On the heels of this dreadful performance, feel free to make up your own squad that you think could win the Gold-- taking into account what you know about who didn't want to play...
Edit - reread the first post... 5 - Tim Duncan 4 - Rasheed Wallace 3 - Ron Artest 2 - Steve Francis 1 - Sam Cassell Allen Iverson Marcus Camby Brad Miller James Posey Zach Randolph Jim Jackson Jason Williams Matt Harpring
Sam Cassell Tracy McGrady Jim Jackson Kevin Garnett Tim Duncan Steve Francis Brent Barry Michael Redd Tayshaun Prince Rasheed Wallace Elton Brand Brad Miller
Mike Bibby Ray Allen Rasheed Wallace Kevin Garnett Tim Duncan Wallace would be perfect! Artest would be good to, his intensity is definetly needed.
Stu Jackson needs to be fired, first off. Bill Simmons nailed just about everything I was telling friends in a recent column. 1. Send the NBA champs, or 2. Put together a roster of players whose skills compliment one another, instead of cramming it full of 20 ppg All-Star scorers. IMO, the biggest problems facing USA basketball right now is that there a pitifully few guys that can consistently hit jumpers outside of 15 ft and an incredible lack of PGs who excell at making their offense run well. Instead, we have an endless run of slashers and shoot-first point guards. What you're left with is the 2000 2002 and 2004 Men's teams. It hasn't helped that we're no longer sending HoF centers, with Duncan as the only possible exception. My selections (leaving out those that declined this year): 1 - A Miller, D Fisher 2 - Redd, B Barry 3 - L James, Bowen, Prince 4 - J O'Neal, L Odom 5 - Duncan, Miller The last roster spot I'd throw to Wade, Hinrich, or Artest maybe. I'd love to throw in another legit big like Ben Wallace, but there's just about none that can hit jumpers or reasonably guard foreign bigs on the perimiter. Which is a big consideration. I'd have more faith in Odom guarding his man all the way out to the 3-pt line than someone like Carlos Boozer. Evan
Andre Miller? you've got to be kidding. I don't know how you could put him on there, he is a woeful, woeful shooter from 3 point range (20%) and a below average, if not just plain bad, defender. Those are the two biggest problems on offense and defense yesterday were inability to stop guard penetration and inability to hit from long range -- and he worsens both problems. Couple that with his lackluster performance in 2002 -- no way he should ever wear a team USA uniform. If you just want somebody to run a team and not do anything spectacular, there are plenty of guys who can do that and be at least respectable shooters -- Antonio Daniels, etc. A. Miller ain't one of them. LeBron I woudn't mind having on there but he has looked lousy so far. Ben Wallace is another no-go. He has no offensive ability, and bruising banger types are of limited value in a game where post players hang out 19 feet away from the basket. Brian Cardinal and Brad Miller would be perfect players though. Mike Miller would also be a decent player in international rules, IMO.
There's an interesting article on distance shooting today from 82games.com. Have a look at the mid-range and long-range 2 category, these guys would be perfect for int'l ball: http://www.82games.com/nbashots.htm Garnett has been a beast in international competition in the past, btw. He's got 50% range out to Int'l 3 point line. If any one player could be added to the current team, I would put him on hands down and they are instant favorites for the gold
We didn't send our best team, and we are getting beat. If you look at the top 5, a lot of people would say: Shaq Duncan KG Kobe Kidd Only 1 of those guys is there. No T-Mac, no Jermaine O'neal, no Mike Bibby. My team would be: Duncan KG LeBron Kobe Bibby That team can rebound, run, pass, and shoot. They are strong. Kobe can stick to the best perimeter player, KG can play any frontcourt player. Its a shame that they all won't go...
I'll just repost my team again: Center: Duncan Brad Miller Power Foward: Odom Magloire Small Foward: Prince Posey Shooting Guard: REDD Iverson Point Guard: Cassell Billups Reserves: Bosh Brent Barry Ron Artest Corey Maggette Bosh?!?!? WHY BOSH!??!? well I think he would do well in international competition even though he's a rook. He has pretty good defense and gives the USA team another low post presence. Basically if you can't have KG, why not take KG lite? And I think the SF slot should be a spot where they need a defensive specialist. Marion?!?! Jefferson!?!? what do they do? They can barely hit the rim on a lay up and they get blown by the opposing players time and time again. You set up one position as your defensive-lock-him-up player and that guarantees you that none of that would happen. They can't keep relying on Duncan and Odom to bail them out when the other teams' guards are blowing past our guards.
assuming we don't get to pick people that turned it down (which some people aren't doing) and assuming these guys are healthy of course: PG - cassell, bobby jackson SG - iverson, mobley, redd SF - prince, harpring, and artest's crazy ass PF - sheed and odom (i really like the job he's doing on the boards and on offense, no guy has resuscitated his image from my POV in the last year like odom) C - timmy and brad miller i think that teams got enough size and strength up front, enough quickness in the backcourt, plenty of shooting, defense from the SF position and mobley/bobby/sheed/timmy and i don't think any of those guys turned down the team, though i could be wrong. a solid post for #4000.
i think stromile swift is a better KG lite, but yeh, i'd never consider either. rasheed is a much better option.
I would send an actual team that has played together for a least a year. Since I don't think any NBA owner would ever allow their entire team the play the olympics, the next best choice would be the National Champions of college (Connecticut). Then I would add a couple of NBA players to the team (a center, a forward, and a guard). So my team would be: C - Duncan F - Okafor F - Villanueva G - Redd G - Gordon Bench: Matt Harpring, Rashad Anderson, Denham Brown, etc. May not be as talented as a team full of all-stars, but at least there would be some semblence of chemistry. These international teams are not that talented. They just have so much more chemsitry because they've been playing with each other for years. There would be more role players on the team. More players that are used to playing together on the floor. Less players that are accustomed to being the star player on their team. I also think the college game more closely resembles the international game than the NBA. There would be less of an adjustment for college players.
C Brad Miller Ostertag PF Troy Murphy SF Harpring Mike Miller Szerbiak SG Jon Barry Hoiberg PG Jayson Williams Brent Barry
First, who didn't want to go? PG T.J. Ford, Like Ridnour, Kirk Hin. SG Mike Redd, Allen Houston, Wally Szczer SF Wally S, Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James PF Emaka Okafor, Elton Brand. C Tim Ducan, Brad Miller Did Brand have an injury this summer? And TJ Ford, is he still out from his neck injury? Three actual point guards. Three guys who can shoot the ball. Carmelo and Lebron. Two guys who can clear the boards in okafor and brand. Two big guys who can pass out of the block, and shoot inside jumpers. The only thing I am worried about is PG defense. But then again, you can play zone, and have them funnel into to okafor and duncan to swat it away.
