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JJ = Larry Bird?

Lascar78

By Lascar78
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Lascar78 Newbie

Lascar78

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Ok so the following article is not to be taken too seriously, but hey, it's a national article mentioning a hawk! Imagine that!

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Is the current roster on USA Basketball the new Dream Team?

Updated 7/26/2006 12:33 AM ET

The team that will represent the USA in the world championships next month in Japan is an unselfish group comprised of superstars and role players. Except for its youth and lack of a true, dominant center, it is reminiscent of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.

With the team to be intact for three years under coach Mike Krzyzewski, an assistant in 1992, it has the perfect model to grow into. In 1992, the Dream Team roster accounted for 11 NBA titles.

"The biggest difference between the two teams is that the Dream Team had it all figured out," said Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan, an assistant on the current world championships team and, as a player, a contemporary of the original Dream Team. "They were all in the prime of their careers, and many of the greatest players ever were on that team.

"This team is very young, but it has the talent and the potential to be very good and make its own mark. I don't know if you can ever get a group like the Dream Team together again, but that is what we're striving for in terms of sacrifices the players are willing to make and the roles they fill. The Dream Team was comprised of the greatest players in the league, but it was also a team and not just a collection of All-Stars."

USA TODAY's David DuPree breaks down the players selected Tuesday to be on the U.S. travel team and who best fits the role of each of the stars on the 1992 team:

Dwyane Wade — Michael Jordan

The MVP of the 2006 NBA Finals, Wade, 6-4, proved he can score against anyone, at any time, in any way imaginable. However, he is also the kind of player others find very easy to follow his lead. Jordan, 6-6, was the fourth-leading scorer on the 1992 team (12.7 points) but easily could have been the leading scorer of the Dream Team. Wade is cut from the same cloth.

LeBron James — Magic Johnson

Johnson, who had a team-best 54 assists in 1992, was the floor leader and the player who set the tone in practice and games and made sure everyone was involved at all times. The 6-8 James, like the 6-9 Johnson, can play and be dominant at four positions. James can also run the offense from anywhere on the floor.

Elton Brand — Karl Malone

Like Malone, Brand makes the game very simple — score when you have a shot, rebound when someone else shoots and make yourself useful by doing the dirty work such as setting picks, playing defense and coming up with loose balls.

Amare Stoudemire — Charles Barkley

Stoudemire is coming off a knee injury, but when healthy he has that same open-court flair Barkley showed. Barkley was the leading scorer in 1992 (16.3 points a game), and when you give Stoudemire the ball, he too knows what to do with it.

Gilbert Arenas — Clyde Drexler

Drexler was a dunker, a scorer and a passer who never stopped to take a breath. Arenas is a better long-range shooter but also possesses some of Drexler's skills. Like Drexler, the Washington Wizards guard can play with or without the ball and in the open court is one of the game's best finishers. He will live at the free throw line.

Dwight Howard — Patrick Ewing

Defense and shot-blocking are what Howard brings. He doesn't have Ewing's offensive moves yet, but he is working on them. He won't back down from anyone and is the type of quiet warrior that all teams need.

Chris Paul — John Stockton

Stockton was all business, a great playmaker, a hard-nosed competitor and a wise leader. He was a deceptive scorer who knew how to take advantage of all situations. Paul is quicker and not yet as good of a defender, but his mind-set is the same as Stockton's.

Carmelo Anthony — Chris Mullin

Like Mullin, Anthony has the reputation of being primarily a shooter. But Mullin was a very intelligent all-around player who always knew his role and could score in every way imaginable. Anthony is deadly inside and out, and his passing and rebounding are a lot better than he is given credit for.

Chris Bosh — David Robinson

Long and lean, the 7-1 Robinson just did his job at both ends of the floor, preferring to concentrate on defense and rebounding and running the floor. The 6-10 Bosh is the perfect heir to Robinson's grace.

Joe Johnson — Larry Bird

Bird was ailing with a bad back, but his mere presence, with the threat of his three-point shot and his all-around skills, still made him feared by opponents. Johnson, 6-7, can get open, is a smooth three-point shooter and has point guard skills in a small forward's body.

Bruce Bowen — Scottie Pippen

Pippen was the 1992 team's perimeter defensive stopper who knew how to play on a star-laden team. Bowen, like Pippen (both 6-7), is a great defender and knows how to get open at the three-point line and is reliable from there. As they did with Pippen, things just seem to run smoother when Bowen is on the floor.

Brad Miller — Christian Laettner

Laettner, the lone college player not yet in the NBA to be on the team, was a gritty competitor. At 6-11, he was also a good passer. Miller is a versatile veteran who is a great passer from the high post and has a reliable outside jump shot — rare talents for a 7-footer.

Note: Shane Battier, who compares favorably to Pippen, Antawn Jamison, who does the same to Mullin, and Kirk Hinrich, whose role is similar to Stockton's, are also on the 15-man roster.

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hawkman Grand Master

hawkman

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Team USA will kick butt now that they don't have ball hogging, "me me me" players like Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury on the team.

Marbury, Melo, and Iverson were not the reason why the U.S. wasn't that successful last time . I personally blame Larry Brown. He obviously has a problem coaching superstars. He can coach a "team", but he has a problem with coaching individual talent. It's as if he feels that he is the "talent" and his players are his supporting cast. That would explain his inexcuseable behavior during his last season in Detroit and his horrible record this season in NY. He had a great team in Detroit but still flirted with Cleveland.... DURING THE PLAYOFFS!!!. He did a terrible job of handling the Marbury situation in NY by going to the press. He did the same thing in Philadelphia with iverson. There's no way a team with Amare, Lebron, and Wade on it should struggle against any other basketball team, foriegn or not. I may get flamed for this but somebody had to say it. To quote Melo, "He may be a great coach but he ain't Jesus."

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Sothron Grand Master

Sothron

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Our last Olympic team was poorly put together. We didn't have any "glue" players like a Battier or a defensive specialist like Bowen or ANY kind of shooters like JJ/Hinrich who can just flat out shoot. Instead we had to rely on Richard freaking Jefferson to reliably knock down a 18 foot jump shot because they simply collapsed a zone defense on Duncan when he got the ball or they used zone to stop dribble penetration.

That team was put together like a Yahoo fantasy roto league and it showed. This team is already much more complete regardless of what it does. I blame Brown for not even giving the young guys on that team a chance but he didn't have a real team to work with either.

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hawkman Grand Master

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Our last Olympic team was poorly put together. We didn't have any "glue" players like a Battier or a defensive specialist like Bowen or ANY kind of shooters like JJ/Hinrich who can just flat out shoot. Instead we had to rely on Richard freaking Jefferson to reliably knock down a 18 foot jump shot because they simply collapsed a zone defense on Duncan when he got the ball or they used zone to stop dribble penetration.

That team was put together like a Yahoo fantasy roto league and it showed. This team is already much more complete regardless of what it does. I blame Brown for not even giving the young guys on that team a chance but he didn't have a real team to work with either.

I know the team didn't have that much time to practice or develop any kind of chemistry, but it is the coach's job to know the strengths and weaknesses of his players and use them accordingly. Larry Brown basically had a friggin All Star team out there and instead of playing everyone to their strengths, he whined to the media about their weaknesses. like i said in my earlier post, this guy cannot co-exist with superstar talent. Just wait,Coach K will do a much better job with essentially the same team that Larry Brown had.

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Sothron Grand Master

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I'm not sure what part of "he had no real TEAM" to work with was hard to understand. That entire roster was built of ballhogs or slashers or a token low post player. It was built to sell jerseys not to win games. This year's team is a much more complete TEAM in that it has role players who excel at various aspects of the game and has people who can actually shoot from 18 feet out and not kill you.

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gheorghe Newbie

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imagine how the USA will match against those teams

Argentina

PG- Juan "Pepe" Sanchez

SG- Emanuel "Manu" Ginobili

SF- Andres "Chapu" Nocioni

PF- Ruben Wolkowyski

C- Fabricio Oberto

key reserves

PG Pablo Prigioni

SG Carlos Delfino

SF Walter Herrmann

PF Luis Scola

Spain

PG-Jose Luis Calderon

SG-Juan Carlos "La bomba" Navarro

SF-Carlos Jimenez

PF-Jorge Garbajosa

C- Pau Gasol

key reserves

PG Sergio Rodriguez

SG Rudy Fernandez

PF Felipe Reyes

my american friends, it won't be a piece of cake for you to win it all, just take a look at these names. Familiar, uh?

Have memory and remember how Argentina and Spain kicked your butt in the past, and avoid making those comentaries like "Team USA will kick butt". You have a chance to win, obviouslly given the level of talent your players present, but don't fall in ignoring other teams strenght's again like in Indianapolis 2002 and Athens 2004

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