Childress should be selected to play for Team USA!

[Federoy]

A demoralised Turkey had nothing to gain by beating France. Similarily, Greece only had something to loose.

Nothing to gain? How about pride as a competitor, unless you're suggesting Turkey has weakminded players.

Since any of those teams could have beaten the other on any given day. That still says something about the level of NBA players in the international arena around 2010.

Exactly what does it say? Correct me if I'm wrong, but your assumption is that because France hasn't performed well internationally (which isn't true) with its NBA players, that it somehow exposes their "level" of play as ineffective compared to other European teams that don't have an abundance of NBA players.

As the US debacle in 2002 and 2004 proved, just stocking a team with NBA talent and telling them to win isn't good enough anymore, and anyone who has followed international basketball over the past 10 years knows that. As I pointed out earlier, establishing team concepts and preparation time has far more of an impact on a team's success than what league players compete in. In addition, it's no secret the NBA and FIBA have fundamental differences in play, rules, and nuances, so logically, if the majority of players on France's roster are NBAers then adjustments are in order. Such transitions are easier for countries like Slovenia or Greece, where most of their players are European-based, playing under FIBA rules.

Moreover, Greece and Slovenia would have been much stronger if they had complete rosters, whereas France seemed to have ensembled one of their best squads ever. Yet they missed out once again.

Please don't use this excuse. Frankly, when the US was getting its ass kicked in 2004, we clearly didn't have our best players either, but we lost fair and square, and Europeans and the US media bitched and complained every time the "we didn't have our best players" excuse came up. Even had Greece and Slovenia had their full rosters, that doesn't necessarily make them better teams. Sometimes chemistry is sacrificed when a team has one too many shooters, scorers, defenders and so on. My own personal belief is that neither Slovenia and Greece were that far behind without a few key players.

 

[Czarkazem13]

Dream team also failed, more than once, so i don't know why 1998 is a proof that any similar attempt will definitely fail.

The Dream Team went undefeated and won by huge margins so I don't know what you are talking about.

 

[Levenspiel]

Aaah, staying away for a while is not good, apparently I lost the touch. But it's obvious I am not talking about a single specific selection. That was my terminology mistake. Dream Team, DTII, DTX2010 or whatever the name is a team composed of NBA stars. So far these teams won in 1994, did not participate in 1998, and failed in 2002 and 2006.

 

[Chigusa]

The Dream Team Era is 1992 through 1996 where almost every guy is a hall of fame player with the goal of basketball dominance. People have gotten used to calling every USA team the 'dream team', but any squads other than 92-96 that are called the dream team are fraudulent. The Dream Teams were true NBA all-star rosters, unlike 2002 and 2004..in Athens they only had two All stars Iverson & Duncan..missed prime Shaq, prime Kidd, Kobe, KG ect..

Oh yeah Childress looked good again today in Euroleague..almost every time I watch Olympiakos play Josh looks like one of, if not the best player on the floor....Sofo was exceptional too, pretty much destroyed Jatovkas.

 

[Czarkazem13]

Aaah, staying away for a while is not good, apparently I lost the touch. But it's obvious I am not talking about a single specific selection. That was my terminology mistake. Dream Team, DTII, DTX2010 or whatever the name is a team composed of NBA stars. So far these teams won in 1994, did not participate in 1998, and failed in 2002 and 2006.

Oh, Team USA, my bad I thought you were talking about the Dream Team. Somehow seeing Marbury, Battier, Hardaway (both), Richmond, Smith, Baker, Abdur-Rahim and others don't exactly have me screaming "dream team."

Calling every U.S. team "Dream Team" belittles what the Dream Team was. The rest were just NBA stars or solid players, but what made the Dream Team the "Dream Team" was that it had future HOFers and all time greats (Malone, Stockton, Jordan, Barkley, etc...huh, Thomas aside).

Anywho, I don't see the U.S. needing to go backwards (going for players that can't make it in the NBA) being the smart thing. When Team USA picks the right talent, NBA players offer the U.S. the best chance to win (along with the NBAers on other teams for the most part). I don't see what's to gain by going with U.S. EL players.

 

[YM4Ever]

Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant. Sound familar? That's the 3 leading scorers in the NBA, 3 of the best (or just, the best) small forwards on the planet. That's who Childress would be playing behind...or won't be, because I highly doubt he'll make it. I mean, he might be a solid starter in the NBA, but with that much depth at SF for the US, there's no way he could make it.

 

[ip84]

no way this happens...to much pride

+1

Otherwise I agree with the thread's opener about each of his words about him.

 

[mvblair]

I have always supported the idea of having our international players playing on Team USA. I think it's a wonderful idea. I would be fully supportive of Childress playing on Team USA.

(OT: I'd like to see Team USA comprised of 1/4 internationals, 1/4 recently retired NBAers, 1/4 college kids who kid all get good practice time in during late spring, and then 1/4 NBA players)

He's a good two guard who knows the game, both the NBA-style game and the European-style game. He was always one of the smartest players I've seen when I saw him play for Atlanta.

He'd be better for us than Michael Redd and Tayshaun Prince.

Unfortunately, I don't think it'll happen. But I'd be ecstatic if it does.

 

[Dtown]

I have always supported the idea of having our international players playing on Team USA. I think it's a wonderful idea. I would be fully supportive of Childress playing on Team USA.

(OT: I'd like to see Team USA comprised of 1/4 internationals, 1/4 recently retired NBAers, 1/4 college kids who kid all get good practice time in during late spring, and then 1/4 NBA players)

He's a good two guard who knows the game, both the NBA-style game and the European-style game. He was always one of the smartest players I've seen when I saw him play for Atlanta.

He'd be better for us than Michael Redd and Tayshaun Prince.

Unfortunately, I don't think it'll happen. But I'd be ecstatic if it does.

Of course you also openly rooted against Team USA last tournament, so I'm not sure "us" is the United States

Really it's all very simple. Kevin Durant wants to play for team USA in both the World Championship and the Olympics. The same Durant who's having an MVP caliber season, and happens to be a small forward.

 

[mvblair]

Of course you also openly rooted against Team USA last tournament, so I'm not sure "us" is the United States

When we win, it's "us." When we lose, it's "them."

Really it's all very simple. Kevin Durant wants to play for team USA in both the World Championship and the Olympics. The same Durant who's having an MVP caliber season, and happens to be a small forward.

Yes, but I think we could make room for Childress, too.

 

[Dtown]

When we win, it's "us." When we lose, it's "them." Yes, but I think we could make room for Childress, too.

I think that depends if Carmelo wants to sign on again or not.

 

[Unimane]

With the rule changes, I'm not sure why an international player like Childress would be necessary. The rectangle lane, 3 point line, etc. are more in line with the NBA, so the game is more homogenized now. Childress wasn't one of the top 50 players in the NBA when he played, I don't know what the allure of him would be now, especially with these changes. Durant is far and away more talented and versatile than Childress (or Anthony, in my opinion). I couldn't see Childress even on a second or third tier American team. There's a reason he's playing in Greece and not in the US.

 

[mvblair]

With the rule changes, I'm not sure why an international player like Childress would be necessary. The rectangle lane, 3 point line, etc. are more in line with the NBA, so the game is more homogenized now.

That's a very, very good point. I think the big difference though is defense; the "Euro" style employs a zone defense all the time, which is what gave us headaches in '02 and '04. I think Childress is probably much more adept now at breaking those defenses.

There's a reason he's playing in Greece and not in the US.

Yeah, he got a little more money and a tax cut.

 

[dudas]

no he shouldnt he's a good athlete , pretty good offensive force but is shaky on defense , i think he should have stayed in nba to improve hes game in the highest level , he won't do that in greece

 

[mbenga]

Nothing to gain? How about pride as a competitor, unless you're suggesting Turkey has weakminded players.

Exactly what does it say? Correct me if I'm wrong, but your assumption is that because France hasn't performed well internationally (which isn't true) with its NBA players, that it somehow exposes their "level" of play as ineffective compared to other European teams that don't have an abundance of NBA players.

As the US debacle in 2002 and 2004 proved, just stocking a team with NBA talent and telling them to win isn't good enough anymore, and anyone who has followed international basketball over the past 10 years knows that. As I pointed out earlier, establishing team concepts and preparation time has far more of an impact on a team's success than what league players compete in. In addition, it's no secret the NBA and FIBA have fundamental differences in play, rules, and nuances, so logically, if the majority of players on France's roster are NBAers then adjustments are in order. Such transitions are easier for countries like Slovenia or Greece, where most of their players are European-based, playing under FIBA rules.

The "problem" with that french NT is different to the one the US had in 02/04. It's not that they had not a proper preparation, the frenchs simply were not that talented despite having a lot of NBA players.



ANd answering to the poll...just, no.

 

[FIBABall2k10]

USA showed they can play with international rules and if anything i'd take Jennings over Childress on my team. Childress left the NBA because he wasn't talented enough, haha.

 

[Federoy]

The "problem" with that french NT is different to the one the US had in 02/04. It's not that they had not a proper preparation, the frenchs simply were not that talented despite having a lot of NBA players.



ANd answering to the poll...just, no.

The only direct comparison I made between the US-France was the fact that, like the US in 02/04, with France having so many NBA players on its roster it takes a longer period of time for them to gel as a unit given the rules differences between the NBA and FIBA and the adjustments that are necessary. Now, even had the US had more time to form better chemistry, there was no guarantee that would've translated into them winning gold in 02/04, as was the case with France last year. But there's no question that more training time together improves a team's chemistry, thus improving the level play and inabiling a team to compete against better competition.

Where you, Franz, Victorious and I disagree is the belief that France has underachieved despite having NBA players; I maintain that they haven't. I just believe they have chemistry problems along with personal absences that have prevented them from consistently competing with the USAs, Argentinas, and Spains of the world.

 

[Victorious]

USA showed they can play with international rules and if anything i'd take Jennings over Childress on my team. Childress left the NBA because he wasn't talented enough, haha.

Childress' game has become deeper since he has come to Europe. Jennings is a good player, but he underperforms in Europe. On the other hand, Childress has can perform on both sides of the pond. I'm sure that when he'll be back in the NBA he'll be a lot better than he was before.

 

[Blinky]

I think what the thread starter meant to say is that pre-europe Childress is an average-good NBA player, nothing more, but post-europe childress has evolved and has gained some attributes that would not help him in the NBA (maybe even worsen him) but could help tons in an international match played by FIBA rules.

Team USA clearly has a large pool of NBA players to choose from. But as we see, from the tier1 stars only 2-3 accept to follow the NT. Then we got 4-5 that are tier 1.5 players and then there are 3-4 that are tier 2 NBA players.
Well, childress could easily fill a spot of one of those tier2 players, they are not any better than him and he is not any better than them, but he does possess NOW some knowledge that they don't...

I think the argument is fair to begin with , however if the rules are half NBA half FIBA like in the olympics, there really isn't any need for a player with childress's knowledge for team USA. Now if the WC 2010 the referees whistle like WC 2006 ....childress could be absolutely usefull (though maybe not a great impact, but usefull none the less).

 

[Lewis]

I think the myth that playing under international rules make nba player worse is not only quite silly but also has been disproved in Beijing already.

the reason why most pseudo-Dream teams didn't accomplish much in the past was basically because nobody gave a F.... about it as long as we had the NBA. Now there are people who do care.

so it's not like anybody can be part of the team just for having played in Europe, That's like not only letting Anthony Parker play for the team but also making him captain.

besides, there have been a heck of a lot of other USA-basketball teams before field entirely with American player playing in Europe and they haven't fair that well in international competitions

here's an exmaple:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Tournament_of_the_Americas

they were dead last