Observations and assessments Team USA...

I just finished watching the replay of the Unites States scrimmage and was very surprised with what I saw. Just wanted to get my thoughts out there are see if you guys who watched the game are feeling me on this.

Players who were most impressive:

1.) Derrick Rose: I like many of the GSoM community share the belief that Derrick Rose is overrated and relies to much on his athleticism to make plays rather than his BBIQ and doesn't have much range, but he was extremely impressive in this game. He was the fastest guy on the court, took it hard to the rack, made good passes, and protected the ball extremely well against Rondo, who is one of the best on ball defenders in the league.  After this game I expect him to be the starting point guard of the team.

2.) Eric Gordon: Man this guy played great! He had a couple of ill advised shots, but for the most part he knocked down open looks, and hit muliple 3's. Not only that he played point and did a good job of protecting the ball, even though he has an ugly dribble and doesn't keep the ball close to his body. His defense was pretty good too, he had some good on ball defense and a couple of sneaky steals on post players he crept up on. Definately was impressed with him, and expect him to be on the team even though I thought for sure he'd be one of the first cut. Good day for him.

3.) Andre Igoudala: Man this guy looked good..... He's definitely put on more muscle this off season and looks almost LeBronish, even his facial features somewhat resemble LeBron although im kinda stretching with that, but he looks physically amazing. The commentators were talking about how he was talking about being committed to being a defensive stopper this year, and it sure looks like hes been putting in work. He was excellent in his minimal playing time, playing good defense, making the right plays, and surpizingly hitting some deep jumpers, i believe he had 17 points on 6 shots!!!! Amazing!!! I expect a huge year from this guy and definitely will be trying to have him on my fantasy team. His free throws are still pretty ugly though.

4.) Rajon Rondo: Man this guy is a Hawk on defense, I got scared every time he guarded Curry because he was causing Curry all kinds of problems. He was very active on D, was very good at finding the open guys even forcing it sometimes and still making the perfect pass. He knocked down a three and got to the rack when he pleased, although he missed a couple tough layups he was still able to get to the rack. Definitely see him making the team as well

Players who were unimpressive:

1.) Gerald Wallace: Definitely out of his league, couldn't make any shots, didn't make anything happen. I don't see him making the team especially since he said something to the effect of being in Turkey might be a little overwhelming for him. Didn't do anything impressive on either end and was basically a ghost except for all his missed open shots.

2.) Brook Lopez: I know hes recovering from being sick, but he just looked awful. Late on rotations, ugly offensive moves, punked for rebounds, not much good to say about him, would rather have McGee on the team than him.

3.) Stephen Curry: Well he wasn't that unimpressive as much as I am a huge fan of his and thought he made some pretty poor plays and I'm being tough on him. He did knock down some open 3's and had some descent passes, but took several ill advised shots. In fact I can remember 2 contested long jumpers off screens that he missed, and then got beat down the court on the other end for a lay-up. Uhhhh that was ugly. Rondo definitely had his way with Curry on defense. Curry definitely hustled out there but Nate had him on a short leash ala Nellie on Randolph...Too many mistakes!!!

4.) Chauncey Billups: Didn't make shots, made poor decisions, wasn't really a factor at all. Not much else too say except unimpressive

A few other observations:

Durant made way too many mistakes handling the ball, he needs to trust his point guards to make plays, although he did have a couple of good passes, he had wayyyyy too many turnovers. Still the scoring is there.

JaVale McGee has some good flashes, in his first minute he scored 6 points had a couple of boards and blocked an Odom 3. Sweet finish with the left hand in the paint too. Seemed a little bit out of shape as the game went on, but had some pretty impressive moments.

Tyson Chandler was really good, it was like he was back on the hornets doing what he does best, but geez make some free throws pleeeeese those were some ugly attempts!!

OJ Mayo is just ok at everything and not good at anything, he did knock down some shots though.

Kevin Love tenacious on the offensive glass

The way i see the team shaking out

PG: Rose, Billups(for leadership), Rondo

SG: Igoudala, Curry, Gordon

SF: Durant, Gay

PF: Odom, Love

C: Chandler, McGee (unless Lopez recovers soon)

Wallace, Green, and Granger aren't better than Gay and Durant and are redundant. Mayo doesn't have a role. Westbrook and Evans aren't better than Rose and Rondo and are redundant.

I can see Gordon or Curry getting cut for either Green or Granger, but most likely it would be Granger over Gordon.

I can also see us going small with this lineup:

Rose

Curry

Igoudala

Durant

Odom

That's all I got, we'll see how this all unfolds!!!