I think a lot of it is having guys over there that really want it and are going to give it everything they've got to get the gold...not just a bunch of guys that say "let's bring home a gold medal." There should be a thorough interview process. But, here's my team just off the top of my head: PG: Chauncey Billups, Detroit Dwyane Wade, Miami Chris Paul, NO/Okla. City SG: Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers Michael Redd, Milwaukee Joe Johnson, Atlanta SF: LeBron James, Cleveland Paul Pierce, Boston Shawn Marion, Phoenix Shane Battier, Memphis PF: Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Chris Bosh, Toronto Elton Brand, L.A. Clippers C: Brad Miller, Sacramento Dwight Howard, Orlando --- Off the top of my head, I would have like to have seen Kirk Hinrich invited (much better choice than Ridnour anyway). I think Battier and Brand definitely have an edge since they went to Duke, and they are both guys that play hard and don't need the ball to be effective. Bruce Bowen would definitely bring an edge to the team I think, but I think Battier and/or Marion can easily perform what he does better. I left off guys that I'm not so sure about their character and will...Arenas, Rashard, Carmelo to name a couple. Carmelo doesn't need to be on the team regardless, because he sucks on defense, he's a black hole, and he's already proved that he sucks in international ball. That is the one guy on the list I'd hate to see go.
My final roster: Chauncey Billups, Detroit Chris Bosh, Toronto Elton Brand, L.A. Clippers Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers Dwight Howard, Orlando LeBron James, Cleveland Rashard Lewis, Seattle Shawn Marion, Phoenix Brad Miller, Sacramento Chris Paul, NO/Okla. City Paul Pierce, Boston Michael Redd, Milwaukee Luke Ridnour, Seattle Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Dwyane Wade, Miami[/QUOTE]
Good to see that Jefferson didn't get invited back. What a disaster he was in the Olympics. Doesn't do anything better than Marion.
Is a USA team where's the WHITE GUY? What about Kirk Hinrich the white boy just drop 30pts 13reb 8asists on MINN he reminds me of John Stockton
did iverson murder somebody involved in the selection process? he's awesome, he wants to play, and he was good the last time around. maybe they think he'll break down by the time the olympics roll around, but people thought he was already going to be broken down and he's going stronger than ever. i just can't see how he's not at least invited. what a slap in the face for someone who actually wanted to go (and is obviously qualified given that luke ****ing ridnour made the list). seriously, ridnour? i do like that there doesn't appear to be anyone who figures to decline by the time the tournament rolls around and few who haven't already proven themselves. the field in general should be hitting their primes by the time 2008 is here. kinda disappointing that we still won't be putting our best foot forward, with no kg, duncan, tmac, allen, or AI i guess, but it's a pretty good list, especially for pg/sg/sf. not sure where the size will come from, or at least size that have skills. outside of miller, not many have shots. we might be able to get our B team out of these candidates if they select correctly. that's one thing the international teams hurt us a lot with, big guys who can shoot. they drag our bigs outside and have the kiddie 3 pt line to shoot from, and with the bigger lane and zones and such, they don't have to worry about guarding ours as much. soft big guys with a jump shot don't really make it in the nba b/c you're expected to be able to play D and rebound, but they're great for international ball. i would take: kobe wade james redd miller marion billups joe johnson arenas bosh dwight howard lewis paul pierce amare
huh? i don't get these three guys. who am i to criticize though... especially since i'm one of those who wouldn't have minded seeing artest on the team. i AM digging josh howard and chris bosh on the squad though. bosh is somewhere in between augmon (early in his career) and kg. still can't forget that spin/slam move on juwan howard early in the game against the raps. ouch.
Hell yeah...New rule: If you sign an NBA contract, you also have to play for the United States in all international competition...except for Bostjan Nachbar, that is.
The one thing missing from this list is BIG guys, but part of that has to do with the lack of American big men, they're going to have to play some SFs at PF. Carmelo Anthony, Denver - NO Gilbert Arenas, Washington - MAYBE Shane Battier, Memphis - MAYBE Chauncey Billups, Detroit - YES, CAN'T GO. Chris Bosh, Toronto - YES Bruce Bowen, San Antonio - MAYBE Elton Brand, L.A. Clippers - NO Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers - YES Dwight Howard, Orlando - MAYBE Josh Howard, Dallas - MAYBE LeBron James, Cleveland - I GUESS Antawn Jamison, Washington - MAYBE Joe Johnson, Atlanta - MAYBE Rashard Lewis, Seattle - MAYBE Shawn Marion, Phoenix - MAYBE Brad Miller, Sacramento - YES Chris Paul, NO/Okla. City - MAYBE, BILLUPS REPLACEMENT Paul Pierce, Boston - MAYBE Michael Redd, Milwaukee - MAYBE Luke Ridnour, Seattle - YES Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix - MAYBE Dwyane Wade, Miami - NO JJ Redick, Duke - YES Adam Morrison, Gonzaga - MAYBE Greg Oden, High School - MAYBE These guys have to go: Guards - Bryant, Paul, Ridnour, Redick Forwards - Bosh, James Centers - Miller These guys should go: Guards - Arenas Forwards - Battier, Brand, Howard, Marion, Pierce Centers - Howard, Oden The lack of quality big men is going to hurt the US, damn, I wish Elton Brand didn't have to go, but he does, Dwight Howard has to go and he's going to embarrasss himself on offense, Greg Oden will have to play, that sucks. However, Bosh and Miller's games are great for international ball, they will have to play big minutes because their backups won't be nearly as good, and Marion better not brick everything like he did at the Olympics. The PGs are only ok, Billups will miss the WC that leaves Ridnour and Paul, Luke might prove to be the best option even though he's not nearly as good in the NBA, weak. Forgot about Arenas, he should be able to play PG there, he's a great shooter and an ok passer, doesn't have to be a great passer anyway. The swing man positions will be strong, they will have to carry the team, Kobe has a great game for international basketball, as long as he reduces his dribbling, Pierce is great for this too and he doesn't dribble that much. Lebron is probably ok, he's going to be the wild card, he's going to have to overpower people and play a big role on the boards, he like Kobe has to avoid dribbling the ball as much as he does in the NBA. Maybe two out of Bowen, Battier, and Howard will go, they will be the utility players, they can do a little bit of everything, probably shouldn't play too many minutes though. At least one college player will be selected, JJ Redick will probably go over Morrison, he will probably sit on the bench though. I'm excited about this, even though the players are only so-so, they have the coaching and maybe now people will accept the fact that the rest of the world plays great basketball too so there will be less pressure on them.
I've got to disagree - when was the last time you saw the US get murdered in the low post in I-ball? For that matter when was the last time the US murdered another team inside in I-ball even though we had tim duncan, jermaine o'neal, et al?
Yeah, but the problem that has plagued recent teams has been overstacking them with guys that can score but nothing else. Slashers are less effective in international rules, and we need versatile players that can defend effectively. I like the selections with the exceptions of Anthony, Arenas, and maybe even Wade. Pierce can be effective if the coach has him on a leash. I LOVE that Brad Miller and Shane Battier got selected. I'm very happy that JJ Redick gets one of the 3 "youngin" invites. Jumpman, I think it's actually a good thing to have PFs masquerading as centers in these games, since we will constantly be facing Euro bigs that play on the perimiter and the expanded lane and zone make posting nearly impossible (don't forget how badly Duncan struggled last time). No way does Team USA put a certified psycho on the team. Evan
Well, you're right, they were never dominated, but I do remember Vlade Divac had a good game, Pau Gasol hit 30 last year, and I'm pretty sure some shooting big men have had good games against the US. But I guess it's not really a weakness, not an offensive strength though, I mean it's not easy to score down low anyway so they won't make a big difference scoring, but they do dominate the boards and they do dominate defensively, we really got that going for us. You're right in your Kevin Garnett Chris Bosh take earlier, I expect Bosh to make a big difference scoring, Brad Miller should be able to hit some threes too, if they allow him to shoot them. I guess the only thing the US really has to worry about is the PG position and maybe perimeter shooting if everyone decides to suck again. Man, I thought he and Odom were there best players, along with all their big men actually outside of scoring at least, damn, I really did overstate that big men point.
The 12 main guys should be: PG: Billups, Arenas, Wade SG: Bryant, Redd SF: Marion, James, Johnson PF: Brand, Lewis C: Miller, Howard You can fill out the other roster spots with college guys like Redick - they won't play anyway. I don't understand taking Bruce Bowen or any other defensive types. The FIBA refs will watch them like hawks.
PG Chauncey Billups, Detroit Chris Paul, NO/Okla. City Dwyane Wade, Miami SG Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers Michael Redd, Milwaukee Joe Johnson, Atlanta SF LeBron James, Cleveland Paul Pierce, Boston Rashard Lewis, Seattle Josh Howard, Dallas PF Chris Bosh, Toronto Shawn Marion, Phoenix Elton Brand, L.A. Clippers - I disagree with Sam on him. He's an excellent shooter out to 15, which we need out of our big men. And we're pretty thin on big men as it is. C Dwight Howard, Orlando Brad Miller, Sacramento Snubs: Carmelo Anthony, Denver - He's improved himself tremendously this year, but I'd still rather pick shooters over him. Shane Battier, Memphis - Even as a hustle/chemistry guy he's not that good. Bruce Bowen, San Antonio - He's old. Two and a half years from now, he wouldn't be making any impact. Antawn Jamison, Washington - How did he get on the list. Luke Ridnour, Seattle - Ditto. Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix - If this team was composed last summer, there wouldn't be any doubt on Amare. But after his knee surgery, I need to see him in action before I put him on the team. Gilbert Arenas, Washington - This was a tough cut. He's a great scorer, but I went with Wade because of his intangibles. And Billups and Paul are more like PGs than Arenas.
For chemistry issues (which has been USA's biggest problem recently), I think Anthony and Bryant were mistakes to include on the team.
Except for AI's game IS very well rounded. 2nd in scoring. 8th in assists. 3rd in steals. 3.4 rebounds a game = 30th amongst guard (not the best, but considering his size, and the fact that they've got Boris Diaw, Vince Carter, the other AI, etc. up there as guards - guys who also play SF - in the list, it isn't even as bad as 30th, imo). And his shooting %s are all up. To me at least, the point is that AI is a better overall player than most on that list, and certainly better at what he does than similiar players like Gilbert Arenas, Michael Redd (who only shoots 3s better), etc.
for the purposes of this summer, billups and redd shouldnt be included in your 12 man rosters because they wont be at the wc's
i don't think chemistry in the sense of liking each other and personalities has been the problem, it's been chemistry in the sense of how the pieces fit together. they basically couldn't have done worse than the guys they picked for the '04 olympics in terms of fitting together. bryant may hog the ball a little, but he almost has to be there. a lack of our best players is still a problem, and bryant is undoubtedly one of the best. furthermore, i got the sense from both the '02 WC and '04 olympics, that we didn't have any (or at least enough) assassins who could step up when needed. the '00 olympic team had vince carter. they could go to him for shots and he delivered. the '02 WC had nobody, and '04 really only had iverson. we need someone like kobe who won't be intimidated by it all. plus someone like kobe who you know will play hard. as for the big men, rebounding and size has never really been our problem. we still dominated the boards in the '04 olympics, even with odom basically being the next biggest guy after duncan. it's the fact that it's like a college game and having good inside offensive players means almost nothing. all of their production almost has to be based on cleaning up misses and getting cheap points that way, not traditional posting up. so the lack of size won't be the problem so much as not having outside shots (which is why i'm starting to rethink leaving brand off). of course all of this is moot if we underperform on shooting as horrifically as we did last time. for all the talk about american players not being able to shoot, we are not as bad as we showed in the last olympics. i almost still can't comprehend how it was that bad. i mean they were leaving guys like marbury wideass open and just daring him to hit 3's and he couldn't. when wsa the last time jvg said "okay rafer, i don't want you to worry and stephon, just run around doubling and helping everyone else, we're just gonna leave marbury wide open." never. marbury would kill you if you did that. but in the olympics he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. wade may not have the purest shot ever, but he can hit a jumper. well enough to torch tayshaun prince for 17 straight points to close out a game. carmelo can shoot (and could in college), marion isn't a terrible shooter. but they were shooting in the low freakin' 30's in the olympics, with the most open shots of their careers. i still can't get over it. hopefully that doesn't happen this time.
