How far could an American NCAA selection get in this tourney?

[Rostam2]

I'm excluding all freshmen for inexperience. With proper training and coaching I think they could make it out of the group stage. Maybe even further.

Frank Kaminiski(Wis)/Willie Cauley(Kent)
Chris Walker(FLA)/Montrezl Harrell(Louisville)/Brice Johnson(N.C.)
Sam Dekker(Wis)/Alex Poythress(Kent)
Caris LeVert(Mich)/Aaron Harrison(Kent)/Wayne Selden(Kansas)
Marcus Paige(N.C.)/Andrew Harrison(Kent)

 

[Bad Boys 28822]

The freshmen are the ones with the most talent, so....

If you took the best possible non-NBA Americans, there would be a lot of talent, but at some point when you're all 18-20 years old and going up against grown men, inexperience will be your downfall.

I think the top USA amateur team would make it out of group play as well, but I don't think they medal.

 

[Rostam2]

I agree that freshmen have the most talent and all the good ones will turn pro after a year. But I just don't think at 17-18 they have the bodies to compete with grown men. They'll get pushed around. Unless they're lebron.

 

[GuTO2]

5 place in my group.

 

[Jon_Koncak2]

They'd definitely get past the first round.Last year BYU played a friendly against Greece and went toe to toe until 25th minute or so.And this college didnt even play in the NCAA tourney.Some years ago another college beat Israel NT in a friendly,again it wasnt a top one,cant remember exactly.Kentucky easily beat french professional teams in some exhibition matches last month.So i dont think an all star college team would get thrashed by everybody as many believe.They'd be around the level of this years Australia for example.

 

[Cuneyt2]

Turkish U-18's would get to the last 16...yada yada yada

Let us keep the BS fresh, as there is no way to disprove it!!

 

[AmonRA2]

5 place in my group.

+1 :d

 

[CHBB2]

Not very far at all. What, because Spain lost to a French team that had been underachieving all tournament that means the US is so much more superior than every other country despite the obvious evidence to the contrary?

If you had a team made up of Butler type of players then MAYBE they have a chance to get out of the group stage but otherwise these kids are too busy being primadonnas already counting their NBA paychecks to have anywhere near a legitimate chance against less selfish and more hungry players who are most of them grown men.

You include BOTH Harrison brothers and think that team can win anything?

It takes A LOT more than talent to win against well coached teams with talent.

 

[carlo2]

They wouldn't advance, imo. College (men's) bball is now so depleted by pros that besides some (too) young freshmen talents, the remaining players would be overwhelmed by most Euro teams and several other NTs (for sure from Americas, probably also from other countries) mainly due to lack of experience and development on rough play as it is at international level.
USA sent their young available collegians to World University Games (not playing vs true NTs) and they haven't won since 2005.

 

[Victorious2]

They'd definitely get past the first round.Last year BYU played a friendly against Greece and went toe to toe until 25th minute or so.And this college didnt even play in the NCAA tourney.Some years ago another college beat Israel NT in a friendly,again it wasnt a top one,cant remember exactly.Kentucky easily beat french professional teams in some exhibition matches last month.So i dont think an all star college team would get thrashed by everybody as many believe.They'd be around the level of this years Australia for example.

You forgot that many college teams came to the Acropolis tournament for an exhibition during the summer. I saw a few games live in 2010. The game was usually over by the second quarter. I saw some boys trying to play against men. Although that Greek team then was very strong. But in this world cup perhaps a very good college team could have a slight chance to go to the play offs in a very weak group. I mean, I think they could be better than teams like Korea. But beating teams like Ukraine would be tough for them. In the end I assume they would loose.

 

[CHBB2]

They wouldn't advance, imo. College (men's) bball is now so depleted by pros that besides some (too) young freshmen talents, the remaining players would be overwhelmed by most Euro teams and several other NTs (for sure from Americas, probably also from other countries) mainly due to lack of experience and development on rough play as it is at international level.
USA sent their young available collegians to World University Games (not playing vs true NTs) and they haven't won since 2005.

Exactly. Now every kid thinks "I could've gotten drafted out of high school" so they only go to one year of college and then straight to the NBA, which means that often the best talent in the NCAA is undeveloped, inexperienced, and often undersized compared to the best talent of the days before the now infamous "one and done" rule.

On the other side, they have kids who have been playing pro against grown men for at least a few years in very tough, hard-nosed leagues that are much more similar to the "No Boys Allowed" days of the NBA.

 

[Bad Boys 28822]

The world university games rarely feature elite talent.

The u-17 and u-19 competitions are somewhat better examples. Part of the overall strategy for returning USA to the top of the world was getting more talented kids to participate.

 

[CHBB2]

The world university games rarely feature elite talent.

The u-17 and u-19 competitions are somewhat better examples. Part of the overall strategy for returning USA to the top of the world was getting more talented kids to participate.

But how do we judge "talent" these days in this country? By high high school rankings and statistics. Other countries judge talent by how their players play at different levels, and that's how they pick their national teams. Our "experts" willingly ignore glaring flaws in the games of our "elite" talent due to their impressive stats or high school ranking or what level of "recruit" they are. This has expanded into not just college but the NBA, our highest level of competition.

They're big fish in a very large but very shallow ocean going up against fish coming from a smaller but very deep ocean. This gives them the illusion of being "elite" and being tested but the reality shows something far different.

 

[Bad Boys 28822]

But how do we judge "talent" these days in this country? By high high school rankings and statistics. Other countries judge talent by how their players play at different levels, and that's how they pick their national teams. Our "experts" willingly ignore glaring flaws in the games of our "elite" talent due to their impressive stats or high school ranking or what level of "recruit" they are. This has expanded into not just college but the NBA, our highest level of competition.

They're big fish in a very large but very shallow ocean going up against fish coming from a smaller but very deep ocean. This gives them the illusion of being "elite" and being tested but the reality shows something far different.

It isn't about judging talent, it's about coaching talent. Developing talent. The talented players self-select until highschool and then the college/nba system takes over.

 

[CHBB2]

It isn't about judging talent, it's about coaching talent. Developing talent. The talented players self-select until highschool and then the college/nba system takes over.

It is about judging talent because that's how you pick the talent you're going to coach.

The highly ranked players do that. Not all of them are as talented as their rankings, and we often see that in college and then in the NBA, regardless of statistics.

 

[Nikoo2]

If they get the USA seeding(1st pot) they'll definetly get out of the group by beating the two minnow teams, but won't be able to handle the teams that are top 15 in the world. I remember that USA send NCAA team to one of the PanAm games(led by Roy Hibbert) and they couldn't get pass Brasil, Argentina and Panama, I think.

 

[JGX2]

I remember that USA send NCAA team to one of the PanAm games(led by Roy Hibbert) and they couldn't get pass Brasil, Argentina and Panama, I think.

Yeah, in 2007 the US team of college players lost to Uruguay and Panama in the group stage before winning their last three and finishing fifth. I remember the Panama game, they couldn't stop the Panamanian point guard's penetration at all. Only a few players on that US team established themselves in the NBA though.

 

[DarkoMVP2]

Not so far. More interesting an American non-NBA team like
McCalebb/Delaney/Brown
Langford/Hickman/Hackett
Weems/Smith
Dunston/Hines
James/Hendrix/Davis

Maybe some college players too

Sort of like the Dirty Dozen, which managed a pretty good result

 

[JGX2]

Pretty strong team of non-NBA players finished fourth at the 2005 FIBA-Americas, losing six of ten games. With lesser talent I think the lack of previous experience playing together would be a much bigger obstacle.

We may see non-NBA players in the qualifiers under the new setup in 2017.

 

[CHBB2]

Yeah, in 2007 the US team of college players lost to Uruguay and Panama in the group stage before winning their last three and finishing fifth. I remember the Panama game, they couldn't stop the Panamanian point guard's penetration at all. Only a few players on that US team established themselves in the NBA though.

Different era. Think of all of the players who got drafted in the late 1st round or even 2nd round back then as "project" players despite being big names and hyped up the same as "lottery picks" these days.

We may see non-NBA players in the qualifiers under the new setup in 2017.

Personally I hope it's the opposite. I hope that instead of national teams playing without their best players, something similar to soccer happens where clubs are forced to actually develop their backups because their best players are off on national team duty. It would really expand the level of talent available for leagues worldwide as opposed to having only so many "max contract" players.