US no more power in the International Competition

[Zandro Marcelionis]

What went wrong to the US?All of a sudden they lost their "Glory Days"what actually do they need to build a most competitive Basketball?Heres my list of possible players that could really fit US basketball:

Starting 5

C Tim Duncan
PF KG or Amare Stoudamire
SF Tracy McGrady
SG Kobe Bryant
PG Jason Kidd

Bench

Mike Bibby
Michael Redd
Vince Carter
Rasheed Wallace
Gilbert Arenas
Shawn Marion
Carmelo Anthony

Head Coach: Pat Riley
Assistant: Phil Jackson
Jerry Sloan
Don Nelson

I dont think anybody can beat that team..Thats the way they have to do NO MERCY!!!!

[---]

u would have to get chris paul and either bron or wade in there i think

[ThaLiveKing]

If Kobe was on that team, they would have beaten Greece!!

[Zandro Marcelionis]

Chris paul is a terrible defender on the last WCOB..Wade and leBron lacks outside shooting as you can see i chose Carmelo over the two because he showed a lot of good outside shooting and good leadership..US badly needs a player like KObe,KG etc..i mean give them a NO MERCY attitude!

[soilworker]

swap anthony with lebron, when u have kobe u don't need another outside threat

[Null17]

Duncan doesn't really like FIBA rules and has retired from international play after the last Olympics.

[Matt]

swap anthony with lebron, when u have kobe u don't need another outside threat

or another player that over dribbles the ball.

[Pera]

You got to understand, in the glory days everybody wanted to play,because of the likes of Jordan,Stockton and others.Today players don't really feel the urge to play for the USA team.Many of the players also train a lot during the off-season and rather prepare them selfs for the next season.And there are also injuries of course where players get injuted right before the championships start.But I guees for most of the USA players,the NBA is more important then some world championship.The diffrence in rules is also a factor here.Still the USA always manages to get a competiteve team for the national games.

[cyanide]

If there's no chemistry, then the chances of winning it all are unlikely. A core group who have been playing for many years will beat a team that have played as a unit for a few months. Simple as that.

[Anthony15]

If there's no chemistry, then the chances of winning it all are unlikely. A core group who have been playing for many years will beat a team that have played as a unit for a few months. Simple as that.

Yes I agree with that. Do you think TMac or Kobe would share the ball a lot? I dont think so. Both of them would like to score a lot, wont be any chemistry and US will be rated lowest in assists.

[Mayerhendrix]

After seeing Gasol break his leg during international play, it's not going to help in their decision to play for the US.

[nets4life]

the reason why they dont have those players above is cos they want to keep a young core of players together over several years. So they can bond with each other and work better. Come Olympics time all the players in the current USA team will be in their prime or close to it. I'm a believer.

[cyanide]

If they sent the NBA Champions to play as Team USA, then that should be interesting since they all know their role as a team, but because of basketball politics, this is unlikely to happen.

[R.J.]

What went wrong to the US?All of a sudden they lost their "Glory Days"what actually do they need to build a most competitive Basketball?Heres my list of possible players that could really fit US basketball:

Starting 5

C Tim Duncan
PF KG or Amare Stoudamire
SF Tracy McGrady
SG Kobe Bryant
PG Jason Kidd

Bench

Mike Bibby
Michael Redd
Vince Carter
Rasheed Wallace
Gilbert Arenas
Shawn Marion
Carmelo Anthony

Head Coach: Pat Riley
Assistant: Phil Jackson
Jerry Sloan
Don Nelson

I dont think anybody can beat that team..Thats the way they have to do NO MERCY!!!!

Jerry Sloan as assistant coach? He wouldn't tolerate any of those guys for a second, exculding Kidd, Duncan, Garnett, and Marion.

[dada]

Do you think TMac or Kobe would share the ball a lot? I dont think so. Both of them would like to score a lot, wont be any chemistry and US will be rated lowest in assists.

There have been plenty of selfish players who played on the dream team before and shared the ball so I see no reason why T-Mac or Kobe wouldnt when they are surrounded by other competent players. You cant tell me that when you watch the allstar games they play the same as they do with their regular team. Its the same with Ronaldinho in football who is a completely different player on his national team versus his club side. They play the role they are given. Kobe is the scorer on the Lakers and T-Mac is the scorer on the Rockets. They arent expected to spend all day looking for other teammates, they have the bulk of the responsibility to put the ball in the basket. The point guards are there anyways to spread things around evenly among the guys so thats not their responsibility. On team USA that load wouldnt be as heavy as you have guys just as good as they are so they dont have to go into games thinking they have to put up 30 for the team to win.

[GloveGuy]

It's stupid to make lists like these. It's not happening. What USA Basketball is doing is good. They're developing a core system that will really pay off down the road. I imagine the three weak links of the WC's will be replaced with Kobe, Billups, and Michael Redd.

People need to realize that the NBA game and the international game are entirely different. The international game makes the NBA look like streetball. It involves more strategy and a team dynamic, sans a real go-to-guy.

What the US failed to do again Greece was make adjustments, poor coaching. Coach K made mistakes in his substitution patterns, and failed to develop real offensive strategies. Most of team USA's points came off transition or through one-on-one play. These things worked against the lesser countries, but it came back to haunt them against teams that were actually good.

[Joe']

That's true, dada. But the USA Team, after the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, haven't been playing as a team, because the new generation of NBA players, believe me or not, don't understand the word "team". When you ask them what a team is, they say a team is made of single players who have the goal to score points, grab boards and make assists. The only thing they think of are the stats. After a game, you see NBA superstars asking for their stats, on the TV you see people saying: "Hey, Kobe's a good player, he has scored 81 points in one game!!!!!111one! Why hasn't his team even passed the first round on the NBA playoffs??!!!??!one11!?" I'll tell you why his team didn't even pass the first round: because he is one of the much players that don't understand the word "team". Kobe was only an example, actually I think most of the players in the NBA are selfish. Anyways, "Team" doesn't only mean passing the ball, because most of the times there is only one or two players that actually make assists in one team. The word "team" means that you constantly have your eyes on all four your teammates, and you shoot the ball only if all of your teammates are in a more disadvantageous position than yours. Now, there are a few players in the NBA that do this, but... all the players in the NBA should do this, not only a few. There wouldn't be an "assist leaders" chart anymore, since all of the players would get at least like 5 or 6 assists per game.
Now, back to the word "scorer": How many "scorers" are there in an NBA team? One, maybe two, right? Why does the USA Team have like ten scorers? THIS is one of the major problems of the USA Team: they still believe they can put up a team like the Dream Team back in 1992. In that team, almost all of the players were "scorers" on their respective NBA teams. But hey, have you seen Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Larry Bird, Karl Malone or Patrick Ewing score as much points as they've scored with their respective teams? NO, and I'll tell you why: because they believe in the word "team", and they believe that a team needs only ONE "scorer" (which was Jordan). All the players in that team played FOR the team, and the first thing they did FOR the team was renuncing to their "scorer" title. Each and everyone of them adapted himself to a role the team needed, even if that role meant to sit down on a bench for thirty-five minutes. NOBODY in the NBA today, and I say NOBODY, would accept to do that, nobody would play for a team if they tell him not to play more than ten minutes per game or not to score, am I wrong? This is why people like Barkley, Jordan, Magic, Drexler, Malone, Stockton, etc. are good players: not only for what they've done for their respective NBA teams but for being able to say: "OK, the team needs me to do this, then I'll do this". And this is why Team USA isn't the best team anymore too...

[air gordon]

u.s. could definitely use a natural perimeter shooter in the mold of Ray Allen, Michael Redd, etc to counter the zones they will inevitaby face a lot

[dada]

As far as the old Dream Team goes I wouldnt necessarily say they were that great a "team". The level of their competition basically hid any flaws they had and in many ways I believe the US team today would destroy the competition the same way they did in that time period. International basketball has made great leaps and bounds since then as can seen by the amount of international players in the league and such. Back in the days guys were more concerned with not trying bump their idol too(MJ, Magic) hard and seemed to take losses with a smile as long as they get a signatures afterwards. Nowadays you have teams going hard at the current US team players and arent afraid to bump or talk some trash to them. Theres definitely a vast difference in the talent of their competition so I think its kinda unfair how people talk about how this current quad isnt a "team" and ray-tay-tay.


Anyways, studying time. Peace out homie-Gs.

[Metsis]

The young core is good, but they could have benefitted from a few veteran leaders... Like Jason Kidd and Shaquile O'Neal... Even Ray Allen and possibly even Michael Redd would have that "veteran" cloak over their shoulders. These guys are needed to lead the team. As good as Wade, Carmelo and LeBron are, they don't have that veteran aura around them... Shaq would have made it a team... He's been that way through his career... He would be the big brother for all young players and would keep them in their place. Thus making people listen and actually understand what the coach is saying.

And it's just a fact that American's can't shoot it like the rest of the world can. So I don't think that Redd and Allen would have done miracles in WCOBs... Unless the team had adjusted to those players on the court and really made an effort and plays that open up a three point shot for them.

As a three point specialist (although a poor one still) I can tell you that the best shot I can take comes of a good pass to a position where I am expected to shoot the ball from... So that I know, that this is the spot I'm supposed to shoot from and no one will question the shot, and getting a good pass enables for a quick and good hold of the ball so you can shoot it straight away... That's the spot when to shoot the three... When you know it, when everyone on your team knows it and you get the ball straight up to a good balanced position. That's always a good feeling when you get a shot like that. And teams create these positions with plays in Europe and I believe around the globe all the time... Just not in the NBA.

[beau_boy04]

I think Kobe, Duncan and KG should've been there but due to several reasons they weren't part of the team USA. Anyways, it really hurts to see the rest of the world catching up with the NBA level.

Having T-Mac and Kobe on the same team will definitely work, I mean you see them working miracles on the Nba All-Star game so i don't see a problem having two players of that caliber on the same team.

I think they lacked confidence and self-assureness thats why they lost to Greece and I agree to the guy who said if Kobe had played for the US team they would've come out on top instead of the bronze medal.

[Matt]

As far as the old Dream Team goes I wouldnt necessarily say they were that great a "team". The level of their competition basically hid any flaws they had and in many ways I believe the US team today would destroy the competition the same way they did in that time period. International basketball has made great leaps and bounds since then as can seen by the amount of international players in the league and such. Back in the days guys were more concerned with not trying bump their idol too(MJ, Magic) hard and seemed to take losses with a smile as long as they get a signatures afterwards. Nowadays you have teams going hard at the current US team players and arent afraid to bump or talk some trash to them. Theres definitely a vast difference in the talent of their competition so I think its kinda unfair how people talk about how this current quad isnt a "team" and ray-tay-tay.

that's true, but that 96 team was just way too superior. They didn't even have to break a sweat. Todays Team USA is full of superstars who aren't really superstars.

Look at the 96 team.....Olajuwon, O'Neal....top 5 @C Karl Malone top 5 @ PF Pippen top 5 @SF John Stockton top 5 @ PG of all time.

No one on the current team is top 5 (unless Kobe played). Besides, all those 96 players, except for Glenn Robinson were good defenders. This current team has maybe 5 above average defenders.

[iG®]

That's true, dada. But the USA Team, after the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, haven't been playing as a team, because the new generation of NBA players, believe me or not, don't understand the word "team".

Or, you can rephrase it .

[Air Zoom Kobe I]

Dang

Team USA is in desperate neeed of leaders. Where's Tim Duncan WHen you need him?

We need a strong Leader but Shaq is getting old. If Kobe would've played they would have some leadership. After all, He did lead the Lakers to the playoffs damn near by himself.

But anyway they need a leader

[soilworker]

yeah usa wasn't a team in this competition, still if kobe was there they would have won the championship