Tryouts Proposed for Team USA in '08 The 2008 Olympic team could be made up of players who try out for the team, rather than those who were invited to play if one of the main proposals passes at the next USA Basketball committee meeting in November. Tom Jernstedt, the executive director of USA Basketball, told ESPN.com that a proposal to invite up to 40 players from the NBA, the developmental league, Americans playing in leagues overseas and a few selected college players could be at the center of the upcoming meeting. Jason Kidd, right, played for Team USA during 2003 qualifying, but not in Athens. "It's not a new concept, but there was resistance primarily from one constituent [the NBA]," Jernstedt said. "They said that tryouts would be a disincentive and that the elite players wouldn't be interested in taking the time for a tryout. "But as we're sitting here in September, and reflecting back on a bronze finish at the Olympics in 2004 and a sixth-place finish in the World Championships in 2002, you can say it didn't seem to work. We were also a 3-point shot from losing in the semifinals in 2000 [Olympics] in Sydney to Lithuania. We have to applaud the team that did show up [in Athens] and had the interest to represent their country." Jernstedt said members of the selection committee and Olympic coaching staff met on a number of nights in Athens to discuss how to make the selection process better in the coming years. "We're willing to try anything that will help us address our training issue," said the NBA's Stu Jackson, who is the chairman of the senior men's national team selection committee. "It may be difficult to get many of the elite players in the NBA to participate in a tryout system. But I suspect some players will gladly be a part of such a system. "We're in unchartered waters here. USA Basketball in cooperation with the NBA will have to explore a way to enhance our performance and address the training method." Who would you like to see represent the U.S. in future international events? NBA players NCAA players Non-NBA professionals Jernstedt said the committee, which will meet Nov. 9-10 in Colorado Springs, Colo., is expected to come up with a new model and timetable for choosing the next senior national team. Since the U.S. didn't win the gold medal, the Americans still have to qualify in the summer of 2005 (at an undetermined site in the Americas) for the 2006 World Championships in Japan. The 2008 Olympics will be in Beijing, China. Jernstedt said USA Basketball isn't locked in to sending the same team to the 2005, '06 and '08 events, assuming the U.S. qualifies for '06 and '08. But he does agree it would make it easier for the next coach, who could end up being the same person for each event, if the team played together longer. "One of the results of a tryout is that it clearly identifies who has the heart and attitude on and off the court [to participate in the Olympics]," Jernstedt said. "All options will be discussed very thoroughly." Another plan that is on the table, but isn't warmly received, is to take the NBA champion from the previous season. Problems would arise if the team has key foreign players, players whose contracts have run out, or anyone who is injured. Also, this would prevent the same team from being together in 2006 and '08 unless that team won the NBA title in each of those two seasons. "Many of the rosters include international players, and the free agency issue would be a factor," Jackson said. "That would make it very difficult to take the NBA champion." A tryout seems to be the idea that has the most momentum, especially among the coaching staff. "If you have a tryout, you would address that issue right off the bat as to who wants to be there and wants to make sacrifices for the team," said Olympic basketball assistant Roy Williams, the head coach at North Carolina. "You would have a team that is more familiar with each other and would play together longer." But that won't change everything that went wrong with Team USA. Off-court behavior was an issue. Multiple sources told ESPN.com that USA Basketball was in the process of finding out how to dismiss a player from the team before the Olympics. The coaching staff and members of the USA Basketball selection committee met in Istanbul, Turkey, after the U.S. held an exhibition before the Games, looking at the procedures for sending home anywhere from one to four players who weren't behaving up to the USOC's standards. But it didn't go any further than inquiries into the process of dismissal. “ We don't have the passion for the Olympics that other athletes do in other sports or for their national teams in basketball. The dream for them is playing for their national team. Our kids grow up dreaming of playing in the NBA. No one could make that equal. That will be difficult to overcome. ” — Team USA assistant Roy Williams Poor behavior could occur even with players who earn a spot through a tryout. But Williams said changing attitudes about the Games would be the toughest part of winning another gold medal. "We don't have the passion for the Olympics that other athletes do in other sports or for their national teams in basketball," Williams said. "The dream for them is playing for their national team. Our kids grow up dreaming of playing in the NBA. No one could make that equal. That will be difficult to overcome. "The old days of putting 12 NBA players out there and winning on talent are over. We have a system that isn't conducive to the Olympics. NBA owners don't want their players to play. The season is so long in the NBA that they are concerned about their bodies. The talk of terrorism was real, but the single biggest factor was how long the season was for the NBA players. Go down the line -- Ray Allen, Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady and Jermaine O'Neal -- all turned down invitations and they all missed some time due to injuries." Jackson said not having seven players -- Kidd, Allen, McGrady, O'Neal, Mike Bibby, Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone -- who participated in the qualifying practices in the summer of 2003 hurt the '04 Olympic team. "The biggest negative of the seven players defecting from the team wasn't replacing them but the continuity from one summer to the next that was lost," Jackson said of the team that competed in Puerto Rico. "We would have performed better if they had played together. That's a huge factor against international teams. The team has to be together an extended period of time." Williams said the differences between the international and NBA game need to be addressed. He said a point guard driving through the lane, pulling up from 4 feet and firing a pass back out to a 6-foot-11 player for a 3-pointer doesn't happen in the NBA or in college basketball. "It's a different game," Williams said. "Playing in the Olympics is a lot harder than these guys thought. It's a huge commitment. Guys say they want to be involved but when they get there, it's not exactly what they thought it would be. The players we had have been criticized, but they did agree to go. We're failing to see that, and they should be praised for that since they did choose to go there." But the next Olympic team might at least be a choice after a tryout, rather than from a shrinking pool of available players who weren't against going to Greece. A tryout might increase the pool for Beijing and, USA Basketball hopes, give the Americans a better foundation for a shot at the gold. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey Stu, how bout just tell it like it is: '04 was all about marketing. GRANTED, those top-tier players backing out DID hurt the team but when a helter-skelter team like the one in Athens can take home the bronze it means that they were one or two players away from Gold. Stern, Jackson and the selection committee should reevaluate the way they choose players. Like the consensus on this board and probably everywhere else: a Michael Redd or a Brad Miller could have swung the advantage back to the USA team. but the thoughts of trying out for the Team DOES intrigue me
Tryouts aren't the way to go. You know what guys can do. Jermaine Oneal isn't going to show you anything in a tryout that he hasn't already done in 80+ games during the NBA season. The selection committe just needs to choose a better mix of guys that can succeed in the international game.
idea of tryouts sounds like a creative idea to me then the players who really want to play could play ya might not get the best players that way though regardless of that, the committee picked some pretty piss poor choices and I'm not sure tryouts are the solution in a case like that.
Stu Jackson trying to cover up his tracks of losing the Olympics Gold single-handedly by going for a "All-Jersey" team.
If the USA Basketball selectors cant select a team on 82 reguar season games....they should be fired. Its that simple!
they can expect alot of college guys and cba or nbdl type of players to go there. how can you expect the top players to go on a try out when they are being begg by stu to go to athens and they still dont want too.
Yes, but can Dan Dickau and Mateen Cleaves lead that group of guys to victory? We know that NBA players are an ego-driven bunch generally. How are they going to take to having to "try out" for the USA team? How are they going to take being "cut" by Team USA when they are in the middle of trying to get a max deal from Cleveland or Charlotte? It seems to me that they stand to lose by "trying out" in today's NBA world where image and dollars are king. I think ideally it would be great ... but I think the quote of "The old days of putting 12 NBA players out there and winning on talent are over" is a total and complete cop-out for having chosen a very poor mix of players.
Try-outs is a terrible idea and waste of time. For NBA players, if you don't know what they can do already, a try-out isn't going to help. Try-outs might have some merits for college players, except if the guy and his ability is not well-known, he probably does not belong on the top tier anyway. If you want to find out who wants to play for their country, just ask them. Require them to sign a letter of intent or something.
I think the team is worrying about the wrong element. I don't think the roster was the problem; it was the preparation. Even the perfect mix of guys needs some time to play together. If they aren't willing to spend the time to build chemistry, they won't win.
I think they should pick 5 core players that WANT to play for Team USA and then have tryouts for the rest of the roster. You may get a mix of NBDL and CBA and college players but at least you'll have an idea of what players will compliment the previous 5 you picked up to be your core.
Of course tryout won't make much sense for those ego players, but at least you can find a bunch of guys who are much willing to represent their country and right fit the international rules instead of the style in NBA. btw, isn't it an old article issued 4 days ago? stale news....
The guys who went were willing and honoured to represent their country. It's the guys that didn't go that created the bad karma. I can't see that telling them they have to try out and risk the humiliation of not getting selected will somehow work better than promising them spots... Another brilliant idea by Stu. One wonders why no teams have supped him up as general mgr???
how about using the playoffs as the tryouts? you can only make the squad if your NBA team advanced past the first round and you played in over 60% of the games that season (no Webbers) if that system were in place this would have been the team (assuming Shaq, KG, Kobe, Jermaine, Kidd all still sat out) Centers: Tim Duncan Brad Miller Ben Wallace Forwards: Ron Artest Rasheed Wallace Kenyon Martin Lamar Odom Richard Jefferson Guards: Mike Bibby Chauncey Billups Richard Hamilton Sam Cassell Alternates: Tayshaun Prince Dwayne Wade Eddie Jones
What about invited tryouts? 20 get invited and only 12 make it, people in the NBA could turn down the invitation to try out if they like, but people like SF would do anything to play. DD
I think what may be the best thing to do is to first send out invitations to all our best basketball players and make sure that if they accept they not only need a written agreement to play in the qualifiers and the actual games. Also, there should be practices so that the players can get used to playing European style ball. That way the "stars" know how much of a commitment it will be. Now depending on the number of players that have committed themselves to the games, there are a couple of things that could happen... #1. If the team is pretty much filled out, then our selection commitee only needs to find the players that can fill the niche of missing talent that our team may have. For instance, three pointing, court awareness, rebounding, or hustle. #2. If few elite players have accepted then we should have tryouts and invite all NBA and the best NBDL players to it. I think this would be a great idea because it would be open to anybody. There are a few things that could come out of this... i) It would be giving the underdog a chance ii) It would be a good chance to give players that are actually really good, but have been constantly overlooked for one reason or another (ie. Flip Murray, Michael Redd) a chance iii) It would be for the betterment of the game because they would probably have a lot more passion for the game and otherwise would not get a chance to play. Also they would be proud to represent their country. That said, I think it would be a bad idea to expect the stars of the NBA to go tryout because they are such ego-maniacs they would respond somewhat like "I'm too good for this". For this reason I think its important to invite the best first and then have the tryouts. Any thoughts?
How could you assure those guys are the ones who're indeed "willing and honoured to represent their country", if you have to urge them by "promise them spots" and take it as a better way, uhm?
