Ron Artest should be there. He would dominate all players on the defensive end and we have enough scorers so we don't need him there. With the players we have I don't see us winning but there still is a good chance of it happening.
THeres a big issue of security,. TIm Duncan has expressed concerns over it and terrorism etc,.(no source, sorry) But I think this is big step down, but the US will still dominate, except have a bit of a harder time.
Where's B.D. in all this? It seems like he should be near the top of the list for P.G.'s, a guy with insane athleticism and penetration, which is something many int'l PG's might not have. On the other hand, he needs a restful and productive off-season.
guys what i find the most funny is that the US had a good team(not great, altho some allstars) and still didnt even medal(6th place!)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BigEasyShorty:</div><div class="quote_post">Where's B.D. in all this? It seems like he should be near the top of the list for P.G.'s, a guy with insane athleticism and penetration, which is something many int'l PG's might not have. On the other hand, he needs a restful and productive off-season.</div> They were probably put off by his ball-hogging last time.
Man this team has a lot of you talent thats good but its also not good where are the Iversons the J Kidds the KG's I think the team needs an older superstar player.BUt if not this team reminds me of the 2002 team (I think), the first U.S team to not get Olympic gold.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting nkwu:</div><div class="quote_post">THeres a big issue of security,. TIm Duncan has expressed concerns over it and terrorism etc,.(no source, sorry) But I think this is big step down, but the US will still dominate, except have a bit of a harder time.</div> I saw a show on NBATV a few days ago about team USA and they interviewed Larry Brown (coach of team USA) and he said he was very disappointed that all of these players are backing out like this. Ray Allen said he couldn't make it because he has to go to a wedding of one of his cousins, what a joke. I've lost all respect for these players that have refused to go citing safety concerns or using other lame excuses. Safety is not and should not even be a concern for the USA basketball players that will be over there. On the show I saw the director of USA basketball talked about how the players will be protected and they will be staying off shore on their own private cruise ship and will only come to the mainland when it's time to play. The ship has it's own practice facilities and everything and when it comes time to leave the ship for a game, they fly in via a helicopter. The ship will also be guarded by Greek special forces soldiers at all times 24/7 and the helicopter they travel on will have a military escort. These guys are just crying about safety using it as an excuse. The real underlying reason they don't want to go is because they don't want to be known as the first dream team to not win a gold medal, now that competition around the world in other countries is significant better than it was just 4 years ago. If you are invited to play for your country in the Olympics on an international stage, you DO NOT say no under any circumstance, at least that's how it used to be when players cared more about their pride and their country rather than their bank accounts. Many of these superstars will never even have the opportunity to win an NBA championship, so you would think they would jump at the opportunity to play for their country and win a gold medal.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The real underlying reason they don't want to go is because they don't want to be known as the first dream team to not win a gold medal</div> Well I guess the 2k2 team doesn't qualify as a dream team. Or is that because it wasn't during the olympics? Well if that's the case, then yeah they don't want to be known as the first dream team to not win the gold medal.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 30 standing ver:</div><div class="quote_post">Well I guess the 2k2 team doesn't qualify as a dream team. Or is that because it wasn't during the olympics? Well if that's the case, then yeah they don't want to be known as the first dream team to not win the gold medal.</div> There have only been 3 dream teams; 1992, 1996 and 2000. Teams that were assembled for other purposes such as qualifying and whatnot (2002) are not considered to be dream teams or anything of the sort, only teams that actually compete in the actual olympics every 4 years.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Accord:</div><div class="quote_post">I saw a show on NBATV a few days ago about team USA and they interviewed Larry Brown (coach of team USA) and he said he was very disappointed that all of these players are backing out like this. Ray Allen said he couldn't make it because he has to go to a wedding of one of his cousins, what a joke. I've lost all respect for these players that have refused to go citing safety concerns or using other lame excuses. Safety is not and should not even be a concern for the USA basketball players that will be over there. On the show I saw the director of USA basketball talked about how the players will be protected and they will be staying off shore on their own private cruise ship and will only come to the mainland when it's time to play. The ship has it's own practice facilities and everything and when it comes time to leave the ship for a game, they fly in via a helicopter. The ship will also be guarded by Greek special forces soldiers at all times 24/7 and the helicopter they travel on will have a military escort. These guys are just crying about safety using it as an excuse. The real underlying reason they don't want to go is because they don't want to be known as the first dream team to not win a gold medal, now that competition around the world in other countries is significant better than it was just 4 years ago. If you are invited to play for your country in the Olympics on an international stage, you DO NOT say no under any circumstance, at least that's how it used to be when players cared more about their pride and their country rather than their bank accounts. Many of these superstars will never even have the opportunity to win an NBA championship, so you would think they would jump at the opportunity to play for their country and win a gold medal.</div> What do you mean safety is not an issue? You know how close Greece is to the Middle East? You know how much the Middle East hates Americans, you know what a tiny raft did to USS Cole, you gotta know it's a risk too. I can't blame them for not going, if it were here in the US then yeah you can, but it's in Greece a country notorious for bad security, especially it's airport. It's not about being embarrassed either, if the best players go it's over, period. The rest of the world can compete against the team we sent to the World Championships, because they had an answer to everyone on that team, and really there's only one player they don't have one for and that's Shaq. Shaq isn't going so it's not going to be as easy but if the best players after him go it's still over, a starting 5 of Duncan, Garnett, Kobe, Iverson, and Kidd would dominate even with UConn's starting 5 as the bench. The players know that, but that security question is legit and shouldn't be dismissed.
At the 1996 Olympics a bomb was detonated in Olympic Park, which also happened to be in the USA. Did any of the players ***** out and go home? No. Did any players skip the Olympics in 2000? No. If Pat Tillman can leave the NFL and join the Army and die in combat, there is no reason these NBA players cannot represent their country for two weeks during the summer playing BASKETBALL. I do blame them for not going and I have absolutely zero respect whatsoever for the players that were invited to go and turned down the opportunity. Airport security, hotels, all of that is just completely irrelevant. These players would be flying in there on private jets and every single minute they spend in Greece is meticulously planned and they would be under heavy guard every single second 24/7 for those two weeks. The NBA players that go over there would receive 1000 times the amount of security that the regular athletes like runners, swimmers, etc. will receive. Also, I read in an article that USA Basketball is actually working with the FBI and CIA on the security plans for the dream team and it will be very similar to how the CIA and State Department handles U.S. diplomats going overseas into hostile terroritory and whatnot. They will be completely safe, even our own government is involved in the security of this team.
1996 was not 2004, pre 9-11 terrorism was not nearly as feared as it is today... If you think there is a comparison to be made with what Tillman did and playing basketball, than you had better agree with KG's comments about Game 7, both compare war to basketball. They CAN go but they decided not to just like Tillman decided to go, there are legit security concerns, some had other reasons, and some of them already have Gold Medals anyway. That's all fine and dandy, but the fact that anyone would need THAT much security still has to worry you, and I still can't blame them for fearing an attack.
I seriously don't believe in the prospect of going to Athens to be a security risk. There's about as much reason to fear extremists attacking possibly the most well-guarded group of civilians in history as there was to duct-tape all your home windows to prepare for a mass biological attack.
>>Olympic Security Let's play "Bad and Worse": Which one of these news items is "bad" -- and which one is "worse?" * Athens police found a small bomb near the Olympic complex today. * The FBI director criticized Olympic security preparations at a Senate hearing yesterday. Bad? Worse? How about "Both?"<< That's from today's Daily Quikie on ESPN... http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/quickie... Does everyone still think security isn't anything to worry about?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting RocketLaunch:</div><div class="quote_post">Does everyone still think security isn't anything to worry about?</div> For the USA Basketball NBA players and the accomodations and special arrangements they will have, absolutely not. For the regular USA olympic swimmer or runner? Yes.
