*USA Basketball* WOMEN EARN GOLD v. ESP (101-72)! MEN EARN GOLD v. SRB (96-66)!

[slick vitale]

There is no other team in the field with remotely as much talent.

 

[krispacinla]

Slick, no matter how much talent you have these FIBA games are a different animal. Referees being tripping out and very inconsistent. They can even out a game very quickly. Hell at the World Cup of basketball in 2014 in the semis against Lithuania we had 3 guys with 2 fouls in the first quarter. Good thing we sucked the life out of them late in the first half to cruise to the win. I will admit this year you have a lot of down teams, but nothing for granted these international squads compete. I still think we take gold though.

 

[lawdog1]

As long as we check those 2 boxes I doubt we ever get dropped. Lowry & Green are fine facilitators in their own right anyway.

And PG, KD, Dray and even Boogie can also make plays for others. So, the fact we don't have a Kidd or Paul type PG on this team isn't a huge concern to me.

 

[Nawzlew]

any idea when jerseys will go on sale

 

[orsrt8]

Shout out to Carlos Arroyo tho...Made us Puerto Ricans proud


Has there been any official pictures of the Uniforms this year?

 

[moneylicious]

any idea when jerseys will go on sale

I'm interested to see what the navy jersey and shorts look like. Hard pass on the white.

 

[dland24]

We have players like Durant, Kyrie, Carmelo, PG13, Klay, Green, Cousins etc. How are these players considered as a B squad?
They are among todays best players.
Sure, with LeBron, Westbrook and (regular season) Curry they would be even a bigger caliber, but this roster is already top notched.

You just answered your own question.  

Its the B squad.  Doesnt mean its not a great team.  Doesnt mean we arent the favorites to win the gold.  Just means we arent sending our best team, which I dont have the slightest clue how someone can disagree with..

 

[lawdog1]

Shout out to Carlos Arroyo tho...Made us Puerto Ricans proud


Has there been any official pictures of the Uniforms this year?

You can't really tell from this pic, but the lettering looks to be raised and kind of glossy. Not really feeling them.

Here's a link where you can see more detailed pics -

http://www.si.com/nba/2016/03/17/nike-team-usa-basketball-uniforms-2016-olympics-photos

 

[nike4kja05]

We have players like Durant, Kyrie, Carmelo, PG13, Klay, Green, Cousins etc. How are these players considered as a B squad?

They are among todays best players.

Sure, with LeBron, Westbrook and (regular season) Curry they would be even a bigger caliber, but this roster is already top notched.

You just answered your own question.  

Its the B squad.  Doesnt mean its not a great team.  Doesnt mean we arent the favorites to win the gold.  Just means we arent sending our best team, which I dont have the slightest clue how someone can disagree with..

This. Russy, Steph, Kawhi, and Lebron all would have been locks if they decided to play. AD and CP3 would have been locks as well if they didn't get hurt. The squad is still really good, just not the best like the last 2 olympic runs.

 

[dland24]

 

 

We have players like Durant, Kyrie, Carmelo, PG13, Klay, Green, Cousins etc. How are these players considered as a B squad?

They are among todays best players.

Sure, with LeBron, Westbrook and (regular season) Curry they would be even a bigger caliber, but this roster is already top notched.

You just answered your own question.  

Its the B squad.  Doesnt mean its not a great team.  Doesnt mean we arent the favorites to win the gold.  Just means we arent sending our best team, which I dont have the slightest clue how someone can disagree with..

This. Russy, Steph, Kawhi, and Lebron all would have been locks if they decided to play. AD and CP3 would have been locks as well if they didn't get hurt. The squad is still really good, just not the best like the last 2 olympic runs.

Yeah you just listed SIX players would have been locks if they chose to play. Six.  While I disagree on Kawhi being a firm lock, that is still roughly half of a team that would have been on the squad simply if they decided they wanted to play.  

But no, its not our B squad out there.  

 

 

[slick vitale]

Kawhi would certainly have been a firm lock. Especially with Pop on the staff and him taking over after this.

I don't think anyone is denying that this isn't the premier roster of guys that are in the pool. This might our "B Team" but this is not "B Talent" in comparison to the field and I think there are some people that actually believe that. Every since the bronze years, whenever a few or more key guys drop out, fans start this sudden panic. Prime example is just back in 2014, alot of ppl initially questioned whether the absence of the senior guys would result in them not winning gold and they blitzed through the field. This team is even better than that but dudes act like because Harrison Barnes is on the team that means "possible upset". 

 

[dland24]

 
Kawhi would certainly have been a firm lock. Especially with Pop on the staff and him taking over after this.

I'm not sure he would have.  I think there is a very good chance he would have been on this team, but you can only have so many forwards.  LeBron, Durant and Melo would all have been picked over him.  How many small forwards are going to be on the team?  4?  5?  

All I was trying to say is that Kawhi wouldnt have been a 100% firm lock if he wanted to play the way Curry, LeBron and Chris Paul would have been had they wanted to.

 

[nike4kja05]

 

 

We have players like Durant, Kyrie, Carmelo, PG13, Klay, Green, Cousins etc. How are these players considered as a B squad?


They are among todays best players.


Sure, with LeBron, Westbrook and (regular season) Curry they would be even a bigger caliber, but this roster is already top notched.

You just answered your own question.  


Its the B squad.  Doesnt mean its not a great team.  Doesnt mean we arent the favorites to win the gold.  Just means we arent sending our best team, which I dont have the slightest clue how someone can disagree with..

This. Russy, Steph, Kawhi, and Lebron all would have been locks if they decided to play. AD and CP3 would have been locks as well if they didn't get hurt. The squad is still really good, just not the best like the last 2 olympic runs.

Yeah you just listed SIX players would have been locks if they chose to play. Six.  While I disagree on Kawhi being a firm lock, that is still roughly half of a team that would have been on the squad simply if they decided they wanted to play.  

But no, its not our B squad out there.    

First you said it was the B Squad, and now it's not the B squad

what

 

[dland24]

 

 

 

 

We have players like Durant, Kyrie, Carmelo, PG13, Klay, Green, Cousins etc. How are these players considered as a B squad?


They are among todays best players.


Sure, with LeBron, Westbrook and (regular season) Curry they would be even a bigger caliber, but this roster is already top notched.

You just answered your own question.  

Its the B squad.  Doesnt mean its not a great team.  Doesnt mean we arent the favorites to win the gold.  Just means we arent sending our best team, which I dont have the slightest clue how someone can disagree with..

This. Russy, Steph, Kawhi, and Lebron all would have been locks if they decided to play. AD and CP3 would have been locks as well if they didn't get hurt. The squad is still really good, just not the best like the last 2 olympic runs.

Yeah you just listed SIX players would have been locks if they chose to play. Six.  While I disagree on Kawhi being a firm lock, that is still roughly half of a team that would have been on the squad simply if they decided they wanted to play.  

But no, its not our B squad out there.  

 

First you said it was the B Squad, and now it's not the B squad

what

Sarcasm, my friend.

 

[slick vitale]

 
I'm not sure he would have.  I think there is a very good chance he would have been on this team, but you can only have so many forwards.  LeBron, Durant and Melo would all have been picked over him.  How many small forwards are going to be on the team?  4?  5?  

All I was trying to say is that Kawhi wouldnt have been a 100% firm lock if he wanted to play the way Curry, LeBron and Chris Paul would have been had they wanted to.

The USA team (and basketball in general) isn't so positional anymore. If anything the classifications of backcourt/frontcout is more relevant and that's how these teams are picked. Of 12 players to be chosen...I'm fairly certain Kawhii, with his resume and the fact that his coach is one of the generals of the program, is as much of a lock as those other guys. It's not like we see dudes like Melo, KD, and Bron ONLY play the 3 in these settings. You can move those dudes all over the floor in this environment. 

 

[dland24]

 

 
I'm not sure he would have.  I think there is a very good chance he would have been on this team, but you can only have so many forwards.  LeBron, Durant and Melo would all have been picked over him.  How many small forwards are going to be on the team?  4?  5?  

All I was trying to say is that Kawhi wouldnt have been a 100% firm lock if he wanted to play the way Curry, LeBron and Chris Paul would have been had they wanted to.

The USA team (and basketball in general) isn't so positional anymore. If anything the classifications of backcourt/frontcout is more relevant and that's how these teams are picked. Of 12 players to be chosen...I'm fairly certain Kawhii, with his resume and the fact that his coach is one of the generals of the program, is as much of a lock as those other guys. It's not like we see dudes like Melo, KD, and Bron ONLY play the 3 in these settings. You can move those dudes all over the floor in this environment. 

I suppose you could be right.  You make a valid point about the position switching.

But in fairness.....

Chris Paul

Stephen Curry

Russell Westbrook

Klay Thompson

James Harden

LeBron James

Kevin Durant

Carmelo Anthony

Anthony Davis

DeMarcus Cousins

I suppose one could say that after this group of locks, Kawhi would take one of the last 2 remaining spots.  I dont think its 100%, but I can understand why you and others would think so.

 

[nick.]

Shout out to Carlos Arroyo tho...Made us Puerto Ricans proud


Has there been any official pictures of the Uniforms this year?

You can't really tell from this pic, but the lettering looks to be raised and kind of glossy. Not really feeling them.

Here's a link where you can see more detailed pics -

http://www.si.com/nba/2016/03/17/nike-team-usa-basketball-uniforms-2016-olympics-photos

Hope the NBA jerseys aren't like that in 2017-18 :x :x

Anywhere i could still buy the older style?

 

[krispacinla]

I dont Think Barnes will get a lot of minutes. International Melo is going to get a bulk of the minutes. Especially if hes dropping 40 points in 20 minutes

 

[703 hwy]

Ahh it's that time again huh the only time Melo balls out. In pointless international games.

 

[carolinakickg]

When those jerseys hitting Nike.com?

 

[urb]

When those jerseys hitting Nike.com?

Haven't seen them on Nike.com yet but KD Replica (Home/Away) and Kyrie Replica (Away) is on http://www.fanatics.com/Jerseys_2016_Rio. It looks like they had the authentic for $199.99 but it is sold out.

 

[brandon3000]

Really hoping Nike will retro the 96 Jerseys being the 20th anniversary and all... kinda how they did in 2012 for the 1992 team

 

[carolinakickg]

Really hoping Nike will retro the 96 Jerseys being the 20th anniversary and all... kinda how they did in 2012 for the 1992 team

I was hoping the same. Insta-cop on the Gary Payton. Home and Away if available.

 

[darthska]

They do 96, #8 is mine.

 

[lawdog1]

9 is a sick jersey number. Olympic MJ, Lakers Nick Van Exel. More players should wear it. My high school football number