USA Basketball Discussion *2008 Summer Olympic team*
 

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Team won't be announced until Monday, but I guess Dwayne Wade, Jason Kidd (:nono: ) Carmelo Anthony and Tayshaun Prince are supposedly on the team according to what I am reading.

Billups has pulled out, as has Amare Stodemire. Stodemire is claiming medical reasons but I dunno, I think he's worried he might have to actually play D. Not sure why Billups pulled out, he might not have gotten picked anyway since Kidd has already been given a spot and you'd have to think Chris Paul is a lock plus Deron Williams since he played for the USA team last summer.

Saw one potential line up and it looked like this...

G Kidd
G Kobe
F Lebron
F Melo
F Howard

PG Paul
PG Williams
SG Wade
SG Redd
PF Boozer
PF Bosh
C Chandler

I dunno, Redd is a good 3 point shooter but I think they need more. Would be better off keeping a guy like Mike Miller on the team since he is a "team guy" and just rains 3's - plus he played well for the USA Team last summer. Shane Battier would be a great fit for this team too but I guess he's having ankle surgery so he's out. Seems like too much of an All Star team to me, I dunno, there's a lot of shots between all these guys on the roster :-\ Still think they will do good and win the Gold, but a much better "team" could probably be formed.

ESPN is filming the team in a program called "Road to Redemption" on ESPN2. I believe it starts on July 2.

That's awesome. I'm excited to watch this team just destroy everyone.

You forgot Tayshaun Prince.

I copy and pasted that from an "expert" so I guess that expert didn't know what he was talking about haha

I wonder who won't make it from that list now? (since Prince is and I think they can only carry 12)

I don't think Redd is gonna be on the team, just like you. and Kidd starting is retarded. Get CP3 out there.

Well I think they should keep Redd and add ANOTHER shooter. (Wade making the team pretty much knocks out Mike Miller though, at least from what I am reading on other message boards) The international game is all about that, plus the arc is closer than the NBA I believe so it could be lights out. Dunno, guess we will find out for sure on Monday.

Tyson Chandler apparently isn't going to be on it.

Also Jason Kidd should get more playing time then Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

Why would kidd get more playing time then Paul and Williams? he didn't play all THAT great in dallas from what i saw, kinda inconsistent :-\

kidd shouldn't get shit. williams and paul have passed him by,.

exactly, paul and williams are the top 2 PG's in the fuken league.

Word.

yea, they need fucking shooters and people who know how to defend, not a bunch of big name players who drive to the basket and do jack shit on defense.. It's been a joke for the last couple of years. Most teams just reigning 3's and jumpers on them. can't wait to watch this team too.

The greatest "all-star" team ever assembled in any sport.

My fault yo.

I meant to say Jason Kidd shouldN'T get more playing time then the other two. I recongize at this point in his career he's isn't as good as them.

A team full of team players.

Kind of a lost concept now in Pro Basketball, huh?

Wait, how is Kidd the starting PG? Both CP and D-Will are better than old man Kidd.

Well its not 100% official Kidd is the starting PG but I would guess he is. I don't really understand why hes even on the team, I mean yeah hes a phenomenal passer but his best days are behind him, plus hes a liability as a shooter and on the defensive end. I don't know if Williams is even gonna make it either, I would assume he will but we won't know for sure until Monday. I would have to think Chris Paul is a lock

Even as a Hornets fan, it kinda shocked me he was on it to begin with..

:-\

Did Mike Dunleavy Jr make it?

they annouced that boozer and williams made the team.

Yeah he was invited to the initial USA Camp 2 summers ago, a lot of guys where though, some of them you wouldn't expect. (like Bruce Bowen) I am guessing he must done well while he was at the camp because a lot of the guys where dropped pretty early on but he was not.

should have kidd on the bench backing up williams and paul, sure he's got alot of experience, but fuk he's league's behind what he used to be.

Why is Chris Mihm not on the roster.

:lol:, can't help but laugh at this Sammy.

Chris Mihm and Luke Walton need ot be on this team.

Here is the roster.

Lot of guards

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/...ory?id=3457058

IMO, Rondo should have made the team instead of Kidd.

Let Paul and Williams be the main two PG's and let Rondo get some time in as well especially if he plays like he did in the Finals.

I mean it's a good team and no one in their right mind should complain because they don't have 50 million superstars on that team. That's the problem they've in the recent Olympics is that they tried to pack them with the best American players trying to recapture what the Dream Team had, but no one can replace guys like Bird, Jordan, and Johnson because those guys were all team players and knew what it took to win games.

Especially with the evolution of the foreign teams, the American teams need to focus on the complete package and not just A+ talent.

If you switched Boozer for Garnett, this team would have been almost perfect.

Garnett didn't want to play.

Also, this is a bit different from other failed superstar teams since this team has been playing together over the last 2 summers, so its not like they where just thrown together two weeks before the games.

The reason why Kidd made the team is because he played so well last summer for Team USA, that is also why he will probably be the starter - his game is tailored to dominate international play as long as he isn't forced to shoot. I'm just not a big fan of Wife Beater Kidd, so that's kinda why I didn't want him on there too, but I mean his short comings will probably be able to be masked by the other guys so whatever, plus its not like hes that bad. Also gonna have to strongly disagree about Rondo making the team instead of him though, lets not get caught up in Rondo's Game 6 performance.

For those who don't feel like clicking the link;
Jason Kidd
Deron Williams
Chris Paul
Kobe Bryant
Dwyane Wade
Michael Redd
LeBron James
Carmelo Anthony
Tayshaun Prince
Carlos Boozer
Chris Bosh
Dwight Howard

ugh, why is prince on this team

Yeah I like Prince and all, but I think the teams needs another Center.

I'm not exactly sure, defensive presence I guess? Would have rather seen Mike Miller make the team though, he played on the team the last 2 summers and can kill it from deep. Also can grab a few boards and play a little D.

I dunno, I think they will be alright in the front court. Boozer, Bosh and Howard will be able to bang any international big man with ease - Pau Gasol anyone? Dwight Howard should be able to go beast mode in these games, I really can't see anybody being able to guard him in the post or on stop him from dominating the glass.

I'm just not that excited about USA Basketball anymore. Sure it will be real cool to see Paul and Williams and Kobe and Lebron and Howard all on the same team. And yes, i think this is possibly the best team USA Basketball has had since the Dream Team, but i'm just not excited about it as i was when the Dream Team was made or when Reggie Miller was playing on the team. Maybe that will change. Its like, if they blow teams out then its boring, but if they dont blow teams out, something is wrong in everyones eyes. I personally would like to see some of these great foreign teams step up and play. Like Ginobli's team or Nash's team or Nowitski's team. Yao on the China team. That stuff excites me. I wish those countries had more players that we know of that are all stars. This event would be so much more meaningful to me. I'm glad Tayshuan Prince is on the team. I thought Billups should have made it over Kidd and its obvious he pulled out because he wasnt going to make it and it sounds alot better to say pulled out then to say cut. I woulda chosen Kyle Korver instead of Redd. Only because Redd is a scorer and theres enough scorers on the team. And also because they need a white person on the team


Is it bad that the best American born white players in the NBA are Mike Miller, Kyle Korver and Mike Dunleavy Jr? Is that the best we can do? Man thats bad.

Why are people hatin on Prince being on the team? He is a shutdown defender.

Yeah his knuckle-draggin length definitely bothers players offensively. I am assuming that's why he made it, hes a pretty good defender. I'm not exactly sure how much playing time he is gonna get though.

I just wish Mike Miller was on the team, because A.) he played pretty well while playing for this team in the previous years B.) he has range C.) seems like he would be a team player and D.) his skin is white.

prince has gotten his ass handed to him the last 2 playoffs. Whenever Prince has a tough mtach up his offence disappears. He misses so many open shots.

Bosh and Boozer both are injury concerns and if they get into foul trouble this team is dead.

Team USA has gone undefeated the last two summers in international play so I'm not too worried. I think this team will do very well even if Bosh or Boozer get into foul trouble because Dwight Howard is should dominate anybody thrown in front of him, absolutely abuse people.

Just saw this tidbit on Kidd from the USA Basketball website

44-0? God damn

Teams like Russia and Lithuania are huge up front and could pose problems for USA if their big men get in trouble.

I like the team. I agree on needing at least one more big man. But it should be a fun team to watch

I really don't think the United States is worried about match ups with Russia or Lithuania. They will be able to handle them, they built this team to compete with the more elite countries that have bigs that play on the outside. A guy like Tim Duncan is totally taken out of the equation in the internal game now because they have centers shooting 3s and playing on the perimeter.

I guess this is the "official" USA basketball song, pretty sick. Needs some words tho lol

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Nothing to get excited about, but USA just destroyed Canada.

Wade seems to be back at 100%

ROFL

That canada vs us game is freaking hilarious. It's hard to watch, cause they completely HUMILIATE canada. Even in the off court camera shots, you could see the players making fun of the other team a couple times.

Honest to god, that was the funniest thing I've seen on TV in a long time.

I can't wait until the time when international basketball is a truly legitimate competition. Hearing so many people actually excited about this USA team and this Olympic team is really cool.

We are gonna dominate the shit outta other bullshit countries.

I know it's more competitive then it used to be, but until it's not a major upset when some other country wins. I would love to see a legitimately competitive tournament where Argentina and the U.S. are equally as favored, or something. It's coming, and international basketball will take off.

1-0

China hung around for about 2 and a half quarters but eventually the United States pulled away. China was lights out from 3 in the first half though, while the US was ice cold - gonna have to work on that I think.

Yeah, that pissed me off. They left alot of people open just to double team Yao lol.

Yao is either going to hook shot or fade back. Why double team him? Anyway, a win is a win.

I am looking forward to USA- Spain... Spain looked great against Greece last night.

Was rooting for my country hardcore :(

lol@argentina losing to lithuania

zzzzzzzzz

Carmelo Anthony got dunked on by that Chinese dude on the Nets though, pretty sure it was one of the only dunks China had all game.

Yeah, Yi. That was a sweet putback dunk.

Anyway, yah, Argentina losing to Lithuania was a suprise to me, their starting 5 is ballin' as hell

Manu
Oberto
Nocioni
Scola
and some other dude i forget.

That's a lot of NBA guys for an international starting five. I wonder how much practice time they've had together?

yea, USA really needs to learn to guard the 3. That's what kills them every single time. Pretty much all these countries are shooters, not inside dunk the ball players. Lebron was fucking sick today. That was pretty sweet when he the Chinese guy went for an open layup and James just pinned the ball on the board. I love watching the USA just totally dominate games though. Like I love when they go on these 14-0 runs just throwing up balls for dunks.

good game today though.

Deron Williams and Chris Paul where getting to the hole at will, I only caught most the 2nd half (didn't wake up until 11 lol) but Jason Kidd wasn't doing that while I saw him in there. Like every single time Paul and Williams got into the paint for a lay up/dish opportunity.

I watched the game against China but not the one this morning.. I love the Allstar feel of the games but at the same time, going for steals every play and trying to make highlight reels is gonna catch up to them.. They need to play team ball with fundamentals and once they get a comfortable lead, then start the allyoops and no look passes and shit..

Coach K was asleep on the bench the entire second half yesterday..

LOL

they didn't play this morning. the women did

I thought they were supposed to play Angola at 7am on ESPN2 this morning..

They play tomorrow.

Ahh..

Just thought I overslept the whole game..

Over or under on... let's say... a ... 50 point win? Gonna say... slightly under. USA BY 48.

Ass whoopin..

figured today's game would be a blowout early on. good thing it was during a work day.

Chris Paul is AMAZING..

What the hell, did we seriously beat Angola by 21 only? Our shooting needs to improve, drastically. That shit is gonna kill us when we play teams like Greece

They looked sloppy in the first and 4th quarters.. No 3's at all.. Plus I dunno why they didn't keep in the big guys for longer to play strong in the paint.. It was like they were trying to finesse way to much instead of just bulling to the boards..

I didn't watch but was Angola playing a zone? That kinda eliminates inside play and forces a lot of outside shots. No idea why this team isn't draining 3's...the international 3 point line is almost 3 feet closer than the NBA one

That's the thing, it's all about finesse with them, always has been. I can not wait for the game against Greece.

Nah, guys like Boozer and Howard just weren't driving hard.. It's almost like they know they're gonna win so they don't play with alot of intensity and are trying harder to set up allyoops than just playing the game..

It's a small team though.. No Duncan, KG, Chandler, etc.. Dunno why though..

Random question... Is there a white American-born player that could play for this team? Like, who is the best white american player in the NBA?

WELL mike miller I guess, but he did not make the final squad.

Jason Williams

:roll:

Yah, seriously, there are no really good white american players.

BRAD MILLER

:cool:

I wonder if you took the top 5 white guys and they played the top 5 black guys if it would be a great game.

WTF

One of those "two live Stu" assholes on 1st and 10 was talking about USA B-Ball.. He kept saying that "WE INVENTED THE GAME".. Not really.. It was first played in the US but it was invented by a Canadian..

:-\

Then played mostly in America for like 60 years after.

WTF is wrong with Carlos Boozer anyway? He was terrible in the playoffs, and his continuing to be terrible here in the olympics.

His is confidence shot, is he hurt? Or is there something else? Can Gertner give me an explantation?

But that by no means translates into "WE INVENTED THE GAME"..

Because Duncan's game doesn't work well against an International team. On defense, the man he is defending would pull him away from the basket taking away his strength as an inside presence. Then on offense a true 2-3 zone defense which is very popular in international play (illegal in the NBA) makes traditional post play very difficult.

You could be right about the lack of intensity though, however I'm not too worried about that because when they get to some of their bigger match ups I don't think that'll be a problem.

Yes it does

Whatever you say..

A Canadian guy invented it but the Americans perfected it - that is why I don't understand why international rules are different from ours (smaller ball, closer 3 point line, trapezoidal key)

Yeah when I first moved to the States, I was like what the fuck, thought the ball was way too big, didn't see too much difference in the 3 point line (high school I think is the same as international, they are moving it back this year I heard though?), and the key being straight was reallly weird for me. I guess it doesn't affect a guard though, still found it weird.

Not too worried bout the intensity thing, like Stima said, I expect to see a lot of intensity against Greece. Greece probably gonna press the fucking hell out of them, like we did Germany yesterday.

legend has dyslexia?

:'(

DEFINTELY watching USA-Greece live, no way I am missing this.

It's tomorrow morning, no??

6 AM, Yep.

It is like 8AM for you Kristophers

Hahahaha this is beautiful to watch.

they were destroying Greece when I left for work at halftime. are they still destroying them?

Won by about 20.

Damn, overslept..

Oh well..

92-69. Lebron was blocking the shit out of balls left and right, Wade is DEFINITELY Back, Kobe was kinda pissin' me off, shooting a bit too much I thought. Boozer is fucking terrible, by the way.

what the fuck is up with the foul calling system in this game? James gets hacked like crazy driving to the basket, no call. Howard like taps the wrist of whomever the point guard is, foul. ridiculous

DOMINATION

fantastic game.

Wow, crushed Spain. This team is definitely winning gold.