Would the U.S. win gold with this team?

[post]

I thought of an interesting way the U.S. could challenge itself more in the Olympics, inspired by the realization there are only 1.4 NBA starters on the average non U.S. team, with Spain leading all with 5 when including Ibaka and Marc Gasol. So construct a U.S. team with any three NBA starters you want, but the other 9 players have to be NBA bench players. By bench player, i mean someone who has been in the league for at least 3 years and has played a majority of their career games as a non starter. I believe this would make things more equal between countries than throwing 12 NBA starters/11-12 NBA all stars out there. I think this team would function well together as well. If you don't think this particular team would win gold, how would they do and do you think my general idea could produce a gold medal team but with different players?

Team (with projected minutes played, which could be adjusted depending on the situation)

Starters:

C-Dewayne Dedmon (13.3)
PF-Ed Davis (13.3)
SF-Lebron James (35.0)
SG-James Harden (35.0)
PG-Stephen Curry (35.0)

Bench:

C-Cole Aldrich (13.3)
C-Jeff Withey (13.3)
PF-Taj Gibson (13.3)
PF-Darrell Arthur (13.3)
SF-Jared Dudley (5.0)
SG-J.R. Smith (5.0)
PG-Jarrett Jack (5.0)

[reamily]

Well Jr Smith = Bogdan Bogdanovic both are chuckers ..

[post]

Smith is an above average 3 point shooter for his career though. Bogdanovic has never even played in the NBA.

[Levenspiel]

... I believe this would make things more equal between countries than throwing 12 NBA starters/11-12 NBA all stars out there...

Interesting thought, but I think you could have simply send the US players playing abroad to make it "more equal". That was the case for a while, and competition seemed "more equal".

As for your example, I think yes. They would.

This gives me the impression that you guys are now so bored of beating the internationals easily that you are trying to make it more fun by inventing new ways of doing it, like I used to play tetris upside down after a while.

[reamily]

Really the fact that the nba best players only play every two years and dont play in regional tournaments adds to their invincibility..

[Mindozas]

This gives me the impression that you guys are now so bored of beating the internationals easily that you are trying to make it more fun by inventing new ways of doing it, like I used to play tetris upside down after a while.

Haha, exactly my thoughts (and my actions with tetris back in the days)

[Levenspiel]

Someone was adding the populations of Euro bball nations in other thread to make a case that the US has a huge advantage just because of its size.

Then we can ask this question to test this claim: "Who would win a game between the US vs the Europe?"

Who would be in that team; the Europe?

my quick roster (I might have forgotten someone major; Nowitzki and Pau are retired)

- Teodosic/Rodriguez/ Dragic (Yagmur?)
- De Colo / Fernandez
- Antetokounmpo / Datome
- Bjelica / Ibaka
- M. Gasol / Bourousis / Gobert

[reamily]

US can be divided to east coast and west coast just like Croatia and Serbia divided(From Yugoslavia) (which also divided to Montenegro)

[Mindozas]

US can be divided to east coast and west coast just like Croatia and Serbia divided(From Yugoslavia) (which also divided to Montenegro)

This comparison is sooo wrong, man, I mean so really wrong

[post]

Smith is an above average 3 point shooter for his career though. Bogdanovic has never even played in the NBA.

I should add Smith has also proven to be at least decent on defense. You could do a lot worse defensively for a back up shooting guard, with say Jamal Crawford.

[post]

Someone was adding the populations of Euro bball nations in other thread to make a case that the US has a huge advantage just because of its size.

Then we can ask this question to test this claim: "Who would win a game between the US vs the Europe?"

Who would be in that team; the Europe?

my quick roster (I might have forgotten someone major; Nowitzki and Pau are retired)

- Teodosic/Rodriguez/ Dragic (Yagmur?)
- De Colo / Fernandez
- Antetokounmpo / Datome
- Bjelica / Ibaka
- M. Gasol / Bourousis / Gobert

Starters:

C-Hassan Whiteside
PF-Anthony Davis
SF-Lebron James
SG-Stephen Curry
PG-Chris Paul

Bench:
C-Deandre Jordan
PF-Blake Griffin
SF-Kevin Durant
SF-Kawhi Leonard
SG-Klay Thompson
SG-James Harden
PG- Russell Westbrook

I suspect that team would slaughter your European team. Would my 3 starter/9 bench player team beat your European team?

[MZT Skopje]

Lol, USA would win 30-40 points.

We have no basketball in europe, compered with yours our is semi-pro basketball.

[Beez]

In the US, college conferences "challenge" one another. I would like to see a Anglo-sphere/European challenge. So it would go something like this: USA vs Lithuanian (in Lithuanian), Spain vs Australia (in Australia. Rematch!), Canada vs France (in France), Serbia versus New Zealand (in New Zealand). But the matchups could be setup in different ways.

I don't think either side would go 4-0 against the other. It's a fair matchup. We would get the excitement of a home crowd, which is always lacking in Olympic competition and, sometimes, in World Cup play. The European teams would have the advantage early on, but it would, hopefully, encourage players like Ben Simmons, Andrew Wiggins and Steven Adams to play for their national teams.

I know it will never happen. I'm just thinking of ways to develop competitive international rivalries that will add excitement and grow the game.

[mojo13]

In the US, college conferences "challenge" one another. I would like to see a Anglo-sphere/European challenge. So it would go something like this: USA vs Lithuanian (in Lithuanian), Spain vs Australia (in Australia. Rematch!), Canada vs France (in France), Serbia versus New Zealand (in New Zealand). But the matchups could be setup in different ways.

I don't think either side would go 4-0 against the other. It's a fair matchup. We would get the excitement of a home crowd, which is always lacking in Olympic competition and, sometimes, in World Cup play. The European teams would have the advantage early on, but it would, hopefully, encourage players like Ben Simmons, Andrew Wiggins and Steven Adams to play for their national teams.

I know it will never happen. I'm just thinking of ways to develop competitive international rivalries that will add excitement and grow the game.

Is this the partial thought behind the new home and home qualifcation system. Maybe it loses its purpose without the best players playing, but the home games will be interesting. We Canadians hardly get a chance to see our national team play meaningful games on home soil...so at least there is that.

From the FIBA website this is there reasoning for the changes:

Benefits
The growth of national team basketball in any country needs to be promoted”

Improved basketball exposure: More than 140 countries playing – 1,250 regular and meaningful games.

New interest for basketball: Regular official national team games in front of their home fans.

Player-friendly system with one free summer: Maximises the chance of having international stars in the flagship FIBA tournaments.

Opportunity for new countries and players to emerge through regular official games.

All-year regular visibility of the national team, not only in summer time – creating synergies with club competitions.

Improved structure of lead-up to flagship national team tournaments: Clear “Road to” the main FIBA competitions.

Enhanced potential for commercial and media partners to be associated with the national teams and the main FIBA competitions.

Development of National Federations, giving them own assets, new tools and more resources.

Increased media exposure and promotion for national team basketball – generating benefits across all FIBA Zones.

Why the Changes?

No visibility of national teams in their home countries.

National team competitions in selected host countries taking place ONLY in the summer.

No easy-to-follow qualification system throughout the 5 continental zones.

No lead-up (“Road to”) to the flagship national team competitions - large gaps without games.

Unlike other team sports, currently no official regular home games for all national teams.

Future participation of the best players to national team flagship tournaments questionable.

No development potential for most of the National Federations - as the same countries play and win the major competitions.

Too much “wear and tear” for the international players competing every summer at the end of the club season.

Economic viability of the current system at risk in a changing environment as other sports are improving their position.



Of course we can argue the real intentions or what the actual results will be, but I am a believer in listen to what your adversary says when trying to figure out what they truly want.

[Beez]

Of course we can argue the real intentions or what the actual results will be, but I am a believer in listen to what your adversary says when trying to figure out what they truly want.

I went to the FIBA site and watched the video. Other than being thoroughly confusing, what's the main concern about the new qualification process?