Rip City Project
Fansided

Could the Portland Trail Blazers beat Team USA?

By Austin Carroll

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - AUGUST 19: Mike Krzyzewski of the USA Basketball Men's National Team looks on during practice at the PNY Center on August 19, 2014 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - AUGUST 19: Mike Krzyzewski of the USA Basketball Men's National Team looks on during practice at the PNY Center on August 19, 2014 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Team USA looks more neglected than it ever has this century. That raises the question, could an NBA team like the Portland Trail Blazers beat them?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about how the diminished Team USA roster lost to their Select Team in a scrimmage game. With how many people have dropped out from the camp it should come as no surprise — even Portland Trail Blazers stars Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum withdrew from the process.

What remains of the team features talented players like Kemba Walker, Donovan Mitchell and Khris Middleton. Yet others like Mason Plumlee, Harrison Barnes and Derrick White have also made their way onto the team. Fine players sure, but hardly the best we could find to represent our nation.

When truly game-changing players like James Harden, Anthony Davis and Dame are dropping like flies from the team, it’s no surprise a rag tag team of fringe NBA players and G Leaguers beat Team USA 36-17 in that scrimmage. This is the starting lineup Team USA would field against Spain in their scrimmage yesterday.

Fortunately, their superior depth would help lift the team to a 90-81 victory this time around. The margin of defeat was uncomfortably small considering how dominant the United States usually is in international play. If they’re playing hotly contested games against these teams, how would they fare against a real NBA team like the Portland Trail Blazers?

We’ll use the team’s starting lineup from last night’s game as a measuring stick to compare the two teams statistically in a five-on-five setting.

Per ESPN, RPM is used to measure a, “Player’s estimated on-court impact on team performance, measured in net point differential per 100 offensive and defensive possessions. RPM takes into account teammates, opponents and additional factors”.

As you can see from above, the Blazers pack much more firepower and have players that could absolutely dominate their matchups. There’s nothing Kemba or Plumlee could do to stop Dame and Jusuf Nurkic from controlling the flow of the game. CJ could give back as much as he gets with his electric offensive game.

Zach Collins going up against Khris Middleton is the clear mismatch here from a statistical perspective, but we can probably expect much higher results from Collins with an additional year of development and a larger role in the starting lineup.

While the concept of this little exercise seems ridiculous, there’s obviously merit to the argument statistically speaking.

Who is the best Blazer to never be an All-Star?. dark. Next

As sad as it may sound, there’s a very real possibility that the Portland Trail Blazers could single-handedly defeat our national team in a simple game of five-on-five. In fact, it’s actually likely they win. The Blazers would shoot the lights out and run Team USA out of the gym. Brace yourselves for a rough FIBA World Cup.