Insidehoops.com front page says that it's official that today the following players will be added to the USA basketbal team: LeBron James, Richard Jefferson, Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire
if no Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, Garnett this team is going to have major trouble getting the gold....this team doesn't look much better to me than the world championship team that did so poorly
Actually, I went to Insidehoops.com and they said it was a rumor: http://www.insidehoops.com/olympics.shtml <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">May 11, 2004: An InsideHoops.com source close to USA Basketball reveals to InsideHoops.com that LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson, Shawn Marion, Brad Miller, Sam Cassell, Amare Stoudemire and Stephon Marbury on key guys on USA Basketball's Olympic want list. The Associated Press have a source that revealed some names, but a few of them don't match the names that we heard and report above. As for players already invited who appear to be playing, these are the known guys: Mike Bibby, Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Karl Malone, Jermaine O'neal and Tim Duncan. Three players were going to play but probably won't, for their own reasons: Kobe Bryant (trial), Jason Kidd (aching knees) and Ray Allen (getting married)." </div>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting _EcLiPsE_:</div><div class="quote_post">if no Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, Garnett this team is going to have major trouble getting the gold....this team doesn't look much better to me than the world championship team that did so poorly</div> very true...shawn marion stoudemire ...they're GODD but not U.S. Olympic good...
I don't think its a rumor, they had it on the bottom bar on NBA TV. Marion, Amare, Starbs is like the 03' Suns all over again.
Dag, not one big star. The U.S. does look like their in trouble and not win the gold medal again in just year from the 2k2 team.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting RocketLaunch:</div><div class="quote_post">If Duncan doesn't go the US won't medal... Ouch!</div> I don't know about no medal but I don't think they could win the Gold medal. Wasn't he considered the best of the team last year throughout the Qualifying games.
I think they have a good chance to get gold again. Even if Duncan doesn't go, they still have other good front court players outside of him. Like, for example, Jermaine O' Neal, nothing wrong with him. Plus, with backcourt players like James, Bibby, McGrady, Marion, Iverson, and Kidd, that's a pretty good set of players. I don't think people should worry too much about this team. They'll be fine.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting diamondroad17:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't know about no medal but I don't think they could win the Gold medal. Wasn't he considered the best of the team last year throughout the Qualifying games.</div> They might metal, only because they were grouped up with a bunch of scrub teams... Duncan and AI were the best...
3 players to call to usa team in my opinion Gilbert Arenas, Zach Randolph and for the center position i think Brad Miller is good,Ed Curry is good,Theo Ratliff is good but the better for this position is Emeka Okafor
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting zonebeast:</div><div class="quote_post">3 players to call to usa team in my opinion Gilbert Arenas, Zach Randolph and for the center position i think Brad Miller is good,Ed Curry is good,Theo Ratliff is good but the better for this position is Emeka Okafor</div> I'm thinking no. Okafor is a rookie. Why would you throw a rookie into that. Plus, you think that whatever team drafts him is going to let him go? Not likely.
I think the reason the 2003 team did so badly was because of the mix of players. Nobody knew what to do with each other. It will be better with some role players like Jefferson, Marion, and Stoudemire in the mix who can affect the game without having to touch the ball every possesion. I've always thought two or three big stars would be enough to win a gold for the US, because those stars can probably carry the offensive load for a majority of the game.
