NEW YORK — Two pieces of news to report after Team USA’s final exhibition game on American soil: They are going to bring only 12 players on the plane tomorrow when they fly to Grand Canary Island, and while they are in the air they will discuss whether Derrick Rose should remain the starting point guard.
Four players will be cut Saturday morning, and the educated guess here is that those four will be Gordon Hayward, Kyle Korver, Chandler Parsons and Damian Lillard.
The decision to travel with only 12 was made Friday after team officials said as many as 14 could be aboard for the trip across the Atlantic Ocean.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski said the team will carry at least five bigs, and possibly six. But since there are only five true bigs remaining on the roster (Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Mason Plumlee, Andre Drummond, Kenneth Faried) that theoretical sixth big would be an NBA small forward who could slide over as an emergency power forward. That leaves only two viable candidates, Rudy Gay and Parsons, who qualify under Coach K’s “possibly six” quote.
Which one is ahead on the depth chart? “Rudy keeps getting better,” Krzyzewski said after Gay shot 5-for-9 and scored 13 points in 16 minutes. (Parsons was 1-for-3 for 3 points in 12 minutes.)
Since the Who Gets Cut? debate will be settled by sunrise, let’s move on to a more significant question: Who is the starting point guard? Kyrie Irving was the starter Friday night for the second consecutive game, and Derrick Rose played 13 1/2 minutes off the bench with six points and four assists in the 112-86 victory over Puerto Rico.
Irving? Or Rose?
“That’s going to be the topic of one of the meetings on the plane,” Krzyzewski said.
The answer will not be revealed until Tuesday night when the Americans play their final tuneup game against Slovenia, and even then it might only be temporary. Which brings us to a little history lesson.
Four years ago, when Team USA left the United States and flew to Spain en route to the World Championship in Istanbul, Rajon Rondo was the starter. Then, in the first exhibition game, against Lithuania, the United States had a grand total of 8 points at the end of the first quarter as Rondo kept walking the ball up the court.
By the next game, Rose had supplanted Rondo as the starter, and the team clicked in an exhibition against Spain.
The team’s next stop was Athens, Greece, and I will never forget what I saw when I walked into the arena after practice: There were 12 guys in Team USA uniforms shooting around and getting treatment, and there was one guy sitting alone along the baseline with a frown on his face. It was Rondo, who was cut (officially, the team said he volunteered to withdraw) before the team bus made it back to the hotel.
The lesson? It does not matter how good Rose looked in Las Vegas or Chicago when the team first began training camp. What matters is what has been happening lately, and Irving has been rock solid whether coming off the bench or lining up with the starting five. Krzyzewski is going to go with the player who gives him the best chance to win, and whether that player is Rose or Irving remains to be determined.
For now, Irving (11 points, six assists, four rebounds in 27 minutes) appears to have earned the starting position — and not by default. he has simply been better than Rose, who let’s not forget has played exactly 12 basketball games in the past 2 years — 10 with the Bulls and two with Team USA.
He had six points and four assists against Puerto Rico after going for seven points and two assists in 24 minutes against Brazil.
Here are the totals for the two starting point candidates, including stats from the intrasquad scrimmage in Las Vegas:
Irving: 83 minutes; 45 points, 14-for-22 shooting (3-for-4 on 3s), 19 assists, 2 turnovers.
Rose: 52 minutes; 21 points, 7-for-12 shooting (1-for-3 on 3s), 7 assists, 7 turnovers.
Even Bulls fans have to admit that Irving’s numbers are vastly superior.
If I wasn’t so familiar with Coach K’s propensity for changing his mind on a daily basis, I’d go ahead and say that Irving has won the job. Instead, I’ll hedge … and I’ll see what happens against Slovenia.
Chris Sheridan is publisher and editor-in-chief of SheridanHoops.com. He has covered every senior U.S. men’s national team sicne the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Follow him on Twitter.
They should cut Irving. As a cav fan I want him here lol. Rose can start haha! I don’t want the injury chance.
You think they will be judging the players on such a small sample size? Especially Rose, who hasn’t played organized basketball in nearly a full year? No. They already know who these players are and what they are capable of, they do not need 50 and 80 minutes of samples. Player A: Is capable of MVP season(s) (or for your case, numbers). Player B: Is not. Player A: Can (now) play defense. Player B: Can not. Player A: Has tremendous speed and can push the pace (what coach K wants). Player B: ..eh.
Fact of the matter is, Chris Sheridan is a moron who’s ego and articles are tainting the collective unconscious, that’s anyone who reads and buys the BS he puts down.
He was wrong when he said that, “Rose will never be Rose again.”
He was wrong when he said that, “Rose will not make the USA team” (x2)
He was wrong when he said that, “Rose will not start.”
And now he is hell-bent on proving everyone other wise.
And he probably thinks Lebron doesn’t flop. Joke.
Wow that was very well said. Thanks for pointing out how much of an idiot this guy is. Now he’s written a whole article to prove a point. Guy is so desperate he’s comparing point for point gaurd a instead of the obvious fact that the offense was a lot more fluent with Rose in the game. Smh I’m telling you all this guys Sheridan is an idiot.
That first comment is dead-on. The second I saw his report about “knee soreness” in bold letters you could smell the agenda. Then there’s this:
@sheridanhoops · Aug 20
I got over 1,000 angry tweets yesterday when I wrote the truth, that D.Rose has knee soreness. The truth hurts, eh?
It’s almost like he’s happy that Rose could be injured.
Does it matter who starts? Probably not. Remember Dwyane Wade came off the bench in 2008, and arguably he was statically superior to Kobe. Coach K will do what makes sense, probably on a game-by-game basis. What’s interesting is Coack K’s guy is Kyrie from his Durham days (ended up starting Kyrie when healthy and giving him the green light after injuries kept him out for a significant stretch of the season, and Duke never seemed in sync when Irving came back–knocked out early in the tournament)and Thibodeau’s guy is Rose (similar questions about injury and chemistry). What’s clear is that Coach K and Thibodeau are professionals, and will figure out.
All that said, Chris seems to spend a lot of time ripping players or reporting unsubstantiated rumors–Rose and Durant immediately come to mind. Maybe they have too good of reputations, and he’s trying to poke holes. And he did try to cut Rose before Las Vegas, only to “hedge” and predict he’d make the team last night after it was kind of obvious he would.
Chris Sheridan should be at starting PG, and not d.rose or kyrie. He should be happy at that because he knows everyhing about basketball, he’d rather quit media and play for team USA and let’s see the outcome.
I’m surprised sometimes how little basketball knowledge some so called journalists have. It’s not about points you fool. Obviously you didn’t watch the last game. Rose can break the defense with his first step better than Irving. The ball moves when he is in the game. Plus, he is a much better defender. He is not looking to score as much. Hero ball is te biggest obstacle in the World Cup, nt Spain
Why are people accusing Chris of DRose hate?
Fact is that Rose’s minutes will have to be reduced, due to injury/fatigue concerns.
That alone justifies starting Irving over Rose.
What counts is who is playing big minutes in the medal games. Coach K SHOULD limit Rose’s minutes the first week. That means that Irving starts – end of story. The fact that Irving’s statistics were as good as Rose, only makes the decision easy.
Rose fans just should be happy that he’s going to make the final cut. I wouldn’t have been so generous. I would have taken 13 players to Spain (include Lillard), and made final decision at last minute, after making sure Rose wasn’t fatigued again.
The bigger story may be Drummond making the final cut, which makes me happy. Coach K Chose Wisely to keep 5 True Bigs, with Spain in mind. Basically it was Drummond > Parsons if TeamUSA needs another Big. Faried, Davis & Gay can all play PF.
Irving has been fantastic! Numbers don’t lie.
Biggest number would be minutes you dumb shit 31 more mins equal more shot attempts mean more chance of higher stats
Irving>Rose
You’re an idiot. Don’t let anyone here you say that again, especially in Chicago.
Chris Sheridan only does satire articles regarding Rose. No truth on this site.
Not only the biggest Rose hater in media, but the most ridiculous editor! First: Rose is an easy cut..then: The knee concern (fake report)..and now: Rose or Irving?..WTF is going on with you and Rose Chris?
I think Drose must have banged his wife or daughter.
lol^
Sheridan is the big derrick rose hater in the media..
Of course Irving’s numbers look better look at the minutes differential lol
Im glad somebody said this. Chris went from saying Rose will get left behind due to health concerns to saying Irving should start over Rose. It really don’t matter who starts bc as a Bulls fan I just want Rose to get his groove back b4 the season start. I like Kyrie but he’s no Rose when healthy and in basketball shape. I really wish Chris would find something else to report on
Did you not see how many turnovers drose had… Lmao. Point guards are suppost to not have turn overs. They’re suppost to be ball handlers haha. Kyrie breaks defends down with his handles. Drose is just fast. Plus, kyrie is getting much better at defense. He’s fighting over screens And cutting these guards off from driving to the cup.
Uncle drew > drose
Chris,
You need to be more objective on Rose. You weeded tonight that Kyrie was stastically better than Derrick. Not true: Rose played 13 minutes, 6 points, 2-3 FG, 4 assists, zero turnovers. Kyrie played almost 28 minutes, 11 points, 3-7 FG, 6 assists and two turnovers. If we swapped their stats, based on your reporting on Rose even before camp in Las Vegas, you’d still say Kyrie was better. I am not saying Rose was better tonight, but the statements you have been making about Rose are either wrong or flat out guesswork. I’d like to see more of a balanced view.
If you think kyrie is better then you’re not watching. Rose is playing some amazing defense right now. And when there was 4 seconds left to get down court and score, who got the ball? Kyrie has numbers because rose doesn’t need to prove anything.
As you can see rose don’t need to score so he don’t need to. Rose Def pressure and staying on front of the other guard has been terrific, which don’t show on the stats.
Drose > Irving