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

[Surferdad]

https://clutchpoints.com/team-usa-news-gregg-popovich-encouraged-by-myles-turner-jaylen-browns-performances/

Popovich on JB:

“Jaylen, he’s just a hard-nose player. He understands what has to be done. He doesn’t care about anything, except playing with his teammates, winning, playing aggressively all the time, and he’s consistent in that regard. He does it all the time. He’s confident in his shot. He’s tough underneath. So, he’s been one of our more consistent players, along with Myles.”

Wow. That's high praise. I really like Jaylen Brown. He seems to have the right attitude and wants to play the right way. He deserves team and individual success. Hope he gets it.

He also deserves a nice fat new contract.  Hope he gets it.   

[Somebody]

https://clutchpoints.com/team-usa-news-gregg-popovich-encouraged-by-myles-turner-jaylen-browns-performances/

Popovich on JB:

“Jaylen, he’s just a hard-nose player. He understands what has to be done. He doesn’t care about anything, except playing with his teammates, winning, playing aggressively all the time, and he’s consistent in that regard. He does it all the time. He’s confident in his shot. He’s tough underneath. So, he’s been one of our more consistent players, along with Myles.”

Wow. That's high praise. I really like Jaylen Brown. He seems to have the right attitude and wants to play the right way. He deserves team and individual success. Hope he gets it.

He also deserves a nice fat new contract.  Hope he gets it.   

I sure hope we give him one to keep him in Boston for the years to come lol.

[ederson]

The tournament starts in 2 days so it's predictions time 

My top 4 is in no particular order

USA, Serbia, Spain (IMHO those 3 are a lock) and  Lithuania (or Greece but I'm trying not to be a Homer )

[footey]

Australia.

[Amonkey]

I want to see Brazil doing well. They have a decent mix of veterans (Varejao, Huertas - I think, Alex Garcia) and some nice but raw young talent (Caboclo, Felicio, Nogueira). Could make things very interesting.

I will be rooting for USA. I like that they are not the clear cut favorites. Will make the tourney a little more interesting.

[hpantazo]

USA is going to have to earn it. I hope they pull it off, because if they don't, the 4 Celtics will get blamed for it. If they do win it, it's going to be great momentum for the C's going into the season.

Don't count out Greece. Giannis is hungry and in his prime, and he's even better in international competition. His supporting cast is decent as well.

[nickagneta]

USA should really win this. If you discount every team's top 2 players then rank every other player in the tournament, the USA probably has the top 10 players remaining in the tournament. That should be a huge advantage, but we will see.

If you take Plumlee off the team and add just one of the top 5 Americans in the world, and the USA cruises.

[rondofan1255]

I see the pool play games are listed as ESPN+, ugh.

Edit: looks like official games not available on Twitch?

[Ogaju]

I didn't see the game. Any notes from someone who did? I'm especially interested in hearing about some of the better 5-man units. 

Boxscore notes:
- Brown was the leading scorer
- Lopez and Plumlee combined for 12 minutes. Turner played 20. That means team USA played 8 minutes with no center.
- Middleton was 0-8
- Tatum struggled, but got up shots 2-11
- Everybody played a relatively even amount. That probably won't happen when the game matter.

Canada brought in Owen Klassen (who I have never heard of) after Olynyk dropped out who is the only center on their roster.  He came off the bench for them and fouled out in 6 minutes.  Khem Birch (6'9) and Kyle Wiltjer (6'10) are the only other big men they have.  Their guards and wings are also undersized.  I would draw very little good from this game as team USA performed pretty poorly against an opponent they should dominate.

The most entertaining part of the game was probably the last 6 minutes when the Aussie crowd decided that Brook Lopez was now their hero and began incessantly chanting his name. The camera kept showing him on the bench and the crowd would go nuts.  Lopez and the rest of team USA also played into it and Popovich inserted him for the last minute to appease the crowd.

Watched the game, that was hilarious 

As for the game, they have plenty of work to do, they turned the ball over a lot. A better team would have made them pay but they won at least. Jaylen had a solid game but like the last couple of games against Aus he still has these occasional brain fades, like throwing the ball over the sideline or making a casual pass. Marcus looked better but not quite fit. Kemba played within himself. JT had some moments. As for the non Celtics, I still don't understand why we have Plumlee in there, he was terrible again.

On another note, it was funny to listen to the Aussie commentator (I think his name is John Casey) criticizing Team USA for turning the ball over via shot clock violation on the last play of the game, with 20 sec to go. I guess it's only in the US where teams take it easy and either dribble the clock out or take a half hearted shot when they are up 20. Having lived in Aus for a few years earlier in my life it doesn't matter what the sport, it's considered disrespectful to take it easy on the opponent, it's seen as patronizing. Teams would be trying to score even if they were already up 50 with 10 sec to go  it's the same in Europe. Funny how different cultures view those things.

I tend to agree with the euro version here. I think it is the height of disrespect to taj
take a knee or dribble ball out when you are winning or have clearly won a game.

[ederson]

Serbia Angola... In the first 7 mins 10/13 3p!

[Csfan1984]

I didn't see the game. Any notes from someone who did? I'm especially interested in hearing about some of the better 5-man units. 

Boxscore notes:
- Brown was the leading scorer
- Lopez and Plumlee combined for 12 minutes. Turner played 20. That means team USA played 8 minutes with no center.
- Middleton was 0-8
- Tatum struggled, but got up shots 2-11
- Everybody played a relatively even amount. That probably won't happen when the game matter.

Canada brought in Owen Klassen (who I have never heard of) after Olynyk dropped out who is the only center on their roster.  He came off the bench for them and fouled out in 6 minutes.  Khem Birch (6'9) and Kyle Wiltjer (6'10) are the only other big men they have.  Their guards and wings are also undersized.  I would draw very little good from this game as team USA performed pretty poorly against an opponent they should dominate.

The most entertaining part of the game was probably the last 6 minutes when the Aussie crowd decided that Brook Lopez was now their hero and began incessantly chanting his name. The camera kept showing him on the bench and the crowd would go nuts.  Lopez and the rest of team USA also played into it and Popovich inserted him for the last minute to appease the crowd.

Watched the game, that was hilarious 

As for the game, they have plenty of work to do, they turned the ball over a lot. A better team would have made them pay but they won at least. Jaylen had a solid game but like the last couple of games against Aus he still has these occasional brain fades, like throwing the ball over the sideline or making a casual pass. Marcus looked better but not quite fit. Kemba played within himself. JT had some moments. As for the non Celtics, I still don't understand why we have Plumlee in there, he was terrible again.

On another note, it was funny to listen to the Aussie commentator (I think his name is John Casey) criticizing Team USA for turning the ball over via shot clock violation on the last play of the game, with 20 sec to go. I guess it's only in the US where teams take it easy and either dribble the clock out or take a half hearted shot when they are up 20. Having lived in Aus for a few years earlier in my life it doesn't matter what the sport, it's considered disrespectful to take it easy on the opponent, it's seen as patronizing. Teams would be trying to score even if they were already up 50 with 10 sec to go  it's the same in Europe. Funny how different cultures view those things.

I tend to agree with the euro version here. I think it is the height of disrespect to taj
take a knee or dribble ball out when you are winning or have clearly won a game.

I think bad judgment, dirty plays and freak injuries have also made it the mind set to take it easy at the very end when up. I kind of agree to not risk things happening and go slow when up.

[footey]

I'm rooting hard for US, not for patriotic reasons, but because there are 4 Celtics on it! Plus I really like Popovich.

Still, I must say, after that 2nd Ozzie game, I'm a bit pessimistic of our chances of taking gold.  Also like the NCAA tournament, the best team often doesn't win it all. One and done formats are highly risky in basketball, especially if a player or two gets really hot on the underdog team, or the best shooters on the favs go cold.  It happens.

[bellerephon]

Even with the biggest stars sitting out, USA is still a heavy favorite. Anything less than gold would be a major disappointment. They are better than the competition by a significant margin and if they play well should win gold.

[bellerephon]

I'm rooting hard for US, not for patriotic reasons, but because there are 4 Celtics on it! Plus I really like Popovich.

Still, I must say, after that 2nd Ozzie game, I'm a bit pessimistic of our chances of taking gold.  Also like the NCAA tournament, the best team often doesn't win it all. One and done formats are highly risky in basketball, especially if a player or two gets really hot on the underdog team, or the best shooters on the favs go cold.  It happens.

This is true, things happen. They may not win. These guys aren't college kids, however. They should not be as susceptible to the kind of let downs that top college teams have. I'm not saying they are a lock to win, but they are heavy favorites and anything less than gold is a huge disappointment.

[Somebody]

It's going to be an embarrassment if the US doesn't win this, they still have a huge advantage over the rest of fhe field in terms of talent.