ESPN's Chris Sheridan: JJ Not Heading to Beijing

[AHF]

He writes in his article that JJ is too redundant for a team that already has a lot of small players and that he won't be on the roster, although Coach K loves him.

[capstone21]

Players coming off summer qualifying or Olympics often seem to get hurt. I think JJ is deserving but I don't want him to get tired out.

The summer is a good time for JJ to get some rest and to work on his game before the season starts.

[coachx]

I would rather JJ stay home and rest up for a playoff run any way.

With Wade and Kobe manning the SG position and Lebron and Melo at SF..... JJ may be bit redundant. I am guessing they will have Redd on the team again as their spot up shooter.

With Battier and possible Miller falling off the team they may still be a place for a 5 tool player like JJ as the first alternate incase of injury but he is not essential to the team.

[AnnArborHawk]

I'm surprised to see him say that Kidd is a lock to be the starting PG and CP3 is on the bubble to even make the team. Here would be my Olympic roster:

Starting:

Chris Paul

Kobe Bryant

LeBron James

Carlos Boozer

Dwight Howard

Bench:

Deron Williams

Michael Redd

Dwyane Wade

Paul Pierce

Kevin Garnett

Chris Bosh

And I might even give the last spot to Josh Smith

[AHF]

Melo was excellent in international play and his game is a good fit for the increased jump shooting of international play. I think you need him on the roster.

[Lascar78]

It's too bad that he won't get the international exposure, but it'll definitely be better for us. All of these guys struggle with fatigue and injuries after olympic / world championship offseasons.

This is exacerbated by having a coach who does absolutely no minute-management over the course of a season. JJ was 2nd in minutes per game in the entire league after his team USA stint in 06-07 and his body was not able to handle it. And of course he was 2nd in MPG this year also. We can't afford to have a guy like that not rest up in the offseason when he will not get a break in the regular season.

Either way he would not do that great in Olympic play anyhow because he is unselfish and there are so many ball hogs. He would be good for the team, but he would not get that much attention from the media.

[foeteen14]

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I'm surprised to see him say that Kidd is a lock to be the starting PG and CP3 is on the bubble to even make the team. Here would be my Olympic roster:

Starting:

Chris Paul

Kobe Bryant

LeBron James

Carlos Boozer

Dwight Howard

Bench:

Deron Williams

Michael Redd

Dwyane Wade

Paul Pierce

Kevin Garnett

Chris Bosh

And I might even give the last spot to Josh Smith

if josh smith was on the olympic team. i guarantee he would get in at least 3 on-court fights. the second time he pulled down a rebound and dribbled up the court without giving the ball to lebron or kobe or cp3 and then threw a pass 5 rows deep in the crowd, he and lebron or he and melo would be at it. or imagine if josh jacked up three pointers on 3 of the last 5 possesions, two of them resulting in air balls, kobe would immediate tell the staff either josh goes or i go, and i mean right this moment.

[AHF]

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I'm surprised to see him say that Kidd is a lock to be the starting PG and CP3 is on the bubble to even make the team. Here would be my Olympic roster:

Starting:

Chris Paul

Kobe Bryant

LeBron James

Carlos Boozer

Dwight Howard

Bench:

Deron Williams

Michael Redd

Dwyane Wade

Paul Pierce

Kevin Garnett

Chris Bosh

And I might even give the last spot to Josh Smith

if josh smith was on the olympic team. i guarantee he would get in at least 3 on-court fights. the second time he pulled down a rebound and dribbled up the court without giving the ball to lebron or kobe or cp3 and then threw a pass 5 rows deep in the crowd, he and lebron or he and melo would be at it. or imagine if josh jacked up three pointers on 3 of the last 5 possesions, two of them resulting in air balls, kobe would immediate tell the staff either josh goes or i go, and i mean right this moment.

I seriously doubt Josh would have a hard time getting along with the others. I seriously doubt he would try to do as much on a team with that much offensive talent. He would also be fantastic taking balls off the rim like you can in international play (would be a goaltend in the NBA). His major liability, IMO, is the lack of a consistent mid-range jump shot.

[DrReality]

China would be a hell of a trip but I hope he stays home and rest.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

3 pt in international is like the college 3; Josh probably will have more successful at those. I'd be ecstatic if Josh was playing... imagine Josh and Howard on the same floor... block party!

[pimp]

I would have liked to have JJ on the team.

Remember last time he played with them ...he started the season scoring aleast 30 points in 7 straight games and avg 28 points in Nov.

[Cwell]

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3 pt in international is like the college 3; Josh probably will have more successful at those. I'd be ecstatic if Josh was playing... imagine Josh and Howard on the same floor... block party!

lol Smoove doesn't even make mid range jumpers at a decent rate.The distance isn't the problem....it's him.

[lifelong]

if I were running that squad I'd seriously drop Wade and add JJ. that projected team seems to have only one pure spot-up shooter in Redd. they seem to have plenty of penetrators and playmakers. isn't the lack of pure shooters the biggest knock against the previous USA teams who couldn't get it done? that said, I'm glad JJ will likely be staying home.

[Seano]

That's fine by me if he doesn't go. IMO it's better for the Hawks that he doesn't, and the fate of the Atlanta Hawks is far more important to me than the fate of the US men's basketball team in the Olympics. For example if I were a Celtics fan, I'd have seriously mixed feelings about Garnett and Pierce trekking off all the way to China and playing all those extra minutes and games in a relatively meaningless Olympic competition- especially at their ages, and with the amount of minutes per game they already get in NBA competition, and on the heels of making a deep, deep playoff run.

It's a pretty safe bet to assume that might have an adverse effect on those players next year in the NBA, as they'll be nowhere near as rested and fresh as they might have been had they not gone off to China.

[ATLBob]

It's unfortunate for Joe, I'm sure he would love to be a part of these Olympics.

Hopefully he'll channel his disappointment into his offseason training, though I'm not sure there's a whole lot more that he can do (training wise). Dude works.

[Chris18]

Wade is a terrible fit for the international game and I really doubt he makes the team. I think Joe still has a shot to make it over guys like Mike Miller and Michael Redd because other than shooting they don't provide anything and Joe can shoot just as well with all the other guys that will be on the floor. Playing with all the superstars on the Olympic team will do nothing but improve Joe's game and hopefully take him to the next level.

[BusBoyIsBack]

I prefer he not play anyway.

More focus on 08-09 season