Hoops legends agree to help pick Olympic team

[MaD_hAND1e]

I always had this idea... why not just use the league champions in the olympics? They are the best team in the NBA, they know how to play together (hence the championship), and they've already been playing together for awhile (as opposed to just being thrown together into a new system).

Really? So Manu and Rasho and Parker would play for Team USA?

[Sauru]

not only that but the teams owned would never allow this. i mean if you owned a nba team would you want your guys playing basketball year round while all the other nba teams had a chance to rest and prepare for the next season?

[air gordon]

sauru.. i don't know why, but the committee decided on putting a college player on the 92 dream team roster, even if for the 1st time, professionals were allowed to play. to his credit, laettner was one of the best college players at the time..

and indeed, isiah not being included was one of the biggest snubs of all time.

zeke would go on to destroy stockton whenever their 2 teams played.. leading up to the infamous dirty play by malone on thomas

[Drex]

What dirty play?? ^^

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

Okay. here's a non-star-filled US team that could compete for,and probably get, the gold, if the games were held this summer:

C- Brad Miller ( European style big man who can pass and shoot... will do the job nicely and beat the rest at their game )

PF- Elton Brand ( no man outside the NBA can guard him, plus he's a blocking machine. Will be unstoppable if the team focuses around him. The go-to-guy)

SF- Shane Battier (another Euro type player, unselfish, good to very good in just about every aspect of te game, plus he can shoot, which is imperative to break the zonal defenses)

SG- Mike Miller (shoot...shoot... and then shoot some more... hitting the open jumpers and threes is imperative to get those zonal defenders to cheat up, and There are few better in that than Mike... )

PG- Jason Kidd (there has to be a clear leader on the court and in th elocker room, and that's what jason is best at... his fierce competitiveness will carry the team, and his pass first attitude fits the Euro style of play.)

the 8-9 man rotation should be complimented with something in the likes of :

C Marcus Camby ( a defensive shot blocker with that mush athletiscism will scare off all those white boys attempting to drive it home... Marcus is a must.)

PG TJ Ford ( assuming he's healthy, he can give the game a frenetic pace that only NBA players are trained to follow for elongated amounts of time...)

PF Danny Fortson (they need a glass-eating beast of immense strength to play the role of bully, and overpower the opposition on almost every occasion... reggie evans would fit this mold as well...)

SG Fred Hoiberg ( money in the bank if left open, best shooter in the league although rarely recognized outside Minnesota these days... if the ball moves around Euro style, then he'll be a difference maker in more than one occasion...)


Just fill the rest of the roster with American guys playing in Europe, like Parker from Maccabi or Tyus Edney, guys who are used to playing against zone and can help the rest get a feel for the differences between the game the other side of teh Ocean.

[maes]

Their problem isn't with choosing, it's with who actually accepts. 9 out of the 11 initially chosen all refused, leaving the committee scrambling for anybody that would actually play.

Maybe they think with Jordan & Bird making the call, it will tougher for the elite players to refuse.

[Andrew]

What dirty play?? ^^

I'm interested to know too, I don't remember that one.

[The X]

if I had to pick a team for US to take, it would look something like this....

C- Amare Stoudemire (team's star big man)
PF- Shawn Marion (I thought he was great in Athens)
SF- Mike Miller (gunner from the wings)
SG- Dwayne Wade (team's star)
PG- Mike Bibby (can hit the open 3 and setup Amare and the others)

BENCH
C- Brad Miller (perfect bigman for international competition)
PF- Elton Brand (big-time interior force)
SF- Shane Battier (playing at the 3 & the 4)
SG- Fred Hoiberg (team's gunner)
PG- Kirk Hinrich (backup PG)
C- Troy Murphy/token college senior
PG- Damon Jones (another 3pt gunner)