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

[Androslav]

On another note, Brazil's coach Aleksandar Petrovic (brother of Drazen) threw some major shade at Giannis after Brazil's 1 pt win over Greece:

“Why this sport is wonderful? On the other side, you have a guy who won the MVP, he’s 23 years old and who stops him tonight? The guy who is 40 years old and kicks his ass on the court! That’s basketball!” [Referring to 39 year old Alex Garcia who defended Giannis and last played in the NBA when Giannis was 10 years old]

"We showed that we have several players who can stop Antetokounmpo," Petrovic said. "But yesterday I was more occupied with Sloukas and [Georgios] Printezis, and that's what happened today. When I was preparing this game, a lot of people talked and joked about how to stop Antetokounmpo. I had for six months in my head, since the semifinals between Toronto and Milwaukee, how to stop Antetokounmpo. The problem tonight for us was Sloukas and Printezis." [On who his defensive priorities in the Greece team were]

he is known to run his mouth. Lucky for him Greece gave him every right to be cocky.

Aco is a quarrelsome person at times, but his pragmatic approach has some results.
He is 2:0 vs Giannis.
Last time he defeated Greece was in the Olympic qualifiers.

I love Giannis, I always did, but we cannot overlook that he has a glaring weakness, his shooting and shooting touch in general, even when he is close to the rim. He is not exactly Ben Simmons, but he is a huge athletic ballhandler with good vision that can't punish good defenses that are sagging of.

[Somebody]

Starting to love this Petrovic guy, his pragmatism and attitude is Mourinho like!

[Fierce1]

Overtime. 2/3 foul shots made by Tatum.

Puzzling that Brown has not played any minutes in 2nd half.

It's not puzzling because Jaylen Brown looks lost out there.

He has no identity when he's on the court for Team USA.

It also didn't help that he kept missing FTs.

He really doesn't look lost. He may not have the feel of Middleton or Barnes yet, but he was making a lot of plays when he was out there.. He played really well in his minutes today. In fact, it was when he was in that the team got up by 15. He consistently made several good offensive plays that led to great looks for team USA.

A few times Turkey players tried to take charges on him when he physicalled his way to the basket. They were starting to get a bead on his driving.

I think it came down to Pop preferring Barnes and Middleton against Illyasova and Erden when they went small ball. Both guys have more experience and have a better feel for defending bigs.

Jaylen is already behind Tatum and the other lottery picks of 2016, like Murray and Hield, when it comes to development.

Tatum came out of college highly developed, Brown did not. As for Murray and Hield, you can have Murray, I will be happy with Brown. And Hield is almost 4 whole years older than Brown. Let's see what 22 year old Brown is like when he is 27, like Hield will be in December.

Not true.

Tatum and Brown all played just 1 year of college basketball.
So why would Tatum be more highly developed when both of them played just 1 year of college basketball?

Oh boy. Is this a joke or you really think guys have the same development after college?

This coming season is not Jaylen's 2nd or 3rd season.
It will be his 4th season.
I understand not playing him much during his rookie year.
He showed flashes of why he was drafted 3rd overall in his 2nd year in the league.
But last season Jaylen regressed.

Bigs usually take longer to develop.

But wings usually show star qualities during their 3rd year, just like Murray and Hield.

So let's see this coming season if Jaylen is the real deal or not.

[Silky]

Overtime. 2/3 foul shots made by Tatum.

Puzzling that Brown has not played any minutes in 2nd half.

It's not puzzling because Jaylen Brown looks lost out there.

He has no identity when he's on the court for Team USA.

It also didn't help that he kept missing FTs.

He really doesn't look lost. He may not have the feel of Middleton or Barnes yet, but he was making a lot of plays when he was out there.. He played really well in his minutes today. In fact, it was when he was in that the team got up by 15. He consistently made several good offensive plays that led to great looks for team USA.

A few times Turkey players tried to take charges on him when he physicalled his way to the basket. They were starting to get a bead on his driving.

I think it came down to Pop preferring Barnes and Middleton against Illyasova and Erden when they went small ball. Both guys have more experience and have a better feel for defending bigs.

Jaylen is already behind Tatum and the other lottery picks of 2016, like Murray and Hield, when it comes to development.

Tatum came out of college highly developed, Brown did not. As for Murray and Hield, you can have Murray, I will be happy with Brown. And Hield is almost 4 whole years older than Brown. Let's see what 22 year old Brown is like when he is 27, like Hield will be in December.

Not true.

Tatum and Brown all played just 1 year of college basketball.
So why would Tatum be more highly developed when both of them played just 1 year of college basketball?

Oh boy. Is this a joke or you really think guys have the same development after college?

This coming season is not Jaylen's 2nd or 3rd season.
It will be his 4th season.
I understand not playing him much during his rookie year.
He showed flashes of why he was drafted 3rd overall in his 2nd year in the league.
But last season Jaylen regressed.

Bigs usually take longer to develop.

But wings usually show star qualities during their 3rd year, just like Murray and Hield.

So let's see this coming season if Jaylen is the real deal or not.

Jaypen didnt regress last season

[Somebody]

Overtime. 2/3 foul shots made by Tatum.

Puzzling that Brown has not played any minutes in 2nd half.

It's not puzzling because Jaylen Brown looks lost out there.

He has no identity when he's on the court for Team USA.

It also didn't help that he kept missing FTs.

He really doesn't look lost. He may not have the feel of Middleton or Barnes yet, but he was making a lot of plays when he was out there.. He played really well in his minutes today. In fact, it was when he was in that the team got up by 15. He consistently made several good offensive plays that led to great looks for team USA.

A few times Turkey players tried to take charges on him when he physicalled his way to the basket. They were starting to get a bead on his driving.

I think it came down to Pop preferring Barnes and Middleton against Illyasova and Erden when they went small ball. Both guys have more experience and have a better feel for defending bigs.

Jaylen is already behind Tatum and the other lottery picks of 2016, like Murray and Hield, when it comes to development.

Tatum came out of college highly developed, Brown did not. As for Murray and Hield, you can have Murray, I will be happy with Brown. And Hield is almost 4 whole years older than Brown. Let's see what 22 year old Brown is like when he is 27, like Hield will be in December.

Not true.

Tatum and Brown all played just 1 year of college basketball.
So why would Tatum be more highly developed when both of them played just 1 year of college basketball?

Oh boy. Is this a joke or you really think guys have the same development after college?

This coming season is not Jaylen's 2nd or 3rd season.
It will be his 4th season.
I understand not playing him much during his rookie year.
He showed flashes of why he was drafted 3rd overall in his 2nd year in the league.
But last season Jaylen regressed.

Bigs usually take longer to develop.

But wings usually show star qualities during their 3rd year, just like Murray and Hield.

So let's see this coming season if Jaylen is the real deal or not.

Jaypen didnt regress last season

^this. Jaylen not suffering even more of a dropoff in terms of stats last season was a half miracle tbh with how much Brad tightened his leash.

[ederson]

John Schuhmann

@johnschuhmann
 Jayson Tatum injury update from USA Basketball: He's out the next 5 days (at least 2 games) & will be reevaluated on Monday, Sept. 9, the day the U.S. plays its 2nd of 2 2nd round games.


Happy it is not something serious (and that he won't play against Greece)

[Somebody]

John Schuhmann

@johnschuhmann
 Jayson Tatum injury update from USA Basketball: He's out the next 5 days (at least 2 games) & will be reevaluated on Monday, Sept. 9, the day the U.S. plays its 2nd of 2 2nd round games.


Happy it is not something serious (and that he won't play against Greece)

Out for 5 days before being re-evaluated? That sound pretty serious to me, are there any updates on whether he (knocking furiously on wood that this isn't the case) tore or broke something?

[DefenseWinsChamps]

John Schuhmann

@johnschuhmann
 Jayson Tatum injury update from USA Basketball: He's out the next 5 days (at least 2 games) & will be reevaluated on Monday, Sept. 9, the day the U.S. plays its 2nd of 2 2nd round games.


Happy it is not something serious (and that he won't play against Greece)

Out for 5 days before being re-evaluated? That sound pretty serious to me, are there any updates on whether he (knocking furiously on wood that this isn't the case) tore or broke something?

I mean, it's an ankle sprain. If you rush back from ankle sprains, you risk having weak ankles long term. Five days isn't that much.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Kemba Walker deserves more praise than he is getting right now. He has been absolutely in control during his minutes. His offense has been really good (although I'd like to see him a little more aggressive). His defense has been excellent.

Last game, he drew one charge, forced two moving screens, and had three steals. That is six forced turnovers in one game.

On top of that, the team looked absolutely cooked when Turkey went up 5. They looked like they gave up a bit or something. But Kemba scored 5 straight to tie the game.

[footey]

Kemba Walker deserves more praise than he is getting right now. He has been absolutely in control during his minutes. His offense has been really good (although I'd like to see him a little more aggressive). His defense has been excellent.

Last game, he drew one charge, forced two moving screens, and had three steals. That is six forced turnovers in one game.

On top of that, the team looked absolutely cooked when Turkey went up 5. They looked like they gave up a bit or something. But Kemba scored 5 straight to tie the game.

100% agree. He has been the best player on the team, like the only adult in the room at times.   

Also he doesn't hog the ball. He picks his spots. He identifies when the team needs him to make a bucket, and executes.

Yes, his defense has been much better than I expected.  He does suffer in mismatches/post ups, but Celtic defense is designed to switch those issues out.

[Silky]

Middleton has been so bad.

[Somebody]

John Schuhmann

@johnschuhmann
 Jayson Tatum injury update from USA Basketball: He's out the next 5 days (at least 2 games) & will be reevaluated on Monday, Sept. 9, the day the U.S. plays its 2nd of 2 2nd round games.


Happy it is not something serious (and that he won't play against Greece)

Out for 5 days before being re-evaluated? That sound pretty serious to me, are there any updates on whether he (knocking furiously on wood that this isn't the case) tore or broke something?

I mean, it's an ankle sprain. If you rush back from ankle sprains, you risk having weak ankles long term. Five days isn't that much.

Ah true. Hope he's okay when he comes back to Boston.

[jambr380]

I think you probably know the answer already, but...

It's because Celtics management is already bracing for a future without Jaylen Brown.  The two most likely scenarios are that A.  The Celtics can find a trade partner this season that will give up the exorbitant amount Danny Ainge has repeatedly asked for in return for Brown (think about how unlikely this is after what they've already passed up) or B.  Free agency comes along and another team with cap space and a long-term outlook offers Brown a deal that the Celtics can't/won't match because of cap implications (most likely scenario IMO).     

Some people really believe the Celtics are going to go into the luxury tax to resign Brown next year, but I just can't see them doing that for a guy who was benched last season in favor of a hobbled and emotionally fragile Gordon Hayward.  Hayward is taking up more than a quarter of the Celtics' salary cap for the next two seasons and they've shown an obvious affinity for him over Brown.

A lot of what you're saying here isn't correct. First, Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown were both starters to begin the season and then both were 'benched' in favor of Smart/Morris. Hayward never took a starting spot from Brown. In fact, they both played very well with each other off the bench and that's likely a reason they will both start this season.

Also, the Cs are just not going to let Jaylen go for nothing. Right now, he might be the premier FA target next off-season (yes, it's a weak class). If the Cs and Jaylen don't come to terms on an extension this summer, then the Cs will have the option of giving him a max contract next off-season, matching a max offer sheet from another team, or threatening to match an offer sheet and doing a s&t with said team where the Cs receive a number of 'assets' in return.

Romeo Langford may prove to be the real deal, but there is like a .01% chance the Cs simply let Jaylen walk in RFA without receiving anything in return.

[Fierce1]

I think you probably know the answer already, but...

It's because Celtics management is already bracing for a future without Jaylen Brown.  The two most likely scenarios are that A.  The Celtics can find a trade partner this season that will give up the exorbitant amount Danny Ainge has repeatedly asked for in return for Brown (think about how unlikely this is after what they've already passed up) or B.  Free agency comes along and another team with cap space and a long-term outlook offers Brown a deal that the Celtics can't/won't match because of cap implications (most likely scenario IMO).     

Some people really believe the Celtics are going to go into the luxury tax to resign Brown next year, but I just can't see them doing that for a guy who was benched last season in favor of a hobbled and emotionally fragile Gordon Hayward.  Hayward is taking up more than a quarter of the Celtics' salary cap for the next two seasons and they've shown an obvious affinity for him over Brown.

A lot of what you're saying here isn't correct. First, Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown were both starters to begin the season and then both were 'benched' in favor of Smart/Morris. Hayward never took a starting spot from Brown. In fact, they both played very well with each other off the bench and that's likely a reason they will both start this season.

Also, the Cs are just not going to let Jaylen go for nothing. Right now, he might be the premier FA target next off-season (yes, it's a weak class). If the Cs and Jaylen don't come to terms on an extension this summer, then the Cs will have the option of giving him a max contract next off-season, matching a max offer sheet from another team, or threatening to match an offer sheet and doing a s&t with said team where the Cs receive a number of 'assets' in return.

Romeo Langford may prove to be the real deal, but there is like a .01% chance the Cs simply let Jaylen walk in RFA without receiving anything in return.

I agree.

That's why I will not be surprised if Ainge trades Jaylen Brown for a guy like Bradley Beal, if Beal becomes available.

By January Theis can be traded.

Celts will have lots of options if they think they can't keep Brown long term.

[ozgod]

Tatum will miss the next two games (the final pool game vs Japan and the opening game of the 2nd round). Neither are elimination games. He will be re-evaluated on Monday, which is the first possible elimination game day for Team USA.

Hopefully he's fit and able to contribute to a Team USA gold medal! 

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27534546/tatum-least-next-two-team-usa-games