Bronze Medal Game

[Ricardo del Rio]

Good point, Shockda. I said Brown was thin-skinned for the way he handled the Twitter harassment, and I think he was -- best just to ignore that kind of foolishness. But I agree with you that harassing someone on his own Twitter account is over the line, and it should not have happened no matter how angry someone was about his play. This is just one of the many reasons I don't have a Twitter account, have never retweeted (actually, I don't know if I even can, and don't care enough to find out), and don't anticipate that I'll ever do any of the foregoing (as we lawyers would say).

And not I said the little red hen.

[shockmonster]

Good point, Shockda. I said Brown was thin-skinned for the way he handled the Twitter harassment, and I think he was -- best just to ignore that kind of foolishness. But I agree with you that harassing someone on his own Twitter account is over the line, and it should not have happened no matter how angry someone was about his play. This is just one of the many reasons I don't have a Twitter account, have never retweeted (actually, I don't know if I even can, and don't care enough to find out), and don't anticipate that I'll ever do any of the foregoing (as we lawyers would say).

Spoken like a real Lawyer. Theyunderstand that if you ever go to court, your social internet networking history will kill you. WARNING: Stay Away

[Dan]

Brown probably has never been taught how to play point guard. He was probably the star on his HS team and the star on his college team, Siena. He never had to share the ball and probably had to carry the team most of the time. The blame should rest on the shoulders of the coaches. They are the ones that decided they didn't need any true point guards to run the team. There's probably 100 guys playing in Europe that are better point guards thaan Bobby Brown, let alone FVV who was actually invited to try out.

[im4wsu]

Brown probably has never been taught how to play point guard. He was probably the star on his HS team and the star on his college team, Siena. He never had to share the ball and probably had to carry the team most of the time. The blame should rest on the shoulders of the coaches. They are the ones that decided they didn't need any true point guards to run the team. There's probably 100 guys playing in Europe that are better point guards thaan Bobby Brown, let alone FVV who was actually invited to try out.

The coach wasn't the one standing there dribbling the ball, looking directly at a great shooter wide open in the corner and then take off, do a spin move and throw up a shot over his shoulder while falling away from the basket with two people guarding him. That was Brown, all by himself!

[Dan]

I agree, but the coaches left him in the game and continued to let him have the starring role.

[ShockdaWorld]

I agree, but the coaches left him in the game and continued to let him have the starring role.

While I (and most everyone here I'm sure) think Ron was the best point guard on the team after Fred was cut, if Few was convinced that Ron had to play the 2, then he didn't give himself many options. Brown at least threw the ball toward the rim so we could hope for offensive rebounds. Tremble couldn't make it that far without dribbling it off his foot or just having his pocket picked. He was even worse.

[RoyalShock]

When the shot clock got short, Brown's value as a creator was clearly evident. The problem was that he often created the situation by not making passes to players in a better position than his own to score. One other issue I saw is that in the offense Few installed, Ron's role was too often to just run to the corner or low wing and stand there. Then if he was supposed to cut it was to the weak side and the pass went to the strong side. Ron was far better coming off of screens or receiving kick-outs on the high wing.

The combination of Brown and the offense really kept Ron from being as effective as he could have been.

[Art Bunch]

Great thread, lots of strong points raised, and some weak ones too.

We can all agree that Ron was the best college guy on the team, most consistent at both ends of the floor. With Prince showing a lot of flash on the offensive end. Guys have brought up Tarc being less than efficient in post up situations and that is true, it's also true that, like Baker, he is used to playing with a strong, pass-first point guard. Brown is not that guy.

On Melo, it's obvious that the reason Brown played so many minutes is because the coaches did not count on Trimble being completely ineffective. That was a surprise to me and I would guess to everyone else. Trimble is being positioned as a POY candidate and a probable top-5 pick. I saw nothing in these games from his performance that makes me think that will come to pass. He is not an advanced player physically or mentally, really disappointing.

And on Brown, you can't seriously watch those games and not see him as a ball hog. I've been around long enough and played enough pick-up to know when a guy thinks he's the answer and should be taking the majority of the shots. I also know exactly what it looks like when one player is freezing out another and that's precisely what was happening here with Baker. Brown's job as a pg is to make good decisions and put his teammates in the best possible situations to succeed. Review the tape, that simply did not happen.

[ArtVandalay]

Perhaps most interesting to me about this tournament was one of the main explanations around why certain guys did nor did not make the team: Versatility. Yet no one really played more than their base position (especially the guards) and the coaches basically ran the same sub patterns throughout the 5 days. Trimble clearly struggled running the point, yet he was never out there in the 2 spot along with Brown (the only other PG). Ron never was given the opportunity to run the point.

[ShockdaWorld]

Due to his (in my opinion) lack of ability to evaluate talent, as well as his inability to coach the players into ANY direction once they were chosen, I must say I am glad Mark Few coaches a team that I don't care about.

[FlyingWheat]

Perhaps most interesting to me about this tournament was one of the main explanations around why certain guys did nor did not make the team: Versatility. Yet no one really played more than their base position (especially the guards) and the coaches basically ran the same sub patterns throughout the 5 days. Trimble clearly struggled running the point, yet he was never out there in the 2 spot along with Brown (the only other PG). Ron never was given the opportunity to run the point.

Well, and on top of that they kept Shawn Long just to sit him on the bench.

[Steeleshocker]

Due to his (in my opinion) lack of ability to evaluate talent, as well as his inability to coach the players into ANY direction once they were chosen, I must say I am glad Mark Few coaches a team that I don't care about.

Keep in mind there are a lot more cooks in the kitchen with USA basketball. Few may have wanted FVV, but was overridden by those who thought more desirable physical attributes were required to be effective.

The thing i noticed is that many of the opponents used shorter point guards. I didn't see any indication that Fred would have been a liability due to his size. That and he would have actually tried to play defense.

[ShockdaWorld]

Keep in mind there are a lot more cooks in the kitchen with USA basketball. Few may have wanted FVV, but was overridden by those who thought more desirable physical attributes were required to be effective.

The thing i noticed is that many of the opponents used shorter point guards. I didn't see any indication that Fred would have been a liability due to his size. That and he would have actually tried to play defense.

I agree with all of this, although I do think Few had FINAL say as to who made the team. Even if he didn't, his inability to convince guys to play defense, pass the ball, etc. still tells me that I wouldn't want him coaching my team.

[boltforge]

On Melo, it's obvious that the reason Brown played so many minutes is because the coaches did not count on Trimble being completely ineffective. That was a surprise to me and I would guess to everyone else. Trimble is being positioned as a POY candidate and a probable top-5 pick. I saw nothing in these games from his performance that makes me think that will come to pass. He is not an advanced player physically or mentally, really disappointing.

Wasn't Melo primarily a shooting guard last season?

[Veritas]

Political?
Tad Boyle +Turgeon = Trimble
or...
WSU program (RB + FVV) > Gonzaga Program