Team USA announced

The team was announced. No big shockers.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/2012-team-usa-men-basketball-roster-set-set-231941035--oly.html

I'm gonna predict right now that the USA doesn't win gold. That is a flawed team. Spain is going to win the gold! Too many selfish players on the USA squad.

Romoholic wrote:

I'm gonna predict right now that the USA doesn't win gold. That is a flawed team. Spain is going to win the gold! Too many selfish players on the USA squad.

You may be right. Size is an issue for the US a well. I think K.Durrant will be the one who makes or breaks the team. If his long ball is dropping at a high rate then they'll probably be alright..... probably.

Spain looks tough.

What this team needs is Hayward and Favors.

Truthfully though, Hayward could excel in this kind of play. Especially with his point forward ability on this team full of scorers. His desire to defend wouldn't hurt either. I'm not suggesting that he's better than the guys who made the squad, just saying that he might do a good job if given the chance.

I dunno, I think that team may actually be better than the one that won gold in 2008.

Dwayne Wade was the leading scorer in 2008, his role is going to be filled by Kevin Durant.

Jason Kidd was the starter, with Paul backing him up and D-Will playing a lot of SG. Now Paul will likely be the starter with D-Will backing him up and still playing some SG.

Tayshawn Prince and Michael Redd where the wings that saw limited action, that is now James Harden Andre Igoudala.

Chris Bosh has been replaced by Kevin Love

Dwight Howard has been replaced by Tyson Chandler

Carlos Boozer has been replaced by Blake Griffin



That is a much better offensive team for the international game if you ask me. They have more shooters that can spread the floor as well as guys that can attack the paint relentlessly and score inside. Chandler is a master of the pick and roll, something that Howard had trouble with last time around. They will be a nightmare to guard no matter who they put on the floor.

Defensively this team is interesting. I actually don't think the biggest step back was in the frontcourt. Bosh played more minutes than Howard at C and Lebron and Melo played most of the minutes at PF. Chandler makes a suitable replacement for Howard, and Love for Bosh, though I think Chander will play more minutes and Love less.

I actually think the bigger problem defensively is not having Wade. Wade was an absolute monster defensively, and while Durant is certainly capable, I just don't see him as a game changer defensively like Wade was in 2008.

One of the more interesting things I think we will see is the "small ball" lineups of some combination of Lebron, Melo, Iggy, and Durant playing PF/C. I think that will be devastatingly effective against most international teams, but it will run into problems against teams that have several quality bigs and guards that can handle the pressure and get them the ball, like Spain. That was actually the very thing that happened in the 2008 gold medal game, and the USA had some serious problems before putting the game away late. The Spanish team is even better, and bigger, this time around, that's going to be a major problem for this team.

Still, I thought a lot of the 2008 teams success was due to the fact that the players set their egos aside, bought into the team concept, and just filled the roles they were asked to fill. If this team can do that again then I don't think anybody in the world can beat them. Should be interesting.

TheMagnus wrote:

I dunno, I think that team may actually be better than the one that won gold in 2008.

Dwayne Wade was the leading scorer in 2008, his role is going to be filled by Kevin Durant.

Jason Kidd was the starter, with Paul backing him up and D-Will playing a lot of SG. Now Paul will likely be the starter with D-Will backing him up and still playing some SG.

Tayshawn Prince and Michael Redd where the wings that saw limited action, that is now James Harden Andre Igoudala.

Chris Bosh has been replaced by Kevin Love

Dwight Howard has been replaced by Tyson Chandler

Carlos Boozer has been replaced by Blake Griffin



That is a much better offensive team for the international game if you ask me. They have more shooters that can spread the floor as well as guys that can attack the paint relentlessly and score inside. Chandler is a master of the pick and roll, something that Howard had trouble with last time around. They will be a nightmare to guard no matter who they put on the floor.

Defensively this team is interesting. I actually don't think the biggest step back was in the frontcourt. Bosh played more minutes than Howard at C and Lebron and Melo played most of the minutes at PF. Chandler makes a suitable replacement for Howard, and Love for Bosh, though I think Chander will play more minutes and Love less.

I actually think the bigger problem defensively is not having Wade. Wade was an absolute monster defensively, and while Durant is certainly capable, I just don't see him as a game changer defensively like Wade was in 2008.

One of the more interesting things I think we will see is the "small ball" lineups of some combination of Lebron, Melo, Iggy, and Durant playing PF/C. I think that will be devastatingly effective against most international teams, but it will run into problems against teams that have several quality bigs and guards that can handle the pressure and get them the ball, like Spain. That was actually the very thing that happened in the 2008 gold medal game, and the USA had some serious problems before putting the game away late. The Spanish team is even better, and bigger, this time around, that's going to be a major problem for this team.

Still, I thought a lot of the 2008 teams success was due to the fact that the players set their egos aside, bought into the team concept, and just filled the roles they were asked to fill. If this team can do that again then I don't think anybody in the world can beat them. Should be interesting.

Nice analysis there magnus.

So, I was going to be in the DC area for a couple weeks and team USA is going to play Brazil at the Verizon Center (home of the Wizards) next Monday so I decided to see what tickets are going for, maybe take my son and sit in the cheap seats...

ya...no.

There are no "cheap seats". Worst seat in the house is 90 bucks.

Maybe we can catch it on ESPN3?

TheMagnus wrote:

So, I was going to be in the DC area for a couple weeks and team USA is going to play Brazil at the Verizon Center (home of the Wizards) next Monday so I decided to see what tickets are going for, maybe take my son and sit in the cheap seats...

ya...no.

There are no "cheap seats". Worst seat in the house is 90 bucks.

Maybe we can catch it on ESPN3?

Come on up 95 about 20mins Mag, can watch at one of my Md spots.

Also, to pile on one more reason why MJ wannabe is a douche, here he says that his current squad could beat the dream team.....DOUCHE. And an article comparing his thoughts to actual matchups. Interesting.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1253429-usa-basketball-2012-MJ wannabe-bryant-insane-to-say-his-squad-can-beat-dream-team

Mutangclan wrote:

TheMagnus wrote:

So, I was going to be in the DC area for a couple weeks and team USA is going to play Brazil at the Verizon Center (home of the Wizards) next Monday so I decided to see what tickets are going for, maybe take my son and sit in the cheap seats...

ya...no.

There are no "cheap seats". Worst seat in the house is 90 bucks.

Maybe we can catch it on ESPN3?

Come on up 95 about 20mins Mag, can watch at one of my Md spots.

Also, to pile on one more reason why MJ wannabe is a douche, here he says that his current squad could beat the dream team.....DOUCHE. And an article comparing his thoughts to actual matchups. Interesting.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1253429-usa-basketball-2012-MJ wannabe-bryant-insane-to-say-his-squad-can-beat-dream-team

WTF? MJ wannabe is freaking delusional. IMO Jordan's Bulls either pre or post his 1st retirement could handle this team.

If you read the comments on the story link it makes you wonder what the hell is wrong with fans today. Most of them thought MJ wannabe was right.

I get that every generation thinks that their players are the best, but come on man. Every player on that team except Lechner was a 50 all time great.

People just don't know the game anymore. It's pretty disappointing. Hell MJ wannabe isn't even a player that can carry a team to any great success anymore. Yet you have people still saying he is the best player in the game still.

I'm really glad I'm a fan of a team that has a pretty smart fanbase. If I hear one more 13 year old scream about Lebron being the greatest of all time. I might have to take my own life!

Mutangclan wrote:

TheMagnus wrote:

Also, to pile on one more reason why MJ wannabe is a douche, here he says that his current squad could beat the dream team.....DOUCHE. And an article comparing his thoughts to actual matchups. Interesting.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1253429-usa-basketball-2012-MJ wannabe-bryant-insane-to-say-his-squad-can-beat-dream-team

This group of players don't have the size to deal with the dream team, just goes to show MJ wannabe is not the brightest guy in the world. Size is a big question with this USA team in the coming Olympic games this is not going to be a walk in the park for these guys and if they are all thinking like this things could turn out really bad for this team before it is all said and done. Lets all hope that none of the other players are thinking they are the best team every to step on an Olympic basketball court, to win any games they are going to have to all play at the top of their games it is a worldly game now and the dream team had a lot to do with it becoming this way.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/2012/07/12/blake-griffin-team-usa/index.html

I guess you hate to see anyone get hurt, But I really hate this guy......Sounds like it could be pretty serious.

Romoholic wrote:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/2012/07/12/blake-griffin-team-usa/index.html

I guess you hate to see anyone get hurt, But I really hate this guy......Sounds like it could be pretty serious.

Yeah, you don't want guys to get hurt (except maybe MJ wannabe) or people will think twice about coming back next time.

Anthony Davis gets the nod as first replacement? Interesting.

BTW, I liked "K-o-b-e" being " **** " more than "MJ wannabe" . Just my opinion.

zero24gravity wrote:

Romoholic wrote:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/2012/07/12/blake-griffin-team-usa/index.html

I guess you hate to see anyone get hurt, But I really hate this guy......Sounds like it could be pretty serious.

Yeah, you don't want guys to get hurt (except maybe MJ wannabe) or people will think twice about coming back next time.

Anthony Davis gets the nod as first replacement? Interesting.

BTW, I liked "K-o-b-e" being " **** " more than "MJ wannabe" . Just my opinion.

From what I have read Cousins and Favors can't join the team now. Something to do with the drug testing that the players have to go through to be eligible. Too bad because the team is hurting for bigs now.

I can't stand MJ wannabe, can't stand him, but after all the legends, Barkley, Pippen, Jordan, Magic all laughed and said he's a fool for what he said, I find myself for one time only, loving his response:

Via Ben Golliver: “Here’s MJ wannabe Bryant’s full, must-read response to Michael Jordan’s Dream Team trash talk. Jordan said he laughed when he heard Bryant said the 2012 USA Basketball team could beat the 1992 Dream Team. Bryant’s post-game response after USA defeated Dominican Republic in Las Vegas on Thursday night: ‘So what, he knows I’m a bad mother[expletive]. I’m not really tripping. The fact is, they have Ewing and Robinson and those big guys, it’s tough. If you’re asking me, ‘Can you beat them one game?’ Hell yeah, we can beat them in one game. You didn’t ask me if we could beat them in a 7-game series. In one game, we can beat them. No question about it.’”

Mutangclan wrote:

I can't stand MJ wannabe, can't stand him, but after all the legends, Barkley, Pippen, Jordan, Magic all laughed and said he's a fool for what he said, I find myself for one time only, loving his response:

Via Ben Golliver: “Here’s MJ wannabe Bryant’s full, must-read response to Michael Jordan’s Dream Team trash talk. Jordan said he laughed when he heard Bryant said the 2012 USA Basketball team could beat the 1992 Dream Team. Bryant’s post-game response after USA defeated Dominican Republic in Las Vegas on Thursday night: ‘So what, he knows I’m a bad mother[expletive]. I’m not really tripping. The fact is, they have Ewing and Robinson and those big guys, it’s tough. If you’re asking me, ‘Can you beat them one game?’ Hell yeah, we can beat them in one game. You didn’t ask me if we could beat them in a 7-game series. In one game, we can beat them. No question about it.’”

I think MJ would be insulted being involved in any kind of comparison even if it is a want-to-be guy like this, he will never come close in his life to being an MJ. Put want-to-be on he Bulls teams that MJ was on does he make them 6 time NBA Champ's I don't think so, MJ was the reason for those titles No Question's about it.

dongibby wrote:

Mutangclan wrote:

I can't stand MJ wannabe, can't stand him, but after all the legends, Barkley, Pippen, Jordan, Magic all laughed and said he's a fool for what he said, I find myself for one time only, loving his response:

Via Ben Golliver: “Here’s MJ wannabe Bryant’s full, must-read response to Michael Jordan’s Dream Team trash talk. Jordan said he laughed when he heard Bryant said the 2012 USA Basketball team could beat the 1992 Dream Team. Bryant’s post-game response after USA defeated Dominican Republic in Las Vegas on Thursday night: ‘So what, he knows I’m a bad mother[expletive]. I’m not really tripping. The fact is, they have Ewing and Robinson and those big guys, it’s tough. If you’re asking me, ‘Can you beat them one game?’ Hell yeah, we can beat them in one game. You didn’t ask me if we could beat them in a 7-game series. In one game, we can beat them. No question about it.’”

I think MJ would be insulted being involved in any kind of comparison even if it is a want-to-be guy like this, he will never come close in his life to being an MJ. Put want-to-be on he Bulls teams that MJ was on does he make them 6 time NBA Champ's I don't think so, MJ was the reason for those titles No Question's about it.

There is a reason people loved Jordan. Even with the heartbreak he caused to opposing fans like the Jazz, Cavs, Knicks and others they can still respect him on the court. I remember watching him play and being able to realize that I was seeing something special and knowing that he was a historically great player. He had his flaws as a person off the court and still acts pretty douchy, but on the court he was nothing but amazing.

The thing is even without Jordan the Dream team would have crushed this team.

Romoholic wrote:

There is a reason people loved Jordan. Even with the heartbreak he caused to opposing fans like the Jazz, Cavs, Knicks and others they can still respect him on the court. I remember watching him play and being able to realize that I was seeing something special and knowing that he was a historically great player. He had his flaws as a person off the court and still acts pretty douchy, but on the court he was nothing but amazing.

The thing is even without Jordan the Dream team would have crushed this team.

I don't know that they would have crushed them, they probably would have beaten them, definitely in a 7 game series like Bryant said. But you take away Jordan and it's an entirely different story...USA2012 would kill the Dream Team without Jordan.

Two simple facts have to be taken into account, #1 the size advantage really isn't all that big, and #2 several of the biggest names on the Dream team (specificlally Magic and Bird) were WAY past their prime and basicly came out of retirement to paly in the olympics.

The size thing is interesting because people don't realize that Lebron is about the same size as Karl Malone, Anthony is bigger than Barkley, and Durant is longer than anybody on the Dream team not named Robinson or Ewing, Chandler is about the same size as Robinson, and that's not even talking about Love or Davis. So the size advantage is really only one position, C.

Now I'm not saying that the Dream team doesn't have a MASSIVELY HUGE advantage in down low, because they do. USA2012 has exactly 0 guys that could dominate the paint the way Malone, Barkley, Robinson, and Ewing could, and all 4 of those guys were in their prime.

But every player on USA 2012 is basicly in their prime, and the Dream Team would have a hell of a time matching up with that squad. If Magic or Bird are on the court who do they guard?

Here's the likely starting lineups...

Paul (27) / Magic (32...city miles)
Bryant (33) / Jordan (29)
Durant (24) / Bird (36)
James (28) / Barkley (29)
Chandler (30) / Ewing (30)

You cannot tell me that the Dream Team dominates that matchup. And if you take out Jordan and replace him with Drexeler or Mullin and it starts to lean pretty heavy in favor of USA2012.

then you go to the reserves....

Williams/Stockton
Harden/Drexler
Anthony/Pippen
Igoudala/Mullins
Love/Malone
Davis/Robinson

This is where I think the Dream team starts to pull away a bit, I think they have the head to head edge in every matchup there.

So that's how I think the game would go, I think USA2012 would get out fast and lead for perhaps most of the game, and then the Dream team would settle in during the second half and just grind it out taking control in the late 3rd/early 4th and never letting up.

Probably your first post I completely disagree with. Bird and Magic wouldn't have gotten that many minutes. You would have seen more Stockton and Pippen. That is a complete advantage with Stockton and a slight edge for Durant. Stock and Pippen were both great defenders.

If you put it on paper it might be pretty close, but the intangibles of the dream team makes it not even close.

Also most guys on the dream team played rough aggresive ball. That is sure fire way to beat the iso style that most guys on this team play. I can see James or Griffen driving the lane and getting layed the F out by Karl or Charles. Stockton was a very physical player that would have gotten to Deron and Paul.

This years team has style, but lacks substance. The size thing you bring up isn't really true. Yeah there are some comparisons, but can anyone argue that James is in the same class strength wise that Karl was? Hell Karl is probably still a lot stronger than James. Charles would have bang Anthony around for a quarter and Anthony would get tired of it and disappear.

Pippen was an elite defender and would have been able to limit Durant.

I have hundreds of hours of early 90s NBA games on VHS that I recently converted to DVD. I watch them quite often. So I'm not counting on memory for my opinions on this. I watch the way those old guys played and it's a completely different game than today. Those guys outside of a few didn't just use the athletic ability to win games the all had very hight BB IQs.

In the end there might be 2-3 HOFers on this years team, pretty much every guy on the dream team was one.

Romoholic wrote:

Probably your first post I completely disagree with. Bird and Magic wouldn't have gotten that many minutes. You would have seen more Stockton and Pippen. That is a complete advantage with Stockton and a slight edge for Durant. Stock and Pippen were both great defenders.

If you put it on paper it might be pretty close, but the intangibles of the dream team makes it not even close.

Also most guys on the dream team played rough aggresive ball. That is sure fire way to beat the iso style that most guys on this team play. I can see James or Griffen driving the lane and getting layed the F out by Karl or Charles. Stockton was a very physical player that would have gotten to Deron and Paul.

This years team has style, but lacks substance. The size thing you bring up isn't really true. Yeah there are some comparisons, but can anyone argue that James is in the same class strength wise that Karl was? Hell Karl is probably still a lot stronger than James. Charles would have bang Anthony around for a quarter and Anthony would get tired of it and disappear.

Pippen was an elite defender and would have been able to limit Durant.

I have hundreds of hours of early 90s NBA games on VHS that I recently converted to DVD. I watch them quite often. So I'm not counting on memory for my opinions on this. I watch the way those old guys played and it's a completely different game than today. Those guys outside of a few didn't just use the athletic ability to win games the all had very hight BB IQs.

In the end there might be 2-3 HOFers on this years team, pretty much every guy on the dream team was one.

Dude, Stock barely played on that team, he was the last guy off the bench. Besides, the Stock/Paul matchup would be epic and hardly lopsided.

Not in 1992 Karl wasn't, he didn't become Mr. Universe until later. They play different styles, but physically they are remarkably similar.

And they did play a lot different back then, because the game was different, the rules were different. These guys can't get away with the crap that they got away with back then, if they could they would be doing it.

2-3 HOF'ers? lets see...

MJ wannabe, Durant, James and Paul makes 4 first ballot Hall of Fame players without a debate, and everybody else on the team has a resume that compares favorably to the guys on the Dream team at similar points in their career.

Seems to me like maybe you're undervaluing the current team a bit.

TheMagnus wrote:

Romoholic wrote:

Probably your first post I completely disagree with. Bird and Magic wouldn't have gotten that many minutes. You would have seen more Stockton and Pippen. That is a complete advantage with Stockton and a slight edge for Durant. Stock and Pippen were both great defenders.

If you put it on paper it might be pretty close, but the intangibles of the dream team makes it not even close.

Also most guys on the dream team played rough aggresive ball. That is sure fire way to beat the iso style that most guys on this team play. I can see James or Griffen driving the lane and getting layed the F out by Karl or Charles. Stockton was a very physical player that would have gotten to Deron and Paul.

There is no way you call Durant a HOFer yet. Chris Paul either.
This years team has style, but lacks substance. The size thing you bring up isn't really true. Yeah there are some comparisons, but can anyone argue that James is in the same class strength wise that Karl was? Hell Karl is probably still a lot stronger than James. Charles would have bang Anthony around for a quarter and Anthony would get tired of it and disappear.

Pippen was an elite defender and would have been able to limit Durant.

I have hundreds of hours of early 90s NBA games on VHS that I recently converted to DVD. I watch them quite often. So I'm not counting on memory for my opinions on this. I watch the way those old guys played and it's a completely different game than today. Those guys outside of a few didn't just use the athletic ability to win games the all had very hight BB IQs.

In the end there might be 2-3 HOFers on this years team, pretty much every guy on the dream team was one.

Dude, Stock barely played on that team, he was the last guy off the bench. Besides, the Stock/Paul matchup would be epic and hardly lopsided.

Not in 1992 Karl wasn't, he didn't become Mr. Universe until later. They play different styles, but physically they are remarkably similar.

And they did play a lot different back then, because the game was different, the rules were different. These guys can't get away with the crap that they got away with back then, if they could they would be doing it.

2-3 HOF'ers? lets see...

MJ wannabe, Durant, James and Paul makes 4 first ballot Hall of Fame players without a debate, and everybody else on the team has a resume that compares favorably to the guys on the Dream team at similar points in their career.

Seems to me like maybe you're undervaluing the current team a bit.

There is no way you call Durant a HOFer yet. Chris Paul either. If Durant had a career ending injury tomorrow he wouldn't make it. I doubt CP3 would either.

As far as Stock not playing IF there were a way of these two teams playing he would have had to get more playing time. Magic could not stay with Paul. And even then Karls was much more of a physical player than James.

Yeah maybe I'm underrating these players, but I honestly can't stand 90% of this team. I don't think it's a very well put together team and I damn sure don't think they can hold a candle to the original.

Hell MJ wannabe is even backing of his original quote.

I still don't think they will win the gold. I could be wrong though.

Romoholic wrote:

There is no way you call Durant a HOFer yet. Chris Paul either. If Durant had a career ending injury tomorrow he wouldn't make it. I doubt CP3 would either.

As far as Stock not playing IF there were a way of these two teams playing he would have had to get more playing time. Magic could not stay with Paul. And even then Karls was much more of a physical player than James.

Yeah maybe I'm underrating these players, but I honestly can't stand 90% of this team. I don't think it's a very well put together team and I damn sure don't think they can hold a candle to the original.

Hell MJ wannabe is even backing of his original quote.

I still don't think they will win the gold. I could be wrong though.

Career ending injury? Durant is a 3 time NBA scoring champion, 3 time all-star, rookie of the year, with no history of injury, and he's only 23 YEARS OLD. In this day and age of medicine it would take either an extremely unlikely series of injuries or death to end his career. But regardless of the extreme unlikelihood of that, he's ALREADY a borderline HOF'er, 2 more years of this level of play and he's in, 5 more years and he could retire at 30 and get in first ballot.

Same story with Paul, he's let the league in assists twice, steals 5 times, a five time all-star, 4 time all defensive team, rookie of the year, and has 7 year career averages of 19 pts, 10 asists, 4.5 reb, and 2.5 steals per game. That's already a HOF resume and he's only 26.

Like I said before, this team is not that much different in it's makeup from the 2008 team that rolled to Gold, and I actually think it may be better for the international game than that team was. Durant is going to be an absolute monster just like he was in the World championships and the defense that this team plays is the best in the world.

The road is going to go through Spain though, and a Gold medal will not be easy.

http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/basketball/story/MJ wannabe-bryant-right-to-be-confident-but-wrong-about-beating-dream-team-071312

I think the two reasons that Original Dream Team wins a 4-2 7game series is that overall they were much more cerebral/smarter players(passing the ball huge advantage), and collectively all played better tougher defense. Those two things would lead to some crushing wins. Athletically, the current squad gets it, but thats the only clear advantage. Which in team ball doesn't consistently create victories.

Mutangclan wrote:

I think the two reasons that Original Dream Team wins a 4-2 7game series is that overall they were much more cerebral/smarter players(passing the ball huge advantage), and collectively all played better tougher defense. Those two things would lead to some crushing wins. Athletically, the current squad gets it, but thats the only clear advantage. Which in team ball doesn't consistently create victories.

The first part I agree with, they were smarter players, but the second part not so much. This new team is ridiculously good defensively, fueled by their freakish athleticism and driven by an almost religious commitment to D from the team captains, it is by far their strongest attribute.

Like I said before, I think the "toughness" perception is a product of NBA rules and not any more or less mental or physical resilience on the part of the players. Since the 90's the NBA has all but done away with the kinds of hard fouls that used to be common place and they have changed the rules to basically eliminate highly physical play, especially on the perimeter. Now that probably would translate into an advantage for the Dream Team, because international rules don't protect offensive players the way the NBA does currently, but on the other hand NBA players have learned the fine art of the flop, which the Dream Team didn't even consider, and which translates physical play into fouls and free throws.

TheMagnus wrote:

Romoholic wrote:

There is a reason people loved Jordan. Even with the heartbreak he caused to opposing fans like the Jazz, Cavs, Knicks and others they can still respect him on the court. I remember watching him play and being able to realize that I was seeing something special and knowing that he was a historically great player. He had his flaws as a person off the court and still acts pretty douchy, but on the court he was nothing but amazing.

The thing is even without Jordan the Dream team would have crushed this team.

I don't know that they would have crushed them, they probably would have beaten them, definitely in a 7 game series like Bryant said. But you take away Jordan and it's an entirely different story...USA2012 would kill the Dream Team without Jordan.

Two simple facts have to be taken into account, #1 the size advantage really isn't all that big, and #2 several of the biggest names on the Dream team (specificlally Magic and Bird) were WAY past their prime and basicly came out of retirement to paly in the olympics.

The size thing is interesting because people don't realize that Lebron is about the same size as Karl Malone, Anthony is bigger than Barkley, and Durant is longer than anybody on the Dream team not named Robinson or Ewing, Chandler is about the same size as Robinson, and that's not even talking about Love or Davis. So the size advantage is really only one position, C.

Now I'm not saying that the Dream team doesn't have a MASSIVELY HUGE advantage in down low, because they do. USA2012 has exactly 0 guys that could dominate the paint the way Malone, Barkley, Robinson, and Ewing could, and all 4 of those guys were in their prime.

But every player on USA 2012 is basicly in their prime, and the Dream Team would have a hell of a time matching up with that squad. If Magic or Bird are on the court who do they guard?

Here's the likely starting lineups...

Paul (27) / Magic (32...city miles)
Bryant (33) / Jordan (29)
Durant (24) / Bird (36)
James (28) / Barkley (29)
Chandler (30) / Ewing (30)

You cannot tell me that the Dream Team dominates that matchup. And if you take out Jordan and replace him with Drexeler or Mullin and it starts to lean pretty heavy in favor of USA2012.

then you go to the reserves....

Williams/Stockton
Harden/Drexler
Anthony/Pippen
Igoudala/Mullins
Love/Malone
Davis/Robinson

This is where I think the Dream team starts to pull away a bit, I think they have the head to head edge in every matchup there.

So that's how I think the game would go, I think USA2012 would get out fast and lead for perhaps most of the game, and then the Dream team would settle in during the second half and just grind it out taking control in the late 3rd/early 4th and never letting up.

Bird only started because this was his swan song. One of the greatest ever, but father time was realy getting to him. If they somehow played each other, id put pippen in the lineup.

Here is where the 92 team wins it. You can go small all you want, but i guarantee you against Spain, team USA will not be going small that often. The 92 team wins it because of the rebounding. Magic had been out of basketball, but was still sick. His versatility negates LeBron's versatility.

Overall, MJ wannabe and the current team has reasons to say they could beat the dream team. If the Dream team is having an off night, ill give it to the current team, but in a 7 game series im taking the dream team by a pretty wide margin.

USA is playing Spain in exhibition game today at 2:30PM mountain time. Spain is saying they don't care about winning this exhibition game and don't want to show all their stuff before the real games, but the game is in Barcelona in front of their home crowd, so they have incentive. I have it set to record. One downer I read yesterday is that Marc Gasol has an injury and was a maybe as of yesterday. I think Rudy Fernandez may be out too. I would like to see all the players play.