File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
are the americans going to win gold in basketball in the 2008 olympics?
>> Anonymous
No, because rich rapists like Kobe don't give a shit about playing for the national team.
>> Anonymous
>>99323
SHOULD BRING THE BARCELONA 92 DREAM TEAM BACK
>> Heynonnynonnymous
Not bloody likely. All of the three point shooters are in Europe.

Three point shots > two point bislammajamma dunks.
>> Anonymous
America plays basketball? What?
>> Anonymous
Not only will we win, we'll go undefeated.
>> Anonymous
>>99319

Enjoy losing at your own sport.

Basketball is really the only american sport I ever have fun watching or playing.
>> Anonymous
>>99323
LaBron's also busy snorting coke off of hookers.
>> Anonymous
>>99331
funny how silver and bronze dont count as losing in any other event except basketball lol
>> Anonymous
wtf? olympics?

what is this shit?
>> Anonymous
>>99335
labron, maybe.

lebron james, 23 for the /cle/veland indians doesn't.
>> Anonymous
>>99345
cavs. muh bad.

he's so good he's pro in multisports.
>> Anonymous
Chris Paul
Kobe Bryant
Lebron James
Chris Bosh
Dwight Howard

with

D-Will, Tyson Chandler, Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, Tayshaun Prince, and Jason Kidd on the bench

No fucking reason why we should lose ANY game
>> Anonymous
>>99345
labron for the cleveland indians!
>> Anonymous
>>99357
This is what Americans really believe. Face it already, Argentina, Greece and Spain are all better than you guys, no matter what kind of squad you have.
>> Anonymous
>>99366
BRING BACK THE BARCELONA DREAM TEAM!!111
>> Anonymous
>>99357
that's not the roster. quit posting random bullshit
>> Anonymous
>>99372

It's posted on their fucking website
>> Anonymous
Americans are going to fucking rape. And this is coming from a Canadian...lol go CB4
>> Anonymous
Doesn't matter how many 3 points you try to pull off, USA's roster is legendary, a modern dream team. I can see them doing ok their first, then Lebron/Kobe getting pissed off and fucking crushing everyone who tries to block them. Face it, the Euro/South American teams are going to have to triple team most of the players on America's lineup if they want even a chance.
>> Anonymous
>>99372
I think I just heard this guy's skull exploding from the shock of the tidal wave of skill his feeble country will have to deal with.
>> Anonymous
We shouldn't lose a game, however I expect Manu and the Argentinean national team of floppers will prevail.
>> Anonymous
Hey, /sp/. Someone on this roster isn't like the others. Can you find it?

Chris Paul
Kobe Bryant
Lebron James
Chris Bosh
Dwight Howard
>> Anonymous
>>99458
nope, all black.
>> Anonymous
If US can defend fucking pick and rolls (and backcuts), then they will win. Last time they had an amazingly talented team (almost the same as this year's) but let Greece shoot 63% from all the backcuts. Greece scored 101 points in a 40 minute game, which is like 120 points in an NBA 48 minute game. Regardless of how well they play offensively, they need to get good defensive cohesion and good scouting/in-game adjustments to win, and I don't see that happening over the summer. The players (and coaches) simply don't care enough about international basketball relative to NBA or College basketball to put that much effort into it. That's not to criticize them, because fans themselves care more about NBA and College than international basketball (ie: a lot more people would care if Kobe won the NBA Championship than Olympic gold, more people would want coach K to spend time on coaching Duke than coaching Team USA). But other countries live for international play. As a result, they are simply better prepared and already know how to exploit USA's weaknesses and limit its strengths.
>> Anonymous
Why the fuck is KG not in the US team. He would break those Eurofags' legs.
>> Anonymous
>>99458
only kobe went to college!
>> Anonymous
>>99519
He... did?
>> Anonymous
>>99527
Double-secret college.
>> Anonymous
>>99458
>Chris Bosh

Dear fucking god.. WHAT?!?!?!?
>> Anonymous
>>99515
Also, US needs to stop playing Lebron/Carmello at the 4 spot for better offense. They have no clue how to defend a pick and roll because they are SF's not PF's. And they can't guard Schortsionatis or whatever his name was. Better scouting will do wonders.
>> Anonymous
>D-Will, Tyson Chandler, Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, Tayshaun Prince, and Jason Kidd on the bench
>D-Will, Tyson Chandler, Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer
>TYSON CHANDLER

wut
>> Anonymous
Honestly, with that roster, if we don't go undefeated we weren't trying hard enough.
>> Anonymous
>>99357
Where's Dwayne Wade? He still injured?
>> Anonymous
>>99518
KG opted out last time and hasn't been invited back or said he wants to go afaik
>> Anonymous
>>99582
it's a pity, he would've guaranteed undefeat
>> Anonymous
the olympic 3pt line is like 5 feet closer than the nba 3pt line..u'd think the nba players would have it easy
>> Anonymous
>>99357
The bench could be alot better, but nonetheless a dynamic team
>> Anonymous
FINAL 12 MAN ROSTER

PGs:
Chauncey Billups
Jason Kidd
Deron Williams

SGs:
Kobe Bryant
Michael Redd
Mike Miller

SFs:
Lebron James
Carmelo Anthony
Tayshaun Prince

PF/C:
Dwight Howard
Amare Stoudemire
Tyson Chandler

sauce: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/news/story?id=2983911
>> Anonymous
>>99641
Where's my Child Porn 3?
>> Anonymous
America's greatest weakness is the jumpshot (especially 3-pointers). The American game is focused too much on power and beating a man off the dribble and not enough on shooting.
>> Anonymous
>>99641
i would have liked too see another pf/c, and one less 2 or 3 - probably less melo, plz. bryant can shift over between 2 and 3. maybe replace melo with a 3/4 combo who plays more at the 4 instead of the 3 (and can play defense plzkthx) - jamison, odom, west, or boozer would probably work well. boozer in particular would be interesting. pair him with d-will and see if any of the euro teams can handle their 2-man game (my guess is no).
>> Anonymous
american team = niggers.
>> Anonymous
>>99913
Melo always shows up big for int'l games. There are 4-5 players on this roster I would replace before him.
>> Anonymous
o god
>> Anonymous
America should sen backups.

Sending these ballhogging nigger stars is just plain stupid. they care more about their stats than the team.
>> Anonymous
>>99930
melo puts up big numbers because he's a ballhogging black hole that hasn't learned this is a team game. lebron could drop 40 in these games if he shot it every time too.
>> Anonymous
>>99930
see>>99936

also, it's partially a matter of team dynamics. i think it'd be wise to drop one of the small fowards currently on the roster. lebron has to be on the team, and prince is probably the best wing defender in the league, something this lineup needs. even if you believe melo to be valuable, team usa hardly lacks for scoring, especially scoring in the low/mid-post (see - bryant and stoudemire). he doesn't really offer anything other players can't provide.

odom, jamison and boozer are plus-level rebounders and play okay defense (better than carmelo, for sure). admittedly, west is probably superfluous (though i'd still rather have him than melo, because he's a lot less selfish, and a better rebounder/shotblocker).
>> Anonymous
why is paul/b-diddy/KG/pierce/hell even iverson not on that team? wtf, teyshaun prince? where the fuck is the "dream team" spirit? Obviously these guys are opting to NOT play because there's no way in hell the GM would pick scrubs like Tyson fucking Chandler (who is nothing without cp3) over KG/Bosh.

Even as a canadian, i'm pretty disgusted with these guys. Come the fuck on, you're the best country in basketball, and because you choose not to play you're going to get whooped by some eurotrash shoot-nothing-but-3's gayass flop team. Oh well, hopefully Calderon plays for spain, then i'll have a team to cheer for as a raptors homer.
>> Anonymous
kobe? kobe is japanese motherfuckers
>> Anonymous
Yup. Should get rid of Carmelo though, although he did play great in the FIBA
>> Anonymous
>>99976
KG said no
Bosh said he wasn't healthy enough
>> Anonymous
lol no
>> Anonymous
>>99991
exactly, KG said 'no'. I realized Bosh was hurt after i posted that, however. KG will never win an nba championship, maybe he should go for the next best thing.
>> Anonymous
>>99976
putting tayshaun on the team is what makes this team srs bidness. iverson and diddy are too inconsistent and ball needy for this type of team.

and paul isn't on the team b/c it was decided before this season when he became "omfg cp3!!!!" he'll be on the next one for sure. i read somewhere they may try and switch jkidd out for him for china, but probably not going to happen.
>> Anonymous
>>99976
prince is on the team because he's one of the best defenders in the league, and is precisely the tip of player who will give europeans fits. he's 6'9 with super-long arms, but has good lateral speed, so he can defend 3s, 4s, and even euro 5s (who all hang out on the perimeter anyway). he shoots well from 3 (career 36.5% - for comparison, kobe bryant shoots 34%, as an example), and can even handle the ball at times. he's EXACTLY the player team usa was lacking the last couple times out, when they tried to out-athlete the europeans and got flopped, backcut, and 3-balled to death.

the only one of the players you mentioned that deserve to be on that team is KG, but he's already stated he won't play on the olympic team. bosh was passed over, likely because chandler is a much more explosive, athletic player, while the 'scoring' 4/5 job can be handled by either stoudamire or howard (i mean really, imagine any european team trying to score in the paint against chandler and howard)
>> Anonymous
>>100027

KG won a gold medal on the 2000 US Olympic Team.
>> Anonymous
>>99366
Yea, when we send our C squad.
>> Anonymous
Auto gold Team USA because all teams will be too scared to get on the court.

Stephen Jackson
Ben Wallace
Ron Artest
Baron Davis
Allen Iverson

Bench: a gun
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
ready to get your asses raped again?
>> Anonymous
Coach K was actually smart this time around

Michael Redd and Mike Miller were added because of their superior perimeter shooting

Tyson Chandler and Tayshaun Prince were added because of their superior defense

Bosh, Wade, and Arenas are all on the injured list

guys like Boozer and Battier are on the Reserve list
>> Anonymous
>>100243
I'm really happy with the backup SGs Team USA picked up.
>> Anonymous
>>100044
Ben Wallace and Ron Artest would have started another fight and Stephen Jackson + Baron Davis would have helped Ron beatdown Big Ben (Stephen = Rons lil bitchboy from Indiana) and Allen Iverson would continously be blurting out "Practice? nigga iont need no practice".

Best team ever.
>> Kilgamayan (18-1) !2BklmILFiE
>>100243

We're still doing the Coach K thing? I'm kinda surprised no one in the NBA wanted to take the job.
>> Anonymous
>>100199
you're getting old Manu, you keep stay the fuck home and rest dammit!
>> Anonymous
>>100261

Well Mike D'Antoni and the coach of the Trail Blazers are assistant coaches
>> Anonymous
>>100031

You would take Chandler over Bosh?

...
what the fuck?
>> Anonymous
>>100301

It's called Team Chemistry. they already HAVE playmakers on their team. They need big defensive players IE Chandler
>> Anonymous
>>100323
Also chandler is mobile and can run up and down the floor all game.

Exactly the kind of center needed on a team playing FIBA rules.
>> Anonymous
>>100323
I think Bosh is more than capable on the defensive front. Plus, he offers much more range and options on offense than Chandler whose 2 moves are "alley" and "oop."
>> Anonymous
Bosh is an underrated defender in Toronto because he has to play next to Rasho and (especially) Bargnani, so he does the work of two people.

It's not a matter of talent. The Detroit Pistons could win the gold medal. Alternately, no foreign national team would make the playoffs in the NBA (aside from possibly Spain). Three things are holding back the US.
1) Scouting - US players have little idea of what each opposing player's strengths/weaknesses are, while opposing teams are well prepared for the US. This gives you more of an advantage than you think; it leads to stuff like opposing centers outmuscling Stoudemire for rebounds, opposing guards trapping on screen and rolls, and small forwards drifting to get open threes. The US needs to put a lot more effort into scouting.

2) Defense - as I've mentioned here>>99515
US losses are more due to defensive failures than offensive chemistry. It's hard for any team to win when their opponent scores 101 points in a 40 minute game. This largely goes back to scouting, but it's also impossible to establish defensive cohesion in 3/4 weeks, and I don't think the players are willing to put in more time. Bosh would greatly help this team, because he's a capable defender who is not an offensive liability. That reason was why US played Lebron and Carmello as the 4 against Greece, and they got torched defensively because they don't have the defensive instincts of a big man.

3) Rules - It's a minor point, but US players are at a slight disadvantage with international rules, just because their not familiar with them. Traveling calls, hitting the ball while its on the rim, etc. But the difference in the court also changes the spacing of the game.
>> Anonymous
>>101044
He may indeed be an underrated defender (and he's the greatest video thespian of the NBA, to boot), but he's not the explosive athlete that Tyson Chandler is. With the playmakers the team will have, getting a guy whose whole game revolves around offensive boards and good hands/finishing at the hoop is very important. Bosh is a great player, but he's much more reliant on his speed (he's also a good 3 inches shorter), lacking top-notch power.
>> Anonymous
Also, replacing Chandler with Bosh is a stupid argument because then Howard would be the only center on their team.

If you were arguing Bosh over say Melo, I would agree.
>> Anonymous
>>101068
>If you were arguing Bosh over say Melo, I would agree.

Sir, I am intrigued by your ideas, and would like to subscribe to your newspaper. (I know Bosh is on injured list, I just want Melo off the team)
>> Anonymous
>>101044

You actually have something to back up those claims about no scouting? Cause if what you're saying is true then...well...that's just dumb and the US deserve to lose because they obviously don't care enough.
>> Anonymous
i think it's more having to do with the fact that the nba is broadcast internationally, with many of its star players being international faces, not just stars in the usa. meanwhile, aside from a handful of european stars (who are from various countries), the majority of the starters from each team are ones that haven't exactly been featured on espn and the like.

it's a question of being able to get reasonably familiar with a player's game over the course of time. every basketball player in the world knows lebron's go-to move is the freight-train dribble drive to the right. kobe's is a jab step, pump fake, draw contact and shoot. howard's is two-handed gorilla slam. etc. i'd wager most of the nba stars can't even NAME the entire starting fives of their opponents, much less what their games are like. and that's something that is much easier to internalize when viewed over and over again during a long period of time, as opposed to attempting to scout each team over the course of a couple days before the game.
>> Anonymous
no coach k coached team has ever defended the pick and roll
>> Anonymous
>>101100
this is true. ratface is overrated. watch them go down in flames.
>> Anonymous
>>101087
>>101098

All I'm saying is that the US national team repeatedly gives up easy baskets on the defensive end because they are unaware of what the opposing team likes to do. in 2004, it was collapsing on drivers and giving up 3 pt shots. in 2006, it was endless screen-roll and weakside cuts. These aren't issues that "talent" or "finding the right player" can solve, because this isn't a matter of any single player being bad defenders. You don't see as many easy baskets in the NBA because coaches get tons of info on how each player plays, and drills that into into their players before and during games (even then, Manu gets to drive left 6 times a game). While NBA players are unfamiliar with foreign players, the US should mitigate that advantage by getting better scouting reports on what teams tend to do. allowing opponents to shoot 63% is not a matter of hustle/talent on the players part - that's bad preparation by the coaching staff.

Of course, the US players don't have the luxury of watching international players year after year, and any info they get from scouting reports will be hard to implement in game. But the olympics are different than NBA. Lebron doesn't have to drive to the basket, Kobe doesn't have to take jumpshots, Stoudemire doesn't have to do clockwise spin moves. They should be able to play differently than when they are on their NBA teams. The key to scouting Euro's is identifying the offense that they run - and not individual players. Of course, this is all armchair talk, and the actual strategery that goes into preparation is beyond any of us, but I just can't see how superior US athletes can give up so many points.
>> Anonymous
As for the US not caring, I wouldn't say that the US team doesn't care, but just that other teams care much more than the US. Look at it like this. Spain wins the Worlds and Pau Gasol in tears while sitting out with a broken ankle. You think anyone on the US roster is willing to show that much dedication? Would LeBron rather win with team USA than with Cleveland? see>>99515
>> Anonymous
>>101145
I'm going to half agree. I think all of the top talent around the world is scouted, and I'm hoping the staff would get notes from teams around the league. What the scouting doesn't see is how the teams play. The foreign teams grow up playing together, our guys see each other at AAU/NCAA but they never play with each other until they start the first game. The foreign guys know each other, they know where everyone wants the ball, they're tuned into to each other, etc.
>> Anonymous
let chris quinn play and baffle the opponents
>> Anonymous
>>101145
>These aren't issues that "talent" or "finding the right player" can solve, because this isn't a matter of any single player being bad defenders.

I actually think one or two plus-level defenders are exactly the right kind of medicine for those sorts of problems. When a team gets P&Red or Princeton'd to death, it's usually because one or two guys are not keeping up their end of the bargain, and those offensive sets are built to expose the weakest links in opposing defenses. For a perfect example, check the opening of the LAL/UTA game last night - Kobe Bryant decided not to play defense for the first five minutes or so, and RONNIE BREWER scored the Jazz's first 8 points, on 3 dunks and a lay-up.

One really good on-the-ball defender and one really good player at guarding the paint can make a world of difference. See KG's effect in Boston (aside from the psychological mumbo-jumbo of "trying harder"). He's very long, still explosive, and has good lateral quickness, which allows him to patrol the entire area around the basket. This means that even when players get picked off, Garnett has the ability to protect against his own man while still affecting the ball-handler's ability to shoot/pass.
>> Anonymous
>>101168
This is usually the case. Defending the pick and roll takes a concerted team effort. However, in international play it also takes intelligence and knowledge of how offensive sets are going to unfold in order to react to them. A classic example of this was the US-Argentina game in 2004. Argentina ran Ginobili off a lot of off the ball screens for open threes, and when the US big men stepped out to help, opposing big men would step out for an open three or roll to basket after a quick pass. US then had its bigs stick to opposing bigs, and had Wade (the most tenacious defender on that team at the time) chase Ginobili. Wade crashed through a series of screens ... and into Ginobili on a three point shot. The players will give it their all, but the series of screens and variations off of pick and rolls are too much for the players to handle on their own. In 2006, the undoing came from playing small forwards as power forwards, where they were unsure of how to defend pick and rolls. There were no bad individual defenders on the 2006 roster (even Melo played decent defense through most of the tournament).

that being said, i do think US is going to do better this year because of the addition of Kobe as a perimeter defender.
>> Anonymous
>>101210
honestly, even as a lakersfag, kobe hasn't been a premiere defender since 2005, when he started taking on the entire offensive load. watch him now - he leaves his man all the time, looking to disrupt passes and get steals.

i think adding tayshaun prince will do far more for team usa's perimeter defense than kobe. i have yet to see a player prince can't, at the very least, slow down.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
BOW DOWN, AMERICUNTS
>> Anonymous
>>101237
I agree that Tayshaun is a better and more consistent 1 on 1 defender than Kobe is on a daily basis. The reason why I thought Kobe would make an important defensive impact is because he is great at chasing opposing guards around baseline screens, such as when he shut down Hamilton in the 2004 Finals after Hamilton had torched Miller in the Eastern Finals. Kobe will be a valuable Bruce Bowen type defender, whereas Prince is better as an on ball defender.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
WE GOT THE NIGGERS
>> Anonymous
>>101302

WHAT THE FUCK, KORNHEISER?
>> Anonymous
It will be hilarious when the American team fails to get the gold yet again. The jews in the media will be like "but... but... it was a dream team of superniggers!!!111"
>> Anonymous
>>102001
lol no.

He just looks like a stereotypical dirty jew.