Submitted by Meredith, Aug 22, 2007 18:11

I don't see any major upgrade in the backcourt. Hinrich is a better outside shooter than Kidd, Billups or Williams and is a better defender than Williams or Billups. Paul is a better playmaker than Billups and probably Williams, as well as being much quicker. So where's the MAJOR upgrade? If Jason Kidd can't hit open shots (he will be left open), and if the younger, quicker guards like Barea and Barbosa go right around him, will his veteran leadership and playmaking be able to compensate? I think Paul and Hinrich have gotten way too much blame for Team USA's bronze medal finish last year. They combined for an A/TO ratio of well over 3:1 and Hinrich was 2nd on the team in 3-point shooting (46.2%). Maybe they got pushed around a little bit by bigger guards, but the entire USA team got pushed around. Especially inside. But I haven't seen any blame thrown at Howard, Bosh, Brand, et al for getting outmuscled and outworked at last year's Worlds. Or any blame thrown Lebron's way for not always buying into the team-first concept.

I also don't see any real upgrade in outside shooting. Redd, Billups and Miller are certainly good outside shooters, but if you look at their 3-point percentages from last year, they aren't any better than Hinrich or Battier...in fact, they are worse! Can you guarantee that Miller, Billups and/or Redd will shoot over 46% from behind the 3-point line, as both Battier and Hirnich did at last year's Worlds? And I doubt Anthony will shoot 44% from behind the arc again, as he did last summer. So that puts a TON of pressure on Bryant to make outside shots. And he is a very streaky outside shooter (34.4% from beyond 3-point line last year, 33.7% for career). So this team could actually be a WORSE perimeter shooting team than last year's squad.

3-pt %, 2006-07:

Battier 42.1%

Hinrich 41.5%

Miller 40.6%

Redd 38.2%

Joe Johnson 38.1%

Billups 34.5%

Everyone seems to forget that Team USA had ONE bad game at last year's Worlds. The rest of the time, they were more than good enought to win, although they struggled against zone defenses and in defending the pick and roll.. Last year's squad could win this FIBA Americas tournament just as easily as the current roster is expected to do. The question is whether this year's version -- if kept together for the 2008 Olympics -- can beat Greece, Argentina and Spain and take the gold. I'm not too confident.

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