The USA National teams plays China next Monday for the World Championship.
You'd expect the USA, the country that dominates basketball in real life, the country that Buzzerbeater was created in, would be in the NT final willy-nilly, and that this would be rather mundane news. But this is the first time. Makes one appreciate it all the more. After all the struggles the team has had over the seasons...losing to Morocco in s16 (yes, effing Morocco), player scandals (s18), lineup setting scandals (s24), losing by 4 to every team at Worlds (s20 through s26)...to have all the stars align for a dominant season is fanfreakingtastic, my good USA compatriots.
Other can fill in the rest, but a short primer on some of the players on NT super squad:
"Finding" Nemesio Xermade: This is Old man Nem's 6th World's tournament. Now a days he's a fading 3rd string SF, but he's been a go-to player for most of his career, supplanting Bill Weeks as the top USA SF of his generation. If anyone deserves a Worlds ring for time served, it's this guy.
Joseph "LDS" Smith: While 18 and on his Mormon mission in China he was abducted by a Chinese basketball cartel and trained in the secret Chinese art of the Big Man. Discovered years later, he fit perfectly the elusive quality that NT managers have been pining over since the beginning of time (s1): quality bigs with serious secondaries and a managable salary. The USA finally had one in Smith.
Andy "Buckeye" Wilder: Trained from the cradle to be a NT center, he knew no other life but to be trained obsessively by Buckeyefan01, and knew little else. He was 24 before he even knew his real name, thinking it was "Postup Dipwad" since that's what his manager always yelled at him.
Otto "Needy" Reedy: Another player trained for the team from the get go, Reedy is the best USA guard under 30 (suck it, Britton) and should be a stalwart of many Worlds championships to come.
Raimundo "2nd cousin" Grubbs: A distant relative of early NT great Ismael Grubbs, Raimundo began his career as a misguided experiment to create the most balanced player ever. While having sensational skills across the board sounds good in theory, it makes for a rather nondescript player on the court. Fortunately ESV Laim realized this a while back and created a NT worthy SF in the process.
A short primer on NT coach magiker:
Godlike
An even shorter primer on the Chinese NT:
Toast
Group hug!