understand why some of the older guys would not play. They don't want to get injured and it simply doesn't mean the world to the country like the soccer world cup does. But when a guy like Joakim Noah drops out to focus on a new cotract.  I mean come on his dad is famous and very wealthy tennis player so its not like he needs the money. Go and compete for country. Same with Tony Parker. Play a couple of games and with these two on the french side they could have a very good team. Same with many other players. It frustrates me to see all the big name foreingh players not go because it takes the fun out of the tournament. And Mehmet Okur, the tounament is in Turkey. How could you not play when your the host? Oh well, Spain vs USA should be a pretty good game to watch and i'm excited to see if young Ricky Rubio is the real deal. To rank the top countries right now i would say 1. USA 2. Spain 3. Greece 4. Brazil 5. Serbia 6.Argentina 7.Turkey 8.Lithuania 9.Israel 10.Italy

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Breaking news: Joakim Noah, center for the french, will miss the world championship. He is looking to get an extension

 from the Bulls. This gives them another star player opting out with Tony Parker doing so earlier.

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Top Competition for United States

Spain has been and will be the toughest team for the USA to play. They have several NBA players and future NBA players who will try and lead them to an upset of the US. Starting with their center, Pau's little brother, Mark Gasol. He’s big, he’s strong, and moves well for a seven footer. He has established himself as the clear starter in Memphis over Thabeet and is one of the best emerging centers. He doesn't have Pau’s soft touch around the basket but plays a much more physical kind of basketball. He certainly is at least at same talent level of the American centers but probably better. Then we go to the small forward with Rudy Fernandez. A good 3 point shooter that has established himself as a top reserve for Portland. He’s not bad defensively and has decent athletic ability. But if he gets hot from deep he can certainly be a factor. Then to the Spanish guards Rubio, Calderon and Navarro. Two have played in the NBA and one will the season after next. Young Ricky Rubio often compared to Steve Nash is a superb passer. His vision and ball handling skills are exceptional as well. Not a great shooter but Spain has other players to make up for that. Like Juan Carlos Navarro. He spent a short time in the NBA and then returned to play for Barcelona. He is probably one of the best three point shooters in the world. And with him and Fernandez on the floor double teaming is not an option. Fortunately for the US with out Pau no one on Spain necessarily requires one. Calderon will probably not start for Spain but he has started a significant amount of games for the Toronto raptors. He’s not very athletic but is a good shooter and a good passer. This is clearly no pushover team as you see here and with other former NBAers like Garbajosa they will be the primary competition for the USA to lift  the World Championship trophy.

 Then we move to Argentina. Without Manu Ginobli this team is not nearly as much of a threat but they still have good players. This team will be lead by a strong front court. Fabricio Oberto currently with the Wizards is widely renowned for his effort and defensive abilities inside. He will be partnered up with Luis Scola who made his name heard while Yao Ming was injured in Houston. Earning himself a nice new contract. And then at the 3 or the two they have Carlos Delfino. Athletic and a great outside shooter. He is coming off a great year with the Bucks.

Although the Greeks do not have great NBA talent. Just Kostas Koufos they always put a good team together. Schortsanitis who played in the NBA summer league and now signed to play in Isreal is a best on the block. He is nicknamed mini Shaq and very similar in stature and play to Dejuan Blair. These two should take Greece into the later stages of the tournament.

Then their is Brazil.  Very big and very physical up front with Nene from Denver and Varajao from Cleveland. They also have the Spurs new center Tiago Splitter. These guys are all skilled big men with high motors. They will however be heavily reliant on Leandro Barbosa, now a member of the Raptors to do allot of the Scoring. He is shown he is capable of scoring big numbers in Phoenix he do it without Steve Nash and when all the attention is on him.

Slovenia and Serbia are always good. They have great size. Slovenia has a solid center with Nesterovich. And now have an above average backcourt with Sasha Vujacic and Beno Udrih. They compliment each other well. While Udrih is more of a passer, Vujacic is a knock down shooter. Serbia is full of NBA players with Marko Jaric and Vladimir Radmonovich along with their two bigs Darko Milicic and Nenad Kristic.

Then we come to France. They just lost Noah and Beaubois. Parker already said he was out. They have other NBA players like Diaw but I can't see this team contending.

Turkey also took a major blow loosing big man Mehmet Okur. Add him to Turkoglu and home court advantage this would have been a team to watch out for. Both Turkoglu and Okur can shoot from the perimeter and pass the ball well. But now Turkoglu will have to try and carry his country and do most of the scoring and rebounding.

Italy has three great scorers in Danilo Gallinari, Marco Belinelli and Anrea Bargani. All very poised for breakout seasons with their NBA teams. At 7 foot and 6 foot 10 Bargani and Gallinari are big enough to get some rebounds and have the skills to be threats on offence from deep and with their mid range games. But in a recent loss to Israel they did not look very promising.

And then finally we come to Israel. Lead by young Omri Casspi, a hard nosed player for the Kings, this team has been improving rapidly. And having a club team that is one of the best in Europe, Maccabi Tel Aviv, has certainly given some Israeli players the chance to play in big time games.

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Team USA

Team USA is in the final stage of figuring out thier roster and cut it down to 12 players. Heres what they got with the recent pull out of  Brook Lopez.

PG: Derick Rose, Chauncey Billups, Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo, and Stephen Curry 

SG: Eric Gordon and Andre Igoudala.

SF: Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay and Danny Granger

PF: Lamar Odom, Kevin Love and Jeff Green.

C Tyson Chandler and JaVale McGee

Certainly not the team we saw at the Olympics but a good team none the less. Guard heavy now but that is probably where the cuts are going to be made. This team will be by far the most athletic up and down the court team their is, but in international play it is mostly half court offence. European ball is much slower. But this team does have the quality to play half court offence as well. With a staring lineup of Rose, Gay, Durant, Odom and Chandler they will have two great shooters with Durant and Gay. They will have a post player and pick and roll guy with Lamar Odom. A guy who can penetrate in the lane with Rose. And a big body down low with Chandler. Making this surly the top half court roster out their as well. They also have more shooters they can bring off the bench. This team’s only weakness is Centers. With a 5 foul ejection rule the centers are going to have to be careful to not get in foul trouble. Love could also play some 5 but other than him this team has no one else. My predicted roster after the cuts is.

PG: Derick Rose, Chauncey Billups, Stephen Curry

SG: Erick Gordon, Andre Igoudala

SF: Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Danny Granger

PF: Lamar Odom, Kevin Love

C Tyson Chandler, JaVale McGee

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List courtesy of NBA.com from 2008. This is a list of nba players not born in the US. Not who is playing in the tournament.

  • SOUTH AMERICA (9 players)
    Argentina (6):
    Carlos Delfino, Toronto Raptors; Emanuel "Manu" Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs; Walter Herrmann, Detroit Pistons; Andres Nocioni, Chicago Bulls; Fabricio Oberto, San Antonio Spurs; Luis Scola, Houston Rockets
    Brazil (3):
    Anderson Varejao, Cleveland Cavaliers; Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix Suns; Nene, Denver Nuggets

  • NORTH/CENTRAL AMERICA/CARIBBEAN (12 players)
    Canada (4):
    Joel Anthony, Miami Heat; Samuel Dalembert, Philadelphia 76ers; Jamaal Magloire, Dallas Mavericks; Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns
    Dominican Republic (2):
    Francisco Garcia, Sacramento Kings, Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks
    Mexico (1):
    Eduardo Najera, Denver Nuggets
    Puerto Rico (2):
    Carlos Arroyo, Orlando Magic; Jose Juan Barea, Dallas Mavericks
    St. Vincent and Grenadines (1):
    Adonal Foyle, Orlando Magic
    U.S. Virgin Islands (2):
    Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs; Raja Bell, Phoenix Suns

  • AFRICA (6 players)

    Gabon (1): Stephane Lasme, Miami Heat
    Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) (2):
    Dikembe Mutombo, Houston Rockets, Didier “DJ” Ilunga-Mbenga, Los Angeles Lakers
    Senegal (3):
    DeSagana Diop, New Jersey Nets; Mouhammed “Saer” Sene, Oklahoma City; Cheikh Samb, Detroit Pistons

  • ASIA-PACIFIC (4 players)
    Australia (1):
    Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee Bucks;
    China (2):
    Yao Ming, Houston Rockets; Yi Jianlian, Milwaukee Bucks
    New Zealand (1):
    Sean Marks, Phoenix Suns

  • EUROPE (45 players)
    Croatia (1):
    Gordan Giricek, Phoenix Suns
    France (8):
    Boris Diaw, Phoenix Suns; Yakhouba Diawara, Denver Nuggets; Mickael Gelabale, Oklahoma City; Ian Mahinmi, San Antonio Spurs; Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs; Johan Petro, Oklahoma City; Mickael Pietrus, Golden State Warriors; Ronny Turiaf, Los Angeles Lakers
    Georgia (1):
    Zaza Pachulia, Atlanta Hawks
    Germany (1):
    Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
    Great Britain (2):
    Luol Deng, Chicago Bulls; Kelenna Azubuike, Golden State Warriors
    Italy (2):
    Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors; Marco Belinelli, Golden State Warriors
    Latvia (1):
    Andris Biedrins, Golden State Warriors
    Lithuania (3):
    Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland Cavaliers; Linas Kleiza, Denver Nuggets; Darius Songaila, Chicago Bulls
    Netherlands (2):
    Francisco Elson, Oklahoma City; Dan Gadzuric, Milwaukee Bucks
    Poland (1):
    Marcin Gortat, Orlando Magic
    Russia (1):
    Andrei Kirilenko, Utah Jazz
    Serbia (7):
    Marko Jaric, Minnesota Timberwolves; Nenad Krstic, New Jersey Nets; Darko Milicic, Toronto Raptors; Aleksandar Pavlovic, Cleveland Cavaliers; Kosta Perovic, Golden State Warriors; Vladimir Radmanovic, Los Angeles Lakers; Predrag “Peja” Stojakovic, New Orleans Hornets
    Slovenia (5):
    Primoz Brezec, Toronto Raptors; Bostjan Nachbar, New Jersey Nets; Radoslav "Rasho" Nesterovic, Toronto Raptors; Beno Udrih, Sacramento Kings; Sasha Vujacic, Los Angeles Lakers
    Spain (5):
    Jose Manuel Calderon, Toronto Raptors; Jorge Garbajosa, Toronto Raptors; Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers; Juan Carlos Navarro, Memphis Grizzlies; Sergio Rodriguez, Portland Trail Blazers
    Switzerland (1):
    Thabo Sefolosha, Chicago Bulls
    Turkey (2):
    Mehmet Okur, Utah Jazz, Hidayet "Hedo" Turkoglu, Orlando Magic
    Ukraine (2):
    Kyrylo Fesenko, Utah Jazz; Oleksiy Pecherov, Washington Wizards
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