Incomprehensible, NBA All-Stars were reduced to scraps at the World Cup
Three days ago, Steve Cole, known for his varied rotation schedule in the NBA, made his first roster change at the World Cup. In the big win over Jordan, Cole added Josh Hart to the starting line-up to Brandon Ingram, who had been playing poorly in this World Cup. It doesn't look like a makeshift for the style of play of the opponent, as Ingram was also on the bench in yesterday's game against Montenegro.
As Cole said, what prompted him to make this change was Hart's dynamism in the game: "Josh [Hart] was our number one rebounder, and he grabbed another 12 last night [against Jordan]. He has strength and resilience to overcome height disadvantages. He's used to defending big men in the NBA's various defensive changes, so we'll be comfortable with Josh as the starting four. ”
Yesterday's U.S. against Montenegro is a very traditional Eastern European team, with seven players over 203 cm tall and relying heavily on the height advantage of the inside line to attack. Although half a head short of his opponent, Hart went to great lengths to defend Vucevic and his teammates. It is conceivable that in the next game against Lithuania, which are taller and more focused on interior attack, Hart is likely to continue to start.
Since coming to the Philippines, Cole has said that although he has been using a small lineup now, he will not shy away from using a large lineup of two interior players to let Banqueiro or Portis play with Jaren Jr. But for now, Hart is doing a good job of starting, and the U.S. men's basketball team can maintain the intensity of the game without sacrificing space and speed for the team. Hart also took this calmly: "Like I told you the other day, I'm here to play hard, defend, grab rebounds, and bring a good atmosphere to everyone. That's what I do, that's my role, whether I'm in the first or second lineup or not playing at all, that's what I should do. ”
Team USA has been winning, teammates have their own plays, and the top performers off the bench are Halliburton and Austin Rivers, which makes Ingram's disappointing performance in the team even more embarrassing - you know, when this American team was formed, many people thought Ingram would be the leader of the team. When he spoke to American reporters in Las Vegas, he said he wanted to be "the best player on the field every day" during his time with the national team.
And rightfully so. Ingram, who averaged 27 points in a series against First Team in the West 16 months ago, suffered an injury last season, but in the 45 NBA games he's played, he still averaged 24.7 points per game and shot nearly 40 percent from three-point range. He is just 26 years old today, has been selected as an All-Star in the NBA, and is in the prime of his career. With his qualifications, physical condition and technical ability, he should have become an offensive weapon that can use his height, projection and technique to destroy those heavy power forwards on the FIBA field, and become the star of this American team, just like his predecessors Cameron Anthony and Kevin Durant.
But it turns out he's not that kind of player. On the FIBA court, Anthony and Durant are pure scorers, sharp knives, but Ingram always feels soft and slow. Perhaps this has something to do with his habit of being an offensive hub for the New Orleans Pelicans, whose role with the Pelicans is very similar to the modern popular "point forward", where he starts every offense, decides whether he offense or passes, and he has enough say in when and how he shoots. But he forgot one thing, this is not the Pelicans, this is the United States.
He averaged 3.6 points per game and shot 38.0% from the field, without making a single free throw in five games. This is how Ingram struggled at the FIBA World Cup. That's not what he envisioned when he agreed to join Team USA, and it's not what most NBA fans think he should play. To put it bluntly, when Ingram is on the bench and Austin Rivers or Hart plays in his place, the U.S. team plays at its best.
This dilemma he has been experiencing since the U.S. team started playing warm-up games, when Ingram told reporters: "Playing on the U.S. team is completely different from what I'm used to." But the team is winning now, so I can't be selfish and just think about myself. Now I'm a little frustrated, but I still have to find a way to make myself more efficient. ”
Of course, he can't be more efficient, because in the U.S. men's basketball team, no one else is obligated to cooperate with Ingram. In the starting lineup, the ball has a lot of time in the hands of the main control Brunson, Edwards is the back-and-forth assaulter, and Mikal Bridges and Jalen Jackson are often only responsible for finishing on the offensive end. In an interview a month ago, Ingram praised the lineup: "I think it's very efficient, with two wing scorers, Jaylen as a point guard to keep everyone organized, and JJJ, Defensive Player of the Year." And Mikal, who was constantly moving, running for himself. This lineup is very dynamic. ”
The original words have become a boomerang that flies back, and this lineup is indeed very dynamic, and the only person who is not energetic is Ingram himself. If you are gentle and frugal on the field, not strong enough to defend and not hard enough, unable to run out of space and occasionally take the ball and not attack, the end result is marginalization. Someone asked Halliburton about Ingram's predicament when he was asked about the second team controller, and Halliburton gave a solution: "I think maybe we have to run more tactics related to him and give him more touches so that he can find a feeling." ”
So that's another purpose for Cole's adjustments. After the game against Jordan, he said that Ingram would be more comfortable playing with athletes like Halliburton and Rivers who are willing to share the ball: "I have a high opinion of BI [Ingram], he has a good personality and way of doing things, and although he is not used to coming off the bench, he accepts it all and plays well. His game became fluid after he came off the bench, and against Jordan he gave five assists, more space and possession. He really wasn't doing as well as he was doing, but he just wasn't adjusting to FIBA and new teammates, and he wasn't really struggling. One of the things I've learned at FIBA is that every night can be a different player, we 12 players are very talented, each of them can be the winner of the game, and I expect that to happen to BI as well. ”
Anyway, this did not happen yesterday. When Team America is in trouble, the people who help Team America out of danger are Edwards, Halliburton and Rivers. At the end of the game, the five people left on the court included these three, Bridges and Jaren Jr., without Ingram. Ingram played 15 minutes in the game, shooting 1-of-3 from the field and scoring just two points. When the U.S. men's basketball team beat Jordan, Halliburton may still have time to run a few tactics to take care of Ingram's mood, but in a game like Montenegro from start to finish, Halliburton certainly has to put the team's victory and defeat first, and Ingram has become an outsider again.
Of course, it's easy to criticize Ingram for her performance in this way. Playing on such a star-studded but strong American team provides a stage for him to prove that he hasn't won enough games in the NBA because his teammates are not strong enough, or for him to show that he has other ways to influence the game besides scoring, but for now, things are obviously very different from what we think, it's not that he doesn't want to do it, he just can't do it. Even though he's improved a lot in the last few years, he's clearly a blank slate when it comes to teaming up with his star teammates.
That's the game for the national team. You may already be an All-Star in the league, averaging 25 points per game and being a top-paid player, but in FIBA, you can also take only 2 points in the game and just watch from the sidelines in the deciding moment. For Ingram, the World Cup is just five games played, with four games to play. If he can cut 20 points in the next crucial game to help the U.S. men's basketball team out of trouble, we wouldn't be surprised, because he has the quality of this.
But conversely, if Ingram doesn't prove himself in the end, it only shows that there are still many obvious flaws in his way of playing, basketball skills and personal personality that need to be improved. If his goal is only to be a top-paid star in the NBA, then he can return to his comfort zone and refuse the national team call-up from now on, and the Pelicans will not give him a penny less - there are so many basketball talents in the United States, not more of him, no less of him - but if he wants to conquer higher mountains and become a better basketball player, then he must improve in a harder and more focused way in the future.
What to do in the future? It depends on how you define yourself, how you understand yourself, how you expect yourself – and when I say this self, I'm not just talking about Ingram.