Perthworld
Years ago
Portland guard Damian Lillard and San Antonio guard DeMar DeRozan became the seventh and eighth players to withdraw from the Team USA roster ahead of this summer's FIBA World Cup.
How can you not jump at the chance. I don't get it.
AKA
Years ago
I think the fact that the Olympics are next year has played a huge part in all the top line players withdrawing. They don't want to commit to 2 summers in a row of international basketball and it is rather obvious they choose the Olympics over the World Cup at this point. Poor scheduling from FIBA
The WC should mean more than Olympics, it does in every other sport.
Thank god i didn't bother flying over from Perth for it.
I was never expecting the USA's A team, but i thought we would see half their A team and half their B team. Pretty much all All Star level players with maybe 4 or so superstars.
At this rate USA will be rolling out their E grade team.
Its terrible how much basketballers don't respect the World Cup.
LV
Years ago
Agree FIBA must take some of the blame for this.
Absolutely stupid having the WC and Olympics 2 years in a row.
anon
Years ago
Not impressed spent a few thousand on tickets not including airfares and accommodation. We were initially excited to go now we'd prefer to get our money back.
AKA
Years ago
I really feel for those that spent $$ on tickets, flights, accom etc only to get this version of the USA team.
When was the last time the US fielded a team this bad in an Olympic/WC event? In 2014 they had Harden, AD, Curry. In 2010 they had Durant, Rose (about to win MVP), Westbrook. Curry as well but he was a twig with dodgy ankles back then.
America's C-team is not 12 of the 40 best players in the world the way it used to be, either. The best players in the NBA now include so many more internationals, the C-team is more like 12 of the best 60.
ESPN's subjective NBA rank before last season was:
1-10 Lebron, Curry, Harden, Durant, Giannis, AD, Westbrook, Kawhi, Embiid, Lillard
11-20 CP3, Jokic, George, Butler, Oladipo, Draymond, KAT, Simmons, Klay, Irving
21-30 Lowry, Mitchell, Gobert, Tatum, Love, Holiday, Walker, Aldridge, Beal, McCollum
31-40 Booker, Wall, Griffin, Horford, Middleton, Capela, Jaylen Brown, Otto Porter Jr, DeRozan, Hayward
41-50 Aaron Gordon, Eric Gordon, Gary Harris, Conley, Murray, Drummond, Adams, Myles Turner, Covington, Mirotic
From the 1-10 range, the squad has 0 players. 11-20 they have 0. 21-30 they have 5 (Lowry, Mitchell, Tatum, Love, Walker) at this stage. 31-40 they have 2 (Middleton and reports Jaylen Brown has been added). 41-50 they have 2 (Drummond and Turner).
We're now talking about a team that will have a minimum of 3 guys who are not top 50 NBA players. Zero top 20 players.
The only reason I'm glad I have tickets is because there's a good chance I get to see a Boomers win.
So I shelled out for courtside seats to see USA v Canada at Qudos, knowing full well that more players could drop out of the squad. But I didn't think we would have a full-on exodus. Oh well, just going to enjoy watching Jimmer Fredette and Cam Payne running around for Team USA....
ME
(he/kangaroo)
Years ago
At this rate, I'd almost be embarrassed for the Boomers if they didn't sneak a game against them.
LV
Years ago
Let's not get carried away
The USA still has the most talented team, and some guy named Pop coaching them
It's more about the way the pieces fit together, than who those pieces are.
We're still talking about a team full of NBA players from top to bottom, almost entirely NBA starters and still a few all stars.
OldManHoops
Years ago
Basketball Australia and TEG Live should be ashamed of the price of seats now that the quality of the USA team has dropped so significantly.
I understand that prices were set on the expectation of at least some superstars being in attendance ... and that all happened more than 12 months ago ... but I doubt that 110,000 punters and the Victorian government would have ponied up for this version of the event.
TEG need to update their website, which still features Davis, Harden and Lillard.
http://www.teglive.com.au/events/boomers-v-usa-basketball/
False advertising much?
If Ben Simmons changes his mind again, this is going to be a disaster.
PersonalFoul
Years ago
OLD MAN - I knew this was going to happen, the timing of the game, where it was in relation to the World Cup.
Ticket prices were crazy considering seat location and view. I love the idea of the event, but this squad will get less and less.
A A Ron
Years ago
Cheapest tickets available are in the top deck for $200+, haha, good luck with the sellout claims.... unless there's suddenly freebies to VJBL clubs to say that it's full.
rjd
Years ago
With a weaker USA team, I wouldn't be surprised if this is Australia's best ever chance to upset for gold. And by best ever, I also mean the future ahead. I'm not convinced by an argument that the 2023 World Cup team is likely to be any better than this year's team, if Simmons commits. If Simmons wants the challenge of a World Cup medal, especially gold, this is the opportunity to opt into a team that has a chance*.
* Not saying Boomers are likely to even medal in the WC this year with Simmons, but it might be the best chance Simmons will ever get.
Our best chance ever is beating the US benchwarmers team. How good
Australia will beat the USA.
Australia cares and trained well and will win.
Go australia
Americans dont really play together and not have the good team work.
Go Australia will win by 7pts
Senator11
Years ago
I ended up getting $90 mid tier level seat which look pretty good from the actual seats using the stadium viewer. Only got cheap tickets due to the fact I was tossing up going to China for the actual FIBA cup instead. Pretty glad I sold my tickets and changed my mind about China...
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