Apparently Evan Mobley has Bahamian eligibility. If he were to join the Bahamas and Klay were to switch to the Bahamas they could roll out a starting lineup in the Olympics of Eric Gordon, Buddy Hield, Klay Thompson, Evan Mobley, and DeAndre Ayton which is frankly absurd for a nation of their size (less than half the population of SF). Presumably Evan Mobley's brother would also join, and it sounds like Naz Reid has Bahamian eligibility as well.
Would be fun for the game, but I assume Evan Mobley would prefer to play on the US team so it seems unlikely.
Both Klay and Gordon are only eligible as “naturalized” players, and teams can only have one naturalized player on the roster at a time… not sure about the others, but apparently have to choose between Klay and Gordon
I had a genuine gut feeling from the first 4 games, that USA would soon lose and I said to my wife, that Lithuania may be the first team to actually do it. They may not be the last as I definitely see a weakness in Team USA. Some will point at Kerr and blame it on his inability to use a big man to the fullest. Lithuania was bigger, better on the boards, and shooting lights out from the 3. We all know how Kerr coaches and his proclivities for small ball. The problem seems to lie with the players starting slowly, not shooting well. These players were not hand picked by Kerr and there are probably other agendas that go into putting a Team USA together. Having said this, Team USA has been able to come back in every game to squash their opponents except this one. The only thing that has changed is the quality of the opponents. First, Montenegro showed the weakness in Team USA but luckily lost to them. I don't think Italy will beat them but I suspect that one of the upcoming opponents might do it. I'm not saying USA cannot win it all. Just asking the question, 'Will they?'
Just watched the US/Lithuania replay. Great effort by Lithuania along with incredible shooting from deep, including their first NINE threes that put US in a big hole. I was really impressed with Ant Man - not so much his big offensive game but the pressure he put on Lithuania ball-handlers in the second half. I always thought of him as a low-efficiency chucker, but as a high-scoring two-way player he has the chance to be special. JJJ, on the other hand, never seemed to be comfortable out there. He wasn't getting any touches in the paint, and he put up an ill-advised 3 pointer in the 4th quarter when the US was only down 4. And, of course, he fouled out again. He's a great on-ball defender, but only got one rebound the whole game while the US was outrebounded 43-27.
US team would definitely be better with Loon out there instead of JJJ.
So the NBA, with its stars pulled from all over the globe, isn’t “far and away the best global league” cuz a group of 2nd tier American NBA players who don’t practice together lost a single group stage match played under different rules than they’re used to?
Let’s say that we agree that Noah Lyles seems to be the fastest 200m sprinter in the world. Seems to be. Should we give him the 2024 Paris Olympics gold right now? Would save everyone a lot of trouble
I just watched the full replay of the USA-Lithuania game (not knowing the results going into it). I must say that I am very impressed by Lithuania. They completely dominated us, especially in the first half. We never had a lead the entire game. When our guys finally got some traction in the third quarter, the closest we got was being down by only four. But each time we got close, Lithuania just pulled away. Lithuania moved the ball well, always finding the open man (sound familiar?) who usually made the shot. They totally out rebounded us, which I think was expected. They were so physical that players like Reaves and Halliburton were a non-factor. This and the Montenegro game clearly points out the need for big centers in the USA Olympic team who can rebound and go up against opposing big players. Silver lining is that even with the loss USA has already qualified for the Olympics.
I didn’t see the game, but I’m not surprised. Lithuania has an amazing history in international basketball, most memorably in the 2000 Olympics when they came within 2 points of upsetting the USA, then outright beating the USA in 2004 and almost beating USA again in the bronze medal game, which caused a crisis ending in the assembly of the Olympic Redeem Team. I know Lithuania hasn’t done as well in the last couple of Olympics, so maybe this is a sign of a renaissance.
The best two European teams will qualify for the Olympics directly.
Now, USA and Canada probably have a good chance of winning their quarter finals. If that happens, the winners of Lithuania vs. Serbia and Germany vs. Latvia both will qualify for Paris '24, being the two best Euro teams left in the tournemant. So, quite good chances for Lithuania.
And West was one of our Three Wise Men, a man to be heeded. Someday to be Dr West, I understand. I was curious what he was up to, having been a David West fan since he came in the league, and I learned that as of two years ago he was studying for his Masters in African-American History at NC Central U and planning to go on to get a Ph.D.
I was trying to think of centers that would definitely play for the USA in international competition.
Surprisingly few come to mind.
AD
Looney
Bam, maybe ... born in the USA, but he might also be eligible for the Nigerian team. He'd be fricking awesome on the national team if he did play.
Many of the NBA centers could or do play for other national teams: Embiid, Jokic, Gobert, Valuncianas, Zubac, Adams, Ayton (born in the Bahamas), Horford (Dominican Republic).
Jarrett Allen, Robert Williams, Brook Lopez, Wendell Carter, Nic Claxton, Myles Turner, Mitchell Robinson. Got guys like Kessler, Duren, and Mark Williams potentially on the come up.
But yeah, AD is the only superstar option and Bam is the only star option.
Yep. Draymond, JJJ, and Bam, and the other teams might as well just go home (assuming roughly the same quality as this year's team at other positions).
I wonder if we'll ever see the USA put together an 'A' team again for either the Olympics or FIBA championship? Say, 12 of the top 15-18 US players.
Oh and that SGA push off middy: the one that was featured in that one highlight all of last week and that won it for Canada today. Thats a push off. With the elbow. Nothing skilled about it other than teetering right on the edge of offensive foul-dom. Hopefully the NBA League office is watching closely.
Happens in the NBA all the time including our own Steph Curry who has really improved that aspect of his game as he has gained strength. Generally the key is not extending the arm into a blatant shove.
Yeah, fouls get called if you extend the forearm or displace a defender. If you’re extending your arm to the elbow and keeping the defender in place as you are stepping back away from them, it’s generally not considered a foul. But if the defender is right there on your hip and you use your elbow push to displace them while continuing your drive, it’s generally a foul.
Just got through watching the Lithuania-USA game. No doubt in my mind. Absolutely Zero that the US wins THIS GAME witb Draymond and Looney playing together at the same time in the front court. Just surround them with Hali, Edwards, and Bridges, and they woulda punched Lithuania in the mouth (figuratively).
Dray was a low-key essential part of the last Olympics gold. Dray and Loon together would be a great anchor of an all-underrated team (Loon moreso than Dray ofc).
My other international thought. Watching the Montenegro game I was thinking about the Olympics, and who else the US will have playing. Is there any argument that Steph, at age 35 is right now the overall best US player? Two offseason rankings had him, Jokic, and Giannis as the clear top 3 with a drop off after them. Maybe he ages by next year, but that will be fun if Kerr can talk him into playing.
The other interesting addition would be Chet. He had some success at the junior level I believe, and would bring more shot blocking and rebounding. Hopefully he is feeling healthy enough next summer to sign up for some summer hoops in Paris. Of course, we also have Joel deciding whom to play for, but he'd have to be healthy at the end of the year which seems unlikely.
I'd still love to see him snag an Olympic gold - it's about the only thing missing from his resume. Worried though that after the Dubs' fifth recent title this coming June that he'll be pretty worn down. Might not be a bad choice to bring off the bench for 15 minutes a night in meaningful Olympic games, though :)
Going from a 5th NBA Championship straight into Olympic Gold at his age would be a huge boost to his GOAT argument, especially in the “Magic or Steph?” discussion.
Also good to see US and Canada both qualifying for the Olympics, so they got that out of the way. I think it has been a while for Canada at the Olympics (looked it up, sounds like it has been since 2000, in the Steve Nash era)
Watching the Warriors’ new Kuminga dunk mixtape (which is awesome), I see plenty of one-handed jams and think it puts to bed any notion that his hands are too small. It seems like the reason he often dunks with two hands is simply because he can with his hops. Back in the day, I could (barely) dunk with one hand, but couldn’t come close to two-handed. https://youtu.be/-NdlnWGHZPQ?si=ebauMim_G26lIt4R
Good stuff. Some of the early ones make you dream about how good JK could be if he really can be a 35% (or better) 3pt shooter as he is just so quick that he can get by anybody that tries a hard closeout. There are a couple where he pretty much just hints that he is going to shoot and next thing you know, he is at the rim. Spread the floor with, say, Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, JK, and Saric, get the ball into JK's hands on the wing, and count it, 2pts (or a 35% chance at 3 if they don't close out).
Yeah, that was fun. It was also fun getting a glimpse of the scores - they were all over the map from Dubs up 25 to Dubs getting blown out, a lot of ups and downs over the last 2 years.
Haven't had a chance to watch the Lithuania game yet yet, but I did notice that USAB may have gotten into an easier side of the bracket with the loss. They will play Italy and probably Germany, who are tough, but Lithuania has to play Serbia and then the winner of Canada / Slovenia, which seems like a pair of harder games. Putting aside my USA homerism for a moment, this should be a fun elimination round, pretty much every team has a shot. I was going to say other than Latvia, but they've beaten some really good teams already.
In another datum for the Noah Lyles vs. The NBA World Championship debate, a Canadian team with 10 NBA players just lost to Brazil with exactly none. What does it prove? Not everything. But you do have to play the games before claiming victory. Not pictured for Canada: Andrew Wiggins and Jamal Murray. Yes pictured: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Kelly Olynyk, Dillon Brooks, Dwight Powell and more.
Honestly single-elimination results in a game like basketball are so variable I have a hard time with them. The NCAA tournament is exciting, yes, but the best team often doesn’t win. A seven game series makes it far more likely the best team will actually win, which strengthens the claim for me over single-elimination tournaments, particularly team sports like basketball where the three point shot is so important and also highly variable,
Yeah, single-elimination does raise the stakes for each game, however I wouldn’t say “far” more. And I prefer the tactical adjustments you get in a series that can’t happen in a single game.
Regardless, the point was about crowning a “world champion”, which single-elimination allows a lot more variance in team quality of the winner.
They could run it as double elimination. It would only add 1-2 more games but would ensure that teams have to lose twice to be out, thus mitigating against a bad night.
Those Brazilian players aren’t better than the Canadian ones. They just won a single game yesterday. The dynamics of basketball make upsets more probable than sprinting. Take golf, for instance… global sport. Does anybody think Harman is the best in the world cuz he won the most recent major? No… nobody does. He just had a few good rounds on a big stage. Do we decry the Champions league winner thinking they’re the best in the world cuz they didn’t beat the top MLS team?
I disagree. I think that in order to qualify as a sport, a competition must include exertion and stamina. Golf is a bit of a sweaty walk but you can play in slacks if you feel like it, there’s no rush. Billiards, also not a sport. Skills, to be sure. By my definition not sports. If the heart rate never elevates it’s not a sport. Archery: really cool but also not a sport. Shooting. Golf isn’t easy, I’m not saying that. But neither is chess, and neither are sports.
But golf does require stamina and strength. It requires far more endurance than, say, baseball (another sport played in pants). Are middle relievers not playing a sport?
I'm not a golfer so maybe I just don't get it but guys golf successfully into their 50s at a fairly high level, which there's no way you do in baseball. Play nine innnings on a hot day, run out a few hits, steal a base, make some tough defensive plays or chase down a few fly balls, and at the end of the game tell me that doesn't take endurance. Not like hoops of course but I think golf isn't even close.
Great question. I'm not sure middle relievers are playing a sport.
I mean, it's a matter of definition and those are always slippery. I think we can agree that soccer or tennis are sports. When we think of the amount of exertion those athletes expend, the amount of endurance needed to perform well, it's hard to say that golf and relief pitching have very much overlap.
Klay looks a bit slower than his heyday for sure. But also: Klay isn't a dribble creator in the first place, we all know that. Let's see someone pass him the ball as he comes around a screen. Still, I'm a bit more worried about his defense.
Klay's defense should not be evaluated based on 1:1 play. Yes, Klay will guard players 1:1 in real games, but within the team concept (just like Steph). That means overplaying to one side to funnel the offensive player towards Draymond or Looney. In a 1:1 game, you will give up a layup or a dunk every time, but in the team game, you'll get a mouthful of Draymond or Looney and a vastly different result.
Thanks for posting. Just hoping Klay doesn't fall too much in love with those one-legged fadeaways. Klay was only 47.0% on twos last year. Unless he can get layups and dunks, better for him to hoist the threes or give the ball up
> Just hoping Klay doesn't fall too much in love with those one-legged fadeaways.
Its far too late for that hope, he's already shown over a season and a half that he sees that as one of his weapons. It is definitely a weapon, I'll give him that. Just not for the Dubs.
Really fun watch. Mathurin is obviously stronger, quicker, and more athletic, but Klay is more efficient and decisive and needs way less time and space to get his (pure af) shot off, so he scores a lot more on Mathurin than vice versa.
Apparently Evan Mobley has Bahamian eligibility. If he were to join the Bahamas and Klay were to switch to the Bahamas they could roll out a starting lineup in the Olympics of Eric Gordon, Buddy Hield, Klay Thompson, Evan Mobley, and DeAndre Ayton which is frankly absurd for a nation of their size (less than half the population of SF). Presumably Evan Mobley's brother would also join, and it sounds like Naz Reid has Bahamian eligibility as well.
Would be fun for the game, but I assume Evan Mobley would prefer to play on the US team so it seems unlikely.
Both Klay and Gordon are only eligible as “naturalized” players, and teams can only have one naturalized player on the roster at a time… not sure about the others, but apparently have to choose between Klay and Gordon
I had a genuine gut feeling from the first 4 games, that USA would soon lose and I said to my wife, that Lithuania may be the first team to actually do it. They may not be the last as I definitely see a weakness in Team USA. Some will point at Kerr and blame it on his inability to use a big man to the fullest. Lithuania was bigger, better on the boards, and shooting lights out from the 3. We all know how Kerr coaches and his proclivities for small ball. The problem seems to lie with the players starting slowly, not shooting well. These players were not hand picked by Kerr and there are probably other agendas that go into putting a Team USA together. Having said this, Team USA has been able to come back in every game to squash their opponents except this one. The only thing that has changed is the quality of the opponents. First, Montenegro showed the weakness in Team USA but luckily lost to them. I don't think Italy will beat them but I suspect that one of the upcoming opponents might do it. I'm not saying USA cannot win it all. Just asking the question, 'Will they?'
For some reason I suspect if USA had AD and Bam they'd suddenly look like a team who knows how to play big
Probably so.
Lithuania population < Kansas
Just watched the US/Lithuania replay. Great effort by Lithuania along with incredible shooting from deep, including their first NINE threes that put US in a big hole. I was really impressed with Ant Man - not so much his big offensive game but the pressure he put on Lithuania ball-handlers in the second half. I always thought of him as a low-efficiency chucker, but as a high-scoring two-way player he has the chance to be special. JJJ, on the other hand, never seemed to be comfortable out there. He wasn't getting any touches in the paint, and he put up an ill-advised 3 pointer in the 4th quarter when the US was only down 4. And, of course, he fouled out again. He's a great on-ball defender, but only got one rebound the whole game while the US was outrebounded 43-27.
US team would definitely be better with Loon out there instead of JJJ.
The Noah Lyles Redemption Tour continues.
So the NBA, with its stars pulled from all over the globe, isn’t “far and away the best global league” cuz a group of 2nd tier American NBA players who don’t practice together lost a single group stage match played under different rules than they’re used to?
Who said it isn't far and away the best global league?
That's not the same as "When we win, it's a world championship."
It's not splitting hairs. Those things are different.
I did, and it’s not different.
Let’s say that we agree that Noah Lyles seems to be the fastest 200m sprinter in the world. Seems to be. Should we give him the 2024 Paris Olympics gold right now? Would save everyone a lot of trouble
Sprinting isn’t a sport. 😊
I just watched the full replay of the USA-Lithuania game (not knowing the results going into it). I must say that I am very impressed by Lithuania. They completely dominated us, especially in the first half. We never had a lead the entire game. When our guys finally got some traction in the third quarter, the closest we got was being down by only four. But each time we got close, Lithuania just pulled away. Lithuania moved the ball well, always finding the open man (sound familiar?) who usually made the shot. They totally out rebounded us, which I think was expected. They were so physical that players like Reaves and Halliburton were a non-factor. This and the Montenegro game clearly points out the need for big centers in the USA Olympic team who can rebound and go up against opposing big players. Silver lining is that even with the loss USA has already qualified for the Olympics.
I didn’t see the game, but I’m not surprised. Lithuania has an amazing history in international basketball, most memorably in the 2000 Olympics when they came within 2 points of upsetting the USA, then outright beating the USA in 2004 and almost beating USA again in the bronze medal game, which caused a crisis ending in the assembly of the Olympic Redeem Team. I know Lithuania hasn’t done as well in the last couple of Olympics, so maybe this is a sign of a renaissance.
1992 Bronze medal was my most memorable moment of Lithuania basketball.
Immortalized by the tie dyed shirts inspired in part by Sarunas Marciulionis and his Warriors connections and the Grateful Dead.
I wore my old, now faded and a little snug one today to honor the basketball heritage of this small Baltic nation.
https://ftw.usatoday.com/2022/09/the-real-story-of-why-you-see-tie-dyed-lithuanian-basketball-shirts-at-grateful-dead-shows
The best two European teams will qualify for the Olympics directly.
Now, USA and Canada probably have a good chance of winning their quarter finals. If that happens, the winners of Lithuania vs. Serbia and Germany vs. Latvia both will qualify for Paris '24, being the two best Euro teams left in the tournemant. So, quite good chances for Lithuania.
The Warriors 3 Was Prophesied By The Egyptians Long Ago!!!
https://www.reddit.com/r/warriors/comments/165u26b/anyone_else_see_what_i_see/
OMG, the resemblance to Klay and Draymond is uncanny.
Amazingly so
David West tried to tell us
And West was one of our Three Wise Men, a man to be heeded. Someday to be Dr West, I understand. I was curious what he was up to, having been a David West fan since he came in the league, and I learned that as of two years ago he was studying for his Masters in African-American History at NC Central U and planning to go on to get a Ph.D.
https://www.wcpo.com/blogs/sports/former-xavier-nba-player-david-west-finds-his-future-in-academia
Its a joke Sabs.
I love that the takeaway of the US FIBA flop could end up being "they need Kevon Looney for the Olympics".
I was trying to think of centers that would definitely play for the USA in international competition.
Surprisingly few come to mind.
AD
Looney
Bam, maybe ... born in the USA, but he might also be eligible for the Nigerian team. He'd be fricking awesome on the national team if he did play.
Many of the NBA centers could or do play for other national teams: Embiid, Jokic, Gobert, Valuncianas, Zubac, Adams, Ayton (born in the Bahamas), Horford (Dominican Republic).
Bam played in the last Olympics and was very good… but not as good as Dray.
Jarrett Allen, Robert Williams, Brook Lopez, Wendell Carter, Nic Claxton, Myles Turner, Mitchell Robinson. Got guys like Kessler, Duren, and Mark Williams potentially on the come up.
But yeah, AD is the only superstar option and Bam is the only star option.
Forgot about Allen. I did think about Carter.
Once you get down to PF/C guys, there are a lot more options, of course.
Yeah I mean the best center of them all would be Draymond imo, and JJJ can play plenty of center too
As I was watching the Lithuania game, I was saying to myself that Draymond could have helped this team.
Yep. Draymond, JJJ, and Bam, and the other teams might as well just go home (assuming roughly the same quality as this year's team at other positions).
I wonder if we'll ever see the USA put together an 'A' team again for either the Olympics or FIBA championship? Say, 12 of the top 15-18 US players.
Bam played on the 2021 Gold Medal US team
Man, I think I'd better just move to the old folks home and get in my rocking chair. What has happened to my memory.
Oh and that SGA push off middy: the one that was featured in that one highlight all of last week and that won it for Canada today. Thats a push off. With the elbow. Nothing skilled about it other than teetering right on the edge of offensive foul-dom. Hopefully the NBA League office is watching closely.
Happens in the NBA all the time including our own Steph Curry who has really improved that aspect of his game as he has gained strength. Generally the key is not extending the arm into a blatant shove.
Yeah, fouls get called if you extend the forearm or displace a defender. If you’re extending your arm to the elbow and keeping the defender in place as you are stepping back away from them, it’s generally not considered a foul. But if the defender is right there on your hip and you use your elbow push to displace them while continuing your drive, it’s generally a foul.
Just got through watching the Lithuania-USA game. No doubt in my mind. Absolutely Zero that the US wins THIS GAME witb Draymond and Looney playing together at the same time in the front court. Just surround them with Hali, Edwards, and Bridges, and they woulda punched Lithuania in the mouth (figuratively).
I didn't even see this comment before I made mine but I do think there is a case for Looney on the Olympic team which is fucking hilarious.
Dray was a low-key essential part of the last Olympics gold. Dray and Loon together would be a great anchor of an all-underrated team (Loon moreso than Dray ofc).
My other international thought. Watching the Montenegro game I was thinking about the Olympics, and who else the US will have playing. Is there any argument that Steph, at age 35 is right now the overall best US player? Two offseason rankings had him, Jokic, and Giannis as the clear top 3 with a drop off after them. Maybe he ages by next year, but that will be fun if Kerr can talk him into playing.
The other interesting addition would be Chet. He had some success at the junior level I believe, and would bring more shot blocking and rebounding. Hopefully he is feeling healthy enough next summer to sign up for some summer hoops in Paris. Of course, we also have Joel deciding whom to play for, but he'd have to be healthy at the end of the year which seems unlikely.
> Is there any argument that Steph, at age 35 is right now the overall best US player?
There is. I'd make that argument. 😊
At the same time, much as I (occasionally) love my country, I think I'd rather see not see him add any extra wear and tear or injury risk at age 36.
I'd still love to see him snag an Olympic gold - it's about the only thing missing from his resume. Worried though that after the Dubs' fifth recent title this coming June that he'll be pretty worn down. Might not be a bad choice to bring off the bench for 15 minutes a night in meaningful Olympic games, though :)
Going from a 5th NBA Championship straight into Olympic Gold at his age would be a huge boost to his GOAT argument, especially in the “Magic or Steph?” discussion.
Not to mention the second Finals MVP that will go with that 5th NBA Championship. 😊
He’s strongly hinted he wants to. I expect barring injury it will happen.
Also good to see US and Canada both qualifying for the Olympics, so they got that out of the way. I think it has been a while for Canada at the Olympics (looked it up, sounds like it has been since 2000, in the Steve Nash era)
Watching the Warriors’ new Kuminga dunk mixtape (which is awesome), I see plenty of one-handed jams and think it puts to bed any notion that his hands are too small. It seems like the reason he often dunks with two hands is simply because he can with his hops. Back in the day, I could (barely) dunk with one hand, but couldn’t come close to two-handed. https://youtu.be/-NdlnWGHZPQ?si=ebauMim_G26lIt4R
Good stuff. Some of the early ones make you dream about how good JK could be if he really can be a 35% (or better) 3pt shooter as he is just so quick that he can get by anybody that tries a hard closeout. There are a couple where he pretty much just hints that he is going to shoot and next thing you know, he is at the rim. Spread the floor with, say, Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, JK, and Saric, get the ball into JK's hands on the wing, and count it, 2pts (or a 35% chance at 3 if they don't close out).
Or he passes to Steph coming off a screen or on a back cut for an automatic bucket.
Or if Steph gets doubled, he in turn passes to Klay or Wiggs or Saric wide open - or right back to JK!
Yeah, that was fun. It was also fun getting a glimpse of the scores - they were all over the map from Dubs up 25 to Dubs getting blown out, a lot of ups and downs over the last 2 years.
Haven't had a chance to watch the Lithuania game yet yet, but I did notice that USAB may have gotten into an easier side of the bracket with the loss. They will play Italy and probably Germany, who are tough, but Lithuania has to play Serbia and then the winner of Canada / Slovenia, which seems like a pair of harder games. Putting aside my USA homerism for a moment, this should be a fun elimination round, pretty much every team has a shot. I was going to say other than Latvia, but they've beaten some really good teams already.
For Italy it has been a great result to reach quarter finals, after 25 years.
Now we have to play with USA and all odds are against us, but we can dream for almost 2 days!
The only problem will be to watch the game during working time, I have to find out how to persuade my boss…
Andiamo a gagnare vecchio mio, andiamo a gagnare!!
In another datum for the Noah Lyles vs. The NBA World Championship debate, a Canadian team with 10 NBA players just lost to Brazil with exactly none. What does it prove? Not everything. But you do have to play the games before claiming victory. Not pictured for Canada: Andrew Wiggins and Jamal Murray. Yes pictured: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Kelly Olynyk, Dillon Brooks, Dwight Powell and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhuopCAxY-g
Honestly single-elimination results in a game like basketball are so variable I have a hard time with them. The NCAA tournament is exciting, yes, but the best team often doesn’t win. A seven game series makes it far more likely the best team will actually win, which strengthens the claim for me over single-elimination tournaments, particularly team sports like basketball where the three point shot is so important and also highly variable,
Single elimination in a big tourney is far more exciting, though.
Yeah, single-elimination does raise the stakes for each game, however I wouldn’t say “far” more. And I prefer the tactical adjustments you get in a series that can’t happen in a single game.
Regardless, the point was about crowning a “world champion”, which single-elimination allows a lot more variance in team quality of the winner.
They could run it as double elimination. It would only add 1-2 more games but would ensure that teams have to lose twice to be out, thus mitigating against a bad night.
Those Brazilian players aren’t better than the Canadian ones. They just won a single game yesterday. The dynamics of basketball make upsets more probable than sprinting. Take golf, for instance… global sport. Does anybody think Harman is the best in the world cuz he won the most recent major? No… nobody does. He just had a few good rounds on a big stage. Do we decry the Champions league winner thinking they’re the best in the world cuz they didn’t beat the top MLS team?
I see DFiB made the same point as me, before I did, better.
Golf isn't a sport.
I mean… you don’t have to like it, but it’s a sport.
I disagree. I think that in order to qualify as a sport, a competition must include exertion and stamina. Golf is a bit of a sweaty walk but you can play in slacks if you feel like it, there’s no rush. Billiards, also not a sport. Skills, to be sure. By my definition not sports. If the heart rate never elevates it’s not a sport. Archery: really cool but also not a sport. Shooting. Golf isn’t easy, I’m not saying that. But neither is chess, and neither are sports.
But golf does require stamina and strength. It requires far more endurance than, say, baseball (another sport played in pants). Are middle relievers not playing a sport?
I'm not a golfer so maybe I just don't get it but guys golf successfully into their 50s at a fairly high level, which there's no way you do in baseball. Play nine innnings on a hot day, run out a few hits, steal a base, make some tough defensive plays or chase down a few fly balls, and at the end of the game tell me that doesn't take endurance. Not like hoops of course but I think golf isn't even close.
Great question. I'm not sure middle relievers are playing a sport.
I mean, it's a matter of definition and those are always slippery. I think we can agree that soccer or tennis are sports. When we think of the amount of exertion those athletes expend, the amount of endurance needed to perform well, it's hard to say that golf and relief pitching have very much overlap.
Still, the fact that ten non-nba players hing with and beat ten nba players tells you the global competition has almost caught up. Maybe?
Love to see Dillon Brooks lose
Not so much Wiggs :(
It was a bit like the tortoise and the hare. Where the Canadian team had 10 NBA hares, but the slow…slow…slow, tortoise won.
Klay Thompson vs Bennedict Mathurin 1v1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYxo3ym0fE4
Klay looks a bit slower than his heyday for sure. But also: Klay isn't a dribble creator in the first place, we all know that. Let's see someone pass him the ball as he comes around a screen. Still, I'm a bit more worried about his defense.
Klay's defense should not be evaluated based on 1:1 play. Yes, Klay will guard players 1:1 in real games, but within the team concept (just like Steph). That means overplaying to one side to funnel the offensive player towards Draymond or Looney. In a 1:1 game, you will give up a layup or a dunk every time, but in the team game, you'll get a mouthful of Draymond or Looney and a vastly different result.
Klay looks ready to go. No complaints from me watching this except comparing myself to Mathurin's ripped bod.
Klay is my BFF (Buckets For Fun)
Thanks for posting. Just hoping Klay doesn't fall too much in love with those one-legged fadeaways. Klay was only 47.0% on twos last year. Unless he can get layups and dunks, better for him to hoist the threes or give the ball up
> Just hoping Klay doesn't fall too much in love with those one-legged fadeaways.
Its far too late for that hope, he's already shown over a season and a half that he sees that as one of his weapons. It is definitely a weapon, I'll give him that. Just not for the Dubs.
I hate that shot. He used to be textbook squaring up. I guess he's trying to create space but yuck...
Really fun watch. Mathurin is obviously stronger, quicker, and more athletic, but Klay is more efficient and decisive and needs way less time and space to get his (pure af) shot off, so he scores a lot more on Mathurin than vice versa.
USA plays Lithuania tomorrow. Like the USA, Lithuania has not lost a game. This will be an interesting game.