London 2012 Olympics Stuff

[TheGreatGatsby]

yes they had a bunch of very good big players -- gasol gasol and ibaka.

one thing that is overlooked in the (admittedly somewhat silly) debate about comparing this and the 1992 team is that while the 1992 team won by huge margins im pretty sure they NEVER faced a team with that type of talent on it. Those are three very good NBA big men.

I don't remember if it was an analyst or poster that said Lebron James is the only one that rises to the talent of the original Dream Team. I'd probably throw Durant in the mix, but I otherwise agree with that statement.

Comparing so-called dream teams is what the media will always do. And eventually, not so many people will remember how good the original Dream Team was. We'll just sound like the old kooks talking about how great Chamberlain, Russell, Havilicek, West, Robertson and Baylor were.

That said, I could still go on for paragraphs about the glaring differences between the two teams.

Kobe easily has the talent to match up with the old dream team whatever one's assessment of that team may be.

Plus this team played MUCH tougher competition (not everybody Nigeria or Kenya or whoever it was was an absolute joke for example -- but the best teams they played were much better than the 92 team opposition) -- the 92 dream team played a bunch of stiffs -- might as well have thrown the New Jersey Generals out their against them

one thing that skews these comparisons is that much of the 92 team was well into or past their primes and we judge thembased on their career accomplishments. but larry bird was a cadaver out there -- he was like el cid. so how do you judge him? as the player he was at the time or the player he had been?

on the other hand a lot of the current team are still young and will build a lot of their resume going forward. Chris Paul and Westbrook still have alot in fromt of them and by the time they are done may well be considerd hands down better than guys like Stockton for example. Blake Griffin was out with injury (as was Howard). so perspective is very releavant to this issue

In his prime yes. Kobe was a 43 percent perimeter shooter last year on his old, tired legs. Trust me, nobody was bringing that lackluster performance to the Dream Team. Even Bird was shooting 47 percent with a broken back and two broken ankles.

Kobe might have made it as a legacy. But then again, probably not b/c MJ/Pippen/Johnson would have said, nah, we don't want to play with that bitch; like they did to Isiah Thomas.

And I hate to tell you, but this USA team did not play much tougher competition at all. The Croatian team that the US smoked by 32 in the final; probably would have beat this US team.

There is no skewing based on time either. What you don't understand is that basketball was at its best in the 80s and there was some carry-over to 92. Had they created Dream Teams in 80, 84 and 88; they probably would have been even better. Naturally, the USA teams are going to reflect the quality of the NBA at any given time and I guarantee the competition was much stiffer back then.

And I like Chris Paul; but trust me when I tell you that he will never be a John Stockton; the best passer in the history of the game. Stockton is/was so fit/amazing that he could still play in the NBA today if he wanted and he is only about 50 some odd years old. The dude is a freak of nature. Gonzaga players will tell you that he schools them every summer.

Westbrook too___ probably the fastest guy in the NBA right now (if not Rondo). But he has nowhere near the basketball IQ that Stockton had. Trust me, Stockton would not be logging the bench time that Westbrook logged. Although, he didn't play a whole lot in 92 b/c of an injury and when you have Johnson/Jordan who can play pg then you have that luxury.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

Interesting thought: Gregg Poppovich is considered the front runner to be the next USA coach. But if they want Rondo, they might want to consider Doc Rivers. They might want to consider Doc if they want a guy who could coach for longer; like the next 2 Olympics. But then again if Doc's an assistant and it seems that he would do it__ then he could likely get Rondo to come back still.

 

[Colin]

michael phelepes is legend

So is Michael Phelps