The United States men's national basketball team won the gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics, but the hangover remains. Everyone has an opinion about the direction the coaching staff should have gone and what the team should do moving forward. That said, NBA veteran Nick Young has a seemingly ludicrous take on the latter.
Appearing on Gil's Arena Show, the sharpshooting guard/forward suggested Team USA should prioritize having scorers like Tyler Herro off the bench rather than someone like Derrick White . After Young said this, host Gilbert Arenas picked up the cue and explained why it makes sense for the national team to do so in the future.
"They can get a lot of buckets, like (Bogdan) Bogdanovic get buckets, but we would never send a guy like that, like a (Tyler) Herro. We send a (Derrick) White before a Herro," observed the 2018 NBA champion.
"He will know to come in and score and get buckets, but we don't support that. We support somebody to come in and play defense all day and block shots."
Logic in the Lunacy
It's not the first time somebody in Gilbert Arenas' crew said something offbeat and crazy. However, there could be a method behind the madness, as the former three-time NBA All-Star explained.
"The way the game is being played, those offensive guys who were offensively-minded in their own teams; here, they can just spend all their energy defensively," Arenas explained. "And in offense, they are not looking for their shot like that anyway. So your (Devin) Booker, who averages 29, he has became Derrick White on Boston, naturally."
Gil's point was that the NBA's go-to guys can play defense at the international level if needed, but the opposite is not true. Defensive specialists remain defensive specialists wherever they are.
White, for instance, could not be trusted to score consistently in big games because that's not what he does. Besides, D-White wouldn't put up a shot in these circumstances unless there was nobody within five feet.
On the other hand, if the team had a certified bucket-getter, he would not hesitate to shoot semi-open jump shots or create because he is used to playing that role in the NBA.
"If you put Jimmy Butler out there, what would he do? Defend his ass off, do the little things… I'd rather have that because if we need him offensively, we know what he can do," reasoned the former Washington Wizard. "If we needed Derrick White to go out there and give us 10 straight… no."
What Worked In The Past
The crew was on to something here, but apparently, Tyler Herro is a couple of levels below Jimmy Butler, Gil's primary example. Nevertheless, the point stands, and it makes sense. In fact, that's the blueprint of Team USA in 2008 and 2012, with few exceptions.
For example, the Redeem Team had guys like Dwyane Wade, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, and Chris Paul coming off the bench. Down the end of the rotation, big-time scorers Carlos Boozer and Michael Redd sat with Tayshaun Prince, the only defensive specialist in that squad.
The 2012 team followed the same pattern but with slightly more defensive specialists. Tyson Chandler and a fresh-from-college Anthony Davis were there, but Kevin Love averaged the most minutes among USA's bigs.
Therefore, there's nothing too crazy about what Nick Young and Gilbert Arenas said. However, it may not ultimately matter who's at the end of the bench for Team USA, especially when the going gets tough. Everybody knows who's taking the shots that move the needle, and it's certainly not the 11th or 12th guy in the rotation.
Related: "Knows how to play off the ball" - Austin Rivers on why D-White is playing a more defined role than Tatum on Team USA
Most Popular
Comments / 0