[ESPN] Scouting Argentina

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-27-125/Scouting-Argentina.html


Scouting Argentina

August 30, 2007 5:18 PM


The two best teams in the FIBA Americas tournament are the US and Argentina. Both are undefeated. And they play tonight.

They'll likely play again this weekend, for the championship.

Andy Graham of Synergy Sports has been in Las Vegas helping the Pistons' Tony Ronzone, who has been in charge of scouting for Team USA. Andy is helping them prepare DVDs to give to all the players, so they can scout their opponents in advance. There are different versions for coaches, bigs (power forwards and centers), and smalls (you know who you are).

Andy was nice enough to send me actual copies of the DVDs that Team USA will be watching as they scout Argentina. I just watched every second.

And here's what I can tell you: Luis Scola is no joke! He's a very skilled big man. Consider:

He's an active big man with size and strength to hang around in the lane, and he's not slow.
People leave him open a lot at the free throw line. They shouldn't do that, because at least in these video highlights, he'll nail that jumper.
He will catch the ball in the lane and spin into an array of finishing maneuvers.
In watching highlights of his teammates, it's very often Scola who ends up starring. He sets people up to score a bunch of different ways: Wrap-around passes, dumping out of the double team to a cutter in stride, at one point he even attacks the basket on the dribble, draws an extra defender, and makes a perfect shovel pass to an open teammate for a layup.

Michael Lee of the Washington Post writes:

I am completely stunned that the Spurs traded him -- for little more than cap room -- and to division rival Houston at that. Scola is physical, relentless and he can score in a variety of ways, inside and out. ... "He's a very active player. He does everything and anything," said LeBron James, who has seen Scola up close in the 2004 Olympics in Athens and last summer's world championships in Japan. "He continues to get better every summer. He's a very good player and we need to be in tune and keep a bottle on him."

Scola, a 6-foot-9 power forward, won Spanish League MVP last season for Tau Ceramica and has been regarded for some time as the best foreign player to never play in the NBA. That will change when he saddles up to next to Yao Ming this fall. The Spurs may regret that it wasn't Tim Duncan.

The 27-year-old Scola is better and younger than Fabricio Oberto, his countryman and the Spurs' starting power forward on the NBA championship team last June. But the Spurs reportedly had some concerns over how he would mesh with Duncan. Yao will certaining enjoy having Scola watching his back.

(One other thought: if Scola is ready to be a real player for Houston, then maybe that's one more piece the Rockets can shift around in what seems to be an ongoing solution for a long-term solution at point guard. They have tons of good players ... one more might make it easier for something to happen.)
Other things I learned from watching that DVD:

Remember Federico Kammerichs? The Blazers drafted him in 2002. He's something of a bit player for this team, but he's indicative of the incredible skill on this squad. He's 6-9, and plays forward, but he can absolutely do a professional job of running the break.
Almost every player hits at least one three in these clips.
Carlos Delfino is the only player who, in the edit on these DVDs, ever blew off the open man. And he only did it once.
The big men love to set up for a pick and roll, and then halfway through setting the pick, they just slip down towards the baseline or the paint. They do this so quickly, skillfully, and naturally that they end up getting WIDE open again and again. That instant is the Argentina offense in a nutshell. Open big man ten feet from the hoop. Point guard with the ball, and players on the weak side ready to catch. Every player on the floor can shoot, and every player on the floor can pass, and plenty of them can finish at the rim. Tough for any defense to recover from that moment.
Team USA should be favored by a lot here, but I think everyone who predicted Brazil would be the toughest challenge for the US would now like a mulligan.