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NFL Mock Draft 2009 Draft of 2009 Lacks Star Power NFL Draft 2009: Getting Started Super Bowl Well Worth Tuning In For
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| NBA | |
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Prospects On Center Stage NBA Preview 2008/09: Final Call
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Did Coach K Overcoach Team USA? By Ron Jumper The loss of Team USA should have came as no surprise to those who watched the tournament from start to finish. It sounds crazy, but I think Coach K actually out thought himself. He has put the international game on this pedestal and, for some reason, feels he has to come up with some kind of crazy formula to win games. Team USA will be able to make the necessary adjustments to win Gold, but there are plenty of kinks to work out. The biggest adjustments need to be on the defensive end of the floor.  As someone who has coached AAU teams, I know how hard it can be to divide out minutes when you have players who were all the stars of their respective teams. However, not starting Dwyane Wade was just silly and having four guards on the floor at all times just seemed to work to our disadvantage. I would have played Elton Brand and Dwight Howard together. USA really should have been able to dominate the boards with this roster, but playing Brand and four guards takes that advantage away completely. The international game is full of perimeter players so having four guards on the floor doesn’t create any mismatches for you. The mismatch would have been who the opposing power forward had to guard, which could have been either Howard or Brand had they played together more. It is tough to take a team of All-Stars and make it work, but Coach K could have created more mismatches had he chosen to do. On the defensive end, Coach K may have to go against his philosophies at Duke to get this job done. Coach K loves to play man to man defense with a lot of pressure on the ball, but the international game is made to thrive on that. Throw in how much NBA players like to gamble and go for steals, and you have a recipe for disaster. There needs to be an emphasis on helpside defense and just staying in front. Make the international players have to take you straight up. Do you see any international teams that can consistently beat guys like Lebron or Dwyane off the dribble? The real kicker is if the likes of Dwight Howard and Elton Brand are in proper helpside position to redirect and block shots. That doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be ball pressure, but Team USA seemed to think they could intimidate teams by picking up full-court. Those days are long over. I hate to be negative in all of this because there were many positive things as well the bad. The effort put towards international basketball as a whole is much better. The attention to putting together a real roster is much better. The fact that they played as well as they did without Kobe Bryant, Chauncey Billups, and Amare Stoudemire ia very impressive. So don’t think that Team USA can’t get over the hump, it is only a few adjustments away from being back to the good old days. September 5, 2006 |
| NCAA Football | |
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Be Careful What You Wish For
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| NCAA Basketball | |
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Jumpology: My Bracket Jumpology: Scouting The Heavyweights Jumpology: Reviewing The Bracket
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