Since a few people in this forum have mentioned international teams (e.g., Yugoslavia, Argentina) and their recent success against the U.S.'s latest reincarnation of the "Dream" Team, I was wondering how everyone thought the original dream team would match up against an all-time international dream team. The only catch here is that for the international team any former foreign born great can qualify. Please note that all players listed are believed to be at or near their prime [please excuse any spelling errors].
THE TALE OF THE TAPE
Here's how I see it:
Dream Team 1(USA)-1992
Head Coach: Chuck Daly
David Robinson
Barkley
Bird
Michael Jordan
Magic Johnson
_____________
Ewing
Drexler
Karl Malone
John Stockton
Pippen
Mullin
Leattner
VS.
International Dream Team
(World)
HEAD COACH: This year's Yugoslavia coach or 1972 Russia head Coach [take your pick]
Starting 5
C- Sabonis (USSR)
PF- Nowitski (Germany)
SF/SG- Oscar Schmidt (Brazil)
SG- Peja Staojakovic (Yugoslavia)
PG/SG- Drazen Petrovic
________________
Detlef Schrempf (Germany)
Jack Sikma
Vlade Divac (Yugoslavia)
Pau Gasol (Spain)*Just added
Toni Kukoc (Croatia)
Andrew Gaze (Australia)
Steve Nash (Canada)
Rick Smits (Dutch)
Yao Ming (China)
Turkogolu
Rick Foxx (Canada)
Muresan *probably should be removed in favor of Gasol
Sarunas Marcillonis
Emanuel Ginobili (Argentina)
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
Averaging an Olympic record 117.3 points a game, the [1992] USA squad won by an average of 43.8 points and the closest any opponent could come was 32 points (117-85 versus Croatia in the gold medal game)
HOW IT GOES DOWN
The way I see it, The U.S. just pulls out a close one based upon the solid perimeter shooting of the international team. Surprisingly, Nowitski gives Barkley fits in the post and outscores him, while saboins holds his own with robinson equalling his scoring and rebounding output. Schrempf and Sikma give a huge boost to the internationals off the bench, while petrovic and Jordan have a war of words while they go shot for shot up and down the court. The U.S. bench, surprisingly is rather ineffective only contributing 30 points to the teams final total. But thanks to the huge efforts by the starters (e.g., Magic, Bird, and Jordan) the U.S.A. stays in the game until the final minutes.
The way I see it, the USA goes on a late 8-0 run and finishes the game off in classic style with 2 clutch free throws by Bird that break a 98-98 tie. Bird hits the final free throw with no time remaining in regulation to give the USA dream team a 99-98 victory over the internationals.
YOUR ENDING IS WELCOMED
Please let me know if I left anyone out for the internationals and also who wins this mythical match-up in your view. In addition, please let me know what type of game you would expect from both teams [e.g., up-tempo, half-court, etc.] and how it ends?
Best,
P