The 1992 USA Basketball Team aka The Dream Team

[Aurabolt]

First here is the original Dream Team:

• 1992 Olympic Games: finished 1st among 12 teams

Michael Jordan, Erivin "Magic" Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Chris Mullin, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, John Stockton, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Christian Laettner (Coach: Chuck Daly)

Note 11 of the players are Hall of Famers =O

...I challenge you to buil your own USA Basketball Team.

The main rule being strictly enforced is you must use active players from a College or NBA Team. International Players are ok if they currently play for an NBA or College team or they were drafted into the NBA. Free Agents (Both Unrestricted and Restricted) are fine but players who are injured or have announced they are not going to play for the USA Team must be left out. The same goes for Coaches. They can be College or Pro.

Aside from this anything goes. You can state your reasons for your picks but you don't have to if you don't want to.

Here is my 12:

Coach

Doc Rivers

Players

1. Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
2. Brandon Bass (Boston Celtics)
3. Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls)
4. Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers)
5. Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers)
6. Nate Robinson (Golden State Warriors)
7. Amar'e Stoudemire (New York Knicks)
8. Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)
9. Mike Bibby (Atlanta Hawks)
10. Marcus Camby (Portland Trailblazers)
11. Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
12. Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics)

Notes

I decided against using more known players simply because of the age factor and because many of them have either announced they would not be playing USA Basketball or they were selected and dropped the team. I'm a Celtics fan and would have loved to have used the rest of the Boston's Big Four (Pierce, KG, Allen and Rondo) but the New Big Three has been addled by injuries and father time.

[Helios]

Before I throw out 12 guys I just want to ask: can we include people that aren't going to play in the Olympics due to injury or something (for example, Rondo will NOT be playing in the Olympics, though he should, because of his own personal reasons)?

[Akagami]

1's: Russell Westbluff (Thunder), Nate Robinson (GSW).

2's: J.R. Smith (Knicks), Monta Ellis (Milwaukee), Paul George (Indiana).

3's: Chase Budinger (Minnesotta), Gerald Green (Nets), Rudy Gay (Memphis).

4's: ex Mr. 20-10 (Philly), Brian "the White god mamba" Scalabrine (Bulls).

5: Greg Stiemsma (Celtics), DJ Mbenga (FA).

No stars. Best frontcourt ever and dunker backcourt. Guaranteed showtime.

[Westbrick]

...Why isn't Lebron in the opening list?

[Solanum Tuberosum]

...Why isn't Lebron in the opening list?

"I decided against using more known players simply because of the age factor and because many of them have either announced they would not be playing USA Basketball or they were selected and dropped the team. I'm a Celtics fan and would have loved to have used the rest of the Boston's Big Four (Pierce, KG, Allen and Rondo) but the New Big Three has been addled by injuries and father time. "

Also Camby is on the Rockets, yo. Why not someone like say, Bynum or Hibbert over Camby? They provide everything he does with offense.

That being said, here's my team.

C - MAMADOU N'DIAYE - Best center

PF - STEPHEN GRAHAM - Best power forward and 1/2 of the power twins

SF - JOEY GRAHAM - Best small forward and 1/2 of the power twins

SG - MATT CARROLL - The pastiest white dudes have the silkiest shots

PG - HASHEEM THABEET - The taller you are the easier it is to pass so hes star point guard yo

hasheem thabeet and mamadou n'diaye arent from usa but dont matta

[Westbrick]

"I decided against using more known players simply because of the age factor and because many of them have either announced they would not be playing USA Basketball or they were selected and dropped the team. I'm a Celtics fan and would have loved to have used the rest of the Boston's Big Four (Pierce, KG, Allen and Rondo) but the New Big Three has been addled by injuries and father time. "

He included Rose, Paul, Griffin, Rondo, Durant, and Westbrook on his list, so maybe he and I just have different definitions of the phrase "more known." Anyway, my list (not accounting for current injuries) would probably look like:

1. LeBron James

2. Kevin Durant

3. Dwight Howard

4. Chris Paul

5. Tony Parker

6. Blake Griffin

7. Chris Bosh

8. Dwayne Wade

9. Rajon Rondo

10. Russell Westbrook

11. Kevin Love [EDIT]

12. Andre Iguodala

.

.

.13. Derrick Rose

Coach: Pops

Edited July 5, 2012 by Westbrick

[Akagami]

^ Of course Parker... And why not Rubio or Gasol?

[Westbrick]

^ Of course Parker... And why not Rubio or Gasol?

Rubio's promising but unproven. Neither Gasol is quite good enough to make this list. A notable exception of mine, now that I think about it, is Kevin Love; bump off Rose on my list.

[Akagami]

USA Basketball team... USA.

And both Gasol are better than Bosh or Griffin.

Edited July 5, 2012 by Akagami

[Helios]

He included Rose, Paul, Griffin, Rondo, Durant, and Westbrook on his list, so maybe he and I just have different definitions of the phrase "more known." Anyway, my list (not accounting for current injuries) would probably look like:

1. LeBron James

2. Kevin Durant

3. Dwight Howard

4. Chris Paul

5. Tony Parker

6. Blake Griffin

7. Chris Bosh

8. Dwayne Wade

9. Rajon Rondo

10. Russell Westbrook

11. Kevin Love [EDIT]

12. Andre Iguodala

.

.

.13. Derrick Rose

Coach: Pops

Parker's French lol...otherwise it's a good list. Why no Kobe?

EDIT: Realized I didn't put my 12 in yet.

PG: CP3

SG: Kobe

SF: Lebron (maybe switch with PF?)

PF: KD35 (maybe switch with SF?)

C: D12

6: Melo

7: DWade

8: Rondo

9: DWill

10: LaMarcus Aldridge

11: Chris Bosh

12: KLove

Honorable Mentions go to DRose, Westbrook, Bynum, Amare, Rudy Gay, and ZBo.

Edited July 6, 2012 by Helios

[Aurabolt]

I had NBA.com tabbed. At the time I was putting my team together, Camby was playing for the Blazers.

I left out the International Players because they usually play for their home country during the Olympics (Remember Tony Kukoc is '92?). Of course some American Players join other teams to play in the Olympics but it's not as common.

I left out LBJ because I hate the guy personally and left out Kobe Bryant because he's a popular choice anyways.

[Westbrick]

Parker's French lol...otherwise it's a good list. Why no Kobe?

You can include international players if they play for an NBA team. As for Kobe... mix of personal apathy towards him and the fact that he's old. He could easily squeeze into the top 10-12 depending on my mood.

[Akagami]

You can include international players if they play for an NBA team. As for Kobe... mix of personal apathy towards him and the fact that he's old. He could easily squeeze into the top 10-12 depending on my mood.

Well, if this is true, here goes my list. This could give a lot of problems to USA Olympics team.

PG's: Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Ricky Rubio. [Nash is one of the greatest PGs of the last years, Parker is a great PG, Rubio is already good, he's like a young Jason Kidd with Nash's spectacularity.]

SG's: Ben Gordon, Manu Ginóbili. [Worst position, I'd maybe play with Nash, Deng as a SG and Pau Gasol as a SF (did that in Barcelona) and destroy with P&R. Anyway, two good SG's.]

SF's: Luol Deng, Andrei Kirilenko. [Two great PF's, of course not gods like Durant or LeBron, but very balanced, great at D and good attaking.]

PF's: Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Serge Ibaka. [The two best european players of all time and a monster defender... IMO non-american PF's are better than American ones -Love is an attacking machine, but even Parker could dunk in his face, Griffin doesn't have any post move and he's so fucking overrated and arbitrally biased, and Aldridge is a great PF overall, but rebounds like Bargnani.]

C's: Andrew Bogut, Marc Gasol, Joakim Noah. [Two top-5 C's and a top-10. A wealthy Bogut is better than Marc, but with Bogut's knees destroyed, Marc is probably the third best center ATM. Both have great post moves, a high basketball IQ, and they are great overall. And then is Joakim Noah, maybe the third best defensive center (hi, Howard&Chandler!)].

Out: Nicolas Batum, Leandro Barbosa, Luis Scola, JC Calderón.

I'm sorry, but this high-IQ technical frontcourt is unstoppable, specially for the short-minded Bynum, Howard and Griffin.

Edited July 6, 2012 by Akagami

[Helios]

You can include international players if they play for an NBA team. As for Kobe... mix of personal apathy towards him and the fact that he's old. He could easily squeeze into the top 10-12 depending on my mood.

Oh I see. Didn't know that since they tend to just play for their country anyway. Kobe might be a little older, but he's still the black mamba and the best offensive threat in the international game (since attacking the basket is more difficult). It's because of this that I chose Melo, who can wet jumpers better than just about anyone.