2010 World Championship preparation games

[Federoy]

I believe USA play suits Greece as Greece plays a lot in the lowpost. At least 70% of Greek game is there and that is the weak spot of US.
Saying that, Greece cannot match any other aspect of the US team...

Yes, I agree with you. Greece definitely gives the US more match-up problems because of their post and pick-and-roll play, a style of offense that takes discipline and patience defensively to contain; something at this stage in the US's preparations that's lacking. Although they show flashes of great one-on-one defense, the US hasn't looked great at sealing off the lane as a team. I watched old, slow Garbajosa drive straight down the lane uncontested a number of times. The Greeks will eat the US alive if they allow that kind of unchallenged dribble penetration or cutting big men off the pick-and-roll. Greece will be a formitable challenge for sure.

Also, Greece doesn't have the mental baggage that Spain does. They've beaten the US in a serious contest (arguably a better US team in 2006 at that). They have a methodical formula that works, and if they stick to their gameplan they can be successful.

[christodoulou76]

I am not that optimistic, DD's grandmother died and he probably won't be playing and, anyways, how much time can Sofo play?

Sofo maxes at 20-25 min/g, I think - he will most likely play 15-18 min. Tsartsaris and Vouyoukas will share the rest of the minutes at center. DD is scheduled to play on Wednesday - in fact, he will be back in Athens tomorrow for practice (funeral is today).

On the basis of the friendlies so far and some projections, the minutes distribution on the Greek team during the WC (ignoring the likely suspensions and Bourousis' injury for the moment) is likely to be:

predicted minutes and depth chart for Greek NT:
1: Zisis 18, Calathes 22
2: Spanoulis 26, Zisis 6, Diamantidis 8
3: Diamantidis 16, Perperoglou 14, Printezis 8, Kaimakoglou 2
4: Fotsis 22, Printezis 8, Tsartsaris 10
5: Bourousis 20, Schortsianitis 18, Vouyoukas 2

[g.g]

Yes, I agree with you. Greece definitely gives the US more match-up problems because of their post and pick-and-roll play, a style of offense that takes discipline and patience defensively to contain; something at this stage in the US's preparations that's lacking. Although they show flashes of great one-on-one defense, the US hasn't looked great at sealing off the lane as a team. I watched old, slow Garbajosa drive straight down the lane uncontested a number of times. The Greeks will eat the US alive if they allow that kind of unchallenged dribble penetration or cutting big men off the pick-and-roll. Greece will be a formitable challenge for sure.

Also, Greece doesn't have the mental baggage that Spain does. They've beaten the US in a serious contest (arguably a better US team in 2006 at that). They have a methodical formula that works, and if they stick to their gameplan they can be successful.

Its going to be an interesting game as the difference in body weight and size between the two teams is huge. Its size v agility.

[Adon]

Yes, I agree with you. Greece definitely gives the US more match-up problems because of their post and pick-and-roll play, a style of offense that takes discipline and patience defensively to contain; something at this stage in the US's preparations that's lacking. Although they show flashes of great one-on-one defense, the US hasn't looked great at sealing off the lane as a team. I watched old, slow Garbajosa drive straight down the lane uncontested a number of times. The Greeks will eat the US alive if they allow that kind of unchallenged dribble penetration or cutting big men off the pick-and-roll. Greece will be a formitable challenge for sure.

Also, Greece doesn't have the mental baggage that Spain does. They've beaten the US in a serious contest (arguably a better US team in 2006 at that). They have a methodical formula that works, and if they stick to their gameplan they can be successful.

Imo,Greece has good chances only if they will score open 3p shots with a high % .Low post game is essential but not enough to beat USA.

[christodoulou76]

Imo,Greece has good chances only if they will score open 3p shots with a high % .Low post game is essential but not enough to beat USA.

The key in my mind is turnovers. If the Greek guards can control the ball and limit turnovers, then Greece has a chance.

[Richey666]

From Bleacherreport:

"Most importantly, the U.S. team simply needs to continue familiarizing themselves with international rules. It sounds simple and obvious, yes, but there were too many occasions today where the U.S. squad made stupid mistakes and reverted back to NBA rules.

In the first quarter, the physicality of the game appeared to bother the Americans. In the fourth, a costly travel from Durant (he moved his pivot foot too early) and a continuation foul late by Iguodala nearly cost the Americans the game. Coach K must clean up these types of mistakes now, or the U.S. will stand no chance against the Euro squads that have played by these rules for years."

[chrisfiss]

i'm looking forward for the Greece-Usa game but i dont really care if we win or lose, and maybe prefer to lose for various reasons... What matters are the wc games not friendlies.

[g.g]

The key in my mind is turnovers. If the Greek guards can control the ball and limit turnovers, then Greece has a chance.

A combination of all the above. Greece needs a v. good game to beat the US. Low post game is the secret as the US players are committing easy fouls while Sofo or even Tsatsaris would have little competition under the basket.

[Federoy]

It's an impressive effort from Spain (well, not so much) considering they were like 0-30 to start the game and were still able to lose by 1. Even with one of their worst performance, Spain was able to keep it close. Certainly a positive.

This game was one of those glass half empty or half full scenarios. I'm not really sure either team comes out of this looking fantastic in the end. Both showed promising signs to build off of heading into Turkey, but both also showed a ton of negatives that can be exploited if either team performs like that again. I expect improvement out of both teams in the days to come, but Turkey, Greece, Argentina and others have got to be encouraged by what they saw if they have hopes of derailing these favorites.

USA definitely had a better offensive game today. They made some crucial threes as well drive to the basket for fouls. However, I'm still to cautious of this team and their inexperience. For instance, they continue to make their games look like Allstar game with their dunks and passing. Instead of doing the simple play, they choose to do too much. I don't think that's a habit which can be prevented with this team. Too young and too careless. Ask Rubio who was no better with his crazy play.

Yeah, this drives me f-ing crazy. That flop dunk that Westbrook missed in the open court could've been the difference in them winning and losing (the second such missed dunk--Gay missed a fancy dunk in the Lithuania game). I'm tired of seeing ally-oop passes instead of simple bounce passes. When you're up by 20 and the game is out of hand, I don't mind those kind of plays. But not in the middle of a contested battle. That's a sign of immaturity and not respecting the situation at hand. All of that needs to be cleaned up along with the sloppy ball handling. Lamar Odem flat out scares me when he has the ball in his hands. Him and Spanulius should have a half-time dribbling contest.

[JGX]

Nice to see a big game from Durant since the main question for this summer is how ready he looks for 2012. But playing 37:44 in a friendly? Spain isn't going to shoot 5-22 from three in every game.

Which Calderon performance against the US is the worst?

Olympics group stage: 22 minutes, 1-5 FG, 0 assists, 1 turnover
Olympics final: DNP
Today: 18 minutes, 0-5 FG, 3 assists, 3 turnovers

The DNP was of course the best but it's tough to decide between the other two.

[Phantim3dx]

Okay g.g., I take back what I said. You're not bias.

But as a US supporter, there are still things that concern me about this team. They have to be more effecient offensively. WAAAAY too many poor decisions and sloppy handling with the ball. I realize FIBA uses Molten brand balls, which have a different paneling, texture, and tend to be lighter and slightly smaller than the NBA's Spalding, but they've had weeks to adjust to that, so I'm perplexed as to why they can't seem to get their handles in order.

molten balls are pretty nice federoy. i personally have one. they are like a shooter's ball imho just like a wilson evolution bball.

[Phantim3dx]

i need to dl this game! i heard 2 blocks on a classic boeheim zone on the final seconds? i swear it's like the syracuse vs kansas final in 2003, i think it was warrick who made the game winning block on that one.

[Federoy]

molten balls are pretty nice federoy. i personally have one. they are like a shooter's ball imho just like a wilson evolution bball.

Oh, I don't doubt that they are. I'm just trying to put my finger on why the ball handling has been so poor. I know NBA players often complain about the feel of the Molten ball which is suppositely different than the Spalding brand. I'm not suggesting the Molten ball is the sole reason for the position hiccups but it could be a contributing factor.

[christodoulou76]

Nice to see a big game from Durant since the main question for this summer is how ready he looks for 2012. But playing 37:44 in a friendly? Spain isn't going to shoot 5-22 from three in every game.

Which Calderon performance against the US is the worst?

Olympics group stage: 22 minutes, 1-5 FG, 0 assists, 1 turnover
Olympics final: DNP
Today: 18 minutes, 0-5 FG, 3 assists, 3 turnovers

The DNP was of course the best but it's tough to decide between the other two.

i just read a report that calderon was injured in the game today. anyone have more info on this?

[Dtown]

Finally off work, and apparently I missed a good finish to the game.

But I think both teams can take a lot out of this game and hold themselves high, I think with Greece they are the gold medal favorites and saw nothing today to disprove that. Still both teams are beatable so it should be a fun tournament provided they strive to improve their games.