Olympic Tournament

[Handlogten's Heros]

When factoring in the Rudy effect you have to remember that the rules in FIBA are different. No defensive three seconds so full zone makes bigs tough to beat. Still need good players on the perimeter but that type of defense forces you to shoot well from outside.

We sucked at zone whenever we tried it last year. You really have to rotate and move as a team which is often our biggest issue in any defense. I’m not smart enough to know how good or bad of a coach Quin is… but I’m leaning a little bit more to the side that says he needs to reconsider some things if we are to get to the next level.

 

[Hekate]

When factoring in the Rudy effect you have to remember that the rules in FIBA are different. No defensive three seconds so full zone makes bigs tough to beat. Still need good players on the perimeter but that type of defense forces you to shoot well from outside.

We sucked at zone whenever we tried it last year. You really have to rotate and move as a team which is often our biggest issue in any defense. I’m not smart enough to know how good or bad of a coach Quin is… but I’m leaning a little bit more to the side that says he needs to reconsider some things if we are to get to the next level.

Rules help for sure. NBA forces you to defend just one side of the rim so if weakside doesn't slow down the penetration, it's over. It's how Clips beat the Jazz last two games.

But Rudy switched a lot against USA too and he didn't sag that much or try to recover immediately to the rim. Even when France gave up a rebound. You could see some trust there.

Zone defense is weird, there are too many variations and you need some length to play basic zones. Jazz lack the lateral quickness and awareness to slide and block the zones like Clippers did.

It really doesn't matter much when your perimeter defenders get beat easily, it keeps everyone moving and creates spaces. Best Jazz could do I think was shrink the floor and force pull-up jumpers but it's not like Clips don't have players to punish that.

Last year's defense during the regular season was kind of fool's gold, it had me fooled for sure after saying Jazz can't play good D if they have 4-5 bad defenders in rotation prior season. Or Conley was important on defense too but I don't know how much about that.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Rules help for sure. NBA forces you to defend just one side of the rim so if weakside doesn't slow down the penetration, it's over. It's how Clips beat the Jazz last two games.

But Rudy switched a lot against USA too and he didn't sag that much or try to recover immediately to the rim. Even when France gave up a rebound. You could see some trust there.

Zone defense is weird, there are too many variations and you need some length to play basic zones. Jazz lack the lateral quickness and awareness to slide and block the zones like Clippers did.

It really doesn't matter much when your perimeter defenders get beat easily, it keeps everyone moving and creates spaces. Best Jazz could do I think was shrink the floor and force pull-up jumpers but it's not like Clips don't have players to punish that.

Last year's defense during the regular season was kind of fool's gold, it had me fooled for sure after saying Jazz can't play good D if they have 4-5 bad defenders in rotation prior season. Or Conley was important on defense too but I don't know how much about that.

I’m watching it now… he’s not waiting at the rim. He’s moving around a lot.

I think maybe Pop has lost his fastball.

 

[Goodluckchuck]

I hope these games prove to the NBA that it needs some retooling. We aren’t guaranteed to win Gold anymore. Maybe allow more physical play and more defense like the rest of the world does.

 

[Miggs]

I’m watching it now… he’s not waiting at the rim. He’s moving around a lot.

I think maybe Pop has lost his fastball.

2-3 years ago imo. Though their roster is meh. I feel bad for Messina—assuming he’s still there. Pops (or maybe it was the media) made it seem like he was going to retire in a year about seven years ago. He hasn’t.

 

[Hekate]

Holy **** Doncic dropped 48 in the olympics and didn't play the last 4-5 minutes.

And some people here thought he wasn't an MVP caliber player, lol.

 

[FalseFlagg K]

Patty Mills played well against Nigeria. Made some tough shots.

Exum falling around the court and getting frustrated.

Oni was on the court a while but didn't do much at all. I wish Udoka was there.

I like Thybulle - too bad he's not a FA for a few more seasons.

Thybulle would be fantastic next to Donovan. And yeah Exum was falling over as per usual but he actually had a really good positive impact on the game

 

[Hekate]

Commendable effort from Japan against Spain. Tied at 26 with 5 minutes left in the half. Playing physical and attacking the boards, trying to make every possession count. They will probably proceed to lose by 15+.

--Make that 30+. Rubio dissecting the Japan defense and hitting 3s.

--Cool dunk by Hachimura, though.