In the 2019 Chinese Men's Basketball World Cup, the Frenchman shot down the American Dream Team with three soldiers, and the 10-point difference shattered the Americans' unbeaten record of 48 games in the 13-year World Series, and the last time the United States lost was the World Championship, and lost to Greece in 2006...
The start of the 2023 Men's Basketball World Cup is imminent, and the United States has announced its own 12-man roster, guards: Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Halliburton, Reeves; Forwards: Banqueiro, Mikal Bridges, Hart, Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr., Cameron Johnson; Center: Kessler, Portis.
If you use one word to describe the roster of this year's American team, it can be said that the stars are bleak and there are no surprises.
There are no superstars like James, Curry, Durant, or even Mesozoic leaders like Tatum, Mitchell, and Adebayo on the roster, and the 22-year-old Edwards may be one of the few cards on this American team that can be handed, but he is not a wolf king in the Timberwolves right now.
There are also role players like Reeves and Bridges in the lineup, in fact, the history of the World Cup The US men's basketball team seems to have long ceased to use the dream team to participate, compared with the Olympic Games, the depth of the lineup is much worse, in the perception of Americans, the top hall of basketball is only the Olympic Games.
On the podium of the final victory at the Tokyo Olympics stood Durant, Lillard, Tutam, Booker and others, these players are the absolute core of each team, but the United States World Cup lineup 2 years ago ushered in one star after another withdrew, thick eyebrows, Harden, Lillard all said that there was a "regret" to the national team.
So much so that Kobe had to stand up and say: "USA, don't think it's stable!" The last word was true.
Why do the big names in the World Cup only promise, and enter the Olympic Games to fight hard?
The reason is simple: the World Cup does not represent the highest level of basketball in the world, at best it is an Olympic qualifier, when have you ever watched the Soccer World Cup as a qualifier for the Olympics?
The last time the United States finished only 7th, setting the worst record since the United States sent professional players to the World Series in 1992, people thought that the Americans wanted revenge four years later, but looking at the lineup, they found that they thought too much Americans still did not pay attention to the World Cup. Just as four years ago, the biggest name on the U.S. roster is still the coach, Popovich four years ago and Steve Kerr four years later.
Kerr may still be lamenting in his heart when he takes over the burden of the American coach, saying that the good full number has become a group of cucumber eggs, and it is not even as strong as the Golden State Warriors.
The World Cup is the American dream team successively refreshed the lower limit of the event, 2002 World Championship many NBA top stars refused to play for the country, the United States Basketball Association chose a group of second-rate stars as the protagonist, Finley, Byron Davis, O'Neal Jr., Pierce, Reggie Miller, Marion and others formed the American team group stage lost to Argentina, the dream team lost for the first time in 10 years, and lost to Yugoslavia in the knockout rounds, and finally they only won the sixth place at home.
Such dismal results spawned the strongest Copa America team in 2003, with Duncan, Allen Iverson, Maddie, and Kidd all on the bench, and Ray Allen, Kenyon Martin, Carter and others sitting on the bench, beating Argentina by 33 points in the final.
As a result, Athens a year later switched to a severely deformed team, only Duncan pressed on the inside, Marbury and Iverson on the outside were simply not enough to play, and the Olympic Americans played off and won only a bronze medal, but since then it has clearly learned their lesson, the Olympic configuration is a combination of inside and outside, all types of players.
Americans do not pay enough attention to the World Cup in addition to the gold content is not enough, there is also a reason is the schedule, this World Cup will last from August 25 to September 10, during this period the training camp of each team is basically opened, and then the preseason, this is the best opportunity to run in the team, if the World Cup first injury and team run-in problems directly affect the state of next season.
And some players are even in the last year of their contracts, that is, relying on contract years to fight for a big contract, if the injury is not worth the loss, will the NBA change the rules for FIBA? In the arrogant Lao Mei's view, the direct highest level of events respect the FIBA Olympics, and if they do not respect it, they will directly change the name of the NBA, and the banner raised by many teams that have won the NBA championship is called the world champion.
The United States is the world, and this logic is very American.
The United States in the 2023 World Cup is still not strong enough from the perspective of the squad, and even compared with four years ago, there are some star flavors that are not enough, especially the interior Kessler and Portis are not enough to carry the strength of the three-second zone, perhaps Cole will directly play small balls to put Ingram in the center position, and unlimited defense changes let Edwards, Halliburton and Jaren Jackson Jr. take turns to attack.
The biggest problem with this American team is that there are no superstars to crush, even if he is Harden who has entered a decline period is better than nothing, the 12 are all newcomers, have never had World Cup and Olympic experience, and the 28-year-old Josh Hart is already the oldest player on the team.
The world basketball pattern has also changed in recent years, Argentina and Spain have aged, Manu and Gasol, who have been fighting with the dream team for 10 years, have retired, and the main opponents of the younger generation of the United States are France and Serbia.
Although France announced early that he would not participate in the World Cup, the lineup led by Batum, Gobert and Fournier was enough for the United States to drink, while Serbia led by Jokić was showing its confidence to dominate the world.
This American team is much stronger than the 19-year team although the star flavor is not enough, Cole's team logic still inherits the logic of super scorers + field controllers + shooter groups + interior frames, Edwards and Ingram are players who can score high points by their individual ability in NBA playoff-level confrontations, and the Pacers' Haliburton already has the strength to become the league's assist king, and he has little problem controlling the court.
But the weakness of the United States is in the choice of interior frames and shooter groups, the decline of the entire interior is not actually the reason for this American team, but the entire American basketball can not cultivate a high-quality interior, the best inside line in the NBA is currently from Serbia and one from Cameroon, FIBA rules in the interior line does not defend for three seconds, Kessler and Portis may not be able to withstand the strong play of large tonnage strong centers.
There will be a large number of joint defenses in the international arena, and the best way to break the joint defense is to increase the independent attack of the shooter group, this American team can be called shooters such as Bridges, Hart and Cameron Johnson, these people have the ability to open up space projection achievements, but they do not have the ability to hammer the final sound, they are good finishers for running without the ball, but once it comes to the critical moment, Cole may still have to trust Edwards' impact more.
The United States participating in the 2023 Men's Basketball World Cup is reasonably configured but not dominant, in the past, the United States relied on tactics to cut melons and vegetables in international competitions is no tactics, each superstar can take turns to perform for a few minutes to pocket the gold medal, but with the reshaping of the international basketball order, the dominance of the United States has declined, if not the best players to play in the United States in the gutter capsizing, in fact, on paper strength The United States team is not weak, but they lost to the team that played as a whole, Argentina in 2004, Greece in 2006, This is true in France in 2019.
The 2023 U.S. men's basketball team is still strong and well-configured, but it is not easy for them to win the championship, they do not have big men who can hold the box, nor do they have super players who hit the hammer, but they have talented offensive methods and extremely impactful players, these characteristics doom them to be a smooth team, but if they encounter a group of young people who are not smooth, will there be a way?
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