Okay, so I lied; but Kenyon Martin?!?!?! All I can muster out of this is that they need a power forward as a replacement. Francis just ain't gettin' no respect. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/story?id=1598939 Malone still distraught over mother's death SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Los Angeles Lakers' power forward Karl Malone, grief-stricken over the death of his mother, will not rejoin the U.S. Olympic qualifying team. Kenyon Martin of the New Jersey Nets was chosen Tuesday as his replacement. Malone called U.S. team officials Monday night and informed them of his decision. He will retain his spot on the 2004 Olympic team if the United States earns one of three berths to the Athens Games at a qualifying tournament that begins Wednesday. Martin boarded a flight Tuesday morning to San Juan and was expected to join the team at its afternoon practice. Martin, who got married Saturday in Las Vegas, is not guaranteed a spot on the 2004 team, USA Basketball spokesman Craig Miller said. Malone, a 40-year-old two-time Olympian, left the team's training camp in New York on Aug. 13 to return to Arkansas after his mother, Shirley Jackson Malone, died. "We really wanted Karl to be here, but he suffered such an unbelievable loss. He is so close to his family that he just couldn't be here and it was more important for him to be with his family and we all understand that," U.S. coach Larry Brown said. "He'll be remembered here and hopefully he'll be part of our team in 2004 if we're lucky enough to qualify." Martin becomes the third member of the New Jersey Nets on the roster, joining Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson. "This is somewhat unexpected, but it is a great opportunity for Kenyon. He's certainly deserving of this kind of honor and we're looking forward to having him join the team," Brown said. The U.S. team plays its first game Wednesday night against Brazil. The 6-foot-9 Martin, a three-year NBA veteran, gives the American team another natural power forward along the front line. The U.S. team is using Tim Duncan and Jermaine O'Neal, who play power forward on their NBA teams, as centers. Elton Brand is the other big forward. Martin was a member of the 2001 Goodwill Games team that went 5-0 in Australia, needing overtime to defeat Brazil. "This is a great opportunity. I'm very pleased to be added to the team," Martin said in a statement. "I already have a couple of my teammates on the team so we should have a lot of fun." The first overall pick of the 2000 draft, Martin averaged 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds last season for the Nets, who went to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year. Martin, who shot just 3-for-23 in the deciding Game 6 of the finals against San Antonio, reportedly asked for a trade earlier this summer when the Nets did not meet his agent's demand for a maximum contract extension. He was selected to the U.S. team by a subcommittee that included Stu Jackson, an NBA vice president and chairman of the USA Basketball selection committee. "Under these circumstances, because of the time issue, they have the authority to select someone else," Miller said.
Sorry if this is a little off topic, but does anybody know why NBA TV isn't going to be broadcasting the U. S. Team's games in the Olympic Qualification Tournament? They sure as hell don't have anything better to show. Just curious cause they broadcasted the exhibition game vs. Peurto Rico, but not the tournament. Seems a little wierd to me.
I hope the games are really close and Kenyon Martin bricks a game winning dunk. The guy absolutely SUCKS!
Man I bet if Steve didn't demand an out from Memphis, he'd be on the team twice now and the Griz might've been a playoff contendar Oh well, just glad he's a rocks
Kenyon Martin doesn't suck, the guy is a very good player, he deserves to be on the team. Heck I'd kill to have Kenyon Martin on the Rockets. The reason that he was chosen and not Francis is because they had to replace a big man with a big man, remember we got pounded in the paint last year. Kenyon definitely is going to bring injury, athleticism and physical play and intimidation to the team, which I'm happy about. The games aren't on NBA TV because for some stupid reason they put it on PPV (In Demand). That's about the dumbest thing you can do, especially with the debacle that happened last year. They should have done everything they could to allow people to see this team and rekindle interest in the NBA. Instead they have no chance to attract casual fans because casual fans won't see the games.
He will bring injury? Let's hope so. Then maybe there will be less competition for the Rockets next year. Perhaps he will bring energy. I still doubt that.
I don't get how they can put BIBBY on the team and not Francis. Francis is like, 10 times better than Bibby, and they can't say Steve's not good enough. He had 20 pts and 9 assists off 9/12 shooting in the All-Star game, it seems like that would be good enough! I think they should just take the 10 all-star starters and make that be the team. That way, the team would be: Allen Iverson Tracy McGrady Vince Carter Jermaine O'Neal Ben Wallace Steve Francis Kobe Bryant Kevin Garnett Tim Duncan (and someone to replace Yao) That team would be great IMO!
i could care less who playin on the team. just so long as george karl isnt coaching. that guy SSSSUUUUUUUUCKSS!!!!!
They wanted to add shooters, and although Francis is a better player overall than Bibby, Bibby's the better shooter. That way when the international teams drop into zones to stop our athletic wings/slashers like T-mac, Iverson, Vince, and Kidd or collapse on Duncan, Brand, and O'Neal, there's Ray Allen and Bibby in there to be zone busters. T-Mac and Vince are pretty good outside shooters as well, and Iverson's also not bad. Now the selection of Richard Jefferson is baffling though...the only explanation is for defense (maybe highlight dunks?), but there are better defenders out there.
In related news, Bibby, Duncan, O'neal, Carter, Tmac and Iverson have been kicked off the team for personal reasons. The replacements, are as followed: 1.Lucisous Harris 2.Anthony Johnson 3.Jason Collins 4.Aaron Williams 5.Alonzo Mourning 6.Dikembe Mutombo
Yeah, good point!!! You've got 29 teams in the league, 12 roster spots and you choose three guys from the Nets (!) and two guys from the Sonics (!!!)??? All I can say is: Kerry Kittles and Calvin Booth got ROBBED!
I don't understand why these games are moved out of the NBA Dish. 1. The discussions are about NBA players no differently that talking about Yao Ming's summer games in the GARM. Remember last summer when windandsea made a huge splash posting every game of Yao? 2. This forum says "college, international hoops <b>leading up to the NBA Draft.</b>" This is not about the draft. please move these back to NBA Dish. not much to ask.
Yeah, it's wierd how college and int'l hoops, as in international competiton, not foreign leagues gets lumped together into one forum. Hell, everybody on the US team got drafted years agogo, with the exception of Nicky Collistiff Where do NBADL and other minor leaguers get discussed? I want to start out a Yakima Sun Kings thread and a ranking of the All time greatest Albany Patroons but I don't know what forum to put it in
That's easy enough... it's a Rockets board first and foremost. Pretty much anything else is secondary. Otherwise, Clutch would be breaking things up into a million forums. Hey, let's have a college football forum. Let's have an NFL forum. Let's have a baseball forum. Let's have a restaurant review forum. Let's have a movie review forum. Why are they all lumped together in the BBS Forum??!! The threads were moved because the Olympics is an International competition.
still don't see why. we just want to talk about NBA players in the summer, in one forum...how wrong is that? This forum seems to be about non-NBA players, preceding the draft. It's never been this way before, as we talked about the WCs last year in the NBA dish. I'm confused. Why not just simplify and leave all talk about NBA players in the NBA Dish?
