Roca Dolla
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Robin Lopez and Kevin Love added to USA Select Team
- Thread starter Roca Dolla
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Splinters81
Newbie
What is the USA Select team?? I looked at the 12 man roster and it consists of first and second year guys.
Are we running two teams??
Are we running two teams??
Its basically a team that practices against the main USA team.
Also, speaking of USA basketball, they may be moving their HQ to Glendale:
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/olympics/articles/2008/07/18/20080718usabasketball.html
dodie53
A. O. II
added experience for Robin
I should be good experience for Robin. I fear he'll be rad kill when going against Howard, but I'd rather he get the eduction early so he knows how much he'll have to work.
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Let's hope Team USA can win a gold against these so called "big white stiffs". I think some Americans have become quite pompous in their thinking. Maybe the European teams know something about team play. Some previous U.S. players like Tim Duncan have seemingly taken their basketball and gone home. As for me, I am tired of the star treatment given by the referees in the NBA to some of the players. I think this attitude in the past has carried over into international play. I guess I'm just peeved the way the NBA is refereed.
Sorry if I digress. The NBA needs to become a league of players... not a league of stars.
Last edited:
AnotherHOMER
Registered User
Should the NBA adopt the officials who officiate the international games?
I say yes.
****
FIBA rules are a lot differnt. Their rules are not designed to get guys open to go to the basket nor to allow big guys to establish position in the low block. Duncan really struggled with the wide FIBA lane and most of the NBA players were called repeatedly for traveling.
There is a lot to learn from international basketball, but most international teams would get killed if they had to play using NBA rules.
nowagimp
Registered User
Yeah those euros would have to learn
1) how to travel NBA style(depends on whether you are a star)
2) how to get star treatment
3) how to jump into the defender and get a foul call, like TD
4) how to complain incessantly on foul calls without getting a T, like TD
I'm told they don't let guys get away with flopping either.
The fact that they can play real zone, have the wide lane. and permit hand checking (as opposed to the NBA where only guys named Bowen) get to do it all the time.)
phxrising
Registered
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/DanBickley/28745
Suns' Lopez shows poise vs. Team USA
It was always intended that a big man from Phoenix would benefit from his involvement with USA Basketball.
Who knew it would be Robin Lopez and not Amaré Stoudemire?
"He's going to be good," Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer said. "His role will be rebounding, blocking shots, and playing defense, and he does that well already. He's going to be in the league a long time, and if he develops some offense, he may be a force."
If you're bummed out about Anquan Boldin and his rift with the Cardinals, that assessment should make you feel a little better.
Lopez was a surprise addition to the USA Select Team that scrimmaged against the big boys over the past few days, helping prepare America's 2008 Olympic team for the challenges ahead. He showed exactly the kind of moxie and mobility the Suns hoped for when selecting him in the first round of the NBA draft.
Lopez looks bigger in person than it says on paper, and that's saying something when you're 7-feet tall and weigh 255 pounds. He defended the basket with great energy, and his stamina was clearly improved from earlier in the summer. He also showed great awareness, once blocking Chris Paul's shot after the New Orleans star beat rookie Derrick Rose off the dribble.
That should make you feel good, too, as Paul scorched the Suns in four meetings last season, averaging 29 points per game in four Hornets' victories.
Finally, Lopez actually showed some offensive skill, blowing his reputation as a guy who can't shoot straight.
"I thought he did a very good job," said Seattle head coach P.J. Carlesimo, who led the USA Select Team. "Going in, I knew his brother (Brook) much better, and I had only seen Robin on tape. It's real easy to say that Brook is the offensive player while Robin shines on the defensive end. That's not true at all."
You can thank Jerry Colangelo for providing the instant education, and for always keeping an eye on the Suns. Colangelo wanted badly for Stoudemire to reap the benefits of playing in the 2008 Olympics, only to be disappointed when the Suns star dragged his feet and couldn't commit. In fairness, Stoudemire's decision is probably the best for both parties.
Yet when Brook was forced to pull out of playing for the Select Team, Colangelo pounced. He asked Carlesimo if he'd accept his twin brother. Carlesimo agreed, and Colangelo floated the offer to Suns General Manager Steve Kerr, who jumped at the opportunity.
"For Robin, it was like getting a masters degree in a week," Colangelo said.
Coupled with the selection of Slovenian star Goran Dragic, it appears that Kerr authored a sensational debut draft.
While Dragic might take a while to get to Phoenix (he said he will remain in Spain this season), it's clear that Lopez will make an instant impact. After watching numerous defensive collapses in the postseason, Suns fans will surely appreciate Lopez's intelligence and toughness, and how he's a big man who actually plays big.
And if he was intimidated playing against Boozer, Dwight Howard, LeBron James and the rest of the Redeem Team, he certainly didn't show it.
"I started out playing against primarily college players before my NBA draft workouts, and then I played against NBA players and some trying really hard to get their chance in the NBA," Lopez said. "Now, I'm playing against the best players in the world, so yeah, I'd say there was a steady progression there.
"Either way, you have to go out there and make your presence felt. These players aren't going to give an inch, and if they can, they're going to go at your neck first. So you have to go at theirs."
Spoken like a true Spur, and that's exactly what the Suns needed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Some good things being said, I have hope for this kid.
Suns' Lopez shows poise vs. Team USA
It was always intended that a big man from Phoenix would benefit from his involvement with USA Basketball.
Who knew it would be Robin Lopez and not Amaré Stoudemire?
"He's going to be good," Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer said. "His role will be rebounding, blocking shots, and playing defense, and he does that well already. He's going to be in the league a long time, and if he develops some offense, he may be a force."
If you're bummed out about Anquan Boldin and his rift with the Cardinals, that assessment should make you feel a little better.
Lopez was a surprise addition to the USA Select Team that scrimmaged against the big boys over the past few days, helping prepare America's 2008 Olympic team for the challenges ahead. He showed exactly the kind of moxie and mobility the Suns hoped for when selecting him in the first round of the NBA draft.
Lopez looks bigger in person than it says on paper, and that's saying something when you're 7-feet tall and weigh 255 pounds. He defended the basket with great energy, and his stamina was clearly improved from earlier in the summer. He also showed great awareness, once blocking Chris Paul's shot after the New Orleans star beat rookie Derrick Rose off the dribble.
That should make you feel good, too, as Paul scorched the Suns in four meetings last season, averaging 29 points per game in four Hornets' victories.
Finally, Lopez actually showed some offensive skill, blowing his reputation as a guy who can't shoot straight.
"I thought he did a very good job," said Seattle head coach P.J. Carlesimo, who led the USA Select Team. "Going in, I knew his brother (Brook) much better, and I had only seen Robin on tape. It's real easy to say that Brook is the offensive player while Robin shines on the defensive end. That's not true at all."
You can thank Jerry Colangelo for providing the instant education, and for always keeping an eye on the Suns. Colangelo wanted badly for Stoudemire to reap the benefits of playing in the 2008 Olympics, only to be disappointed when the Suns star dragged his feet and couldn't commit. In fairness, Stoudemire's decision is probably the best for both parties.
Yet when Brook was forced to pull out of playing for the Select Team, Colangelo pounced. He asked Carlesimo if he'd accept his twin brother. Carlesimo agreed, and Colangelo floated the offer to Suns General Manager Steve Kerr, who jumped at the opportunity.
"For Robin, it was like getting a masters degree in a week," Colangelo said.
Coupled with the selection of Slovenian star Goran Dragic, it appears that Kerr authored a sensational debut draft.
While Dragic might take a while to get to Phoenix (he said he will remain in Spain this season), it's clear that Lopez will make an instant impact. After watching numerous defensive collapses in the postseason, Suns fans will surely appreciate Lopez's intelligence and toughness, and how he's a big man who actually plays big.
And if he was intimidated playing against Boozer, Dwight Howard, LeBron James and the rest of the Redeem Team, he certainly didn't show it.
"I started out playing against primarily college players before my NBA draft workouts, and then I played against NBA players and some trying really hard to get their chance in the NBA," Lopez said. "Now, I'm playing against the best players in the world, so yeah, I'd say there was a steady progression there.
"Either way, you have to go out there and make your presence felt. These players aren't going to give an inch, and if they can, they're going to go at your neck first. So you have to go at theirs."
Spoken like a true Spur, and that's exactly what the Suns needed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Some good things being said, I have hope for this kid.
carey
VVVV Saints Fan VVVV
Good stuff. I really hope this kid proves me wrong. (The whole bit about him being Voskhul part deux.)
What exactly will he be doing with you?
mojorizen7
ASFN Addict
Rats, the typo police caught me again.
The phrase was SUPPOSED to say IT rather than I. Does change the meaning, doesn't it.
carey
VVVV Saints Fan VVVV
I was wrong, way wrong. Voskhul was a lot better than Lopez. I'm on the Lopez is absolute garbage band wagon.
binkar
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Give me a break. The guy is not even forty games into his NBA career and you are claiming him as garbage. I don't know what exactly you expected. He changes a lot of shots and once he gets some discipline and confidence he will be alright. He still looks lost a lot of times when he is out there and a lot of his weaknesses are fixable with time and experience.
ASUCHRIS
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Keep making excuses for the guy...he was - 19 last night. Not good. Watching the whole game, it doesn't look much better either. He is constantly out of position, can't finish to save his life, and is one of the worst rebounding big men I've ever seen. When he was at Stanford I thought he sucked, but gave him a chance because he is a Sun. Poor choice, he still sucks.
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I think he'll get better but I always scoffed at the he'll be better than Brook because he's more athletic stuff. In the end you can't coach shooting touch and hands and that's the difference. Brook can shoot, Brook can catch the ball, Robin struggles in both areas. NEither has good footwork. And the other big difference is Brook has a mean streak, Robin not so much.
He'll get better but he always struck me as a kid who wished he was 6 feet tall not 7, he doesn't seem to relish being that big.
carey
VVVV Saints Fan VVVV
I was going to reply but this guy ^^ said exactly what I would have said.
The only *only* good play he had was finishing an alley-oop from Nash that he practically threw right in the damn net anyway.
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Wasn't that alleyoop from Amare?
Robin has been a clear disappoinment. He looks so calculated and slow out there, I bet I could block his shot standing at 5'11.
carey
VVVV Saints Fan VVVV
Yeah you're right DCR. My mistake.
binkar
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Positioning is nothing that can't be coached up... I am not saying he is a good player right now, nor am I saying he will ever be a productive starting center in the NBA. I wish we would have drafted someone else too. But I think he still has the ability to be a contributer and not "trash"... Sure he sucks now but he is 40 games in so that doesn't tell us he will always suck.
jagu
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