There have been many comments about how this USA Basketball team is worst in recent history so i decided to line up the numbers. After few hours of entering data to a spreadsheet here are the results. 2014 team had 12 players and i only included the stats of those players up until 2013/2014 season. Skipped the 2016 Olympics team because they are always much more stacked with talent. 2019 team has 13 players for now so totals will be skewed but i guess its not a big deal. Might edit it once they cut that last player. Ok lets start:
2014 Team: ( Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Derrick Rose, Rudy Gay, DeMar DeRozan, Kyrie Irving, Mason Plumlee DeMarcus Cousins, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Kenneth Faried )
2019 Team: ( Harrison Barnes, Jaylen Brown, Joe Harris, Kyle Kuzma, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Donovan Mitchell, Mason Plumlee, Marcus Smart, Myles Turner, Jason Tatum, Kemba Walker, Derrick White)
| 2014 Team USA (12 Players) | 2019 Team USA (13 Players) | |
|---|---|---|
| Average age: | 24.08 | 25.46 |
| Average seasons played: | 3.83 | 4.92 |
| Average games per season: | 69.84 | 69.15 |
| Total games played: | 3213 | 4439 |
| Total games started: | 2705 (84.1%) | 3432 (77.3%) |
| Total Points scored: | 56023 | 63658 |
| Average PPG: | 17.43 | 14.34 |
| Total Rebounds: | 18273 | 21940 |
| Average RPG: | 5.69 | 4.94 |
| Total Assists: | 11564 | 11580 |
| Average APG: | 3.6 | 2.6 |
| Total Minutes played: | 105103 | 111265 |
| Average MPG: | 32.7 | 25.06 |
| Total ALL-Star Selections: | 10 | 5 |
These are just sheer numbers and they dont have to mean anything. Guys like Joe Harris and Derrick White dont have good career stats but can definitely play good. So its up to you to do the analysis. Enjoy!
[Box Score] (http://www.fiba.com/basketballworldcup/2014/1009/France-Spain#|tab=boxscore_statistics)
A great defensive performance by France to beat Spain in Spain without the aid of their star point guard Tony Parker. Outstanding game from Gobert in particular.
USA, Lithuania, France, and Serbia are the final four left competing for medals. France is defending European champion but has never medaled in the FIBA championship before.
I don't know much about these players, other than what the internet hype / mixtapes tell me. But it's clearly a stacked roster. Probably the most talented roster Canadian basketball fans have seen at this age group.
The team is headlined by NBA Prospects like 7'4 Zach Edey (Purdue), Benn Mathurin (Arizona) and McDonald's All American Caleb Houstan (Michigan next year). This will provide also provide fans the first look at the internet-famous Elijah Fisher on a team not coached by Grassroots / Ro Russell. He is 2 years younger than most of his competition, and some have touted him as the best player at his age in the world.
The cool thing about the U19 age group is the rosters have a mix of NCAA and High school players competing, which is a good context to evaluate where these guys are really at.
Sam Alamutu 6’4” Charles Bediako* 6'11” Ethan Boag 6’9” Javonte Brown-Ferguson* 6'11” Darius DeAveiro 5’11” Kyle Duke* 6’3” Zach Edey* 7’4” Elijah Fisher* 6’7” Nikola Guzina 6’8” Khalfani Hill* 6’9” Caleb Houstan* 6'8" Luke Hunger 6'10" Enoch Kalambay* 6'5" Elijah Mahi 6’15” Bennedict Mathurin* 6’7” Thomas Ndong* 6’8” Ryan Nembhard* 5’11” Nana Owusu-Anane* 6’8” Dominic Parolin* 6’8” Olivier-Maxence Prosper* 6'8"
