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Surprised? Not Surprised? The Bagley Move...

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dukehokie

All-American
Jun 27, 2005
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My guess is that he was going to get cut anyway. He was moved up from the Select team, which right there already told you his chances of making it. Between that and more than likely pressure from his team/agent, I’m sure this wasn’t a difficult decision.

Not sure this is some indictment on his character. He was there to begin with after all.
 
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hart2chesson

Heisman
Oct 13, 2012
14,303
16,574
0
IMO, taking it as far as he did, he should have gone for it. It would have been a feather in his cap, and it just surprised me coming after K's visit. We're proud of him, and IMHO, this would have made Dukenation even prouder.

An "indictment on his character," meh, I see it mostly as surprise.If "he was going to get cut anyway," he simply could have worked EVEN HARDER in the coming days and send a message to Pop & co they were making a mistake. Perhaps some of the Duke haters will attack his character, etc, but I don't worry about what they say.....OFC
 
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Mac9192

Heisman
Jan 25, 2017
9,133
12,943
107
Just my first impression hearing Bagley withdrew isn’t good. It seems like he’s used to everything coming easy, and didn’t want to show the staff of team USA he belonged. From the outside looking in, go kick a** Marvin, and earn a spot. Put the country before yourself.

Now I don’t know much at all about him, and I could be wrong about him, but I wasn’t surprised to hear he withdrew.
 
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hart2chesson

Heisman
Oct 13, 2012
14,303
16,574
0
Mac9192 said:
Just my first impression hearing Bagley withdrew isn’t good. It seems like he’s used to everything coming easy, and didn’t want to show the staff of team USA he belonged. From the outside looking in, go kick a** Marvin, and earn a spot. Put the country before yourself.

Now I don’t know much at all about him, and I could be wrong about him, but I wasn’t surprised to hear he withdrew.
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Pop's not one to mince words, and may have made it clear to Marvin what he had to do moving forward to make the team. Perhaps this happened, and Marvin didnt think he could cut it. I can agree w/Hokie's POV about his agent saying bow out now, better than getting cut. I must admit if Harrison Barnes had taken same route rather than "Bags," we would be bashing him in all likelihood....OFC
 
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nets on nets on nets

All-American
Jun 4, 2015
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Guys are dropping out of this event like flies, don't mean to upset anyone with this statement, but most of the NBA stars could care less about playing for Team USA at this time. If you look at ESPN's top 20 NBA players list, not a single top 20 guy will be playing.
Donovan Mitchell, Khris Middleton, and Jayson Tatum are going to be the 3 best players.

Back to Bagley..I think he's missing out on a great opportunity, this would do nothing but help his game. Can't ask for more than playing for Popp and also being surrounded by other good players.
However, you also gotta look at the other side of things. The NBA season starts earlier than ever now (less time for the offseason,) 82 games is too many and injury frequency keeps increasing, Bagley has already had some KNEE issues, and the Sacramento Kings are most likely gonna be in a playoff chase.
 
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Liftee

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Mar 6, 2011
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I don't hold it against Bagley or the other players who either decline invitations or drop out later on, but I do give credit to those who do not drop out.

If this were the olympics, I think we'd see a lot more interest.
 
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dukedevilz

Heisman
Apr 3, 2002
15,637
19,600
0
jwill133 said:
Guys are dropping out of this event like flies, don't mean to upset anyone with this statement, but most of the NBA stars could care less about playing for Team USA at this time. If you look at ESPN's top 20 NBA players list, not a single top 20 guy will be playing.
Donovan Mitchell, Khris Middleton, and Jayson Tatum are going to be the 3 best players.

Back to Bagley..I think he's missing out on a great opportunity, this would do nothing but help his game. Can't ask for more than playing for Popp and also being surrounded by other good players.
However, you also gotta look at the other side of things. The NBA season starts earlier than ever now (less time for the offseason,) 82 games is too many and injury frequency keeps increasing, Bagley has already had some KNEE issues, and the Sacramento Kings are most likely gonna be in a playoff chase.
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Kemba Walker was a top 20 player last year, IMO.

But this roster is very underwhelming, for the most part. Winning a medal, yet alone the gold, will be no easy task. I originally thought Mason Plumlee was only hanging around because the coaches wanted a low-maintenance guy for spot #12 on the team. Now, you have to wonder if maybe Plumlee could even receive occasional minutes in games that are still in question. Brook Lopez and Myles Turner are the only other bigs left, and neither one can pass quite like MP2.
 
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dukedevilz

Heisman
Apr 3, 2002
15,637
19,600
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Canada will be missing out on RJ Barrett and Andrew Wiggins, FWIW. I believe RJ had a mild calf injury. Wiggins seems to have adopted the mindset of American players - not really making it a priority to play for the national team. He hasn't played on the team since 2015.
 
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nets on nets on nets

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dukedevilz said:
Kemba Walker was a top 20 player last year, IMO.

But this roster is very underwhelming, for the most part. Winning a medal, yet alone the gold, will be no easy task. I originally thought Mason Plumlee was only hanging around because the coaches wanted a low-maintenance guy for spot #12 on the team. Now, you have to wonder if maybe Plumlee could even receive occasional minutes in games that are still in question. Brook Lopez and Myles Turner are the only other bigs left, and neither one can pass quite like MP2.
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I forgot about Kemba (in my defense, he's been a Charlotte Hornet forever, completely forgetable.) Kemba should be the leading scorer.
I'm not sure I would call him a top 20 player because he can't guard anyone, but I'd have him right on the fringe.

I wouldn't be shocked to see Mason start. Didn't Mason play on the National team in like 2016? Not the olympics, but whatever this event is. I remember because he clearly was a level below everyone else and UK/UNC fans hated the fact that K had Mason as the last man.
 
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dukedevilz

Heisman
Apr 3, 2002
15,637
19,600
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jwill133 said:
I forgot about Kemba (in my defense, he's been a Charlotte Hornet forever, completely forgetable.) Kemba should be the leading scorer.
I'm not sure I would call him a top 20 player because he can't guard anyone, but I'd have him right on the fringe.

I wouldn't be shocked to see Mason start. Didn't Mason play on the National team in like 2016? Not the olympics, but whatever this event is. I remember because he clearly was a level below everyone else and UK/UNC fans hated the fact that K had Mason as the last man.
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Yup. He was the #12 guy on the 2014 World Cup Team. Kyrie Irving was the MVP of the tournament. Seems like some UNC fans said they would rather see the US lose because of the Duke connections.

 
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Quavarius

Heisman
Aug 12, 2009
175,637
22,032
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jwill133 said:
Guys are dropping out of this event like flies, don't mean to upset anyone with this statement, but most of the NBA stars could care less about playing for Team USA at this time. If you look at ESPN's top 20 NBA players list, not a single top 20 guy will be playing.
Donovan Mitchell, Khris Middleton, and Jayson Tatum are going to be the 3 best players.

Back to Bagley..I think he's missing out on a great opportunity, this would do nothing but help his game. Can't ask for more than playing for Popp and also being surrounded by other good players.
However, you also gotta look at the other side of things. The NBA season starts earlier than ever now (less time for the offseason,) 82 games is too many and injury frequency keeps increasing, Bagley has already had some KNEE issues, and the Sacramento Kings are most likely gonna be in a playoff chase.
Click to expand...

This
 
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Liftee

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dukedevilz said:
Yup. He was the #12 guy on the 2014 World Cup Team. Kyrie Irving was the MVP of the tournament. Seems like some UNC fans said they would rather see the US lose because of the Duke connections.

Click to expand...


Speaking of UNX fans, considering that He Whose Name I Will Never Utter is still on the team, my hate for him is now reduced to 95 out of 100. Is that fair?
 
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Quavarius

Heisman
Aug 12, 2009
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It’s a personal decision. JJ Redick also declined as well! Meh, it’s an honor to be invited but we shouldn’t get upset if anyone declines the invitation.
 
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dukedevilz

Heisman
Apr 3, 2002
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Liftee said:
Speaking of UNX fans, considering that He Whose Name I Will Never Utter is still on the team, my hate for him is now reduced to 95 out of 100. Is that fair?
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Seems about right. I wouldn't be sad, however, if said player withdraws - or is cut from the team.
 
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HuffyJB

All-Conference
Jan 13, 2005
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Obviously, the non-Olympic years aren't prioritized by the prime players. The fact that your pool is "second tier" guys makes for a very interesting dynamic, because those guys are putting themselves in a situation where they could be cut. Even though they aren't the "elite" in the league, that is still probably a very unusual thing to them, as they are all starters on an NBA basketball team. I would think the risk of the hit to their pride turns a lot of guys away, for better or worse. A lot of these guys have never been cut from anything in their lives and they aren't necessarily prepared to handle that. The risk/reward for them isn't playing in the USA team's favor it seems.
 
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denverexpat

All-Conference
Feb 1, 2006
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The chance to represent your country at any sport is an honor and something to be proud of. Its a shame so many players dont share that point of view and choose to decline such a great opportunity and experience.
 
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dukehokie

All-American
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denverexpat said:
The chance to represent your country at any sport is an honor and something to be proud of. Its a shame so many players dont share that point of view and choose to decline such a great opportunity and experience.
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It is an honor and Colangelo and K sold it very well in their tenure. For whatever reason now, the message isn’t the same. Most of the big names are either coming off of a huge free agency season or are about to be in the renewal process and don’t even want to risk injury. Others are just not into it anymore.

The FIBA World Cup hasn’t been in recent history a sought after tournament. Take Canada for example. That is a country that is desperate for basketball glory and are on the cusp. With Toronto as world champs and a fresh crop of young guns who have had very recent international success, the Canadian team still couldn’t get even a B team together.

Playing for a national team is absolutely an honor, but the players have made it abundantly clear their careers are more important and I don’t blame them.

We’ll see what the Olympic squads look like. If they are the typically stacked teams, it shows that FIBA needs to sell their tournament better.
 
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