re: Reminder: AD and team USA take on Brazil tonight at 8

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I thought Faried played really well. He was all over the court. He seemed to be the best fit next to Davis. He doesn't give much on offense (other than put backs). But he was doing everything else.

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He plays with a ton of energy and is a rebounding fiend which this team needs, but he just isn't good on defense in terms of positioning and moving in space. He's poor in the NBA and will be poor v international ball movement.

Plus he kills spacing for Davis and all the off the bounce attackers. Until they play Spain/Brazil again, there is no reason to start him with Davis.

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Thompson just seemed to push it too much.

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Yep. He has a very weak dribble game. He is a catch and shoot guy. When he tries to create, it's a bad possession regardless of outcome. What was most troubling was how an old and heavy Barbosa was beating him on the other end. Could have just been one of those nights for him, but he stunk it up on both ends and looked really out of place.

Really think Korver should see some more time if Thompson continues to play like this.

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Who do you think the 4 cuts are going to be? If it were up to me, I'd cut Plumlee, Drummond, Derozan and Hayward

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That's whom I would cut too.

They'll be fine as they work out the kinks. The 2012 team struggled a bit in some of these pre-tournament games too. Easy draw will help them get to the Final. But that will be tough- it was tough in the last 3 tournaments with better teams. They used to have Melo or LeBron or Durant playing v international 4s and their backups. They would just kills teams there. Not the same advantage any more