[ESPN] Radical changes in store for USA men's hoops

am i the only one who felt like barfing reading the article?


and why is colangelo so damn powerful. wasn't he on the rules committee and the main reason for the zone?


college guys? character (did this last team suffer any from this?)? tryouts? yeah, i'm sure nba stars would love to try out and be told they didn't make it for some college guy (we're trying to encourage the stars to be part of the process, not turn them away). how about get the actual best guys or if you can't at least make them fit. that's about all you need to do.

 

you get the best guys in the NBA and guys who have alot of character..screw guys like Carmelo

LeBron
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
McGrady
Kidd

this team would kill

 

I think this is a move in the right direction.

It has been proven in a very big way that having the most talent on the floor won't do it. I agree with his assessment that there's too many cooks in the kitchen.

It's time to beat the euros at their game. We're going to win international rules games with american style basketball played by American stars. In the last olympics and in the world championships before that, we had waaaaaaay more talent and athleticism than any other team. Where did that get us?

We need to put together a TEAM. A team that practices together a LOT and gets used to each other, that wins the way our rocks are winning now- with people who know their roles and who gladly, happily accept them. A team with chemistry and a game plan and knows what to do every time they hit the floor.

Pipe dreams about sending the All-NBA 1st team are trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. In the last two tries, we had 1st and second tier stars who were far, far more talented than the competition- who won? We didn't even get medals. We were embarrassed by no-name euros who played excellent team ball together. Lesson learned: slopping together a team of incredibly talented guys with three or four weeks of practice will not get us a winning team.

International rules games emphasize team ball over individual talent. NBA game is the other way around. Now, of course you have to have talented individuals to win internationally, and of course you have to play as a team to win in the NBA. I'm saying that each style emphasizes one more than the other.

Colangelo has a great idea to use the same team and coach for 2006 and 2008. I think having one guy in charge is going to allow a lot more to get done than having some beaurocratic group that tries to please everybody.

I'm looking forward to playing and winning in 2006 and 2008 and restoring USA to it's rightful place as the king of basketball.

 

did you watch any of our recent games, either in '02 and '04??? i seriously doubt it, otherwise you wouldn't be saying the things you're saying. we got MANHANDLED in '02, period. with a very talented team. and we didn't fare much better in '04, again with a very talented team. it's time for a change.... put players on the team that actually want to be there, enough of this "most talented" yet undeserving bullsh!t.

good thing these decisions aren't left up to you, otherwise we'd be in store for some more disappointments.

 

Getting the best guys and putting them on the roster has been done and has failed...for a number of reasons.... you can't always get THE best players because not every player jumps at the opportunity to be on the Olympic Team. 2) Filling a team with only all-stars puts too many egos on the floor. All you'll have is 5 guys on the floor and 7 on the bench all wanting the ball and all wanting the spotlight. It just doesn't work anymore as the past Olympics and Word Championships have demonstrated. This model - the Dream Team model - is outdated.

What you need instead is to build an actual team. Fill your staring spots with all-star starter, but guys who understand the game and know their position. Fill the bench spots with the best 6th men in the game, the best role players...guys who know their roles coming off the bench. Then, make sure the guys you pick are wlling to commit for more than a few weeks of service.

That is how you build a team in every sport at every level...and that is how you need to build it for the Olympics...this Dream Team stuff in this age of International Hoops won't fly anymore. So take the time to do it right.

 

Sounds like they are moving in the right direction.

 

the last time we put our best players on the court was the tournament of the americas which was the qualifying round for the last olympics. that team had duncan, mcgrady, iverson, bibby, and ray allen and a few others. we slaughtered everybody on our way to a 10-0 record. the argentina team that won the gold? we were up 30 against them....at half time, in the gold medal game. and that team still didn't have kobe, shaq, kg, or i believe vince (he may have been on there, i forget).

our best players are still far far better than the rest of the world's and our very best actually includes shooters, dominant scorers, dominant rebounders, and guys who know how to play on a team and win. that team would've rolled in the olympics with maybe a challenging game here and there. unfortunately, essentially everybody but duncan and iverson left the team and then we had to fill it with young guys we were trying to promote and guys who duplicated either others skills.

so yes, throwing together ill-fitting talent won't work. putting our best, not our second tier, out there would garner an easy gold.

this seems to be a move toward a more cohesive but less talented team. that's still iffy considering less talent will have it's own troubles (like being less talented). maybe it's the way to go in the world of the stars turning us down but for some reason i haven't given up on the stars just yet.

and it would probably help get more stars if lots of americans weren't rooting against the guys who volunteered their time to go over there next time.

 

Here's an idea, don't put Duncan and Boozer with 10 guys who have the exact same swingman game as each other (basically athletic slashers and volume shooters). There is no need to reduce the talent level of the team, just don't get a bunch of immature guys that have unlimited talent but very limited skill. Both of the teams suggested by posters so far would win the gold easily, but the NBA and USA basketball thought it would be better to send LeBron, Carmelo, Iverson, etc. instead. What you need are highly skilled professionals that have big game experience and a strong foundation in a team concept, as well as a killer instinct. Dream Team I was MORE talented with MORE egos than what we sent to Athens, but that was a team of guys who knew how to play the game and knew how to win. Jordan, Bird, Barkley, Robinson, Magic. Tim Duncan is the only player from 2004 that comes close to the skill level of those players. The Dream Team would have killed every team in the 2004 olympics by 30+ points. I agree with getting one guy to pick the team, but from the article, it doesn't sound like Colangelo was the right choice.

Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Tracy McGrady
Ray Allen
Mike Bibby

Brad Miller
Elton Brand
Grant Hill
Michael Redd
Andre Miller

Cuttino Mobley
Ben Wallace
Michael Finley

There is a veteran team that has tremendous passing, shooting, rebounding, defense, and guys that have good character and don't get bad press. If you take any coach at the NBA or elite college level and give him those 13 players, I would expect him to go undefeated in international competition. That team only has 2 players that are not great shooters, and those are Andre Miller (I found it hardest to find really good-great veteran point guards with no character issues) and Ben Wallace (one of the best defensive and rebounding players around).

 

Guys need to earn their spots. It's a good move. I'm tired of watching:
A) Superstar publically declare commitment to playing in the next round of games, and backs out with weak excuse a few months before the Olympics start.

B) SemiStar publically and behind the scenes carp, b****, whine, and cry to be included on the roster, then proceeds to carp, b****, whine, and cry about not getting enough PT.

C) Team assembled of big name volume shooters (including "point guards" named Baron) that can't comprehend off-ball movement, setting screens, lockdown D, passing off the dribble, or accurate and consistent jumpshooting.

Put together a real team. Look at just about every championship squad over the last two decades. Typically, you have two bonafide superstars surrounded by hard-nosed role players. During that same span you have many teams overloaded with all-star talent that couldn't get the job done. I don't believe it's a coincidence.

Evan

 

you don't need them all the stars, just take a winnig TEAM, whoever that is during that year. and another thing, learn some international bball rules before you go out there and play.

 

If there's one thing Jerry Coangelo knows, it's how to build a championship basketball team.

 

You guys must be crazy to think less talent is better.

Then when that team gets killed we wil finally agree as a nation that international basketball is not worht the attention.

 

Back in the lockout season (98? 2000?) our own beloved Rudy Tomjonavich led a ragtag team of CBAers and college players to the silver medal in the world championships. They were denied the gold by some horrible officiating in the gold medal game vs. Russia.

More talent is better than less talent. Better team is far better than more talent in the international game. Period. This has been proven beyond any shadow of a doubt in the USA's last two tries. I'm not clamoring for less talent. I'm clamoring for a TEAM. If they can put together a true team that also has star talent in multiple positions, hey, good for y'all.


Actually, I have a far easier idea for the US to dominate world ball. Change international ball rules to NBA rules. Then it will all be over. Shabam.

 

i think they should put guys like tyus edny who play overseas on the team because they know european basketball is played. the international rules are so different. regardless guys like tmac & garnett (two of my favorite players) need to show up and play for their country. too many of these guys just don't give a damn and then we go out and get a bronze in the sport we invented. plus, larry brown should never be allowed to coach usa basketball again. the man sits lebron, amare, and wade for the whole summer. now who are 3 of the top 5 mvp candidates????that's right lebron, amare, and wade.

 

I agree, I don't think less talent is better. That's just a big mistake in my opinion.