Team USA (basketball)

[ifeanyi84]

i feel you, bogut may not have been the best person to try to make my case with. he was just the first person that came to mind when i was typing. factoring in the international style of play, the physical style of play, and the fact that dudes flop, i think we might need big bodies. even if these teams dont have great big men, some of these good teams do have disposable 7footers who are used to the style of play. even with duncan on one of the last go arounds, duncan was on the bench watching at a few critical points because they were getting him in foul trouble early. with only 5 fouls to work with, it's a bit different from what guys are used to. i may end up being overly concerned for no reason, but if the team goes down in flames like the last then everyone's probably gonna be pointing at the lack of size on the team. last time things ended up badly, everyone was complaining about the lack of shooters. i thought tyson chandler was almost a lock to make the team because he's a big man who doesnt mind being a role player, playing D and grabbing rebounds. i guess it's whatever though and we'll have to wait and see.

[Dark Janza]

They want a versatile team. I guess Chandler doesn't fit the role.

[ifeanyi84]

idunno...now they are saying that dwight howard might not be aight because of the stress fracture to his sternum. if he aint good to go, the center position is looking a lot more shaky.

[Evil Sannin]

I think our down fall is going with only Howard as the big man. I mean we got Bosh and Boozer, but them boys overseas aren't they size. They'll have height and weight over our fellas, we might have the talent but if someone in the post has a decent post game that could be a crucial spot that can get us in some trouble.

[ifeanyi84]

i was listening to some of the evaluations of some of these teams, and the consensus seems to be that there are about 5 teams in the field who have enough quality size that it could be a big problem for the u.s.a.; especially if howard picks up some early fouls or gets injured and has to sit.

[Digital Masta]

If these guys learn to play their ROLES and not look to be the superstar who wants his 30 points a game then they will win. Team USA needs guys who are roleplayers, that is what made the real Dream Team (Jordan, Pippen, Malone, Bird, Ewing, etc) amazing because they all knew what their role was.

We should win gold EVERY SINGLE Olympics because I truly believe that the USA produces the best basketball players on the planet however they need to know their role.

[Evil Sannin]

Originally Posted by Digital Masta

If these guys learn to play their ROLES and not look to be the superstar who wants his 30 points a game then they will win. Team USA needs guys who are roleplayers, that is what made the real Dream Team (Jordan, Pippen, Malone, Bird, Ewing, etc) amazing because they all knew what their role was.

We should win gold EVERY SINGLE Olympics because I truly believe that the USA produces the best basketball players on the planet however they need to know their role.

I couldn't agree with you more DM, if they can get that aspect down to know their role, really there wouldn't be any comp like it was back in the day. Everygame, although the rest of the world is getting better in this sport, should be a blowout. The talent of this team is phenominal, we'll just have to see if they can work this game like it's suppose to be

[Dark Janza]

How dare you leave Stockton out of the Dream Team listing there?

Anyway, even if we don't have as much power at the center position, we can still totally work these guys. We can still clog the lane if we are fast enough. Most of these players are good defenders and will be very useful with help defense. Our overall offensive power will be hard to handle. that, and we have some of the best rebounders playing the game.

[ifeanyi84]

i hope so. at all of the other positions, i'm really happy with the mismatches that we should have (in every game no matter who face). i'm just not really comfortable with the team if howard is out, boozer picks up a couple fouls, and we have to really on chris bosh as a center and carmelo at the 4 against a team that can throw 2 or even 3 seven footers against us.

[Dark Janza]

Any team that puts out three 7' against us would die a horrible death. It is freaking hard to get a good quality big man. That would mean that people of lower talent would be out there. Yeah, they have the height, but you get killed for speed.

[ifeanyi84]

when i said three, i meant 2 in the lineup at once, with a third able to come off the bench. with three of them though, they can play very physical (despite the fact that the international game is already pretty physical) and not have to worry about the files that they pick up.

[ifeanyi84]

just found this little bit of info and figured i would share.

The U.S. avoids Argentina in group play at the Beijing Olympics, but gets tons of tough competition. China is at home, Angola has been killing people, and Germany features two elite NBA seven-footers in Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman. And those are the weak teams. The other two are recent international champions Spain (with Ricky Rubio!) and Greece.

USA Basketball

[Evil Sannin]

yeah I just looked at the schedule yesterday and I was like, man we have a pretty tough group in each round we play this year, I think Argentina will do well in their group, I didn't really see any real comp in their bracket

The US will have a game shown on tv this friday, so i'll be watching it baby, they have a couple of games on before the acutall games start

[ifeanyi84]

yea, i was looking at the schedule earlier, and it seemed like it was gonna be a tough road to gold for them if they plan on winning it. the only good thing about it is that they get some nice competition early on, so they can make sure they have their act together when it matters most.

[Evil Sannin]

Man LeBron sprain his ankle in a scrimmage with alternate US team, they said it was minor, I think he should sit it out til the games, I'll miss his game presence and sick dunks but I'd rather him go into Beijing with a much better ankle that possibly mess it up more with the upcoming pick upgames with Canada and other countries

[ifeanyi84]

yep. hopefully they can avoid any more injuries. lebron is part of their contingency plan if anything happens with the big men on the team. they said they would possibly have lebron play the 4. even if that doesnt become necessary, we still cant afford to have lebron not be fully healthy when the real games start.

edit: i also feel like if all these stars keep getting injuried, it's gonna start scaring people away from wanting to participate in the games in the future.

[Evil Sannin]

yeah and LeBron in my favorite player and I'd be hurt to not see his action in the games, and yeah they'll need his help as far as playing big as well, didn't hear any word yet on his injury but i'll keep up on it, kinda hard when I'm here are work, man these olympics need to hurry and get here, I need some bball to watch, I got tired of watching the same old summer league games over and over

[ifeanyi84]

at least you got to watch summer league games. i havent been able to see any basketball at all other than the highlights. from what i've heard so far, i dont think the lebron injury is that serious.

[Evil Sannin]

yeah the summer league games are all over NBA TV, nothing too interesting. I watched the second half of the Road to Redemption and I love how they do the history of this current USA team to the comparison of the Dream Team and how the world has "caught" up to us, we just need to get it together and show our dominance once again. Yeah I finally got caught up with the news and LeBron's injury doesn't seem too serious

[X2thaU]

usa vs canada right now on espn


edit: lol is that a real 3pt line