BILBAO, Spain– Kenneth Faried wasn’t supposed to be on Team USA’s roster when the original invitations were send out for training camp.
The Denver Nugget’s power forward was an after though when Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Kevin Durrant and Paul George were still part of the conversation.
But after a series of unexpected withdrawals by Durant, Griffiin and Love and a serious injury to George, Faried, who has become appropriately nicknamed “The Manimal,” has gotten a chance to shine, moving out of the shadows and into the starting lineup for the U.S. national team, which rolled to a 98-71 victory over New Zealand yesterday in another non-competitive pool round game the FIBA World Cup for Basketball here.
Faried had another solid game, finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds in just 24.:31, debunking the myth there is no room for an undersized post up player iwho is a high energy player and a relentless rebounder in international basketball.
It is obvious Krzyzewski needs him on he floor
“He plays with amazing energy and he’s one of the best rebounders around,” U.S. senior team coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ‘He’s a pleasure to play with. He doesn’t;t need the ball. He gets the ball for people. Since we opened camp, he’s been the biggest and best surprise for us. We never call a play for him. He had one post up play today. He called that on his own. He just makes plays.”
The fact Faried and starting point guard Kyrie Irving have shown strong improvement since late July training camp in Vegas and 6-10 center Anthohy Davis has emerged as a rising superstar have made life easier for senior national coach Mike Krzyzewski, as Team USA attempts to win a .second consecutive World witih a group of B list stars. Faried, who is easily recognizable with his long hair and pony tail, become a completely measures just 6-6 without shoes, used to fall into that category but has become a completely different player since the 2014 All Star break after he exploded after the All Star break,
:”I think it was just a question of more minutes. Before the all star break, I don;t think I was getting as many points as I thought I should. I was a trade rumor. There was a lot of stuff swirling around my head. After the break, i started to get more minutes and just started playing my game.”
Faried, who moved into the starting lineup after the Nuggest traded injured prone Brazilian big NeNe to Washington in 2012, his second year in the league. He averaged 13.7 points and 8.7 rebounds and 8.7 rebounds last year, but his performance in the last two months of the season were off the charts. Faried averaged 19.2 rebounds and 9.8 rebounds in March and 21 points and 13 rebounds in April with a careeer high 34 points against New Orleans and hasn’t’s missed a beat over there, making the case for a huge pay raise. Denver officials have reached out to his agent and are reportedly willing to offer him an five-year extension worth 89.1 million, or 17.82 million a year.
That’s a long way from the poverty of Newark. N.J, where Faried grew up in the gang and drug infested neighborhood in the Zionville Projects. When Faried attended Newark, N.J. Tech, he received interest from Marist and Iona from the MAAC before choosing Morehead State, an Ohio Valley school tucked away in the shadow of Kentucky and Louisville, in large part because his mother Waudda wanted to get him out of his gang and drug infested neighborhood.. “I think the scouts just missed me,” he said. “I was this skinny kid, skinny and tall. Everybody was saying I should go to junior college or spend a fifth year in prep school,” Faried said. “I didn’t;t want to do that. I wanted to go to college and make the most of it.’ .
Faried didn’t;t let his new rural surroundings bother him. Faried stayed four years at Morehead, breaking Tim Duncan;s modern-era career rebounding record with 1673 rebounds and becoming a second team All America center as a senior when his team won the Ohil Valley championship, then stunned Louisville in the first round of the tournament. :”I think that game put me over the top. It show everybody I could play.”‘ Faried was a center in college, but impressed NBA scouts with his relentless rebounding and new found mid-range game, that Denver choose him with the 22th pick in the first round of the 2011 draft, behind Derrick Williams, Enes Kanter, Triston Thompson, John Vesley Bismark Blyomuo, Jimmer Fredette, Alex Bursk, the Moris twins, Chris Singleton and Nolan Smith.
None are in his class. Faried is averaging 14.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and is shooting 80 percent for Team USA.
Faried epitomizes the depth of talent USA basketball has in its talent pool. If 2010 is any indication, at least five of the players here should be on the 2016 Olympic roster. Faried is no longer a long shot to make that team.
Irving is making a strong case for himself too, with 12 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and two steals against New Zealand. Irving has been the starter for Team USA, but Krzyzewski keeps trying to keep Derrick Rose, the NBA’s 2011 MVP who is trying to shake off the rust after missing the last two years with two severe knee injuries, as part of the mix, starting him in the second half so he could get some time with the starters in an effort to try to recreate the chemistry that existed between Rose and James Harden in training camp. .
Rose finished with just 3 points– a three pointer– on 1 of 6 shooting in 16 minutes but Krzyzewski knows he may need him on floor once this tournament gets into the knock out stages next week. Krzyzewski claimed Rose played his best game of the tournament yesterday and was particularly impressed with the way he moved on the court. He is using some of these pool games to experiment. He played three bigs against a smaller guard heavy New Zealand at times and went with a combination of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson– who are Golden State teammates– in the same back court at times.
By the same token, he shied away from playing Irving and Rose together.
The U.S. has the Dominican Republic Wednesday and the Urkaine Thursday. three games in three days will be a good chance for the coaches to evlauate where Rose is at. .
