Richard Jefferson named to Olympic team

your thread title is incorrect. These are not the "core 9." Anyone after Kobi's selection has been told that they could be replaced at the Olympics. And they likely will be replaced.

 

for some reason i had the impression that the big man situation was much better than it is. jermaine again? malone, brand, collison, whoop de do. not that they are bad but they don't seem to be built to excel in an international game, much like jermaine, who sucked (from what i saw) at the worlds and can't even post up on the celtics. obviously duncan is great to have. please KG, join the team.

 

I hadn't heard that. Under what circumstances would someone be "replaced"?

 

Who was voted best player on the last Olympic team again, and was also the guy to beat everyone in their one on one contest, smoking Kevin Garnett 21-7 in the finals? Can anyone remember?

 

Vinsanity. but alas he is probably too much of an injury risk to put on the team.

 

I wish Steve were on the team, but can get over it...I just want blowout victory after blowout victory to avenge last year's embarassment at the world championships.

 

he's had......one...1...uno...un....one surgery. And it was pretty minor. Since then he had a set back when he strained a muscle in another leg while trying to overcompensate, which is a very common thing for a player to do, especially when this was the first sports injury they have ever had in their life.

The ankle at the end of the year was the old turing the ankle landing on another guy's foot...Happens 30 or 40 times a year at least...no biggie, and nothing to do with his knee. And if you'd seen Carter in the last few weeks before the ankle, he was starting to explode like no one but he can. People whio keep bringing up the Grant Hill thing haven't looked at the facts; One semi-serious injury, trying to play through it..an offseason surgery...strains other knee trying to favor his repaired knee because he's never done this before..comes back from that and, over time, starts to look more and more like VC going to the hoop, meaning less and less like anyone else, and then sits out the lat 8 games of a meaningless season beacause he sprained his ankle landing on a guy's foot...and they are calling him an injury prone guy. 1 semi-significant injury in his life...1 minor surgery...that's it.

 

i knew you'd say that MacBeth, but perception is reality and he is, i believe, fairly or unfairly seen as an injury risk. talk to stu jackson about it if you want that to change. and tell him to stop hating steve while you're there.

 

and he's missed over 60 games in the last 2 years ...

you can spin it all you want, but his last 2 seasons have been marred by injuries.

That being said, I would trade SF for him.

I have no doubt that he will be back with a vengance.

 

Yeah, but you're also talking about a guy who was arguably the best player in the game before all that, whatever the negative hype has been since. How can you not invite the guy who was your best player at the last one, and was only 23 at the time, to the next one because of an injury which required minor surgery, cost him less than a full season, and is healing perfectly, according to doctors, and with no reason to suspect it will be an issue come Team USA time? That would be really low class, and insulting, IMO...He was their best player on a team that won the Gold Medal...and, as per Rudy, he blew everyone away in a one on one tournament that everyone took very seriously. Have you forgotten what Rudy, Garnett, etc. were saying about Carter back then, about him being on a whole other level than anyone else in terms of basketball talent? All the hatin hype can't have wiped that from your memory, can it?

 

good on Richard Jefferson, he is playing great and definitely deserves this.

 

For all we know, he was asked and turned it down, or maybe still considering it.

Regardless, Vince may have proven to you that he is back, but maybe not to the eyes of the selection committee. It's all nice and good to talk the talk, but some want proof on the court, for more than a little stretch of games.

 

Why are they putting a college kid on the team? I could understand them doing this back in 1992 to satisfy all those olympic purists that didn't want NBA players in the olympics, but it's the fourth go-around now, I'm sure they've all either accepted it by now or are dead...

 

No surprise here with the 3 picks. The team wants "team guys" with good attitudes that can work in a team system. Plus these 3 guys probably will not play that many minutes. The idea is to have a "tight" rotation of 8-9 guys and play them the majority of the minutes each night and then have 3 guys to "groom" for the next team. Brand, Jefferson and Collison fit this role, at least Brand and Jefferson do. I am sure you can make a case to have someone else on the team other than Collison but the bottom line is he is the 12th guy on the team anyway.

 

I understand that they can be replaced. But likely to be? How do you know that?

 

I would think there are many more small forwards that would deserve this more than Jefferson. Marion and Pierce are just the first two to come to mind. I think Jefferson gets too much praise (especially on this board since comparing him to EG) for a guy who gets set up with as many easy baskets in the league, thanks to the best passer in the game.

 

My first reaction to this is WTF? Richard Jefferson? Nick Collison? This is the best we can do?

If they are gonna run this crap out there, I'd rather see Melo or King James.

Heck, if he's healthy and you are worried about big men, send Zo. He'll make sure we win.

 

What's even worse about Collinson.

HELLO, he is going to be one year removed from college and a likely backup forward for someone. And he will be on the Olympic team with all-stars. At least Lattener graduated in 1992 and was the best player in college. This is so friggin stupid.

 

Good point on both of those guys. Marion is under-rated if you ask me. Another victim of the ESPN hi-lite syndrome. If you don't taunt and pump your chest after you score...you don't make Sportscenter.