FIBA World Cup [USA vs. TUR: 9/3, 8:30 AM EST (ESPN+)]

[footey]

Did Poirier play, and if so, how did he look?

He looked great, cheering his team on the entire game from the bench.

He played no minutes. France went small when they sat Gobert.

[footey]

Smart's 4 missed free throws in the fourth look really bad now

That's why I keep emphasizing FT shooting.

A lot of big games have won and lost at the FT line.

Yeah, it's not just Jaylen who misses them.  It's too bad, Smart looked so confident when he made his first 3 or 4 free throws.

But it wasn't the free throws that cost us, IMO.  In 4th quarter, I feel that both Kemba and Mitchell (who was awesome the first 3 quarters) tried to take over the offense, rather than just staying within the flow, and letting the defense dictate.  Not saying we would have won, but it was disappointing to see, especially from Walker, who was stellar throughout until this last game.

Both Jaylen and Marcus Smart played well.  France was just the better team today. They hit some really big shots at the end that finished us.

[Tr1boy]

terrible just terrible

the good

Tatum would have made a difference

the bad

Smart, Brown keep showing lack of ability to come through in tough situations against good teams

Haven't seen enough of Walker to make this judgement (but he wasn't good vs France). He doesn't have favorable stats to be considered a very good 4th quarter player


Would have been a big boost for the Celtics players to come home with a gold medal

[Rondo9]

So I wonder if people are going to overreact to the Celtic players? I think Jayson should’ve helped.

[Rikibellevie]

Happy for one of the biggest historic win of my french national team. I was working so I have watched only the 4, but a lot of emotion. For the level of the game and as an emotive moment this win for me is behind the win 5 years ago against Spain (at spain).

From what I watched and read on the french media "l'equipe", USA played bad offensively, our team is very solid on D both internal and external, and USA felt a little on stereotyped kind of actions like seeking supposed mismatch and cibling Gobert to put in on external. It worked for Ausrtralia, but as I told Gobert was very motivated . USA forgot to play team and lacked of Chemistry. A struggle of shoot, but as they were no spuerstars it could have been the clue to make doubt your players, unexpermiented on FIBA style and not in a good shape. Smart free throw hurted you but not as the lack of strategy and adaptability of Walker, Mitchell or Barnes. The disadvantage for USA were not compensed by the incredible and deep roster they had usually. Tatum could also have been Deadly against France, but luckily he wasn't there.

De Colo is ice cold as I sayed, Fournier and Gobert were very confident. This team didn't  doubt.

I am very happy for this team, before the match I was asking myself if a little part of me would support this NBA team composed of 4 Celtics players. But of course my heart was fully for my french team.
Now we are cofavorite with Spain. It would be a great final with so much histroy, a new french genration against old Spanish team. We would have the vibe maybe, the Energy, this team isn't marked with . But first Argentina. French already made big "exploit and lost after (we have beaten twice New Zeland on rugby world cup, but never win the competition).
And if we will be world champion of Basketball one year after soccer… For us it's huge, the 2 biggets sports on my countrie.

[footey]

terrible just terrible

the good

Tatum would have made a difference

the bad

Smart, Brown keep showing lack of ability to come through in tough situations against good teams

Haven't seen enough of Walker to make this judgement (but he wasn't good vs France). He doesn't have favorable stats to be considered a very good 4th quarter player


Would have been a big boost for the Celtics players to come home with a gold medal

Actually Smart and Brown played well in this game.  Smart's missed free throws hurt, but that happens. Walker had a poor game.

[Who]

Does Popovich deserve criticism?

The squad had issues but it was still the most talented team in the tournament by far.

[saltlover]

Does Popovich deserve criticism?

The squad had issues but it was still the most talented team in the tournament by far.

I think so, yes.  Gobert is a monster, to be sure, but the team was up solidly in the middle of the fourth quarter before going into a scoring drought that mostly featured the same 1-2 unsuccessful sets on numerous possessions in a row.

[Donoghus]

Disappointing result. 

Hopefully, they'll bounce back in Tokyo next year. 

[Fierce1]

terrible just terrible

the good

Tatum would have made a difference

the bad

Smart, Brown keep showing lack of ability to come through in tough situations against good teams

Haven't seen enough of Walker to make this judgement (but he wasn't good vs France). He doesn't have favorable stats to be considered a very good 4th quarter player


Would have been a big boost for the Celtics players to come home with a gold medal

Just look at what Smart and Brown did in Game 7 of the 2018 east finals.

Smart went 1-10 and Brown went 5-18 in FGs.

[Fierce1]

Smart's 4 missed free throws in the fourth look really bad now

That's why I keep emphasizing FT shooting.

A lot of big games have won and lost at the FT line.

Yeah, it's not just Jaylen who misses them.  It's too bad, Smart looked so confident when he made his first 3 or 4 free throws.

But it wasn't the free throws that cost us, IMO.  In 4th quarter, I feel that both Kemba and Mitchell (who was awesome the first 3 quarters) tried to take over the offense, rather than just staying within the flow, and letting the defense dictate.  Not saying we would have won, but it was disappointing to see, especially from Walker, who was stellar throughout until this last game.

Both Jaylen and Marcus Smart played well.  France was just the better team today. They hit some really big shots at the end that finished us.

Agree.

Smart and Brown played well and Walker and Mitchell couldn't deliver in crunch time.

Gobert really impacted the game in a big way.

I also think Popovich made a mistake by not putting back Turner in the game in the last 5 minutes of the 4th.
At that time, USA had the lead.
By playing small ball, it allowed the smaller French players to drive to the basket.
Pop should have put Turner back in, when USA was leading, for rim protection.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

terrible just terrible

the good

Tatum would have made a difference

the bad

Smart, Brown keep showing lack of ability to come through in tough situations against good teams

Haven't seen enough of Walker to make this judgement (but he wasn't good vs France). He doesn't have favorable stats to be considered a very good 4th quarter player


Would have been a big boost for the Celtics players to come home with a gold medal

Just look at what Smart and Brown did in Game 7 of the 2018 east finals.

Smart went 1-10 and Brown went 5-18 in FGs.

Just look at the many games Smart and Brown have won for us in close minutes. For example, Brown single-handedly shifted the game against Greece in USA's favor.

Also, Brown led us to multiple wins in the 2018 playoffs. Does one bad game cancel all of those great games? Smart is well-known as a playmaker who makes winning plays.

Clearly both guys struggled at the end, but so did Mitchell and Walker and Middleton and Barnes. Should we consign all of them to "not winning basketball players."

Sheesh, these negative narratives are a bit much.

[bdm860]

Watching highlights and can't help but notice the ads surrounding almost the entire court and how the fans are further back.  So different than the NBA.

I'm kinda surprised the NBA hasn't done this yet, seems it would be beneficial on multiple levels:

*  Additional ad revenue maybe?
*  Puts a barrier between the players and fans.
*  Puts a barrier between the on court players and the bench (making it harder for players to leave the bench during an altercation or interfere in a game)


Although I'm sure those screens aren't cheap, so I can see the cost of the screens plus the loss in ticket revenue exceeding any ad revenue gains (which would probably be small).

Plus could they be more of an injury risk to players diving into the stands for a loose ball?

I think overall it would be better though, fewer negative player/fan and player/bench interactions.  Keep both players and fans safer.  Slightly worse front row fan experience for the rich, and loss of some ticket revenue though.

[Fierce1]

terrible just terrible

the good

Tatum would have made a difference

the bad

Smart, Brown keep showing lack of ability to come through in tough situations against good teams

Haven't seen enough of Walker to make this judgement (but he wasn't good vs France). He doesn't have favorable stats to be considered a very good 4th quarter player


Would have been a big boost for the Celtics players to come home with a gold medal

Just look at what Smart and Brown did in Game 7 of the 2018 east finals.

Smart went 1-10 and Brown went 5-18 in FGs.

Just look at the many games Smart and Brown have won for us in close minutes. For example, Brown single-handedly shifted the game against Greece in USA's favor.

Also, Brown led us to multiple wins in the 2018 playoffs. Does one bad game cancel all of those great games? Smart is well-known as a playmaker who makes winning plays.

Clearly both guys struggled at the end, but so did Mitchell and Walker and Middleton and Barnes. Should we consign all of them to "not winning basketball players."

Sheesh, these negative narratives are a bit much.

It's not being negative.

I'm not saying Brown is bad or he's not a good player.
What I keep repeating that many here don't get is I don't see Brown as a superstar.
According to reports, if you don't believe me, Jaylen is a complementary player, not a star player.

So why is that a big deal to me?

Because I think the Celts are better off packaging Smart and Brown for a player like Bradley Beal.

[Somebody]

terrible just terrible

the good

Tatum would have made a difference

the bad

Smart, Brown keep showing lack of ability to come through in tough situations against good teams

Haven't seen enough of Walker to make this judgement (but he wasn't good vs France). He doesn't have favorable stats to be considered a very good 4th quarter player


Would have been a big boost for the Celtics players to come home with a gold medal

Just look at what Smart and Brown did in Game 7 of the 2018 east finals.

Smart went 1-10 and Brown went 5-18 in FGs.

Just look at the many games Smart and Brown have won for us in close minutes. For example, Brown single-handedly shifted the game against Greece in USA's favor.

Also, Brown led us to multiple wins in the 2018 playoffs. Does one bad game cancel all of those great games? Smart is well-known as a playmaker who makes winning plays.

Clearly both guys struggled at the end, but so did Mitchell and Walker and Middleton and Barnes. Should we consign all of them to "not winning basketball players."

Sheesh, these negative narratives are a bit much.

It's not being negative.

I'm not saying Brown is bad or he's not a good player.
What I keep repeating that many here don't get is I don't see Brown as a superstar.
According to reports, if you don't believe me, Jaylen is a complementary player, not a star player.

So why is that a big deal to me?

Because I think the Celts are better off packaging Smart and Brown for a player like Bradley Beal.

The fit would be horrible lol. I'd rather we use that type of package for a guy like KAT.