Tyson Chandler? Brutal.

jhyphene...

No kidding. Michael Redd is the USA's only 3-point threat, while Kobe is an inconsistent shooter. Looks like the USA will have no true post player, so that means that our guards will have to create their own shots.

As long as the USA finishes in top 2, then they qualify for the Olympics.

Chandler will be looked to only for his shot-blocking and rebounding - which would be great if they also had some consistent low-post offense, but they clearly don't. This will be interesting.

Durant must be dinged up I don't see how "bring home the Bronze" Chandler is better. What a joke of a pro career, completely overpaid but, easy money if you can get it.

It's good to see KU doing serious recruiting in the East. I remember that Roy Williams didn't do that because he thought the recruiting bases for UK and Duke were too strong and capitalized on California recruits. Bill Self is doing quite well east of the Mighty Mo. At the same time, he needs to make schools like UCLA and Arizona struggle for Californians.

Chandler is the better defender and rebounder, which is what they were looking for in that last spot. The best post scorers they had on the roster (Carlos Boozer and Elton Brand) were both injured this summer and unavailable. Chris Bosh would have made the team, but he hurt his foot last month and is rehabbing, so he's out, too. So the pressure will be on the guards to put points on the board.

Mike Miller and Michael Redd are both big time shooters, so there shouldn't be a zone busting problem (I think Miller held the record for most threes in an NBA season for a year or two).

Overall this is a good team. I'm not surprised that neither Collison nor Hinrich made it. Hinrich had a shot, but the way that Deron Williams has played the last few months (NBA playoffs and the training camp) really surprised me. I realize a lot of you guys don't really watch the pro game that much, but trust me when I say that Deron Williams was the reason that Utah advanced as far as they did in the playoffs. Collison is a solid niche guy, but even he isn't much of a scorer in the pros, despite what he did in college. He's mostly a rebounder and shot blocker, although not as good a rebounder as Chandler (top 3 in the league the last two years) or shot blocker (top 5 in the league).

As for the recruits, I'm excited about the east coast guys, especially Quintrell Thomas. He seems like the right type of energy player to put alongside someone like Morgan or Monroe to be very effective. Tyshawn Taylor is a late bloomer, which means his best basketball is in front of him. He may be the type of guy that comes to a school and really develops over his career because he's just now starting to become a top player. My wish list remains Morgan, Thomas, Taylor and Monroe to go along with Releford. That would restock us everywhere except the point, where we would likely have someone returning anyway.

big tamale- Mike Miller is a 3ball specialist along with Michael Redd. And to overlook Chauncy and D. Williams as prolific shooters would be ignorant as well. Of course Carmelo can make you pay from deep. So, overall, I feel confident this year's team will shoot a higher percentage. It would be nice to have Elton Brand back this year, I think their hoping Amare can just jump over people. we shall see. I for one am very excited.

I agree seeing the name Tyson Chandler is a bit shocking but the guy is a beast on the boards (he finished behind Garnett and Howard last year) and he can sure block shots. I actually like having guys like Mike Miller, Tayshaun Prince and Deron Williams on the roster too. They are all underrated players who are very coachable. I doubt you'll see Deroon Williams throwing up mid-court ally-oops to LeBron in an internatonal competition we haven't won in the last two tries.

About Morgan ... he is the one recruit besides Monroe I REALLY want to see this team get. We are going to need big men and Morgan can do a little of everything. The thought of landing him AND Monroe seems like a longshot, but boy would that be awesome.

Koach K kept kalling his team 'terrible shooters' just a few days ago. I'm not sure how things have changed in 72 hours. They must all be drinking some magically krazy kocktail. TeamUSA is going to be an interesting experiment this year. I hope we don't fall on our faces...

Denmon, from Hogan Prep, going to the Tigers. Not a bad fit really. Hogan Prep isn't known for churning out players that are 'students of the game' and 'good sportsmen.' In fact, the KCStar stated that Denmon might not be eligible academically anyway. On top of that, the Tigers already have a plethora of 6'1" recruits committed to that 'team.' Small ball...

Sensei

Allow me to rephrase...Michael Redd is the only 3 point shooter that I have faith in. Everywhere he goes, he produces. I have no doubt that Billips, Carmelo, and D. Williams will have good performances. I think they will perform well enough to win the tournament.

But, is that the team you want playing Argentina, Spain, Greece, Lithuania, and Italy?

I guess, what I'm saying is that "good enough" for this tournament will not be at the Olympics. We will need more Michael Redds, and good shooting percentages from our guards.
I'd rather see Amare make a jump shot then jump out of the roof, something Vince Carter has been plagued with.

Good point about Mike Miller, I forgot about him...we need more big men that can do what he does because ALL of "THE EUROPEAN" big men can do what he does.

What's the latest on Willie Warren?
I know most of you dislike the guys because he is "young and cocky," but from what I have read on kusports he is capable of spreading the ball around to his teammates. I think under BSelf he could be a great team player with contagious confidence. Maybe I'm wrong.

The most important thing is to get some bigs. Morgan, Monroe and Cole would be a solid frontcourt. Then surround them with guys like Thomas 6-8 or Jones 6-7, Releford 6-4 and (if he doesn’t go early) Collins running the point and that’s a tough team to guard.

Re Dropping Collison: Collison shouldn't feel bad. Koach Krooked gave one of his own--Elton Brand--the back of his hand too. Without a Collison, or a Brand, this is a team without any lunchpail guys--guys who can get things done on the blocks when things aren't going well. They'll regret not having him when the going gets tough and it will. Chander is not a well rounded player and he will not be able to compensate on the nights when the "stars" aren't hitting. Well-drilled foreign teams that can control tempo, shoot, screen and play help defense will nail this bunch of NBA stars any time they are having an off shooting night, are forced to play team defense and denied cheap transition baskets. International competition constantly exposes that the really big NBA stars have to get favorable treatment from referees to dominate the way they do in the L. When the international refs don't all roll over for them, or actively try to screw the USA players, which happens, the L-stars look more like what they really are: very, very gifted free lancers. That being said, this can still be an exceptional team if Kobe and Carmelo are willing to play second fiddle to LeBron James. James is the only guy with the heart and soul needed to carry this team. But if the team can't form around LeBron as the hub, this will just be like any other NBA all star team at the mid point break in the NBA season. If they're hot at treys, they'll look unbeatable. If they're not, they'll get upset by national teams with good fundamentals that know how to play together. The greatest service the NBA could do for American basketball is to call the game by the rules and foul the stars out occassionally. It would force NBA teams back into team play and would result in NBA players that really would be almost unbeatable in international competition, because they knew how to play the game of basketball, instead of the bastardized, nearly unrecognizable version of the game that is played in the L now.

Re: Morgan--I'm stoked about his 275 lb. size. I hope we get him. Even if its baby fat, he would wind up around 250. Seeing Aldrich and Morgan both experienced and blocking out sunlight on the blocks two years from now could be a return to the kind of power inside KU needs to go with its super runt backcourts.

RE: Releford and Taylor vs. Denmon--so glad to see Bill is backing off the short guards for awhile. Illinois could go all the way with three short guard sets and KU won't either.

KU can win alot of games again this year, if Arthur can replace what Julian did, and if Aldrich and Kaun can add up to one five, and if Rush can be as good as he was last year from December on. Rush was the core of last years team, no matter what anyone says. Without his great defense, rebounding, and 41% trey shooting, KU couldn't have won 30 games much less 33. Fortunately, Self is a master at hiding weaknesses like Rush being out early.

But even if all those "ifs" come true, KU is still the team without a true 2 guard and the team without a backup 3. And those two holes will sink this team again before the Final Four.

Finally, playing 3-guard sets successfully down the stretch usually requires at least one, and hopefiully two of the three guards to be a true 2. To reiterate: no true 2s on this club, unless Rod Stewart surprises BIG TIME! Mario is going to be an exeptional player this year. I'm guessing he'll be one of the three best guards in the country without ever getting the pub for it. But he'll still just be a 1 playing the 2 and Self will try to hide his inability to stop the top 2 guards with with Mario's steals and switching Rush onto Mario's man again.

Ugh! What I wouldn't give for a true 2! Last years and this year's teams would be ring material for sure.

And the absense of a backup 3 is going to be screamingly apparent with Rush out unless we're playing chumps. Frankly, I doubt even Bill Self, the Great Magician of hiding weaknesses, can hide Rush's absense against a top ten team, maybe even against a top 15 team, unless Darrell Arthur just turns into an absolute MAN immediately.

Regardless, its going to be a good team and a team we can all get a huge charge out of supporting.

Jaybate- couple comments
I thought Elton Brand was injured or recovering, not released by team USA.
I'll take Kobe over Lebron until the cows come home. Even with a bad attitude(crossing fingers) kobe is the better all around bball player.
Defensively, what Julian brought last year will be missed.
Does a true SG have to be a bit taller than Mario? Honest question.

Jaydub,

All is quiet on the Willie Warren front. His mom took control of his cell phone after the whole committing to Baylor thing, so getting info from the Warren camp has been pretty quiet. We probably won't hear anything till school starts at Oak Hill at the first of September.

No true post presence? Tell me you are joking, amare stoudemire and dwight howard are beasts

An interesting take on TeamUSA, to be sure:

http://sportsillustr...

a question, for anyone--really raised by jaybates comments about "lack of a true 2 guard": Is it that our 3pt shooter is not 6'3" or taller? What about when Boschee played the "2" position? Had more 3s than anyone in the history of the BigXII conf...Currently it is Rush + the 3 combo-guards (ie, do-it-all-->translated: can hurt you from any position). I personally am not sure what further defining the 2-position will bring? Are we thinking Langford was a 2 at 6'4"? Others may argue he played more as a smallish swingman in style, while being listed on the roster as a 2. What is it that Mario CANNOT do? If you are saying he cannot shoot over someone 6'3" or taller, one could counter that he has proven MANY ways to score (or penetrate and dish). His penetration then hitting a "floater" OVER a post-size player is beyond impressive. Fearless, actually. His 3pt% only rivals Rush.. Russ does it all too, but to a lesser extent with the emphasis on distribution. My thought is Sherron's 'combo' is speed, penetration and 3balls, Mario's 'combo' is more slanted to scoring from anywhere (a slightly smaller Langford, ie: 2-3-1 guard), and Russ is distribution, penetration, with scoring only opportunistically, at least so far in his career (although in March was deadly consistent from 3-range). They are not all the same. Embrace the versatility. Keeping foes guessing is a good thing. Imagine trying to gameplan against KU. Our post presence may be marginal offensively, but it can ONLY get better with Arthur as a starter--of this I am sure. And a golden opportunity to see in November (without Rush), what exactly Stewart and/or Case can do BOTH offensively and defensively. I totally agree with Rush being the centerpiece of the 06-07 team, but you gotta feel for those two, experienced bench guys who will in all likelihood, get some PT, and maybe one of them (or, to drive you nuts, a rotation of BOTH of them) can 'be productive' in place of Rush--notice I did not say/suggest could actually 'replace' Rush, very hard to do that with 1 person alone on the current roster, unless Stewart comes out of nowhere. Remember, he is bigger than Lee or Langford, and just as quick, yet we still do not know what he is capable of. If we did not have Russ, we probably would have been watching Stewart in the mix (somewhere). So credit the talent in front of Rodrick, but dont discredit him yet in the 2 or 3 role. Need more data. Cannot question his motivation, either. Russ playing ahead of any of the bench guys, is simply put, because he makes everyone else look good, and makes everyone play better; ie, they've got to be ready for his pass--something he does so good that he is/will be listed with all-time KU great point guards, yet he is a 'combo'---my point: what does the definition matter, when ALL WE ARE REALLY INTERESTED IN IS THE PRODUCTION, OR THE RESULTS? Wait and see...

I would also like to remind everyone of some of the games we played against other teams with 5'10"-->6'2" guards (in the 1 and 2 position) were not even fair, as our 3 "little guys" are all 200lbs, and fast, and absolute ball thieves--we ruled over most other 1 and 2 guards. So how do you define a player that routinely makes an equal-sized opponent look bad, and regularly takes it to taller players, with regular success? Our problem is NOT the guard play. It is the slightly-less-than-average production (Grade C-)from the big men. It has got to get better, as we lose a 6'8" player who thought he was a guard, yet led the team in turnovers, and replace him with a 6'9" true forward who has MAJOR potential (Arthur) who showed us flashes last season...(ask the Florida girls what Arthur did to them down low, as a frosh!) Now our stellar guards will be MORE in control of the ball, without, as Russ put it, "Ju is just being Ju" (no one sure what he was going to do with the ball)--look for THAT team hesitancy to be gone, and our turnover stat plumment, and consequently our opponent shot attempts and point totals fall...Granted Ju could make some athletic/acrobatic shots, but again, at the expense of the other bigmen and with a turnover price all season long. I think it will all 'clean up' well, and I will be looking for the Boys to prove this theory.

ralster,

Think Aaron Afflalo. He's a true two guard. None of our three muscular ponies could do diddly with him. Josh Shipp was basically a second two guard on UCLA. When we put Rush on Afflalo, none of our three muscular, ball stripping ponies could handle Shipp. A muscular fast pony will almost always take a skinny pony, or a skinny, slow two guard. But muscular ponies always come up sucking air against a true two; that's why we need a true two--someone in the dance always has one or two that we'll have to contend with.

sensei,

Re: Brand--I just thought Brand got stiffed on the invite, not cut after showing. If he's injured, then I stand corrected re Brand.

Re: Kobe--I live on the fault line and get to see Kobe all the time. He's a great guard for a big man like Shaq. But he just can't carry a team without a monster in the middle. He can probably outscore Michael Jordan, if it came down to comparing scoring talent and that means he has a huge gift. But he flat can't match the rest of Jordan's game even with a couple more inches and he flat can't do what Jordan could, which was win with crappy big men. You put Pippen and Rodman and any of the Bulls half centers with Kobe and Kobe couldn't win a ring with them, much less 6. Kobe is a great scorer. He's a great guard in many ways. He plays way better D than anyone gives him credit for. But he just cannot operate a team and screw with an opponent strategically and tactically the way Jordan could and so he can't win without a dominant big man. Fortunately for your POV, Kobe still has several years to prove me wrong. But much as I like the Lakers and Kobe, I will be big time surprisedk, if Kobe EVER wins a ring with a Bulls type center.

Regarding Julian, I totally agree. Frankly, I doubt Arthur can bring what Julian brought on the defense last year. On the other hand, I think Arthur could bring quite a bit more offensively than Julian brought last year. Julian was never a scoring machine in half court games. He had his big days when Self put the gas peddle to the floor and Julian got to windmill and slam in transition. Arthur is a natural scorer. When he finally matures enough that he can play serious minutes, he will be a constant threat to score--as big a threat in half court sets as in transition and he's very swift and springy in transition. So: I'm guessing its going to be at least a wash with Arthur replacing Julian--good as Julian was. We give up defense and get prolific scoring. If Darrell can quit fouling and defend his man without help, then he could concentrate on offense and become one of KU's great scoring big men. He just has the requisite offensive unconsciousness that great scorers have.

Re: shooting guard height--yep, Mario's just too short and too skinny to handle a guy like Aaron Afflalo. Mario has long arms, long legs, a short neck and lightening hands and these make him able to handle taller, but modestly talented twos (like the guy on Florida for one example). These same attributes make Mario doubly tough on both skinny ponies and muscular ponies. But when he's got to go up against the real deal; that is, a two guard with all of Mario's gifts plus two or three more inches in height, he just has to bow gracefully and let Rush take over the defense of his man.

General comment about the L's supposed NEO-DREAM Team:

STARS

Kobe Bryant--Great scorer and proven champion as complementary player to a Shaq type super center. Hasn't proven he can carry a team on his own.

Carmelo Anthony--Great offensive player. Can't carry a team on his own and couldn't find a way to complement or dominate with a big ego, high scoring PG like AI, which doesn't bode well for him doing differently with Kobe. Won a ring at the 'Cuse when all he had to do was play zone on one end of the floor.

Lebron--A superior basketball player in every respect and proved he can carry a team to the NBA finals. His only weaknesses are: he still is very young and so somewhat short on warfare experience; and he hasn't won a big time championship yet at college or pro level. Maybe he will have by the games.

Assessment: Exceptional talents who have never carried a team on their backs to a professional championship; i.e., either they can't, or don't yet know how to go all the way. Frankly, the L has quite a few guys like these. Most just can't score quite as well as these three.

FRONT COURT COMPLEMENTS

Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler: Never carried a team to a ring in pros or college. Never complemented on a team that won a ring in pro or college. Just big, tough pros who can board and defend well. None of them will strike fear into of the hearts of any of the top foreign teams. None of them will own the paint all the way to the Gold. Ah for the days of great NBA centers.

BACKCOURT COMPLEMENTS

Jason Kidd, Deron William, Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince: Of these, Billups is the only one I'd want to go to war with. Kidd always looks and acts like the kind of guy you'd want to go to war with, but in every big war he was ever in he came up short. Don't know Williams well enough to comment. Prince? He can shoot and find a way to win if someone else can get him in position to win, I suppose. Once you get past Billups, who seems past his prime now, nothing to get too cocky about.

continued...

TREY SPECIALISTS

Redd and Miller: They ought to bring Reggie Miller out of retirement for a trey specialist. Besides Kobe and Anthony can already shoot the rainbows, so I guess these guys are just for very special cases.

PREDICTION

This is not a great collection of talent. It is a good collection of talent. It doesn't equal the talent level on several former Olympic teams. Some, like Vitale, argue that Koach K is a master builder and he's put the best "team" together by incorporating all the complementary pieces a "team" needs. Clearly that's what he's trying to do. If this bunch can come together as a team with chemistry, they will certainly win, simply because they do have better stars. But teams coming together with great chemistry still need an exceptional player at the core of the team to carry the team for stretches of games and not just offensively. Lebron seems much more like that kind of guy to me than Kobe does. The problem is: Kobe's got the rings and the years on LeBron and so he will insist on being the guy. Just as clearly, Koach Kocky is hoping to go the triumvirate leadership route that George Karl is trying in Denver. It likely won't work. Someone is going to be the go to guy; that guy will be Kobe, and Kobe doesn't have the great team orchestration skills required to be carry a team all the way against really great competition. What could play in this teams favor is that I haven't really heard of that many super NBA players in the making on the foreign teams. Talent outside the USA is just like talent inside the USA. It ebbs and flows. It could be this team i not going to have to fight its way through a bunch of experienced, saavy, well drilled, foreign national teams loaded with both chemistry and future NBA talent as has been the case the last 10-15 years.

In the final analysis, I'd give this USA team a 60-70% chance to win the Gold, which is still pretty good. But when Kobe, Carmelo, and Lebron don't get the favorable treatment from the officials that they get in the L, they are only about 3/4s as good as they are in the L. Until the L starts calling the game by the rules and producing stars that can be stars playing by the rules, there is always going to be this hard to quantify fall off in the NBA stars performance in international competition. And that fall off will always become a major factor in those few games against foreign national teams that have the chemistry, the experience, the continuity of coaching, the fundamentals, and 2-3 NBA prospects...unless the USA team has that superstar center in the middle to erase all those advantages by cutting the heart out of them in the paint the way only great big men can. This team lacks that big time.

jaybate,
I totally agree with the NBA/USA analysis. Weve all moaned for years about how practically the whole "game" is different from the NCAA (purer) version. I also have never, ever seen Kobe as a 'team' guy. I still remember his lip service about 'respecting the game', etc when he came into the League, but de-volved into a guy who wouldnt even talk to his LA teammates and left alone out of the locker room. Losing Shaq cost Kobe his ring(s). I still like Shaq, and really like DWade, but am not sure what the Heat have left in the tank?

jaybate--regarding our combo guard height issue. What do you think of the idea of having only 1 combo guard in the game during a Affalo/Shipp situation and have the 2nd slot (for at least defensive purposes) be given to Stewart, assuming we will be getting more scoring out of Arthur? Thus Stewart + Rush gets alot done defensively against this 'true-2' double threat. If Shipp docks, or Affalo benches, and replaced by a 6-ft guard, we bring in our second combo guy and still maintain an edge. I only say Stewart because I am not yet convinced Morningstar (who is taller) has the quicks to keep up with the A-rated 2 guards you describe. Stewart is just one athletic dude, that I just want to see what he is capable of on O and D, and not really sounding a Stewart-plug here, but he DOES have that height....I just want to see him play, and he may help that true-2 defensive dilemma?

I also like that Self is recruiting guys taller than 6'3"--not everyone is going to pan out as a successful D-1 player, so we need more than 1 recruit to fill the 2 and 3 positions.

ralster,

That would be absolutely a way to go if Stewart develops! Stewart holds a lot more of our potential for greatness in his hands than we might prefer. If Stewart could defend the two, and the short three, and so get enough minutes for his shooting to round into shape, KU would in my opinion very suddenly become perhaps the best team in the country. KU showed last year it could win 33 without a true two an could have gone to the Final Four if they'd had a true two. Yes, Arthur has to play well enough to somehow replace Julian, also. But he very well might. The question, IMHO, comes down Stewart. Self isn't giving any signs that he can do it, so maybe hope is futile here. But I recall that he took the spotlight completely off RR and let him sneak up on everone, so maybe the same will happen with Stewart. Finally, with no true two even for spot duty, KU is just an Afflalo away from losing. With a true two, and a back up at the three, KU then only has to worry about great centers. But I don't see an Oden out there this year; this is why I'm praying for Stewart to develop. We could sneak a ring this year if Stewart could defend the true two and the short three.