Could Team World win a match against Team USA?

[Maestro84]

On initial thought, it's gotta be USA but I think team world is beginning to gain ground on the US in recent years. Obviously, individual countries would still get blown out by the States but if they combined all international players, could they somehow pull off the upset against the Americans?

Team USA features:
PG - Steph Curry (age 32)
SG - James Harden (age 31)
SF - LeBron James (age 36)
PF - Kevin Durant (age 32)
C - Anthony Davis (age 27)

Bench:
G - Damian Lillard (age 30)
G - Bradley Beal (age 27)
F - Kawhi Leonard (age 29)
F - Jayson Tatum (age 22)
F - Brandon Ingram (age 23)
Alt - Paul George (age 30)
Alt - Trae Young (age 22)

Team World features:
PG - Ben Simmons (Australia) (age 24)
SG - Jamal Murray (Canada) (age 23)
SF - Luka Doncic (Slovenia) (age 21)
PF - Giannis A. (Greece) (age 26)
C - Nikola Jokic (Serbia) (age 25)

Bench:
G - Dennis Schroder (Germany) (age 27)
G - Shai-Gilgeous Alexander (Canada) (age 22)
F - Kristaps Porzingis (Latvia) (age 25)
F - Karl Anthony Towns (Dominican Republic) (age 25)
F - Joel Embiid (Cameroon) (age 26)
Alt - Rudy Gobert (France) (age 28)
Alt - Domantas Sabonis (Lithuania) (age 24)

Click to read more...

 

[darko]

Look up 2004 Athens.

 

[Terry Yake]

Look up 2004 Athens.

that team was awful

duncan and iverson were the only superstars on the team. aside from those two, you had lebron/melo/wade coming off their rookie seasons who didn't play much, and the rest of the team consisted of guys like richard jefferson, emeka okafor, lamar odom, and shawn marion. and to top it off, brown was a terrible fit and clashed with the young guys

i think that team USA would beat the world team but it'd be a close game

 

[darko]

that team was awful

duncan and iverson were the only superstars on the team. aside from those two, you had lebron/melo/wade coming off their rookie seasons who didn't play much, and the rest of the team consisted of guys like richard jefferson, emeka okafor, lamar odom, and shawn marion. and to top it off, brown was a terrible fit and clashed with the young guys

i think that team USA would beat the world team but it'd be a close game

That team also lost to Argentina and not World Team.

In a serious competition (and not crap like AS game etc) I think World Team beats USA.

 

[Maestro84]

That team also lost to Argentina and not World Team.

In a serious competition (and not crap like AS game etc) I think World Team beats USA.

Thing is, team world absolutely destroys the US in big-men presence. Giannis, Jokic, Embiid, KAT, Porzingis, Gobert, Siakam, Sabonis, Capela, Adams, etc.

The only elite big-men for USA is AD as of now, maybe Zion in a few years will join the list.

USA has very strong wing players though, it doesn't get better than LeBron, KD & Kawhi. World doesn't really have any strong wing players as Luka plays more like a larger point guard

 

[darko]

Thing is, team world absolutely destroys the US in big-men presence. Giannis, Jokic, Embiid, KAT, Porzingis, Gobert, Siakam, Sabonis, Capela, Adams, etc.

The only elite big-men for USA is AD as of now, maybe Zion in a few years will join the list.

USA has very strong wing players though, it doesn't get better than LeBron, KD & Kawhi. World doesn't really have any strong wing players as Luka plays more like a larger point guard

As we have seen with some US teams, chemistry can be an issue. Euro players tend to play more of a team oriented basketball.

 

[John Price]

USA owns basketball.

 

[Maestro84]

As we have seen with some US teams, chemistry can be an issue. Euro players tend to play more of a team oriented basketball.

Yeah true and another thing is if we look at the lineups, a lot of team USA's players are north of 30 while the International team are all in their 20s (specifically between 21-28). So these team world players will only be getting better in the coming years while the Americans are likely going to start declining in that same span. Even if they can't beat the US now, in 3-4 years, unless the US finds the next golden era of stars, team world could very well edge ahead

 

[Cygnusx1018]

Kyrie not on team USA?

 

[Juniorhockeyguru]

Team Canada

PG-Shai-Gilgeous Alexander
SG-Jamal Murray
SF-Andrew Wiggins
PF-Chris Boucher
C-Kelly Olyniak


Bench

PG-Luguentz Dort
SG-RJ Barrett
SF-Dillon Brooks
PF-Brandon Clarke
C-Tristan Thompson


Obviously they still have holes, but I think they'd give the USA a harder game than they ever have before.

 

[Blitzkrug]

A single country? Doubtful. However, a team assembled of Europe's best could definitely beat the Americans.

C: Jokic
PF; Giannis
SF: Gallinari
PG: Dragic
SG: Doncic

Their bench is interesting since while they seem to have a premium on big men (Nurkic, Vucevic, Gobert, Porzingis) their depth elsewhere kinda lacks.

Giannis put with 4 guys who can all shoot the 3 ball sounds like a nightmare to me.

 

[Howe Elbows 9]

Here's my attempt at listing 20 international players by which positions they usually play...

Note: This is not meant to be a ranking, but rather just a list of some of the best current international NBA players.

Giannis (PF, SF)
Jokic (C)
Simmons (PG)
Doncic (SG, PG, SF)
Gobert (C)
Embiid (C)
Murray (PG, SG)
Gilgeous-Alexander (PG)
Towns (C)
Siakam (PF)
Sabonis (C, PF)
Porzingis (PF, C)
Vucevic (C)
Valanciunas (C)
Dragic (PG, SG)
Mills (PG)
Ibaka (C, PF)
Gasol (C)
Schröder (PG)
Dort (SG, SF)

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

In a series, Team World would probably lose but would win a couple IMO, so in a single elimination game they'd have a chance.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

Whatever happened to Argentinean basketball? They used to be a powerhouse in terms of competing against the best. Soccer has obviously been the number one sport there but basketball was a close second. Now it’s a distant second. All the good and serviceable players they produced are now retired like Ginobili, Scola, and Delfino. I guess if you were a kid growing up in Argentina in the 2010s, you would dream of being the next Messi.

Whoops, Scola and Delfino are still active players lmao

 

[darko]

Whatever happened to Argentinean basketball? They used to be a powerhouse in terms of competing against the best. Soccer has obviously been the number one sport there but basketball was a close second. Now it’s a distant second. All the good and serviceable players they produced are now retired like Ginobili, Scola, and Delfino. I guess if you were a kid growing up in Argentina in the 2010s, you would dream of being the next Messi.

Whoops, Scola and Delfino are still active players lmao

Peaks come and go. That was their golden age. They are a shell of what they used to be just like Lithuania and Croatia.

 

[alko]

When will NBA come with this idea? Aka "NBA World Cup".

 

[Islay1989]

Peaks come and go. That was their golden age. They are a shell of what they used to be just like Lithuania and Croatia.

Sadly in Croatia's case, it is more tied to horrible mismanagement rather than talent. A team that has the likes of Bogdanovic, Saric, Zubac, Zizic and various Euroleague stars shouldn't be losing to the likes of Czech Rep. but they do.

 

[Halladay]

The centers from the US arent terrible. I think players such as Allen and Wood are borderline all star caliber players. I dont include Drummond in this because even though he has great numbers, they seem to be hollow. Obviously the bigs for the United States arent elite talents like the rest of the world have, but they arent scrubs.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Team Canada

PG-Shai-Gilgeous Alexander
SG-Jamal Murray
SF-Andrew Wiggins
PF-Chris Boucher
C-Kelly Olyniak


Bench

PG-Luguentz Dort
SG-RJ Barrett
SF-Dillon Brooks
PF-Brandon Clarke
C-Tristan Thompson


Obviously they still have holes, but I think they'd give the USA a harder game than they ever have before.

U.S. would wax that team. A world team would have a puncher's chance due to the bigs.

 

[Maestro84]

The centers from the US arent terrible. I think players such as Allen and Wood are borderline all star caliber players. I dont include Drummond in this because even though he has great numbers, they seem to be hollow. Obviously the bigs for the United States arent elite talents like the rest of the world have, but they arent scrubs.

Yeah but those guys would get owned by Giannis, Jokic, Embiid, Gobert, etc. down low. US' wing power with LeBron, KD, Kawhi, Harden and PG13 are what will likely help them prevail in this case

 

[smokes lets go]

Completely embarassing Canada mens team isnt in the Olympics right now. They have the 2nd most NBA players.

 

[Islay1989]

Completely embarassing Canada mens team isnt in the Olympics right now. They have the 2nd most NBA players.

And as we all know the NBA is the only place where good basketball is being played.

 

[Megahab]

I'd like to see this replace the All-Star game at least for one year.

 

[John Price]

USA would win by at least 50.