Barkley makes some good points about team construction

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

http://www.espn.com/olympics/basketball/story/_/id/17325713/charles-barkley-critical-team-usa-roster-construction-not-good-team-put-together

Team USA is too reliant on isolation scorers and could benefit from the addition of more role players.

"You take a guy like Kyle Lowry, who is a hell of a player, he wants to score. Kyrie [irving] wants to score. Kevin [durant] wants to score. DeMar [derozan] wants to score. So, I think they have been really stagnant offensively.

"When they put that team together in the future, they have to realize we can't have just really, really great offensive players. They gotta have players that if they don't get a shot, they're not just gonna stand around and mope."

I agree with this philosophy. We have plenty of scorers on this team. That is why I liked getting Dunn over Murray (Sorry Cam) and that is why I don't want to touch a Rudy Gay. We need guys who can be effective without the ball.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Truth be told...

... it's a very very basic take and I don't know a single person who wouldn't agree with it.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

Truth be told...

... it's a very very basic take and I don't know a single person who wouldn't agree with it.

Well, the poster formerly known as Cam might disagree.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

In fairness to Coach K, they do have some guys known for their defense like Draymond, DeAndre, Butler, Paul George, and Klay. DeRozan, Barnes, Cousins and Irving might not be good fits though.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yeah, the three guys with the most minutes are 'Melo, Durant, and Irving, all of whom are known primarily as pure scorers. Draymond Green should be getting at least 20-25 minutes per game, as he is the perfect complimentary player to a bunch of high usage scorers.

This is why whenever I get into debates about creating an all-time super-team, I have Dennis Rodman at PF. You need someone that goes and does the dirty work.

As far as the Wolves go, I do love the Dunn pick as well because he's a "do shit" kind of player that can impact the game without always having to score.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Yeah, the three guys with the most minutes are 'Melo, Durant, and Irving, all of whom are known primarily as pure scorers. Draymond Green should be getting at least 20-25 minutes per game, as he is the perfect complimentary player to a bunch of high usage scorers.

This is why whenever I get into debates about creating an all-time super-team, I have Dennis Rodman at PF. You need someone that goes and does the dirty work.

As far as the Wolves go, I do love the Dunn pick as well because he's a "do shit" kind of player that can impact the game without always having to score.

One of the reasons I thought Love in CLE would work was because of his work on the 2012 team. The US didn't draw up plays for Love. He simply got garbage buckets. Every team needs guys to do the garbage work as a complementary player.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yeah, the three guys with the most minutes are 'Melo, Durant, and Irving, all of whom are known primarily as pure scorers. Draymond Green should be getting at least 20-25 minutes per game, as he is the perfect complimentary player to a bunch of high usage scorers.

This is why whenever I get into debates about creating an all-time super-team, I have Dennis Rodman at PF. You need someone that goes and does the dirty work.

As far as the Wolves go, I do love the Dunn pick as well because he's a "do shit" kind of player that can impact the game without always having to score.

One of the reasons I thought Love in CLE would work was because of his work on the 2012 team. The US didn't draw up plays for Love. He simply got garbage buckets. Every team needs guys to do the garbage work as a complementary player.

I think Love evolved so much in 2012-13 and 2013-14 with Minnesota that by the time he was shipped to Cleveland, he had already been used to being a #1 option offensively and sharing the rebounding duties with a guy like Pek, who was excellent at clearing out space for others. He also slimmed down quite a bit, so the idea that he could reprise his role as a rebounder-extrodrinaire, in hindsight, was probably too much of a transition for him. Obviously he's wearing a ring right now, so it didn't go THAT bad for him! But he probably took more of a backseat in that process than anyone initially expected.

[Monster]

Yeah, the three guys with the most minutes are 'Melo, Durant, and Irving, all of whom are known primarily as pure scorers. Draymond Green should be getting at least 20-25 minutes per game, as he is the perfect complimentary player to a bunch of high usage scorers.

This is why whenever I get into debates about creating an all-time super-team, I have Dennis Rodman at PF. You need someone that goes and does the dirty work.

As far as the Wolves go, I do love the Dunn pick as well because he's a "do shit" kind of player that can impact the game without always having to score.

One of the reasons I thought Love in CLE would work was because of his work on the 2012 team. The US didn't draw up plays for Love. He simply got garbage buckets. Every team needs guys to do the garbage work as a complementary player.

I think Love evolved so much in 2012-13 and 2013-14 with Minnesota that by the time he was shipped to Cleveland, he had already been used to being a #1 option offensively and sharing the rebounding duties with a guy like Pek, who was excellent at clearing out space for others. He also slimmed down quite a bit, so the idea that he could reprise his role as a rebounder-extrodrinaire, in hindsight, was probably too much of a transition for him. Obviously he's wearing a ring right now, so it didn't go THAT bad for him! But he probably took more of a backseat in that process than anyone initially expected.

Part of the problem is that TT plays that Love Olympic role except with better defense. I won't be shocked if year 3 with Lue that they are able to tap more into Love's ability to impact the game offensively.

As for the Olympic team admits construction...well sadly it was sorta thrown together because other guys dropped out for one reason or another. They didn't expect to have to be playing Derozen and some other guys big minutes but that's where they are. Spain seems to have figured their game or the USA might do the same thing.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Yeah, the three guys with the most minutes are 'Melo, Durant, and Irving, all of whom are known primarily as pure scorers. Draymond Green should be getting at least 20-25 minutes per game, as he is the perfect complimentary player to a bunch of high usage scorers.

This is why whenever I get into debates about creating an all-time super-team, I have Dennis Rodman at PF. You need someone that goes and does the dirty work.

As far as the Wolves go, I do love the Dunn pick as well because he's a "do shit" kind of player that can impact the game without always having to score.

One of the reasons I thought Love in CLE would work was because of his work on the 2012 team. The US didn't draw up plays for Love. He simply got garbage buckets. Every team needs guys to do the garbage work as a complementary player.

I think Love evolved so much in 2012-13 and 2013-14 with Minnesota that by the time he was shipped to Cleveland, he had already been used to being a #1 option offensively and sharing the rebounding duties with a guy like Pek, who was excellent at clearing out space for others. He also slimmed down quite a bit, so the idea that he could reprise his role as a rebounder-extrodrinaire, in hindsight, was probably too much of a transition for him. Obviously he's wearing a ring right now, so it didn't go THAT bad for him! But he probably took more of a backseat in that process than anyone initially expected.

I think you guys are actually both right when it comes to Love. Love had a terrific 2012 Olympics...he came into the games far down the depth chart, but ended up playing important minutes. I think that's when he really attracted LeBron's attention and a major reason the Wolves were able to get Wig in exchange. But Q's point is also well-taken...the Kevin Love who arrived in Cleveland was a different guy than the one who played in the Olympics.

I'm reading Barkley's take that a team with a lot of scorers needs a guy who doesn't always need to look for his shot, and I'm thinking "Gee, I wish the Wolves had a guy like that in their starting lineup."