First things first, if you want to read this long post you have to understand that I have taken what players do in the NBA completely out of my decision making process, to me it is completely irrelevant when we're trying to assemble a team that wins a gold medal. So when I say that Dwayne Wade can't shoot don't tell me that he hit his mid range shots against the Pistons, I still don't think he can shoot. When I say that Stephon Marbury can't pass or run an offense don't tell me about his 8 assists per game average, I still think he's a worse PG than Steve Francis. When I say that Damon Jones would be a better Olympic PG than AI don't tell me that I'm a moron, comparing Olympic basketball to the NBA is like comparing And 1 to college basketball, even though I might be a moron either way, just keep it to yourself. This is what I'd do if I was Stu Jackson... First off I would tell David Stern to F off, all he wants to do is showcase young players and sell merchandise. Second, I would completely ignore what the players do in the NBA like I mentioned, the one and only thing that would matter is their skill sets. Third, I would scrap every NBA offense or defense, it won't work in the Olympics. Fourth, I would hire a coach that has coached in Europe, probably Mike D'Antoni or the guy who was the brains behind Seattle's offense last season. Fifth, and this is just a personal preference, I would scrap the names on the back of the jersey's, only keeping USA in the front. Popular players I would NOT take that will no doubt be considered in 2008. Dwayne Wade - His game is based on penetration and ball domination, his jumpshot, even though it went in consistently in the playoffs, is not one I would trust when penetration is taken away with a zone defense. He also can't catch and shoot, can't run off of screens, and he's not that great of a passer. Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Baron Davis, and Gilbert Arenas - All very good to great NBA point guards/guards, but they lack the necessary skills to be a good PG in Olympic competition. As talented as those guys are I would look at much less talented PGs like Damon Jones, Derek Fisher, Luke Ridnour, and Steve Blake because of their spot up shooting ability and reliable ball handling. Ron Artest - Great player, but his individual defense won't matter too much because I would play zone just like everyone else. His offense might translate ok, still the main reason I wouldn't take him is that he might do something that would embarrass the US. Emeka Okafur - No. Just no. His offense isn't too much better than Ben Wallace's and although I love Ben Wallace I wouldn't want him either. There are others, but I don't want to make this longer than it already is... On to the starting lineups... There are two players that I would beg to join the team, Tim Duncan and Tracy McGrady, those two would be the cornerstones of my team, with Lebron James being the third guy. Tim Duncan is a MUST #1, they will not win jack if he doesn't go no matter who else goes, can you think of another American post player that is as skilled as he is besides Shaq? Maybe if Dwight Howard continues to develop, but I wouldn't count on that, Tim Duncan HAS to go. Tracy McGrady will be my number #2 guy because of his skills, shooting range, and ability to get a good shot off anytime he feels like it, Kobe is the only guy who is close to him as far as skills go, but T-Mac's length and smarts gives him the edge over Kobe. We also saw how he was able to move without the ball, receive a pass, and shoot it, he made that look so easy and smooth, one of the most impressive things I saw from him last season. Lebron James is the third guy, he doesn't really meet the criteria as far as skills are concerned, but the reason he goes is that his physical gifts can dominate a game. Nobody in the world comes close to matching his size, speed, quickness, strength, and jumping ability, he's the only guy outside of Shaq that comes close to scaring International ball clubs on athleticism alone. That should take care of the SG, SF, and PF positions, but since Tim Duncan is also the best American Center he will have to play Center, because I doubt Shaq goes in 2008. I did say that Shaq is one of the two guys who would dominate Olympic competition back in my post about the US losing to Canada, but he will be close to 40 years old and 500 pounds in 2008. At PF I would take Rasheed Wallace, because he would not mind concentrating his efforts on defending the post, rebounding, and defending Tim Duncan from foul trouble, he can also hit an open three pointer, and he's not a bad passer. Now there's KG, he is a much more talented player, but I can't see him doing the dirty work for this team, while that role is probably Rasheed's dream role. PG is probably the most important position on this team, I would give that to a guy who has ran one of the best offenses in recent history, Mike Bibby. As far as Olympic competition goes this guy can do it all, he's a great ball handler, great passer, and most importantly he can hit a spot up three pointer. He's the only super star PG I know that can be the most important player to a team and not get close to leading the team in anything with the exception of wide open shots taken. PG - Mike Bibby SG - Tracy McGrady SF - Lebron James PF - Rasheed Wallace C - Tim Duncan On to the reserves... At PG I would take Luke Ridnour he ran a European style offense last season, almost to perfection, plus he's not a bad shooter. At the swing positions I would take either Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, or Ray Allan, which ever one of those players willing to take a role as the team's sixth man and as a guy who will work off the ball most of time. Then I would give the next spot to a shooter like Rashard Lewis, Kyle Korver, Joe Johnson, Luke Jackson, Brent Barry, JJ Redick, or Bobby Simmons. Picking reserve power players is not an easy task for international competitions, you have to find players that can defend and rebound, hit an open jumper, and pass well. How many Americans are around that match that criteria? Keep in mind that this is for 2008 so Chris Webber does not count. I'm just going to throw a couple of names out here... Chris Bosh and Brad Miller. MAYBE, Amare Stoudamire depending on what he does until then, I'm not sure what to think of his game translating to the Olympics, it's one that relies so much on athleticism right now. In Olympic competition he won't have the space to drive by guys and dunk like he did against San Antonio and the pick and roll won't work either. The two final players would be Ben Gordon for his scoring and Tyson Chandler for his defense and rebounding. Even if it's just for a few minutes a game these guys will contribute, even though they can only do a couple of things great. Best case scenario roster... PG - Mike Bibby, Luke Ridnour, Ben Gordon SG - Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant, Joe Johnson, Ben Gordon SF - Lebron James, Joe Johnson, Kobe Bryant PF - Rasheed Wallace, Chris Bosh, Tyson Chandler C - Tim Duncan, Brad Miller, Tyson Chandler Coach - Mike D'Antoni The possible lineup are endless I can see a lineup of Bibby, Kobe, Lebron, T-Mac at PF!, and Duncan, or T-Mac, Kobe, Lebron, Duncan, and Miller. A mad scientist coach's dream team. IMO, that's the team the US could send that would give them the best chance to win a gold medal, however I still wouldn't guarantee a gold medal because by that time the rest of the world would of closed the gap even more. They're going to have to work hard, play team offense and defense, execute down the stretch of close games, and most importantly IMO, RESPECT every opponent no matter how much that guy sucks back in the NBA. ::cough:: Carlos Arroyo ::cough:: Personally, I think the state of American basketball is on the decline and that's not just for international competitions, American basketball in general is on the decline made to look even worse by the fact that everyone else is improving at a rapid rate. It's not just the pros either, no one talks about it much, but the US is losing at EVERY level in international competitions, high school teams are getting beat, college teams, semi-pro teams, and NBA teams. The only good thing about this is that basketball is now the world's #2 sport, a legit #2 sport, and the NBA is not the only league in the world worth watching. What's bad for American basketball is not always bad for the game of basketball, I imagine that England (or whoever invented soccer) felt the same way once they saw South American teams dominating World Cup competition. Thanks for reading, and thanks for any comments you guys might have.
Nice write up! I think I'd replace Kobe with Ray Allen or Redd if he continues to devolp. For one, quite frankly, I don't like the guy. And two, I don't think he can play team ball.
Yeah, let's not send the best players we have, we should be sending second stringers to play against the best of the world. We kicked the crap out of the rest of the world for 8 years in international basketball, and we didn't do it by sending out Steve Kerr, Kenny Smith, John Paxon, and Craig Ehlo. International teams have worked their asses off the past decade to specifically target and beat the United States. Adding a couple of white stiff point guards to the roster won't make much difference, because the other teams will just find a way to neutralize them. The US National team never has time to develop as a cohesive unit. They've always just been assembled, had a few practices, and basically worked on the fly. That might have worked in 1992, but it doesn't cut it today. You get the NBA's 12 most talented players and have them play together consistently over a long period of time, and I'd bet my house that they run away with the gold medal in 2008. Also, Tim Duncan said that he is finished with international basketball, so forget about him being in the 2008 Olympics...and I believe that Stu Jackson no longer has carte blanche control over the Olympic team anymore, but I might be wrong on that.
You're making it about sending our best NBA players, instead of the best players for an international competition, it's not the same thing. As far as PGs go a ball dominating/play making/scoring PG is not as important as a good ball handling, passing, and spot up shooting PG. I would say the most important skills for the next US National Team PG to have would be shooting, passing, ball handling, and defense, playmakers can rest up for the next NBA season. I mean, don't you remember how bad Stephon Marbury (he had one great game, because he was hot from the outside) and Baron Davis looked in the Olympics and World Championships? Their games are based on dominating the ball, volume shooting, playmaking either by scoring or driving and kicking out to open shooters, and that does not work in international competition because of zone defenses and less space to work with due to the smaller courts. So, why try to force them to play a game that's unnatural to them? It doesn't matter what we did in 92 and 96, you know... Michael Jordan, Chris Mullin, John Stockton, and Tim Hardaway ain't walking through that door, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Patrick Ewing are not walking through that door. Back then everyone knew that the only medal up for grabs was the silver, now they know that the US is just another team fighting for the gold medal. You can't neutralize good passing and shooting, just look at the opponents the US faced, all they could do was pass and shoot, and nothing the US did stopped them. You'd think they could keep them from shooting them out of the gym since they were BY FAR the most athletic team there. I've heard that plenty, and I think it's a moot point. You look at the 2004 team and no amount of practice was going to make them a good shooting and passing team. However, you put those players together on an NBA team and they probably wouldn't lose a game scoring 125+ points a night in the process, without practice. If I'm not mistaken they were actually one of the worst if not the worst shooting team in the Olympics, that's pathetic, they only won the bronze medal because of they played hard, dominated on the boards and played good defense, which can be attributed mostly to their athleticism. Don't act like any of their guys play in professional leagues or in the NBA, and another thing, why did the US Women's team dominate? Well, if Duncan doesn't go it's over let’s just hope for another bronze. The fact that there is no young American center (and hardly any PFs) in the NBA to replace him should be all the proof you need that American basketball is on the decline.
I like your team. I think if I were to make my starting lineup, it'd be something like: C Brad Miller PF Tim Duncan SF Tracy McGrady SG Ray Allen PG Mike Bibby All those guys made your team, so I guess we know more than Stu
Jumpman thinks he is Rick Pitino. My team would look like this. I want some good quailty guys on my team. So here is who is on my team. PG TJ Ford, Luke Ridnour, Kirk Hinrich SG Michael Redd, Tracy Mcgrady, Dwyane Wade, Kirk Hinrich SF Tracy McGrady, Lebron James. Dwyane Wade PF Amare Stoudamire, Kevin Garnett, Ben Wallace C Tim Duncan, Emeka Okafor, Ben Wallace TJ Ford, and Luke Ridnour are legit point guards. Tim Duncan will play center in intl competition. Emeka Okafor, and Ben Wallace can grab rebounds.
....but yet, the selfish playground ballers led the Olympics in assists, managing to outdo their unselfish, superior passing arg/esp/ita opponents. However they were last (or second to last) in 3 point shooting. It's the rules. It's the rules. It's the rules. The closer line, wider, key, and zone defense neutralizes the US's inside game and accentuates the 20 foot three pointer - (aka the worst shot in the NBA) throw in a one and done format with national pride on the line for one team and not the other, and the US is not going to dominate Olympic competition like it did in the past ever again. If, by contrast, you took the 2004 Olympics teams and forced them to play an 36 game season - even under Int'l rules does anybody doubt that the flawed 2004 US team would come out with the best record? I don't.
the 1 and done format is the fun of it all...no one challenges the NCAA tournament's validity for choosing the best team. it's fun that way
I change my mind. I want the Professor running the point, with Hot Sauce, and AO coming from the wings, and Helicopter as a trailor.
And you could take this team, have them play for real togethr under Int'l rules for a while, and do pretty well in Int'l play, they may even upset more talented teams like Spain. That's what Rudy T did at the worlds in 1998. The rules giveth, and taketh away.
And just today, a thrown together team led by NBA wannabes and castoffs (remember Alex Scales, anybody?) qualified for the worlds (though we got ripped by oscar torres in the bronze game ) They're effectively the American C-team - the best non-NBA players we have - yet they can play with the best in the world (though not dominate them) after a few weeks of camp.
Kam, your team would probably win bronze. Sam Fisher, Never said anything about them being selfish, I actually hate it when I hear people say they didn't win because they were selfish or they didn't care about the US or they didn't try because they weren't getting paid. Whatever. They're all wrong. Of course it's the rules and you can't change them to NBA rules so send the best players available for the rules of FIBA, not the NBA or even college basketball. Only Brazil sent there best team to that tournament.
