Who gets the most blame if the US doesn't win the mens basketball gold? Last time, the haters put too much of the blame on LeBron (I despise the LeBronze term) despite the team getting screwed by larry the clown's decision making. Would it be LBJ again? What about Kobe?
Nope, it'll be the lack of good team defense, inability to do good against the zone, lack of enough good big men, and lack of enough good shooters.
I just don't see them not getting gold as a possibility. The supposed biggest competition was Spain right (you could say Argentina as well I guess), look at what they did to them. Unless Argentina has a close to perfect game and the U.S. has their worst game imaginable, I don't see a loss coming.
I think it is very arbitrary, no one in particular comes to mind. In my opinion, the scapegoat will be the Superstar who most under performs in those last three games. That's what the media will focus on at least.
I see the media and fans as creating different goats The media will pick on Melo and possibly Kidd since they aren't golden children Fans will stick to their script for the most part. Generalizing here but, Kobe fans will bash LBJ and Wade while the Kobe haters will bash Kobe.
I could barely imagine them winning a game by less than 15 points. But if they don't get the gold medal I would blame whoever plays the worst, chokes, or whoever gives the least effort on defense.
If USA does not win the gold I will put the blame on Michael Redd because I hate him But generally speaking, I believe the blame will be put on everyone. USA has the most talent in the Olympics that they've had in years, and if they still don't take home the gold, well, the blame should be on everyone.
IMO it's a 99% chance US will win it all. We're lucky to have Melo on the team, he plays incredibly in international play. If we lose i think it will be on people like Prince, Boozer, and Kidd and rightfully so since they haven't been contributing as much as they should be. Boozer isn't so bad actually... the other two, eh. Srry Joker
USA will win gold. That being said, for the sake of the thread, I think you've got to blame Kobe for leaving his jumpshot back in the states, and Coach K for not starting Dwayne Wade.
Yeah he started cold, those were the first two games though. At least lately he's much more respectable.
Kidd hasn't impacted Team USA as much as he did last summer, but I think there are several factors that should be considered. For one, he hasn't really looked to play point guard on the team. If the assist is there, he'll get it, but most of the time, he'll hand it off to scorers like Lebron, Kobe, Wade etc, whom are capable of scoring on their own. That hasn't harmed Team USA, in any way. Secondly, Kidd isn't getting the same amount of minutes as he did last year. Unless I'm wrong, both Paul and Deron average more minutes than Kidd does. Once again, I'm getting this from the top of my head, but I believe Kidd has played the most minutes in this year's Olympics against Germany. 3 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. Not mind blowing, but certainly not bad.
I don't even think you need to justify his boxscore. What he brings to the team is A) not something that be found in statistics yet B) important enough and in such magnitude that it starts him on this squad. Think about that. Any star can say "yeah I'll put my team first and I won't look to score 25 a night," but talk is cheap. In order for this to actually happen, you need a guy like Kidd at the point. People had issues when Iverson and Carmelo were paired up, well Kidd is the glue that allows a lineup of Dwight, Carmelo, Lebron, and Kobe to flourish. It's having a veteran prescience at every practice, and a guy who has been there before. It's hard to have one superstar trying to find his way amongst 5 players, and it's easier when you've got two superstars working together amongst 4.
