The Ringer NBA Show - Which NBA Players Will Perform the Best at the FIBA Basketball World Cup? | The Answer

Episode Date: August 24, 2023

Seerat and Michael return from their European vacations to preview the FIBA 2023 World Cup. Throughout their conversation, they share their team projections and individual player rankings while shining a light on some NBA stars who may be able to take advantage of international rule changes. Hosts: Seerat Sohi and Micheal Pina Associate Producer: Chris Sutton Production Supervision: Benjamin Cruz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Football is around the corner and we are ramping it up over here on the Ringer NFL feed in the month of August. Every week, Ben Solac and I will be bringing you not one but two extra point takens. That's right, double the trouble as we predict, debate and analyze our way through camp and the preseason every Monday and Friday. But that is not all. Stephen Ruiz and I will be coming to you every Wednesday. We'll talk about everything in the world of the NFL. And who knows, maybe Stephen will even have something nice to say about your favorite squad. Though frankly, I wouldn't count on it.

Subscribe to the Ringer NFL. show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. And be sure to follow the Ringer NFL on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter at Ringer NFL. To The Answer, I'm Sirad Sohey, joined as always by Michael Pina. Back from summer vacation, we finally have some real basketball to talk about. The Fiba World Cup is starting on Friday at some ungodly hour that is, you know, probably local time in the Philippines, where they, by the way, are playing basketball in like what is going to what is like the largest indoor arena ever in manila and it was very recently constructed and i think that's just going to be fantastic you know like basketball craze philippines i don't know if there's a place that can fill like a 55,000 so is this the largest arena like ever indoor arena ever or just in the philippines well how many people could they fit in the coliseum are we going history or are we going should we rank

Should we just rank Arenas in all time today? Does the Coliseum have like a roof? Was it a dome? I don't think so. No, it wasn't a dome. So that's out. No, that doesn't count.

Yeah, probably also didn't actually fit 50,000 people because there just weren't that many people back then so you wouldn't need that many, that much space. No. I feel like we haven't recorded an episode in a very long time. But we just saw each other. So it feels like, you know, the chemistry is just obviously flowing. Yeah, I mean, I feel like we're a lot like Team USA.

Actually, I think we're a lot like Team Canada. It's like these guys have been playing with each other for like three years, which is I think one of the reasons that Andrew Wiggins is not playing because he would not commit for the full three years before the Paris Olympics. But yeah, no, I think things are really flowing between us. But I guess, you know, on another level, if you look at it, we only started podcasting together recently. So maybe we're more like a Thai Halliburton, Austin Reeve sort of thing.

We're like, I don't know. I like to dominate the ball, but you're kind of like, you're a good assist usage guy. Like, probably like, you know, one of the top guys at the ringer in passes too. That's totally what I'm known for. Yeah. Big assist guy. Love to set everybody up.

Big playmaker. That was a really good segue, by the way. into Fiba basketball, which is what we're going to be talking about today, right? Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, we're going to be talking. We're going to be doing a little preview of the upcoming tournament. We're going to talk Team USA. We're going to rank some of the best players.

We're going to talk about some of the teams that we think could surprise. This is going to be, it's an interesting year, right? Like Team USA is not really a favorite. Once again, they've sent the younger squad. but unlike previous years, they've done a really good job of picking the right guys. There was like a Tray Young did a podcast a little while ago where he was talking about how he would have loved to be invited, kind of suggesting that he was snubbed. But if you look at like the makeup of this roster, I don't know if he's a type of player who would necessarily fit. Like the highest volume sort of bravado shooter guy that they have is Anthony Edwards who is, you know, proving that he deserves to have that.

spot and you just wrote about all this really well on the ringer.com how the roster makes so much sense they like a lot of guys just know how to play with other players without the ball with the ball both ends and yeah treyung no go i don't think this is john moran's tournament for a variety of reasons, but Ja-Morant is not really a Team USA player, I think, into this program. That's not the type of player. I just always equate Trey and Jha. I think they're very similar. So when you said Trey, I thought of Jha.

Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, let's just talk about that instead. First of all, that was very Ty Halliburton of you to mention that I wrote an article on the Ringer. So just really playing into it, and I love that. I actually think that Edwards is sort of like, he was like the understudy for John Morat in a way. You know, like if John Morat was available, I think he'd be on this team. I think he'd be invited.

I think he has probably, I don't know, I think he has a much more similar game to Anthony Edwards than he does Detroit Young. He's very explosive. He's a great passer. He's not like incredibly ball dominant. He plays alongside a whole bunch of guys who, you know, that, like, he's probably, he's probably somewhere in between those guys. But I think he falls more in the Anthony Edwards camp. And I think that if you did put him in this setting, he would have done pretty well.

And, you know, but now, now it's, that's not necessarily the case. So I think we're having a different conversation about Edwards. And I thought we would be having this summer, considering how he played in the playoffs versus how he's playing now. but this is really incredible stuff from him. And I think this is probably like, should we get into your rankings? Yeah, I thought it would be a good idea to kind of anchor our FBA World Cup tournament preview by ranking the 10 best players just in the entire tournament on Fever rules.

So not NBA rules is how I did it because I think that that would be much more fun. And I think my top 10 is. Well, first of all, it's really interesting just who is there and who isn't there. You know, obviously, Nicola Yocha Chiana Santacumpo, Jamal Murray, just some of the best players in the world are not playing for various reasons. Like, you can name anyone on Team USA who is not on this team, but will be in Paris and the Olympics. So just a different cast of characters and just a lot more talent.

available that isn't there. But I still feel like my list is, you know, interesting, a little spicy, maybe a little controversial. So why don't we just jump in? I'll give you my 10th best player in the entire tournament, I think. And it's Jalen Brunson. And Jalen Brunson, I feel like had some hype as a potential, you know, MVP of the tournament. Incredible, coming off of the incredible postseason run, he's awesome, really feisty.

You wrote in your column about how he makes a lot of sense in this team because even though he's undersized and, you know, had a pretty high usage, I would say, with the Knicks last year and was clearly like their go-to score in the playoffs and their best player and their number one offensive option. he also has a lot of, you know, he's familiar taking a secondary role. He, I think you said that he's able to nibble around the edges when he was Luca Donchish's teammate. And so he just makes sense as a complimentary piece around maybe more talented players. I don't know if that's super controversial to say about him. But I had him number 10. I just, I love his game, love, I mean, he's potentially going to be an all-star next season.

could have been an All-Star last year, could have been All-MBA last year, awesome player. So I have him number 10. Yeah, he's awesome. Yeah, it felt like going into the tournament and in the exhibition games that Jalen Brunton was supposed to kind of be Captain America. He was supposed to be the leader of this team. He's one of the older guys on the team. This is a very young team USA, by the way. I think Bobby Portis is the oldest player.

And by the way, like... Incredible stuff. I didn't know how much I missed just like seeing his eyes wide open, like mouth agape in shock. I just love that Bobby Portis face, especially in August, you know, like we're so starved for the NBA. It was, yeah, his Bobby Portis is awesome.

Shout out to him. Really great insurance in case Paulo Bankero can't play small ball five, which I think is just such an interesting career. and wrinkle. And I, by the way, man, Steve Kerr is just on one. I'm trying to get,

like, he was trying to get Anthony Edwards to come off the bench. Did you see this today? Uh, I did not. That is, that is wild.

So Anthony Edwards, like, it was big, so Kerr was basically like, yeah, you know, like Dwayne Wade came off the bench for Kobe Bryant.

Um, and Edwards was like, cool, there's no Kobe on this scene. Yeah, there's no Kobe on the squad, Brian. You were trying to get to come off the bench for Cam Johnson.

It was like, dude, man, he's just, Steve Kerr is in his bag right now. He's absolutely in his big right now. Back to your, back to your, to Brunton at number 10. I think that's a good pick. Yeah, he's,

well, he had a, he had a really good game against Spain when team USA just couldn't get it going with their half-court offense. And I think he's going to be really important in those moments, just because of the way that he can attack mismatches. But I also, like, I do think that, like, the Feeba rules probably hurt him because it is such a pass-first game. And I think that this team just has better passers than him.

Which is why my number nine is Tyree Saliburton. Just is he the best, he might be the best passer in the tournament. Is that? Yeah, I feel like this is low. I mean, I'm kind of like the biggest Halliburton fan. Oh, yeah. Maybe at the ringer. but I don't know actually

I feel like that's kind of saying that you're like in like the top 1% of Spotify listeners among bisexuals it's just like you know like you got to you got to stay humble but I I will let you I'll let you finish your point about Halliburn

but I'm not I would never disagree about anything that says that he's absolutely just done yeah he's great I mean his game speaks for itself everyone knows what he can do and last year you know he got the supermax or the max rookie extension for a reason it was a no-brainer um i'm really interested by the fact that uh the three point line is obviously a little closer and this will you know i think affect

a few other players in my rankings but haliburton is just you know can create space for himself from just about anywhere he's got the step back the side step uh insane floater makes decisions in the air as well as basically any point guard in the league and can play with anyone. Like he's so unselfish, throws it ahead to start fast breaks, can run pick and roll. He's just such a great talent. And so if you're talking about guards and unselfish setup men besides myself, who unfortunately couldn't make it to the Philippines, Tyree Saliburton is right there in that conversation. Oh, you're load managing for 2024, right?

100%. And I mean, you won that you personally won the championship too, so it was a really long season for you. It was, yes. Yeah, I think the other thing, too, is that like on this particular team, because they do struggle in the half court a little bit as a kind of, I mean, I think they'll kind of find their legs. It seems like they're getting there.

But having a guy like Halliburton just to push the ball, especially like, you know, you got like Jerry and Jackson blocking shots all over the place. These guys are going to get a ton of stops. You're going to get a ton of rebounds. The more they can just use their athleticism. I know it's like a cliche team USA thing, just like run other teams over. But like if you have it, use it. And yeah, he's a great fast break guy.

How do you think that the shorter three point line is going to impact Rudy Gobert? So I saw he hit a three in this tournament in an exhibition already, which I love. love when Rudy shoots threes. Were you talking defensively or offensively? Oh, no. That was what I was talking about. Rudy, I don't want to spoil where Rudy is just yet on my list, but he is in the top 10. And it's for a different reason with the rule change. So I guess we'll get to that when we get to that.

But yeah, I love Rudy. And I want Rudy to shoot a lot of threes. And I feel like the shorter three. point line encourages guys who, you know, don't have a lot of range to get a little, get a little spicy, get a little adventurous, ambitious. So, yeah, shout out to Rudy. I'm really looking forward to watching him. And I have more to say about him in a couple minutes.

Okay. All right. Who's next? Larry Markinen. Just, you know, I feel like you could honestly, if people are upset about that, then, like, you could flip Lowry with Halliburton or Jalen Brunson. I don't really see a huge argument. I just like his size.

Obviously, a big who is really, really good off the ball for the Utah Jazz. They play a really Euro-friendly style of basketball offensively. And you just, when you have range like he does and an ability to get shots off from deep, like, yeah, the three-point line being in certainly helps. someone like that. And not a lot of talent around him. So he'll probably stand out and do big numbers for as long as Finland is playing competitive basketball.

But yeah, I just love Lowry and love where he's at and seems to like play with a lot of confidence on this team. So yeah, shout out to him. And he comes in at number eight. Yeah, there's certain international players. I feel like even historically where once they, start playing for their national team. It's like they turn into a completely different guy.

And that's probably unfair to marketing, but I think like the other thing is like, part of the reason that I think Utah plays the style that they play is because Will Hardy watch marketing in Eurobasket and was like, how do we unlock this dude? Right? And I'm kind of wondering, like, that's another thing that I'm kind of curious to see if there's another guy who sort of unlocks a new, part of his game or like, you know, that's the kind of one of the cool things about the rules being different is that you get to see players in a slightly different context, but it's still a similar

enough game in international rules that it can inform who they could be as NBA players. And like, I don't know, is there anybody that you think could potentially benefit from that? I just think that being, I mean, he was the guy for sure on Utah last season. But just having the confidence to, like, clearly be the best player and the go-to shotmaker and the guy who the offense really revolves around can only help you go into a season as it did last year, as he's talked about many times. But I think, like, one of the other rule changes, obviously, that everyone knows about with FIBA is the goal-tending rule and offensive interference. And how, you know, once the ball hits the rim, you can knock it away.

So I have a lot of value on rim protectors, and there's also no three second violation. So you can just kind of hang out in the paint, which is why I like Rudy in this tournament. But a guy who will be interesting if he plays a lot, which I don't know how many minutes he'll ultimately see the floor. But Walker Kessler, Lowry's teammate, because he, I mean, he's on the team for a reason. and he's one of the best shot blockers in basketball, one of the best rim protectors. And I'm really looking forward to seeing how they deploy him if he has a meaningful role on this team.

We'll see. I know playing small, playing with a lot of passers, cutters, shooters, shooters is kind of the way to win basketball games in this style. But having a defensive presence like that, if he were to play and play really well with his skill set, then I think that that would be really interesting to see what he could do in year two

and how it would kind of propel him forward. Yeah, that would be a really interesting one. I do think that there will be times that he gets some run, right? Like, there are going to be like two Hernan Gomi to deal with at some point if the U.S. makes it far. Although I have questions about Spain after the exhibition. Like, they lost to Canada, they lost to the U.S. Luka basically had them on their heels

in like the first like seven minutes that he played before he got injured and came back in in their game. So they have one NBA player, right? Sandial Dama is the only NBA player on Spain because people, Ricky Rubio is not playing. Others are not playing. I guess this shit is just Sonti L DL Dama. Yeah, the Gassol is retired.

Yeah, Serge Abaka couldn't make it. Yeah. Spain, I mean, eventually I want to have a conversation about the teams after I do this list, so we should maybe accelerate it. But I have nothing to say about Spain, obviously. Like, I don't know. I mean, they have like a lot of pedigree and just like history of being one of the better international teams and programs. And maybe they have a bunch of people who I'm not familiar with. obviously they do because they have a whole basketball team

but I don't think that they're going to be a threat to win it all. I mean this isn't the time to say this and I feel like any fans of Spain that maybe listen to this probably already hate us for our

but you went to Lisbon, I went to Lisbon we didn't overlap but I went to Spain after I went to Lisbon and I ought to say man Spanish history it's kind of boring not doing it for me

it's just after conquest like they built a church over a mosque over a church over a mosque like I need a story tell me about the people like I want to know the childhood trauma of like all these people who felt like they needed to keep doing this

and it's just not I don't know maybe that's So like you were saying we both went to Lisbon I just got back yesterday it was beautiful beautiful country love Portugal you were also there a couple weeks prior, like a week before I was there. And we both, we didn't overlap, obviously,

but we both went to a beautiful bookstore in Lisbon. And you informed me that there's a puppet show that tells the entire history of the country in two minutes. So I assume that that was more entertaining than the rival puppet show of Spain that doesn't exist. Correct me if I'm wrong. Yeah, I just I had a lot more fun

in Lisbon than I had in Spain. Now, all of Europe love Spain, so maybe I'm off base here. I haven't met a lot of people who have gone to Spain have been like, eh, but I guess, you know, I'm among them.

I don't know, it was also, it was really hot. But also Portugal was hot too, so everywhere. Just carve your lane and own it, you know? Yeah, you're right. You're anti-Span. Yeah, I didn't want. Yeah, I'm anti-Spain.

I'm pro-Portugal. I love all the statues that they have dedicated to Ronaldo. I assume every one of the statues. As you guys can tell, I'm really up on my history. I have a lot of attention to detail when it comes to this stuff. So I'm an authority on the subject. But yeah, I thought Lisbon was so lively. I love the people

It feels like a place where It's not necessarily quite as touristy I also got lucky I met some locals And they just showed me around Places that I never would have ended up going So sometimes it's just that I got to Spain and I was kind of like

I was tired too Like let's be able to get out of me So you had the exact opposite experience Because I was with my wife and one year old son. So I was not gallivanting around at all hours of the morning, checking out the wine bars. That was unfortunately not my experience. But I still had a blast, you know, pushing a stroller up hill. I never knew a city could be so hilly. Not the most accessible city. No. Not stroller friendly. That was tough. I have, I've been back one day and I've

already had multiple nightmares about that experience. But other than that, great, amazing stuff, no complaints, love Portugal, would go back. Speaking of Portugal, the next player on my list is Brandon Ingram. And if this was an NBA list, I think Ingram would be like top, top four, top five for me. I just had to include him and I feel like he's a really good three-point shooter in the long two could become a three and all that stuff and he's amazing but

he's also kind of like a ball dominant forward and it'll be interesting to see how he kind of sacrifices his game to blend in but in terms of like pure talent and just the Portuguese style of play that he in there's no Portugal connection with Brandon Ingram for anyone who's confused by me making this terrible

joke. Oh, you could have, honestly, that was like, you should have kept it going. It was like, we could have had this like pass from out of the corner, like one-handed, whipped it through like three guys. Like that was the level of like needle thread. Yeah. I love Brandon Ingram. And yeah, what's he coming here?

I think seven, six, I think seven. Yeah, he's seven. So that's awesome. Any thoughts about Brandon Ingram? Are you surprised that he's on the team? No, I'm not surprised that he's on the team just because of how talented he is. I think he will also have his time to shine when it comes to like attacking mismatches. He's got a lot of size too.

And like this is a team that lacks size. Like that's going to be kind of like their biggest. I guess the players they actually play black size. So if a guy like Brandon Ingram can play big, like it really plays into Steve Kerr's strategy. But I don't know. He hasn't really stuck out quite yet. And that's not that surprising to me because I think, to your point,

his style is much more conducive to NBA basketball. Yeah. My next guy is Rudy. And we already kind of touched on him and all the ways that, I mean, he's just so familiar with this style of basketball playing for a team that, I mean, this is a different conversation, I think, but like France could be just an absolute powerhouse for a very long time in the Olympics and on the international stage. And it'll be interesting to see if Rudy has a role in that. I don't know. But he's been around for a really long time.

France has been really good for a very long time. And yeah, you talk about the fact that he can just dominate the paint in ways that a three-time defensive player of the year should, one of the best shot blockers ever. So that's why I have him here. I don't think he's better than Brandon Ingram. I don't think he's better than Larry Marketing. And I don't think he's better than Tyree Salop. I don't have to think about that harder, I think. But for this setting, I like Rudy right here.

Yeah. Can you, like, I can't even imagine what it's going to look like in 2024 when like with the goaltending rules that you mentioned, you're going to have with Victor Wembeyanama and Rudy Gobert potentially on the floor at the same time, just like swatting shots away from the basket pretty much like the second that they touched the rim. Like the defensive field goal percent for the other teams is just going to be absolutely ridiculously low. So also, I might be wrong about this because I've been, you know, in Lisbon. But Joelle Embed, what's his status?

Can he like, is there a chance that he'll play for France in the 2024 Olympics? I'm pretty sure. And he hasn't made a commitment to, he could play for the for Team USA or. France, I believe, and he is not committed either way. So that's something out there. I'm almost 100% positive about this. Yeah, he can, yeah, he has his, he can basically do free agency. Like, he could, he could play for the U.S.

He could play for France and he could play, like, man, like, he could play for Cameroon, right? Yeah, but he's not going to do that, I don't think. Like, Pascal Siakum, Joel Embed, front line is pretty enticing. Very true. Very true. But if you had Wembenyama Embed Gobert on a basketball team and they all played at the same time, that would be one of that. Just like, I don't even know what to say. I'd watch it. It would be great.

A lot of fun. Yeah, that'd be awesome. Yokic would still win. There we go. There he is. He's back. We are so back. who do you have next?

Carlythe Towns. Yeah. Huge guy, one of the best shooters in the tournament. And similar to Lowry Markinen playing on a team that, you know, it's basically like,

it's his squad and he should be amazing. And I saw some moments, I think it was against Spain in his last game exhibition where he just looked. looked unstoppable for a stint, and he can do that because he's one of the best offensive basketball players we've seen. So I'm interested to see his impact on the defense event.

That'll be fun. Interested is a good word. To take a candor at, yeah. But I think offensively, like, I wouldn't be surprised if he, like, had the points high in the entire tournament, single game. game points high. He's awesome and can score inside and out and

yada, yada. He's amazing. Yeah, he's basically designed to play in FIBA. Just the way he stretches the floor. And there's also, it's kind of, so Minnesota has five players playing. Five, yeah. Yeah. I think that's, is that a high? I think

it's, they might be tied with another team. Maybe OKC going off the top of my head here. Casey has SGA, Giddy, who else? Davos Bertans. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Some other people.

I think they have five. Dort. Did you say Dort? Yeah, Dort. How could I forget with Dort? What am I doing? Seriously. So, yeah, Minnesota is in a really interesting spot.

And we'll be talking about the third player, not Kyle Anderson. Shout out to Kyle Anderson, who I just, I haven't read too much about why he's playing for China or how he's playing for China, but that's just an amazing flex for him, I suppose. And love watching Slow Mo, one of my favorite players. I just love, like, the transfer portal vibes that we're kind of getting with international play lately. It's interesting, for sure. Even towns, like, playing for Dominican Republic for, like, the first time in a decade. It's good stuff. You love to see it.

Love the competition. Love to see NBA players here regardless of where they're, what team they're playing for. Okay. Should I jump into the top four now? I think this might be the spiciest. I don't know. Could be. But Jaron Jackson Jr.

Is my number four. He's just, I mean, he's the reigning defensive player of the year. One of, I just think like one of the generally more intriguing players, basketball players, in the whole world. And his developmental track is something that I'm fascinated by. And just as someone who again, I feel like I'm a broken record saying this, but not a lights out three-point shooter, but certainly a capable one.

If you bring the distance in, like great for him. but then also best offender, one of the best offenders in the tournament, maybe the best, and can play small ball five when they need to. Like I feel like he should be the closing center. I don't know. But the thing that I kind of get hung up a little bit on with him,

of course, is foul trouble. And how referees call the game should be really interesting. There's only five personal fouls in, in Fiba games as opposed to six but at the same time every quarter is only 10 minutes long as opposed to 12 so I guess it all evens out for him we'll see

but I love Jared Jackson Jr. I think like he's kind of like a critical player for them honestly. Yeah he's absolutely vital are you saying it was spicy because you put him really high? Yeah was that not spicy? He's unquestionably top four like he has to be

he has to be right like I was going back and forth between like, okay, is it, is he going to be number three? Like, is he potentially even as important as Edwards? Like, hypothetically, let's say you took Anthony Edwards off his team. Like, as great as he's been, we'll talk about him. Somebody else would fill that vacuum, you know, like Jalen Brunson would fill that vacuum.

Brandon Ingram would fill that vacuum. There's a ton of, that's kind of the thing with like all the scoring talent on Team USA. Like, there's just, like, it's an embarrassment. of riches, even despite the fact that, like, you know, this isn't like the best squad that Team USA could put out there, but, like, somebody would have filled that gap, you know, like, even Austin Reeves, man, like, Austin Reeves just has so much I'm him and him, I could see him just getting, like, filling that vacuum. But if you lose Jaron Jackson, which, like, makes your foul trouble point really interesting, then, like, you're kind of

playing more of an offense, defense game with your rotations, and you're also, like, you're also getting really small too. Like he can play Kerr's style. His style of rim protection really serves them on the other end. They can just play fast break after that. He rebounds the ball really well. He has incredible size. He can shoot.

And he's also like a really great triple handoff guy. Like he plays really well off of the perimeter players as well. And he can also attack. mismatches in the post. He's just so interchangeable that I feel like he might be the single most important player on that team.

If you lose him, I'm going to be really curious to see how they deal with foul trouble. I think it'll depend on who the matchups are. Like you said, Walker Kessler could end up being really important. They're doing a small ball with Bencaro, which I think that's really interesting.

I think it's just like a slight segue here. like, it's a really interesting Fiba for Orlando Magic fans. Like, you're seeing Franz Wagner, like, be put into the situation, or Wagner be put into the situation where he is, like, really being asked to be a primary scorer in ways that, you know, he just has not always been, like, the most comfortable with consistently doing for Orlando, even though I think, like, everybody would like to see it. And then with Paulo, it's like, oh, yeah, like, what do you look at, look like as a five? I'm really curious about that.

Can you be like the Draymond Green of the Pacific Islands for like two weeks? And what does that mean for your future developmental track too? Because he's kind of in that tweener area where like you don't really know exactly. Like not that position's necessarily matter that much. But like if you can be interchangeable that way, that that could be, I mean, I don't know, it's just going to be an interesting, interesting run for the magic. When you said interesting run for the magic, I thought you were going to go down. the Joe Ingalls train.

And I was ready to have a big Joe Ingalls conversation. I'm always ready to have a big Joe Engels conversation. Literally just remember that he plays for the Orlando Magic and signed one of the funniest contracts I've ever seen. Love Joe Ingalls. But what a contract. Incredible stuff. By the way, I tease this, I think before we started recording,

but my favorite team, non-Team USA team, to win it all. is Australia and I just realized that they don't have any the top 10 players they just have like a bunch of like sturdy like great chemistry guys

NBA talent technically um athleticism youth they like have just like a lot of ingredients that I love and Australia is always just like really good an international basketball.

Like Patty Mills is here, Joe Engels, Matisse Thibbles on this team, Josh Green, Dyson Daniels, who's one of my favorite players from that draft class, really good draft class. Josh Giddy is like transcendence sometimes

and just, it's already thrown some of the craziest bounce passes I've seen in years in these exhibition games. So like, I love Australia, love everything that they're about, and it wouldn't shock me at all if they, I don't know how far,

like I just, someone tried to explain to me how this tournament actually works the other day and I my eyes just like kind of glazed over but if they like go really far it wouldn't surprise me I'm so happy about this

this was like this was the team I wanted to talk about they are so fun they are so fun Josh Giddy is basically like the the Thai Halliburton of you know upside down earth world and

he's just like him and Matisse Thibble are just such a perfect Yinn and Yang too. Like it's incredible. Yeah, they're just, they're really fun. And like, I just love the way that like, man, Thibel's so fast. And then like Giddy is trying to push it every single, like the second he touches the ball, he's looking up to four to see who's running, who he can get it up to if he's going to be the guy that takes it. Like you said, some incredible bounce passes. They all play really well off each other.

they have, yeah, they have like, they don't have an all-star level NBA talent, although I think, you know, maybe down the line, Giddy could be that. He's easily one of my favorite players in the NBA to watch. He's like, he brings like a European flair to the NBA. So, like, he's just like, he's always like one step ahead, you know? It's like these players that are a little bit off-kilter in a way. But, like, some players are off-kilter and they're a step behind. You're like, oh, that kind of works. like, you know, like, Leandro Barpo, so it was kind of like that where it's like,

you kind of trick you. Oh, yeah. But like he's, like, Giddy is actually just a little bit ahead of the game. And like, yeah, he's just, he's awesome to watch. They both have great hair. So like when they're running the break together, it's just like, like flopping in the wind. You just, you know, like the visuals of it. It's fun.

And Ingalls is also kind of one of those guys too. Like he can, like he's a really quick passer. He can obviously space the floor. He's really smart. Like, they're really. fun team to watch. Regardless of how far they go, they're going to be one of the teams that if they have a matchup with

a good team, I'm going to try to watch it. And like, no disrespect to Eric Gordon playing for the Bahamas. But like, I feel like everyone on Team Australia, they have like a lot of pride for putting on that jersey, like suiting up on behalf of their country

and where they grew up. And a lot of people have been in that pro, a lot of these players have been in that program for a long, long time. And I just think like that, I'm not saying like Eric Gordon, I don't even know what I'm saying about Eric Gordon. I just think it's kind of weird

that he's playing for the Bahamas, frankly. Like what's going on? But, yeah, like, just seeing Joe Engels there in that jersey and Patty Mills is like really cool. And I know that Giddy's been there. He's only been in the league. He's one of the youngest players in the NBA.

He's only been in a league. This will be his third year coming up. but he's been playing for Team Australia like through their farm system or whatever for a really long time since he was a young teenager. So that's just really cool. And they have like a playing style that they know and like the chemistry is there.

I just, I love everything about it. Like Dante X-M he's been a part of that program for a really, really long time. I love it. Yeah. I think the other thing that really, another team that really has that too is Team Canada,

where the thing that's beneficial about that is not only like the pride you have for playing for the program but also the fact that like you might have like known of some of the players that you're playing with since you were like seven years old or something you know you might have played with them you might have been an AAU like you might have been in like you know you 16 you know team Canada

you know it's just like there's there's so many of those sort of like long term chemistry building moments and I'm I'm just kind of trying to set you up here because I'm assuming that SGA is next. No. Really? He's not.

Okay. I have SGA, well, my next. SGA is not next. Anthony Edwards is next. Ooh, okay. And so I don't know. This is a perfect time to have that conversation. As you were talking, by the way, I was like, should I just swap SGA and aunt on my list that's totally fake?

and that I made up like two hours ago or am I going to stay committed to it? These things are sacred to it. Okay. Exactly. So I can't, I'm not willy-nilly about it. So I have Ant three. And I think Aunt is, can I just say like outside of,

I think it's pretty obvious why he's the best player on this team, right? We agree that he's the best player on Team USA. I think that's been like established. I feel like, honestly, it's not, like, none of this is like really surprising to me. Like this whole arc and his evolution and like him being where he is right now in his career, entering year four, I believe. Yeah, year four.

Like, he should be doing this. He's always played really well in, I mean, he's had a few stinkers in the postseason. but for the most part, shows up for big games and has, like, incredible performances. He was a total nightmare for the Memphis Grizzlies

a couple years ago. I thought, honestly, if I had to pick one individual player who gave the Denver Nuggets the most trouble, it would be Anthony Edwards. Like, all due respect to Devin Booker and KD for that series

and what they did in Phoenix. LeBron, AD, Jimmy Butler, Bama de Bio, you know, a lot of really great players that the Denver Nuggets played on their way to winning it all. But I wrote this story about, you know, Nicole Iokic's defense in the finals. And so I watched a ton of film. And like Anthony Edwards was just like feasting in that series. And you look at his numbers and they are amazing. And I just think like that team played as competitively

against the Nuggets as any because, primarily because of Anthony Edwards and his aggression, his ability to get to the rim pretty much whenever he wants. And I wrote this story in the middle of last season about him. And at the time, I think he led the league by a substantial margin in like long twos with your foot on the three point line. And it was just like, Derek Fisher. Yeah.

So it's just like if you, exactly. If you just tweak a little part of his game. like superstardom is really not far off. And so I feel like if he were to be a, I feel like he's a top 25 player right now easily. By the end of this season or by the All-Star break, he could somewhat easily be a top 12 player in the NBA. Like that wouldn't shock me at all.

And assuming health for all of his teammates, assuming, you know, obviously like Mike Conley, Jada McDaniels, Kat, Rudy, I feel like last year was a big transitional season in a lot of ways where, you know, fitting in next to Rudy is not easy. It's like it takes time to adjust to how he wants the ball, the fact that obviously he takes a space in the paint. Annis talked about that. But also playing with the Angelo Russell for the first half of the season was kind of not a

nightmare, but it's not like playing with Mike Conley. So I just think Ant should have a, I thought last year was like kind of a breakout year in a lot of ways. Obviously, he made the All-Star team. He was an all-MBA candidate. And I feel like, and he had a really good postseason for what it was. But I feel like he should have another breakout year and that that should be expected, frankly, from someone who was selected first overall who's, I mean, Pat Beverly compared

him to Michael Jordan after his rookie year. And it's like, Pat Bev says a lot of crazy stuff for sure. But that was just like, that caught my, like, people don't say that. People don't compare anyone to like Michael Jordan. NBA players don't do stuff like that. And Eric Spolstra is not comparing anybody to Dwayne Wade. Like, that's just not something that Eric Spolster is going to do.

So, yeah, I just think, Ant, we should have, like, we should see this as something that was expected. and it shouldn't be very surprising, I feel like. It's not ultimately that surprising, honestly, right? Like, I think that's really the point that you're making here is like, he is. This is who he's supposed to be. It's been abundantly clear from like the moment that we watched him play basketball. He's just like, he has the thing. He has it, you know?

Like, sometimes it really is as simple as that. Like, you can see it in the way that he walks. He kind of looks like Michael Jordan. And I feel like he has, he has, like, a rookie Jordan sort of, like, demeanor. And he also has, like, the stud earrings and just, like, the walk and, like, the swagger and all that stuff. Like, he, he completely, like, presents himself, like, he is going to be a superstar one day. But he also, like, you know, he puts in the work, too. And he wants to incredibly athletic, but he wants to be better at all the other stuff as well.

And he's had, he's had a lot to. adjust to in Minnesota and he will continue to have a lot to adjust to in Minnesota. So I don't know. Like he is playing for Team USA. This is a hotbed for future super team construction. And, you know, the other day, he just, he did, he did say that, um, after, I think it was after their win against Germany. they won five, like, you know, they went five and no.

He was like, you know, he said he hasn't had fun like this in a minute. Yikes. Well, you know, he said it. Timberwell's fans, please do not get upset. I'm not starting any rumors. He lost up until 2029, but that is just a feature of Team USA. Things happen. Kat as the franchise player, a lot of the things that happened there were not his fault.

I'm a firm believer in that. Yeah, of course. But Ant feels. a different level of franchise player in a lot of ways and is able to kind of carry a lot of the responsibilities that come with that with less effort, I guess is how I would put it. And also, like, he is low-key or maybe high-key, I don't know, but he can be like an all-defensive team member pretty easily.

I feel like when he, once his career starts to really hit stride, like he's one of the better on-ball defenders at his position already when he puts his mind to it. And he's got all the physical tools. And just like, I think him on that end is almost as intriguing to me as just a guy who can effortlessly average like 29, 30 points a game in the NBA for an entire season. I think you're kind of seeing that on this stage too, right? Like these had moments where he's just decided that he's going to like count guys as soon as across half court. And like with his physicality on this stage in particular too, like he can be an absolute nightmare. And if he doesn't, you know, he's obviously like been like the leading man for Team USA, but on nights when he doesn't necessarily have to do that.

Like I would love to see him just go full on like clamp down. I'm putting all of my energy Tony Allen style onto like locking up maybe like Dennis Schroeder or something like he's like they struggle like Jaylen Brunson struggled with that matchup like maybe you

maybe you throw him out on like that's actually something that Team USA is probably going to need an answer to as well like I'd be I'd be curious to see if we just if we see something like that in the tournament like obviously this team has McKell Bridges and this is the first time I've said his name so apologies

to Mikhail who's amazing and love him. He's the best on ball defender on the team. But I think Ant can honestly, like, I don't know if he's ever going to be as good as McHale at that. But for stretches, like, I just think about like LeBron locking up Tony Parker in the finals or guarding him or guarding Derek Rose at the end of those like Eastern Conference finals games. Like, I feel like Ant can, He's not as physical and as imposing and as large, but he can do that stuff. He has a tool.

Exactly. So yeah, Ant, I feel like, is he overqualified for this team or no? You think he's like, this is like actually a perfect be the guy on FBA, 2003, Team USA, like that's where you are in your career. You should do that. Or, because I look around at this team and like, no disrespect. there's a lot of insanely talented players on it, all stars,

all NBA guys, and some of the best players in the world are in the tournament, and we're going to talk about two more in a second, but like, is he overqualified for this team? No, this is exactly where he should be, you know? Like, just having the opportunity to learn from, like, Steve Kerr, from Eric Spolstra to, like, play alongside other really good players.

Like, this is going to be, like, the most talent he's ever played with. And, you know, like, and Chris Finch is a great coach. Like, it's like no disrespect to Chris Finch at all. But like just getting to see the game and your game through the lens of great coaches like that, especially Eric Spolster. Like he made the Dwayne way comparison. But it's also like, you know, this is a guy who has experienced coaching somebody who is not all that different from you. We actually like, you know, they share a college coach too.

And in Tom Crean, like they are kind of a similar ilk of player where like, you know, their athleticism, they're slashing. their aggression and finding the nuance in those so that like they don't just become like a blunt force instrument and like that caps or ceiling like that that is actually going to be like huge for him. The fact that Anthony Edwards already has the step back three though, like oh my God, he's just, I love Anthony Edwards. Okay.

So number two, I don't think it's very, I don't think there's a lot of drama here, but it's Shay. Tell me why you thought that Shay should be or could be three. I'm interested in that. No, just because of how good aunt was, like, there's nothing against Shea in that. Why do you hate Shea?

I hate my country. I'm not a patriot. I mean, Shea's amazing. I thought about putting Dylan Brooks here, but I went with Shea instead. Yeah. And yeah,

He's just like he's unguarable regardless of what the rules are. He's impervious to them. I feel like he can be someone who lives at the free throw line in this tournament. He's someone who can go and shoot 44% behind the three point line. Like non-corner, you know, he could live in the pain as he does at the NBA level. like this guy was first team all NBA like one of the best players in the world and showed it all last season

I'm really wishing that I really want to see the SGA Jamal Murray backcourt like I just I really want to see that I'm kind of bummed that we're getting robbed of it in this tournament because that would be so fun to watch

like those two on the same oh my goodness like that's just basketball andirvana for me. But yeah, Shea, in terms of just talent and what he's capable of,

it's kind of, it was kind of a no-brainer for me to put him here. How far do you think Team Canada can go? Where, like, do you have them high up in your power rankings? Yeah, for sure.

Like, it wouldn't, I'm not expecting them to win this whole tournament. But, like, I did look at their, um, Mark Stein wrote a great,

preview of this of Fiba in his substack and in it he kind of laid out how difficult the paths were for different teams and like Team USA is an incredibly easy path

to advancing. Canada's path is apparently very difficult. Yeah, I start off with France, that's not fun. Yeah, so that could be a little tricky but in terms of their talent and like the fact that they will have

like the fact that you have to go up against Dylan Brooks and Lou Dort at the same time is just hilarious and also SGA is an amazing defender too yeah plus Kelly Olinic like they just have it all really

I is there a team by the way is there a trio that is going to benefit more from the three point line being closer in than those three it's a good call very good call so I just a lot of reasons to love

this team I didn't say R.J. Barrett yet who had like an amazing exhibition game against I forget which team I think Germany could be wrong about that but like obviously an incredible talent in his own right and we'll have a huge role

so so yeah Canada could win yeah for sure I mean I'm kind of just expecting Team USA to win and maybe I'm foolish to do so? No, I don't think that's foolish. I think like they are, they're going to have a challenge, but they are the most talented team.

Canada is pretty close and I think like, well, should we talk about number one? My guy. Yeah, number one is Luca, Donchich. Ever heard of him? You included that. Yeah. You included that pass that you already mentioned earlier in our conversation, but you included a clip of it in your column.

That pass was just like, this is why I love basketball. Like what is even happening? How did he see his teammate in the corner? How did he get the ball there? He threw it through like three defenders who all like expected the pass. It seemed like they had their arms up and ready to deflect it and no one could. Like just, it had to be perfect. It was perfect.

Luca looks like he's fit in a way that I don't recall seeing since I've ever heard of Luca Donchich. It just feels really scary. The fact that he's the only NBA player in his team, obviously, doesn't really matter. I feel like he's so special that he can list. He's kind of the only NBA player on his NBA team anyway. He just like lifts everybody around him. He's super special basketball player, all-time generational talent, and you really can't do anything with him.

So it was really easy to put him number one. And I just, I hope he stays healthy throughout this tournament. and I hope his team goes as far as possible because I just love watching him play and love particularly watching him like be a quote unquote underdog just thinking about like what he did against the Clippers in those two playoff series

is just some of the most amazing basketball you'll ever see and he wasn't in peak physical condition for those and Kauai Leonard was guarding him. I love that he's like two years in a row been in better physical condition for like playing for Slovenia than he has for the Mavericks. Just priorities, maybe. Yeah, I get it.

I get it. I get it. Nation comes first. Yeah, he, I mean, he gives Slovenia the chance to actually win, which is really just awesome and something that's going to be really fun to watch. And he probably makes them, like, in terms of like the watchability rankings, like he makes them top three easily, maybe top two. and this is a team it kind of reminds me of the Mabs

where like they could catch a heater from three and Luca could just keep feeding them and there's just nothing you can do like I think if it comes down to it like the Canadians probably have the best chance of actually guarding him

because they have Lou Dort we have seen what this guy has done to McHale Bridges don't need to see any more of it he's just like if you don't have a lot of strength and like in girth

like you're just not doing anything with him like the way guys are just bouncing off of him in these Fibba games is hilarious who guards him for Team USA yeah if you're Steve Kerr who do you put on him? I probably start uh I probably go with Ingram to start just because like you get a little bit more size

and like I mean I don't know I guess you do go with McHale because like he is still McHale but like you just kind of know how that story ends. And you like having Darren Jackson at the rim too, but like, then I don't know, man. Like, Luca's going to get him in foul trouble pretty quick there. And then,

then you got to just start, you're scrambling a little bit. He could have him scrambling, especially if they're hitting threes. Oh, yeah. I just like don't count out a team that has Luca on it, ever, but except for last year's Mavs, which I did count out. We'll also be counting out this year's.

What about Josh Hart? Would that be like, could you like, is he, is he, is this the reason why he's on the team? Too small, yeah, he's too small. I might try Paulo. Yikes, that could be tough. He's at the size. Yeah, he's not a bad isolation defender. You just, you know, he can't do those stuff.

You've got to navigate a lot of pick and rolls. Yeah. I don't navigate a lot of pick and rolls. This is true. This is true. Yeah. So in conclusion, Luca will single-handedly beat Team USA and the championship.

I think that that's our preview of Piba. That's what everyone should expect to see, frankly. I like that. Bold prediction. Kind of what I'm rooting for now. Yeah, that's what I want to see happen. Yeah. All right.

Well, this was fun. I'm glad that we got to catch up with a microphone. And I hope that you get some rest because you just got back yesterday, right? I did. I am jet lagged. I am very jet-lagged but I'm sure everything I said on this podcast made a lot of sense

it was all coherent I think I said a lot dumber stuff than you and I've been back for like two or four days I'm still in that place where like I'm eating I'm eating like lunch and I'm realizing that it's actually dinner so I need like a second lunch

because I need more food then by the time dinner comes around I'm like I don't know about all this I'm not at that level yet but I'm getting there soon I'm forgetting to eat meals altogether, so not at your level quite yet with the part of the adjustment. Quite good don't you, too.

But this was fun. Now, you know, to be honest with you, I wasn't super pumped about this entire tournament until we had this conversation. Hell yeah. Not going to lie. Yeah, are you excited now? I am. I'm very excited.

I'm going to wake up at 4 a.m. You're going to be awake at 4 a.m. That's true. I have no choice. Yeah, it's either going to be the baby or it's going to be jet lag. So, I mean, that's, yeah, write it out. Would you be willing to ride that out for the entire 16-day stretch of the tournament? Let's do it. Okay.

Sure. Sweet. Am I getting paid extra? I mean, I'm, like, that's above my pretty big. I would pay you extra if I could. Hell yeah. We can talk to Bill about it. It could be like a, maybe we could do like a, just like a limited series on Fiba.

And the whole bit is that you're delirious and like, you know, there's like a baby crying in the back. And you could also like provide Callie some relief to like every single time he starts crying for the next 16 days. I got it. I got it, honey. But also I'll only be watching Spain games. Like whatever their game, I have to just watch. Spain and give the, I'll have to remember who plays on the team, memorize their roster. That could be an interesting wrinkle, potentially.

I'm going to Google who's playing for Spain as soon as we finish this episode. I promise. All right, fun pod. Thanks for waking up. Thanks for your flying home, specifically for this, of course. And we will talk to you guys very soon.