Team USA 2024
- Thread starter ifmanis5
- Start date
I wonder if Jaylen has his Kobes and Tatums shipped to him without the swoosh or does he have a guy to remove it.
Tatum, a teammate "NOT named Tatum," and another teammate "NOT named Tatum."
Amazing that if KP wasn't injured, JB would be the only Celtic starter not playing in the Olympics.
it is pretty funny they updated White's, Tatum's, and Jrue's profile on winning the Championship but not Brown's.
Didn't notice that; good point.
In your defense, people still really aren't associating Jrue with BOS, which is the same mistake SAS made.
Hopefully he has a guy. After last year's gardening mishap, I don't want Jaylen involved in manual labor of any sort
It was funny seeing Tatum get to go 1 on 1, is pretty rare.
View: https://twitter.com/therechigoes/status/1811415665439642098
View: https://twitter.com/therechigoes/status/1811415665439642098
I think Team USA should have replaced Kawhi with Brown.
I think Brown has a legit beef of not getting selected.
Because they selected White, his teammate, instead of Brown - I wish he would have kept his beef to himself.
I think Brown has a legit beef of not getting selected.
Because they selected White, his teammate, instead of Brown - I wish he would have kept his beef to himself.
Bingo.
I think he's right but it's not a great look to start all of this up after they selected a teammate of yours.
Honestly, I kind of love it. Petty Jaylen is the best Jaylen. I’m sure he was gracious with White in private.
I think it’s pretty likely that Jaylen is capable of both being happy for White, and still being pissed about not being selected for the initial roster.
There’s also a Jaylen will be Jaylen thing with the team, none of them will take anything negatively from it.
There’s also a Jaylen will be Jaylen thing with the team, none of them will take anything negatively from it.
It's going to be something watching the NBA press realize that Tatum has yet another level next year.
The biggest emotion I saw from him post-championship was relief. He really is good enough. His belief in himself was real. His questions of himself were unfounded. He truly does belong with all of his idols.
That's going to be reinforced 10-fold during the Olympics, where it's going to be clear he's the best player on the team, and he's going to carry that into next season, where he's going to destroy people on the regular. If he's not the pre-season MVP favorite, Vegas isn't paying attention.
That face SGA is making is the face of a man who knows he just got blown by in the MVP race. People who would take Luka over him are high. Embiid? No fucking way that lumbering bull in a china shop is a better player than Tatum or more valuable to a winning team. Giannis? With his sub-28% 3-point percentage? Maybe.
Can't wait for all of the flowers Tatum is going to get in France this summer and then watch his ascendancy to MVP favorite in the fall.
I had to look up the JB/Nike thing and I gotta say, Nike is looking pretty petty here. JB has a legit gripe, but it does look awkward that DW took that last spot, so it looks like more of a swipe at DW than Nike. I'm hoping that's not true and that JB and DW are cool.
Also, I only saw the first half but Embiid looked awful even among the whole first unit looking out of sync. The second unit with Ant and Tatum looked better, but the whole team generally looked like they need some more practices to get on the same page.
Also, I only saw the first half but Embiid looked awful even among the whole first unit looking out of sync. The second unit with Ant and Tatum looked better, but the whole team generally looked like they need some more practices to get on the same page.
Tatum is the best player on the team especially in international basketball. Ant will probably lead the team in scoring.
JB might have been screwed over by sneaker politics, but at some point he really should just STFU, congratulate DW and wish Team USA well in its goal for Gold.
First game is 17 days away, Durant may yet bow out due to injury. Plenty of time and space to both draw attention to the ugly underbelly of Olympic sport politics and support his fellow teammates and league mates.
Yup. And it is a good strategic move in the event that Durant has to drop out. If he does, and Jaylen isn’t selected, his point has been proven.
JT will be MVP favorite when the Thinking Basketball guys get 5/$90M contracts and SAS is relegated to putting out cult podcasts.
(Not saying you're wrong about JT; just how the media looks at him.)
Even if the scenario played out, TEAM USA might be hesitant to pick JB after his loud public protest. He might have better served himself by not making it about himself, wish the team well, and if an opening opened, it would be less loaded, and an easier choice for TEAM USA.
thinking basketball had him as the 9th best player in the league this year in their season wrap up.
I'd say he realized that Nike was speaking to him through SAS, and this is directed at the source, not the vehicle.
State Your Source, indeed.
He was 6th in the health-adjusted ratings. But the premise was the JT is going to make a leap over the summer that would cause the media to consider him the pre-season MVP favorite.
Maybe some serious pundits will raise him in their lists if he has a terrific Olympics but I can't see the everyday media getting JT to that point by next year. Maybe if he wins a couple of more titles. But not next year.
I don't give a shit about Jaylen's feud with Nike. Full speed Jaylen is the best Jaylen. Say what you feel JB and then prove it on the court when the time comes. JB with a chip on his shoulder is the JB every Celtic fan should want. Dude's going to be 28, is in line to make over a half billion, and he just put a ring on it, so now could easily be the time to settle in for veteran years and be content, or go balls out and stamp your name among the greatest of all time. I want pissed off JB.
And there's probably no chance that over the next two weeks, someone doesn't pull a hammy, roll an ankle, or something and they got to bring in another player and that will get real interesting.
And there's probably no chance that over the next two weeks, someone doesn't pull a hammy, roll an ankle, or something and they got to bring in another player and that will get real interesting.
I see him drawing attention to a rigged game (as he sees it). This seems consistent with his general social media presence. Agree or disagree with this stand, his defense of Kyrie, and his other stuff it all forms a coherent whole that he sees himself as an advocate for social justice, rather than just playing the game to get ahead. It feels authentic, and that is refreshing.
Thinking Basketball put him at #9 in a recent player rankings pod lol.
Everyone pays lip service to the aspects of offense that aren't points, and to positional value, but no one *actually* values what JT does.
Agree 100%. It wouldn't surprise me if he's already spoken to White and anyone else he's tight with on the Olympic team. No idea why, but I think JB is happiest when people think they are pushing *his* buttons, but he knows he's pushing theirs. (Hello, SAS). I think SAS acts like a colossal asshole 99.5% of the time. No one very high profile calls him out on it. So when JB does, I'm not suddenly going get all "hush up JB. Do you know who THAT is?" He's shitting on Stephen A. fucking Smith. Not Bill Russell, or Kareem or Jack Twyman. I hope JB takes plenty of Metamucil and keeps firing.
Title, Finals MVP, and ECF MVP, and it took a month for Jaylen trade ideas to be thrown around.
Just saying.
That rating, is on its face, absurd and basically destroys 90% of their credibility as a legit source of NBA player analysis. I would not expect Tatum to be ranked #1, but there were not 8 better players in 2023-24.
According to Reddit (have downloaded the Thinking Basketball podcast but not yet listened) here's his top 10:
10) LeBron James
9) Jayson Tatum
8) Stephen Curry
7) Anthony Davis
6) Kawhi Leonard
5) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
4) Luka Doncic
3) Giannis Antetokounmpo
2) Joel Embiid
1) Nikola Jokic
-------------------------------------
He ranks them on assumption they are all healthy. So, I guess I get Embiid and Kawhi being where they are.
Here in the real world, though, the "if healthy" Embiid and Kawhi do not exist so I'm not sure what the above really means. It would be more helpful to frame as "per minute" which does exist for Embiid and Kawhi. I do think 'per minute' Embiid may be better than Tatum.....but given the massive, and consistent, difference in how many games and minutes each played it's simply indefensible to argue Embiid provides more value to his team than Tatum.
Anyway....that's the list.
10) LeBron James
9) Jayson Tatum
8) Stephen Curry
7) Anthony Davis
6) Kawhi Leonard
5) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
4) Luka Doncic
3) Giannis Antetokounmpo
2) Joel Embiid
1) Nikola Jokic
-------------------------------------
He ranks them on assumption they are all healthy. So, I guess I get Embiid and Kawhi being where they are.
Here in the real world, though, the "if healthy" Embiid and Kawhi do not exist so I'm not sure what the above really means. It would be more helpful to frame as "per minute" which does exist for Embiid and Kawhi. I do think 'per minute' Embiid may be better than Tatum.....but given the massive, and consistent, difference in how many games and minutes each played it's simply indefensible to argue Embiid provides more value to his team than Tatum.
Anyway....that's the list.
Haha, was mostly said in jest. Plus, who even knows how Flagg will look at Duke.
A lot can happen in a year though. If the Celtics aren't going for a 3-peat and new ownership isn't excited about a massive tax bill, there will likely be changes. More than likely, it will be on the edges or with KP, not one of the other 4 starters.
I'd say a tiny (but non-zero chance) of a massive shake up with somoene like Jaylen, but only if a bunch of specific things happen (disappointing Celtics season, Jaylen frustrated, new owner not up for big tax, some team makes a big offer with cheap high upside players that we think can slide into the rotation etc).
No kidding. Tatum shot 40% or better from 3 in nearly as many games (36) as Embiid played (39). Why not just assume Tatum will shoot 40% or better from 3 all season?
It's lazy.
I started listening to the podcast but couldn't really get through it all. (The podcast on "Two-Way Forwards" (not wings) was slightly more interesting and they call JT the current apex Two-Way Forward.)
The list you have has a lot of caveats - that they have the players in bands but ended up having to list them 1 through 10; this is just for 2023-24; it ranks players when they were healthy (so yes assuming "health" but not completely assuming health because Ben wasn't going to take Halliburton's first two months and extrapolate over the same year. It was pretty convoluted and frankly not entirely convincing.
Adjusted for health/availability, JT was 6th:
1) Jokic
2) Luka
3) SGA
4) AD
5) Steph
6) Tatum
7) LeBron
8) Edwards
9/10) Embiid/Brunson/KD
If you discount thinking basketball by 90 pct for this the. you’ll really be missing out. he’s great imo.
I feel like all these Kawhi anecdotes are a bit.
"Boardman gets paid" and "Apple time". Next we will learn that he has an extensive collection of porcelain figurines.
"Boardman gets paid" and "Apple time". Next we will learn that he has an extensive collection of porcelain figurines.