why not send whoever wins the nba championship to represent the country whenever there is a qualifying tournament or the olympics? in some cases players or coaches may have to be substituted due to international ties. however, the majority (in this years case the entire team) would be used to playing together, and used to winning. the main reason for the international teams beating the US team isn't that they have more talent, or that the US lacks shooters, or the US has to get used to international play... it is because international teams practice together for years. the US is usually thrown together with little practice time. and most importantly everyone needs to get used to a new system, and new roles. i would put my money on the celtics bringing home the gold. in the case of an nba champion with strong international ties, let them choose their replacements. take the spurs for example. sub parker and ginobili for paul and kobe. or if the lakers are the champs replace pau with duncan. either way i think they would stand a better chance at winning gold. what do you guys think?
Look @ how Argentina does it. Their stars excel in role playing.. like Ginobili, Nocioni, Oberto, etc
Interesting idea. Although, with the Spurs the last few years, it would've been an ENTIRELY different team to represent the U.S. due to all the international players they have. For some reason, US seems to think that by putting together a NBA All-Star team is equivalent to international TEAM play. Go figure.
The current setup of the US team is the players (supposedly) have longer commitments with it. So there's more continuity and not as much turnaround like past teams, when it was a brand new team each time. It'd take a couple more attempts at that method to see if it works, its better than before...but sending the champion wouldnt be a bad idea. Lower tier players like Kendrick Perkins, James Posey and Eddie House would probably appreciate the chance to play on such a big stage.
Wouldn't that be pressing for one team to send every single player to Olympics were they could possibly get injured? Also, after the Olympics concluded they would be getting ready for training camp in less than months time. I think everyone got spoiled with the first two or three Dream teams, because those teams had like top 15 to 30 players of all time in the golden age of basketball. Inevitably, it's not going to work as much today, because these players aren't nearly as versatile as those players were. A team with Magic, Larry, MJ, Scottie, Ewing, Robinson, Malone, Stockton, Drexler, Barkley, Mullin, and a college aged Christian Laettner. That team is almost near unbeatable in against Dream Team from any other area. It easily has 3 top-5 five players of all time, two top 8 centers, two greatest point guards ever, two top 4 power forwards ever, two more great wing scorers (Drexler and Mullin), and possibly one of the greatest college players of all time. Most of the players above are tough players, great shooters, great passers, great rebounders, good defenders, very clutch, and are willing to defer for a team to win. It's unbelievable....everybody above was good rebounder, passer, and defender for their positions. Everybody could score. It was unrealistic. Imagine having Magic running point guard, while M.J. and Larry are out waiting on the wing with Karl Malone and Patrick Ewing waiting in the post. Today's teams are flawed, because they aren't that many great centers in the league. Some of the best ones are from other countries. Also, most of the players above were harden veterans, I think every single player on the Dream Team I to III had been in the league for at least 5 years. Mentality to be the best team isn't the same as it was, since we dominated for good 12 years. As the players started to change, you could say the talent in the NBA got somewhat weaker at certain position, while it was on the rise over seas. Especially when it comes to wing shooters and adequate big men. Of the top 10 or 15 centers in the league, half of the them are from other countries. I think a modern day dream team should, not only have NBA Superstars, it should include college players, retired NBAers, players from other leagues, even high schoolers, and etc.
But don't get me wrong, I still think the NBA champion or even a good NBA playoff team could win the gold medal. I think teams, like the Rockets, Spurs, Pistons, and Celtics would do very well in the Olympics may even beat modern USA (pseudo Dream) team. There was only Dream Team, anyway.
It used to be that the US could send a team of college kids and beat the heck out of everybody else. Then international ball caught up and they started losing. So they decided to trash the "amateur spirit" since nobody else was honoring it anyway. Thus the "Dream Team" was born. After the Dream Team novelty had worn out, the biggest stars aren't interested to "donate" their time, effort, and risk of injury anymore. So they assembled second class "Dream Team." These second tier dream teams are still more talented than other countries, but not so much that they can just win by sheer talent like in the past. I think the problem lies in the sense of "honor" in representing your country in the Olympics. It has never been a big deal for the NBA stars to play in the Olympics. The honor with the original Dream Teams were not so much about national pride but about being the equivalence of getting selected to the all-NBA team. The fact that whether Yao should be allowed to play in the Olympics is an issue of debate on this board shows you most fans of pro-basketball here don't care that much about the Olympics. Basketball is not the only sport. Once a sport becomes commercialized into big business, fans interest, and therefore player interest, become focused entirely on the pro level. Olympics is just an afterthought. Look no further than soccer, the most popular sport in the world. Olympic soccer is nothing compared to league championships, let alone the World Cup.
do players get money for playing for the U.S.? like someone said earlier, the whole team would be risking injuries. and since it's the offseason for the nba, a player could be traded unwillingly and not play for the olympics at all.
It's a good idea...but when Rajon Rondo has a bad game you'd be saying "we could have had JKidd" and when Perkins misses a shot inside you'd be begging for Howard or Bosh. And why not replace Scalbrine with Kobe or Big Baby with Boozer? In the end...it's a good idea. But there are definitely better ways to win.
NBA players need to take more pride in representing their country. PERIOD!! What other time could you bring fans of Houston/Dallas/Lakers/Spurs/Utah fans together in a basketball related forum?
How would you compensate that team the following season? You are basically making the team play 2 solid years of basketball. You would see that Championship team riddled with injuries and fatigue. There's a good chance they could not even make the postseason the following year.
You don't send the championship team. You send the loser of the NBA title game. That is their punishment/attempt at consolation.
You both are on to something. Mostly, I think it is a bad idea to send a title team to the Olympics for that matter. But at the same time, if you could reward them in some way it wouldn't be so bad. My solution (might be kind of crazy) is to let the Championship winning team play less games in the next season, if they play in the Olympics or even as defending champions. Before, if you win championship or are champion, you always get perks and stuff, beyond medal or trophy. You get this and that. You should let the team winning the title get option of not having to play, the first few weeks or month and half of the season (if they are in the Olympics). Also, you get to be rewarded more home games than other teams...why? Because, you are the "Champion." Also, it is not as big as mess you would think, the champion for the next season can have their playoff ranking decided by their winning percentage. Simple as that. It's been like that in very old sports, where the champion gets to decide this or that or gets a longer break
then why send any pro players for that matter? why should the lakers lets kobe play all summer when they are trying to win a championship next season? plus, im taking about once every olympic summer. not every summer. as it stands now, these players have to give a 3 year comitment to practicing every summer. my solution is to let the best nba team play during the summer once every few years. now i see your point that its one whole team and not just the best player on a bunch of teams but really, outside of the star players, the other guys don't play heavy minutes and shouldn't be bothered by playing during the summer. not to mention that the role players on the team would just at the chance to play for their country, and any team owner would love to have his team on the world stage.
i see your point, but i think you're missing mine. loading a team with talent hasn't worked for a long time. i think it's time to put the emphasis on team synergy. send guys who know how to play together and win together.
It would work for Boston, but what about teams like the spurs who would have to give up Parker to France, Ginobli and Oberto to Argentina etc..etc..etc... We should quit making excuses and go out there and win the danged thing.... If we have the best team we will win.......IF !!! DD
I hear ya - chemistry is HUGE in basketball. But I think it's more a matter of practicing over the summer and having the same players on the team for the Olympics as you had for qualifications...not overreacting and sending a few scrubs out there just because they happened to play with the Big 3. I think USA has a much better chance this year because they took the qualification rounds and try-outs seriously for once. While the competition is getting better, USA will be out to prove they're the best.
I don't think chemistry is a huge issue. Everyone, even people in this board, know how each person on the roster plays. I think lack of caring exceeds the chemistry issue.
