Comments for gbbasketball.net

Comment on The Americans are coming! by Matt

Matt — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:31:35 +0000

Any idea who is playing on the team this year?

Comment on Three is the lucky number by sasa

sasa — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:33:47 +0000

To Ryan and Rob…
Hey…
Well… National team does not just pick up good players, he creates them. You said Serbian squad has depth, but half of that squad was created by national team. Players like Keselj, Bjelica, Paunic, Rasic, Markovic, even Teodosic, nobody ever heard for them, until they started playing for the national team. It’s a team that makes them, by using quality rotation, giving them time, and finding their spot in it. By using that system, you create depth, but you are also creating a future, they will be the ones that will take over. That’s how you get depth in the squad, you don’t wait for it, you work for it. That’s why I am so critical (sorry if I was too harsh before, I get carried away!) to that “star line up”, they leave you without future, and when the stars are gone, you are left with nobody to continue, because you used 3 man in rotation, (like you said Ryan, GB rotates 8 man) and now you have those 3, and you have to find 9 more, and start from the beginning. I guess mine point will be, there is always another game, another tournament, and if you don’t get ready for it, you disappear. Give your boys a chance, let them play, you don’t have anything else but them, and be aware, without them, there is no future. GB has to do that too, not just to focus all on 2012 OG in London; there will be plenty games after that. That is only reason why big teams are big, because you don’t have to start from the beginning every time there is a new tournament around. To put points on the board Rob, it’s a short term solution that will leave you without future. To create players, means to always have something to fall back to. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but you always stay alive to fight another day… Wishing you good luck… Please, don’t consider this as me “telling you” what to do (;-))… It’s more like sharing the opinion…
Cheers…

Comment on Three is the lucky number by Dave Ryan

Dave Ryan — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 10:22:00 +0000

Re Using 12 players: At elite international I think it would be a rarity to have that amouth of strength in depth. Serbia are fortunate to be able to do it, obviously the USA can when their fielding their A squad. We did pretty well with an 8-man rotation, add Gordon and perhaps one of the returning players, and we have more than enough depth to play three games in three days in the opening stage. After that the schedule gets more sane.
Good players expect proper minutes, trying to limit them to 20-25 minutes could easily lead to problems. Obviously Luol & Deng won’t be playing 38+ per night, though.
Nice to see some debate!

Comment on Three is the lucky number by Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:22:30 +0000

I think i tend to agree. we pushed Spain in ’09 with a depleted squad. fair enough they didn’t play great but we did a job nonetheless. I’m excited to see what a Gordon/pops/deng GB, could do if firing on all cylinders.

Comment on Three is the lucky number by Rob Scott

Rob Scott — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:44:45 +0000

Hi, thanks for commenting, it’s exactly this kind of debate I was hoping to promote!

I would take issue with some of what you have said though. Firstly, Gordon has never suited up for GB, so we really don’t know what kind of an effect he would have on the team, which the article was trying to (quite playfully, maybe that didn’t come across enough) imagine, using one of many tools to do so. Secondly, you say that with those 3 players GB would be crushed by Macedonia, well, I’m sure I saw us beat them, without Gordon, last month. Ben Gordon is, by some measures, an elite NBA guard, something not every team in the Eurobasket will be able to call on. I cannot see how GB vastly improving one of their starting spots (and so improving their bench, as a former starter slips down the rotation), provided he doesn’t just hog the ball (as I allude to) can be anything but a very good thing.

I would also say that giving all 12 players good minutes is definitely one way to do things, and certainly seems to be the way Serbia does it, but is not the only way. It’s less inherently risky, and is more flexible, and obviously the more good players your team has, the better it has of winning. But the aim of the game is to put points on the board and stop the other team scoring, and it doesn’t really matter how you do it.

I think the use of statistical analysis (not that I would claim in a million years that what I wrote was that!) in basketball is interesting, and is increasing, and can be highly valuable when used correctly. Daryl Morey, GM of the Houston Rockets, has a stats background and has managed to pick up some incredibly good value players by using advanced stats, as well as good old fashioned scouting reports (and employing a great coach).

I wasn’t claiming that GB is ready to topple Spain. What I am saying is that it is not ridiculous to say that if we have everyone available for Eurobasket, we should be more than competitive, and here are some solid numbers that backs that up. Thanks for reading, and for taking the time to comment!

Comment on Three is the lucky number by sasa

sasa — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:43:42 +0000

You are way off by comparing digits! Anybody can make a team like that. On the court there are no numbers, no “personal statistics efficiency”. Game is always 12vs12 and no starting lineup can play that out. You have to have 12 players, not 5 or 3? No matter how good you are, you will find yourself overrun by opposition, without a bench. No magic 3 can help there. Take Germany and compare it with GB, you will see that numbers are real different, but Germany plays a WC and GB is not even close. Look at the stats on WC: Serbia as a team that in preliminary round is leading in most points per game, most rebounds per game, and it’s second in most assist per game. But not a single player in those categories in top 5… Except assist (Teodosic ranked nr7), not even in top 20! It’s a team work and 12 men sharing the numbers, and when you combine all that, you get number one team, without a single top player in top 20! Basketball is a team sport, just by adding numbers to players means nothing on the court, and that GB trio that you wrote about, can be squashed by teams like Germany, Macedonia, Montenegro, because it lacks bench game. Until GB does it like this, it will be enough for the qualifications, but anything more is out of the question. You don’t need stars, but more players like Clark, players that will come for 5-8 minutes, and deliver those 4-6 points, 2-3 rebounds… No need for something big, there is 11 players waiting to do the same.You depend on those 3-5 points by bench player, just as you depend on 20 by Bensu. Otherwise, is just numbers without meaning or game without winning? It’s an equal balanced team that brings results, not a magic trio. Trio works only when you have equality in the team, but that is a whole new subject. Keep your numbers low, but steady and overall, and you will see the capable team.

Comment on Time To Feast On Turkey by Matt

Matt — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:55:16 +0000

Can’t wait. I’ll be supporting Slovenia!

Comment on Macedonia stay on GB’s tail by Matt

Matt — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:25:02 +0000

Dave, just a small thing – the headline says Montenegro instead of Macedonia.

I’m enjoying the McCalebb cracks, keep ‘em coming.

Comment on Deng’s topping the scoring charts by Matt

Matt — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:27:35 +0000

60% is an unbelievable percentage to shoot when you take the kind of shots Reinking does. Well done Nate.

“Bo McCaleb, who recently set foot in Macedonia” – hahaha!

Comment on Clark leads GB to scrappy win in Bosnia by dave

dave — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:46:22 +0000

it was boyd who missed the foul shots, not nate