The US roster was recently announced:
Carmelo Anthony (Denver)
Carlos Boozer (Utah)
Chris Bosh (Toronto)
Kobe Bryant (Lakers)
Dwight Howard (Orlando)
LeBron James (Cleveland)
Jason Kidd (Dallas)
Chris Paul (New Orleans)
Tayshaun Prince (Detroit)
Michael Redd (Milwaukee)
Dwyane Wade (Miami)
Deron Williams (Utah)

Other than Kidd (too old) and Carmelo Anthony (not in good enough shape to play D), I think the choices are pretty solid. I wish the Celts allowed Garnett to play which would have been a huge upgrade over Anthony, and a pure shooting guard would be a lot better than Kidd's slow legs.

Looks like a pretty good team. Hopefully good enough for a bronze, maybe a silver if they get a good draw.

Silver or Bronze? Maybe! But I am just one of 12 representing the Philippines and we are taking home the gold! Who needs height? At 5'10", I will be playing center! -mJ

quote:

Originally posted by markjahnke:
Silver or Bronze? Maybe! But I am just one of 12 representing the Philippines and we are taking home the gold! Who needs height? At 5'10", I will be playing center! -mJ

I'm 5-9 and have a few post-up moves. Do you have a power forward spot on your team?

Seriously though, if this US team don't bring home the gold, might as well let amateurs compete.

Funniest thing I've heard so far is the when the US team has played games in the last couple of years, the international players talk trash with James and call him "LeBronze," to commerorate his Olympic experience.

Kidd's age does not matter as with Paul and Deron he won't be relied on heavily. His locker room leadership will help, he is the only one with a gold medal on the team.

Team looks plenty good. The front line is relatively thin but they've had success with LeBron at power forward in the past and Howard/Bosh/Boozer are solid.

Kidd works well as it's a team with scorers. He only needs to get others the ball. He won't have to play too many minutes or take more than a shot or two a game.

BTW, the Celtics had nothing to do with KG not playing. He's already won a gold medal (2000) and USA Basketball wanted a three years (summers) from the players. He passed. Seems to have worked out OK for him.

Neil

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:

quote:

Originally posted by markjahnke:
Silver or Bronze? Maybe! But I am just one of 12 representing the Philippines and we are taking home the gold! Who needs height? At 5'10", I will be playing center! -mJ

I'm 5-9 and have a few post-up moves. Do you have a power forward spot on your team?

Seriously though, if this US team don't bring home the gold, might as well let amateurs compete.

So long as you have some Filipino blood in you, bring it on! We can make room for you. I could always suggest cutting our 3'8" 72 pounder we currently have slotted as a forward. -mJ

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:
Looks like a pretty good team. Hopefully good enough for a bronze, maybe a silver if they get a good draw.

quote:

Originally posted by Altaholic:

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:
Looks like a pretty good team. Hopefully good enough for a bronze, maybe a silver if they get a good draw.

You're probably right, they won't crack the medal round.

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:
You're probably right, they won't crack the medal round.

Anything less than GOLD would be a failure.

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:

quote:

Originally posted by Altaholic:

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:
Looks like a pretty good team. Hopefully good enough for a bronze, maybe a silver if they get a good draw.

You're probably right, they won't crack the medal round.

I know you're hoping for that!

CP,

Seriously, not hoping for it, just being realistic. I was baseline for every game the US team had during the 2002 Worlds in Indy, and it was sad to see (sixth place). I was also baseline to witness a fired up Greek team, with home support, narrowly lose to the US team by a couple of treys in Athens, '04.

Sure, on paper, with our US myopia, our NBA stars should crush all, but the game has changed. The World is no longer intimidated, and there are some bad dudes out there who we've never heard of, who can flat out shoot the lights out, with crazy defensive skillz. Also, don't underestimate the will of the rest of the world to humiliate Americans at "our" game, especially given politics today.

Nice lineup but I think they need a big center somewhere in the mix. I think kobe will step it up after his performance in the nba finals to redeem himself.

quote:

Originally posted by mpls wine guy:
Nice lineup but I think they need a big center somewhere in the mix. I think kobe will step it up after his performance in the nba finals to redeem himself.

Actually, it would be much easier to actually like this team if Kobe would break both of his legs prior to the games in a surfing accident and not be able to play.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chilepepper,

Indybob-

What you write about the rest of the world is true but this team is much better constructed than in year's past. I expect that they'll win by big margins.

Neil

Agree Neil- I'd be shocked if they didnt win gold. This team is not made up of the top 12 NBA palyers...Redd, Prince, Kidd all have specific roles.

Also, enough has been made about the past embarrassments that this team gets it...the 3 year committment says something about the guys who elected to play.

I can't wait to watch Paul at the point with Kobe, Lebron, D Wade running wild.

I love watching USA basketball.

A bunch of over-paid pampered spoiled egomaniacs...and they're holding training camp in LAS VEGAS!
Potential recipe for disaster.

Why not take them out of their comfort zone and have a training camp somewhere remote, away from their usual pampered comforts to get them focused.
If someone doesn't like it...then he obviously is not there for the right reasons.

Listen...a line-up like this should mop the floor with every other country.

I think Lebron is going to bring the juice.

Indy,

My only concern with this team is that without Tyson Chandler they are lacking a big body defensive presence.

With Chris Paul and Deron Williams feeding the ridiculous offense this team will trounce ANYTHING they run into. This is an actual team, that has been playing together, and it is built to be well rounded. Like any country is looking forward to going up against them.

quote:

Originally posted by cdr:
Indy,

Damn dude, what crawled up your arse today? Bad day at the beach with the metal detector?

Why are you so coarse?

Indy,

You post some thoughtful, insightful replies, dude. I think your analaysis of the upcoming United States Olympic basketball team's challenges was very counterintuitive. You sound like a college professor. Please, share some more. Deconstruct the world for me one more time and rebuild it with your broad minded genius.