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

[rondofan1255]

twitch.tv/nba looks fine for this game if no nbatv

[Sophomore]

Saw the 2d half of 2d quarter; offense wasn’t good. Mostly 1v1, players rushed and didn’t look comfortable.

[Sophomore]

Way better to start q3.

Man, this game is physical.

[rondofan1255]

USA 10-0 run, leads 54-45

Saw the 2d half of 2d quarter; offense wasn’t good. Mostly 1v1, players rushed and didn’t look comfortable.

Cool. I tuned in right before halftime.

Announcers said the court is raised one meter or something, yikes

[Walker Wiggle]

I watched the first half only. Some random observations:

- Kemba getting downhill in the pick and roll is going to be a huge weapon for us. The Aussies basically tried to take away the 3 of the pick and roll, giving up the mid-range jump shot. Kemba on a couple of occasions probed into or near the paint for easy jumpers. NBA defenses are going to set up to give up that shot, and Kemba may be one of the best in the league at knocking them down.
- The Aussies are good. Bunch of NBA players and they play as a team. Felt the same about Spain. It's not going to be a cakewalk to gold for the USA this time around.
- The USA team has a shortage of good bigs. Lopez and Plumlee don't look suited for this style of basketball. Miles Turner, on the other hand, really looks like be belongs.

[Jiri Welsch]

Some highlights below:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zq3PrL7v-w4

[Muzzy66]

Nice showing from the Celtics crew.

I believe it was 11 from Tatum, 11 from Brown and 23 from Kemba - so about 45 of the USA's 102 points came from Boston's guys.

In the first half Kemba and Tatum looked like they were playing very unselfishly, giving up a lot of shots.  Possibly some of the Greg Popovich influence - hopefully that will rub off on the team and help with the Celtics being less selfish.

Second half Kemba pretty much got whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.  Tatum was looking nice in the second half as well - he seemed to give the Aussies a bit of trouble with his length on defense to.

And man.  Out there, with that collection of guys on the floor, Tatum looks a LOT bigger then listed.  He looks a good 6'10" and his wingspan looks more like 7'2", plus those broad shoulders.  One shot I saw showed him standing next to one of the Australian forwards, and next to him Tatum's frame looked gigantic.  Not sure if he's grown or if he just looks longer then he is.

I liked Jaylen's hustle on defense and on the boards. 

Beautiful Tatum/Brown fast break play towards the end, with Tatum throwing the perfect lob to Jaylen Brown who threw it down from above the clouds. 

I really think this Team USA experience is going to have a big positive impact on Boston's guys.  Not only does it give Kemba, Smart, Tatum and Brown a great opportunity to spend time together and bond on and off the court...but the opportunity to play under the coaching of Kerr and Popovich can only be a positive thing. Kerr and Popovich are both championship coaches, and the opportunity to play under three different coaching styles (theirs plus Brad's) should prove beneficial for those guys at some point im sure. 

One of the nice bits was seeing Kemba being interviewed at the end.  He really seems like a good and modest guy - seems really genuine, and seems to be enjoying the fact that he is on a team where he doesn't need to do everything himself.  It's such a dramatic contract to Kyrie, who just always seems to be cocky and/or impatient and/or moody with whoever he's talking to.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I noticed Middleton and Barnes both played meh offensively.

I also noticed a lot of the Aussie scoring came from their two guards. It looked like Pop put Tatum on their shooting guard for a while to bother him with length.

I also also noticed that Plumlee and Kuzma look pretty bad on team defense. Kuzma at least stretches the floor a bit.

The Celtics probably had 3 of the top 5 players for team USA.

[JBcat]

Bummer Smart didn’t play.

[footey]

Fun game. Guys stepped up in 2nd half.  Pops likes to play the 3 Celtics together which is awesome. Brad should thank him.

[Muzzy66]

I noticed Middleton and Barnes both played meh offensively.

I also noticed a lot of the Aussie scoring came from their two guards. It looked like Pop put Tatum on their shooting guard for a while to bother him with length.

I also also noticed that Plumlee and Kuzma look pretty bad on team defense. Kuzma at least stretches the floor a bit.

The Celtics probably had 3 of the top 5 players for team USA.

Agreed.

Kuzma definitely looked nice offensively, but then again many of the shots he made were open spot up jumpers - and yeah, defensively he didn't look spectacular.

I like how Miles Turner looked.  I haven't really seem much of him in the past - he's a quality player.  Seems to let the game come to him, doesn't force things.  Takes quality shots and makes them at a high clip, defends well, rebounds well.  Simple but effective style of player, which is nice.

Mitchell made some nice moves, but I thought he'd give Australia more trouble then he did to be honest. 

Tatum and Brown both played well. 

Outside of those 5 guys there weren't many others who stook out to me for the USA team.  As somebody else mentioned above, Lopez and Plumlee look horribly out of place - they just looked big, slow and immobile.  Even Bogut looked more agile then they did.  Plumlee in particular seemed almost completely useless, I have no idea how they decided to put him on that roster.   

[Walker Wiggle]

And man.  Out there, with that collection of guys on the floor, Tatum looks a LOT bigger then listed.  He looks a good 6'10" and his wingspan looks more like 7'2", plus those broad shoulders.  One shot I saw showed him standing next to one of the Australian forwards, and next to him Tatum's frame looked gigantic.  Not sure if he's grown or if he just looks longer then he is.

Seriously, Tatum looks huge. Is it my imagination?

[DefenseWinsChamps]

And man.  Out there, with that collection of guys on the floor, Tatum looks a LOT bigger then listed.  He looks a good 6'10" and his wingspan looks more like 7'2", plus those broad shoulders.  One shot I saw showed him standing next to one of the Australian forwards, and next to him Tatum's frame looked gigantic.  Not sure if he's grown or if he just looks longer then he is.

Seriously, Tatum looks huge. Is it my imagination?

Not at all. I argued last summer that he was closer to 6'11'' than 6'8'' after I watch some of the summer highlights of him going against 7'1'' Mo Bamba. They stood next to each other and it was pretty obvious he was only a couple inches shorter.

Also it should be noted that the last time they measured his wingspan was his junior year of high school. It was 6'11'' then but it is pretty obvious to me he has a bigger wingspan now.

[Silky]

Tatum's defense is looking improved, offense is smooth.

Browns defense is phenomenal and offensively? Looking fantastic, loved watching him run the PG out there at times. Much improved ball control and offensive awareness.

This Duo with Kemba and Smart is gonna be really good.

[Muzzy66]

Tatum's defense is looking improved, offense is smooth.

Browns defense is phenomenal and offensively? Looking fantastic, loved watching him run the PG out there at times. Much improved ball control and offensive awareness.

This Duo with Kemba and Smart is gonna be really good.

Actually forgot to mention that - Brown definitely looked a lot more comfortable handling the ball. I really noticed that.  Last season he looked like a fish out of water any time he was pressured while dribbling, but in this game he was pressured a couple of times and didn't look bothered at all. 

If he does improve his handling ability significantly then that could be HUGE for him. 

Also liked that both Brown and Tatum were letting the game come to them and playing unselfishly out there.  Again, not sure how much of that is Popovich's coaching influence, but they (and Kemba too) all looked like they were playing without egos tonight.