Road to redemption is the chant for the USA Men's Basketball team. 4 years ago they earned the bronze medal, and now they want gold. When you listen to the players on this year's team speak, they try and say the right things, like "how this is a challenge", and "everyone is gunning for them". But these players still don't get it. They don't understand that Olympic basketball is different than the NBA style that they play for most of the year. You cannot play one on one, you have to move the ball around. I thought Coach Mike Krzyzewski would have installed this idea, but after watching yesterday's game it hasn't happened. They don't run any kind of offense, unless you call fast breaks or ill advised 3 pointers your bread and butter. It looks like you're watching an NBA all star game with one point of difference, they play defense. Well some of the players try at least. Imagine watching an NBA game in early January. The games don't matter and the defense is not there consistently on every play.
The players on this team who look like they do get it are Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and especially Dwayne Wade. He has been great in the 4 exhibition games. However the point guards yesterday were embarrassing. Jason Kidd shouldn't be on the team, Chris Paul can't keep anyone in front of him on the defensive end, and Deron Willams made some bad turnovers. The rest of the team is so up and down during the game you wonder, how are they going to win gold. Yes the still are the favorites but anyone who believes it will be a cake walk is dreaming.
It's too bad that Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett didn't want to make the commitment to play on this team. If they would have, Jason Kidd and Carlos Boozer would be the odd men out. It would have given Team USA more size and defense. But this is the team that Coach K has to work with. I'd like to see him change the lineups though. I'd start Paul, Bryant, Prince, James, and Howard. Put Prince in there to get the ball moving around and create some mismatches with his length. Then off the bench I'd play Wade, Williams, Anthony, and Bosh. Bring Redd in if you need more shooting, and let Boozer and Kidd ride the pine unless needed. Maybe this team has too many stars and not enough roles players to keep up with the international game. I'm still psyched though for the Olympics to start. It's not 1992 anymore, the Dream Team is gone, but this is still our game, and we need to take it back.
2 comments:
this team never has enough role players - ever. i'm convinced this is more about marketing for the nba than actually winning the thing. the best one-on-one defender in the league should be on the team, the best shooter in the league should be on the team, etc., etc.
instead, the nba selects its most marketable players at each position and says 'good luck'. that worked in '92 and '96, but the level of competition caught up fast.
would you rather see mike miller or bruce bowen than prince? i would. both can shoot better, miller rebounds better and bowen defends better. we watch tayshaun all year long. aside from the occasional espn block, what does he bring? not rebounding or consistent scoring.
what about marcus camby? 2nd in the league in rebounds, #1 in blocks. you're gonna tell me boozer is a better pick than camby? boozer can put up 20 points per game. great. so can every other guy on the team. yeah he's a descent rebounder, but his defense is subpar in my opinion.
i disagree about kidd. you have to have 1 veteran on the team. otherwise, you're looking at tayshaun prince as your veteran leader. yikes. kidd shouldn't see that many minutes, but he shouldn't have to. paul and williams are the best 2 pg's in the league anyway.
One main issue is that the other countries' teams have played together for years. Team USA is thrown together, they play for a couple of summers, then have to compete for the gold. I agree that they don't understand the international rules, and that has a factor as well.
Either way, I think that they should go back to amateurs to play in the olympics. I think it would be much more exciting to watch the top college players, who are hungry, compete for the gold. Just one man's opinion.
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