USA basketball team should be.....

[kingjames23]

whatever happened to the "DREAM TEAM" concept? every other country is sending their very best players... so why arent we? Tyson Chandler? Shane Battier? Mike Miller? who are they kidding? they are good players but... not the best we have


if i was to pick the USA team, these would be my picks

Centers

Shaquille O'Neal
Amare Stoudamire
Ben Wallace

Power Forwards

Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Rasheed Wallace

Small Forwards

Lebron James
Carmello Anthony
Tracy McGrady

Shooting Guards

Kobe Bryant
Dwayne Wade INJURED so Ray Allen instead
Vince Carter

Point Guards

Jason KIdd
Allen Iverson
Gilbert Arenas INJURED so Chauncey Billups instead

who would you guys pick?

[Sauru]

the usa team is not just a "who is the best in the nba" team. all you did was pick out the best american players at each position. well best in your opinion anyway.

[yosifun]

At least half of these people won't attend because the don't have the time or just don't want to take the risk of an injury.

Nice idea, but ain't gonna happen.

[Anthony15]

Most of the team will be from 01 Draft and later. No way Shaq or Ben or T-Mac are gonna play for the team because they need the whole offseason to heal, while studs like LeBron and Melo can keep going even for the USA Team. So there won't be Shaq, Big Ben, Garnett, Wallace, T-Mac, Kobe, Vince, Ray Aleen, AI for sure from your list.

[Voxel]

shane battier and mike miller are better swingmen for FIBA basketball than lebron james / dwayne wade.

[Ckidd--]

imo:

starting lineup:
C: Amare Stoudemire
PF: Duncan or Bosh
SF: Bowen, shane battier or mike miller
SG: DWade or LBJ
PG: G. Arenas or a good PASS first point guard

[LakersRule24]

^No Kobe? Wow.

C: Howard
PF: Stoudemire
SF: Lebron
SG: Kobe
PG: Kidd

[Andrew]

whatever happened to the "DREAM TEAM" concept? every other country is sending their very best players... so why arent we? Tyson Chandler? Shane Battier? Mike Miller? who are they kidding? they are good players but... not the best we have

Two reasons, basically.

1. David Stern proclaimed "No more Dream Teams" back in 2000, with a focus on adding more role players to balance out the teams.

2. A lot of the big names aren't interested in making the committment.

[Fitzy]

wouldnt team usa be more about giving younger guys the experience of playing for their country too?

[NovU]

don't we already have a thread about this, by air zoom kobe?

http://www.nbaliveforums.com/ftopic49902.php

pretty much same thing i think

[Sauru]

wouldnt team usa be more about giving younger guys the experience of playing for their country too?

i feel the team should include the players who excel at one specific area mixed in with a couple of star players. ckidd mentioned bowen, bowen as much as i hate him, would be perfect for team usa. sure everyone would hate how he plays but guess what, everyone hates us anyway, so who cares?

team usa needs defensive minded players. just look at all the foreign players who enter the nba. they usually come in already with a good shot, maybe a good drive, but lack the rest. tough defense usually always shuts them down, atleast at first. we go over there and try to out score other countries like its a damn all star game. hate to say it for america but the player on other countries can outshoot our players any day of the year.

[scrub]

whatever happened to the "DREAM TEAM" concept? every other country is sending their very best players... so why arent we? Tyson Chandler? Shane Battier? Mike Miller? who are they kidding? they are good players but... not the best we have

Two reasons, basically.

1. David Stern proclaimed "No more Dream Teams" back in 2000, with a focus on adding more role players to balance out the teams.

2. A lot of the big names aren't interested in making the committment.

Since when does David Stern get a say in the US basketball team?

[Air Zoom Kobe I]

err
i disagree with most of the things from Air Zoom Kobe

i am SURE lebron didn't make all defensive 2nd team.. he made the all nba 2nd team..

Wade is a decent defender, lebron is avg.... they are strong and fast.. but they work
so hard on offense, that they don't really really play def ALL the time..

from wut i remember all def first team was
Camby
Duncan
Bowen
Bell
Kobe (don't deserve it)

2nd team was
Ben Wallace
KG
Prince
Kidd
Hinrich..
well i'm pretty sure those are da players..

USA lacks offensive firepower????!???! Like maes said.. the problem is the defense and chemistry.

They need a powerful coach that will BENCH lebron, melo and wade for not hounding their defenders the whole game.. NBA players are extremely long athletic and can play a lot of minutes.. in a 40 minutes FIBA game with at least 10 capable players.. the coaching staff really have to get on the players....

Howard had problems scoring the ball inside.. and Wade/Lebron are not consistent outside shooters.. That was a huge problem.. We had Duncan.. but Duncan isn't spectacular offensively.. This is where a dominating Shaq is much better....
So they weren't really dominating in the post... and they had weak shooters... + bad defence.. that is why USA didn't win gold....

I suggest Ray Allen and Michael Redd play on the team.. Billups would actually be great.. he is a great defender + shooter... Kobe would be great.. that guy can flat out shoot with the best of them.. KG is a great shooter as well..

Guys like TMac, Lebron, Wade, Jkidd can be a problem when shooting the ball... They (esp tmac, lebron and wade) are very good at making contested and off balance shots.. but they are not as accurate as the Europeans playing loose shooting open jumpers with NOTHING to lose..

Players i think will be great
Front Court:
Dwight, Duncan, KG, Boozer, Amare, Camby
Back Court:
Billups, Kidd, Kobe, Wade, Allen, Redd, Tmac
Others:
Melo, Lebron, Pierce, Battier, Marion, Prince, Bowen

So how many people make the roster? And who is invited?

My fav lineups:
Should be starting.. includes 5 veterans.. who are DEFENSIVE STOPPERS...
C - Duncan
PF - KG
SF - Battier/Prince
SG - Kobe
PG - Billups
tell me a team that can beat them? 3pt shooting from the 1-3 spots... KG and Duncan.. WOW... crazy rebounding, individual defense, help defense, intensity, can really grind it out...

Run and gun like theres no tommorrow... Kidd running the show.. Dwight, Amare, Lebron and Wade running the floor... Sounds like NBA Street doing a 4 consecutive lobs.... Team will rely on penetration of Wade, Lebron in the half court.. or a 2 man game between Amare + Kidd/Wade/Lebron ( 3 good passers )

Will fall behind maybe if they have to dump inside for a post play.. and bad outside shooting....
C - Dwight/Camby
PF - Amare/Boozer
SF - Lebron
SG - Wade
PG - Kidd

I could have sworn that Lebron made All NBA and Defensive 2nd team.
I must be mistaken then

I didn't say they did that's what all of the coaches seem to want to do because they aren't focused on d.

They added Boozer, Chandler, Durant, Kidd, Mcgrady, Brad Miller, Mike Miller, Oden, Prince, and Deron WIlliams

The Injured players that can't participate THIS year are: Arenas, Bibby, Iverson, Jefferson, Joe Johnson, Brad Miller, Lamar Odom, Jermaine O'neal, Chris Paul, Paul Pierce, and Dwyane Wade.

The ones that are already on are: Carmelo, Battier, Billups, Bowen, Brand, Kobe Bryant, Kirk Hinrich, Dwight Howard, Lebron James, Antawn Jamison, Shawn Marion, Adam Morrison, Michael Redd, JJ Redick, Luke Ridnour, and Amare Stoudamire.

Other Players that were sent invitations and have declined/haven't decided are: Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell, Shaquille O'neal, Tim Duncan, Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, Jason Richardson, Vince Carter, Ben Wallace, Stephon Marbury, and more.


I don't know off of the top of my head who makes the roster but I KNOW there will be cuts.

The team they have now, they can easily do the same stuff but with Kobe, Lebron, and Carmelo. Kidd and Hinrich can run the show, and if Iverson and Chris Paul were healthy that would really help.

In my mind, we have 4 or 5 ALL Pro defenders on our team and we shouldn't be having players like Battier, Boozer, Jefferson, Hinrich, guys like that on the team. Team USA needs to start doing it big. That means only [b]SUPERSTARS. THe Kobe's, the Mcgradys, The Vince Carters, the Paul Pierces, the Ray ALLens, the guys like that

[/b]








^^^ I said dat in my TEAM USA thread.



That should be the '08 team.

[kingjames23]

interesting feedback guys. what kind of messes me up is that anyone would decline the invitation? are all of these guys so in it for the money that they have no pride in thier country? do you thing nash or dirk or manu wont play for thier respective countries because they "dont want to get injured or are too busy?" do you think yao will turn down playing for china? what gives here? david stern shouldnt have any say. this is USA basketball, not the NBA.
as far as the older veteran players wanting to take it easy for the summer... shaq cant play 1/3 of a game? who says he has to start even ? just come and represent!

think about the original dream team... those guys were a bunch of established, soon to be HALL of FAMER'S (and christian laettner lol) and they came out and did it for PRIDE.

[Andrew]

Since when does David Stern get a say in the US basketball team?

Since he presides over the league from which the USA basketball team primarily draws its players from. As I understand it he doesn't have full control but he's involved in the process in some way. After the 2000 Olympics when the subject of future Dream Teams was brought up, Stern indicated that his preference would be to move away from them and that's obviously been the focus of the NBA and USA Basketball since then.

Here's an article from around that time which mentions it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/991997.stm

interesting feedback guys. what kind of messes me up is that anyone would decline the invitation? are all of these guys so in it for the money that they have no pride in thier country? do you thing nash or dirk or manu wont play for thier respective countries because they "dont want to get injured or are too busy?" do you think yao will turn down playing for china? what gives here?

I don't entirely disagree because it's a noble sentiment but at the same time the players are human beings who have the freedom to decide whether they want to compete or not, although I would suggest that Yao doesn't have that freedom given recent comments by Chinese officials admonishing him for putting his personal life ahead of the national team commitment.

david stern shouldnt have any say. this is USA basketball, not the NBA.

The players are being drawn from the NBA which is still affiliated with USA Basketball. As such, I'd expect Stern to have some input in the proceedings and influence over decisions, though he wouldn't be the only one making them.

[sarella]

I think USA team should add some great 3 point shooters...thats all

[maes]

You also have to work for Nike.

[Air Zoom Kobe I]

don't we already have a thread about this, by air zoom kobe?

http://www.nbaliveforums.com/ftopic49902.php

pretty much same thing i think

^^^
Thanks zanshadow


http://www.usabasketball.com/seniormen/index.html


DA WEBSITE

[Sauru]

i still dont see why the 2 usa threads are not merged. is it cause that one is supposed to be "what is" while this is "what if" ?

[Air Zoom Kobe I]

Mines is about TEAM USA da team and da players on it and this is supposed to be about a what if i guess.

[kingjames23]

i was just suggesting that we go back to having a stacked team is all, and pointing out that every NBA player who is from another country will be playing for thier country. why cant our guys show some pride? thats all i am saying