Team USA roster announced

[jay_jay54]

Yeh, globalization, commercialism, cheating drugs, professionals being allowed to play...what am I missing for reasons the Olympics just ain't what they used to be?

allowing sex offenders to travel abroad,without permission.

[celticmaestro]

there seems to be a lot of disagreement with this roster, i don't know why.

this team will win gold.

[Finkelskyhook]

Am I the only one who doesn't care at all about the Olympics? The NBA already has an international flavor, so what is the purpose of the Olympics? 1992 was good because we hadn't seen the NBA play international teams.

Furthermore, for the last 10 years, the only story has been the Americans have great players, but can't play good enough team ball and aren't diverse enough to overcome the other teams that have playing together for years and play a different style of ball. We're not going to solve this problem by picking players from the NBA when the playoffs end a month before the Olympics. Why not go back to college players? They might not be as good as Kobe, Lebron, etc., but they might play better team ball coming from college and can practice together for longer. And wouldn't the magic of some amateurs playing the pros come back (a la 1980 in Lake Placid)?

Good points Earthball...i feel the same in a sense..Tp for your post.

Same here.  Cuban, as much as I hate to agree with the jerk, is 100% right about this being 100% about money.  Players risk injury for a meaningless, fixed event where the officiating fraud makes the NBA's officiating look legitimate.  

Yeh, globalization, commercialism, cheating drugs, professionals being allowed to play...what am I missing for reasons the Olympics just ain't what they used to be?

allowing sex offenders to travel abroad,without permission.

Give it a freaking rest, jayjay.  Old and tired.

[jay_jay54]

Am I the only one who doesn't care at all about the Olympics? The NBA already has an international flavor, so what is the purpose of the Olympics? 1992 was good because we hadn't seen the NBA play international teams.

Furthermore, for the last 10 years, the only story has been the Americans have great players, but can't play good enough team ball and aren't diverse enough to overcome the other teams that have playing together for years and play a different style of ball. We're not going to solve this problem by picking players from the NBA when the playoffs end a month before the Olympics. Why not go back to college players? They might not be as good as Kobe, Lebron, etc., but they might play better team ball coming from college and can practice together for longer. And wouldn't the magic of some amateurs playing the pros come back (a la 1980 in Lake Placid)?

Good points Earthball...i feel the same in a sense..Tp for your post.

Same here.  Cuban, as much as I hate to agree with the jerk, is 100% right about this being 100% about money.  Players risk injury for a meaningless, fixed event where the officiating fraud makes the NBA's officiating look legitimate.  

Yeh, globalization, commercialism, cheating drugs, professionals being allowed to play...what am I missing for reasons the Olympics just ain't what they used to be?

allowing sex offenders to travel abroad,without permission.

Give it a freaking rest, jayjay.  Old and tired.

NO i wont,make me!...last i knew,this is Celticblog not Laker land

[guava_wrench]

Am I the only one who doesn't care at all about the Olympics? The NBA already has an international flavor, so what is the purpose of the Olympics? 1992 was good because we hadn't seen the NBA play international teams.

Furthermore, for the last 10 years, the only story has been the Americans have great players, but can't play good enough team ball and aren't diverse enough to overcome the other teams that have playing together for years and play a different style of ball. We're not going to solve this problem by picking players from the NBA when the playoffs end a month before the Olympics. Why not go back to college players? They might not be as good as Kobe, Lebron, etc., but they might play better team ball coming from college and can practice together for longer. And wouldn't the magic of some amateurs playing the pros come back (a la 1980 in Lake Placid)?

Good points Earthball...i feel the same in a sense..Tp for your post.

Same here.  Cuban, as much as I hate to agree with the jerk, is 100% right about this being 100% about money.  Players risk injury for a meaningless, fixed event where the officiating fraud makes the NBA's officiating look legitimate.  

Fixed? Where did that come from? the officials might suck, but that doesn't mean fix!

I also agree with Cuban. The Olympics are a business and they should foot the bill for injuries to players who bring them so much money.

This is different from saying the game is "meaningless". The games are clearly not meaningless. It was not meaningless when we lost in the Olympics, same for the world championships.

[Who]

Kobe Bryant will make everything work with the old Kidd serving as his trusty sidekick. Those two guys are so smart they'll find a way to win with the talent that's at their disposal.

It's when Wade gets in that I'm worried about. And to a smaller extent Chris Paul.

And to a smaller extent again with Tayshaun Prince - by the way that man needs rest badly ... what's he even thinking playing in this tournament? For the good of his career he needs to sit down and let his body recuperate for once. He's killing his career. ... he's the oldest 28 year old I've ever seen. His athleticism is falling by the wayside already and not because of injury, I don't know if I've ever said that before about a player so young.

Actually I'm also worried about their interior defense when Dwight Howard comes off the floor. That's been a problem the last two tournaments and likely will be an even bigger problem this time around since there's so few big men. Hopefully Coach K plays Howard 85% of the minutes but I doubt it.

Kobe will find a way to make it all work

[guava_wrench]

Am I the only one who doesn't care at all about the Olympics? The NBA already has an international flavor, so what is the purpose of the Olympics? 1992 was good because we hadn't seen the NBA play international teams.

I think a lot of people throughout the world still watch Olympic events. Do you really need to have the purpose of the Olympics explained?

Furthermore, for the last 10 years, the only story has been the Americans have great players, but can't play good enough team ball and aren't diverse enough to overcome the other teams that have playing together for years and play a different style of ball. We're not going to solve this problem by picking players from the NBA when the playoffs end a month before the Olympics. Why not go back to college players? They might not be as good as Kobe, Lebron, etc., but they might play better team ball coming from college and can practice together for longer. And wouldn't the magic of some amateurs playing the pros come back (a la 1980 in Lake Placid)?

How would college players help? Not only will that lack familiarity with each other -- they won't even be as skilled or knowledgeable as the foreign team.

The team we will be fielding is composed of players who mostly played together last competition and who practiced together before that. A college player team would change every year since the best players usually come out after 1 or 2 years.

A college player team might not even qualify for the olympics.

[EarthBall]

Am I the only one who doesn't care at all about the Olympics? The NBA already has an international flavor, so what is the purpose of the Olympics? 1992 was good because we hadn't seen the NBA play international teams.

I think a lot of people throughout the world still watch Olympic events. Do you really need to have the purpose of the Olympics explained?

Actually, yes. Could you explain the purpose of the Olympics to me? It *has* lost a lot of its meaning over the decades. Be it the Cold War or social injustice, the Olympics used to be a way to fight "evil do-ers" and intolerance in a peaceful manner. I just don't see that same purpose today. I really don't care for pointless competition. I don't think better or worse of a country by its performance in some sporting event, so what's the point?

[Finkelskyhook]

Am I the only one who doesn't care at all about the Olympics? The NBA already has an international flavor, so what is the purpose of the Olympics? 1992 was good because we hadn't seen the NBA play international teams.

Furthermore, for the last 10 years, the only story has been the Americans have great players, but can't play good enough team ball and aren't diverse enough to overcome the other teams that have playing together for years and play a different style of ball. We're not going to solve this problem by picking players from the NBA when the playoffs end a month before the Olympics. Why not go back to college players? They might not be as good as Kobe, Lebron, etc., but they might play better team ball coming from college and can practice together for longer. And wouldn't the magic of some amateurs playing the pros come back (a la 1980 in Lake Placid)?

Good points Earthball...i feel the same in a sense..Tp for your post.

Same here.  Cuban, as much as I hate to agree with the jerk, is 100% right about this being 100% about money.  Players risk injury for a meaningless, fixed event where the officiating fraud makes the NBA's officiating look legitimate.  

Fixed? Where did that come from? the officials might suck, but that doesn't mean fix!

I also agree with Cuban. The Olympics are a business and they should foot the bill for injuries to players who bring them so much money.

This is different from saying the game is "meaningless". The games are clearly not meaningless. It was not meaningless when we lost in the Olympics, same for the world championships.

Roy Jones, Evander Holyfield, Canadian figure skaters, 72 Basketball, name your gymnastics event etc etc.  Those are just the obvious ones.  There are too many others.
Guava, if you've subjected yourself to just the "highlights?" of this epic, meaningless event, you'll recall all of these fixed events. 

---------------------------

Why Miami's management would let Wade, the NBA's preminent drama queen, who can't stay on the NBA court more than a few games at a time, get close to this event is amazing.  It goes way beyond compensating for injuries.  Check out the difference in Garden attendance between 2006-2007 and 2007-2008.  When your best player is out, revenues go in the toilet.  Too much risk for a meaningless, tainted event to the organizations who invest their futures in these players.

[Chris]

I know there is all this talk about the Olympics being about money and all that...and it is true.  However, there is still a big national pride thing to a lot of people.  Who knows if it is for all of the players (I am sure some of them want to play for the personal pride involved), but I think a lot of them do in fact feel that it is their responsibility to represent their country.

Personally, I could care less, but there are a lot of people out there who care a lot about the nationalism that is created with the Olympics.  It is too bad that it has to get wrapped up so much in money concerns.

What I am trying to say is...if I were one of those players who felt strongly about representing my country, and my employer tried to stand in the way of that...well, lets just say I would not be too happy.

Corporate, and corrupt or not, the Olympics have always been the biggest stage for athletes to show their national pride.  If they want to do that, then they should be allowed to, regardless of what it means for their NBA career.

and those who just like the status of being on the national team...well, those are the ones I would not want on my NBA team.

[SShoreFan 2.0]

Aside from the 1992 Dream Team (which was a phenomenon unto itself - so much so that the likes of it may never be seen again in sports) I have not been a fan of the pros playing in the Olympics.

So with that being said, I am very happy not to see a single Celtic on the roster.  Take a rest guys, enjoy your time off.  In fact, why don't you all steal a page from the Patriots book and say you were snubbed, disrespected and intentionally embarrassed and then use that energy next season.

[ReadyFor17]

Yeh, globalization, commercialism, cheating drugs, professionals being allowed to play...what am I missing for reasons the Olympics just ain't what they used to be?

I can't agree with this as a problem with the Games. Most Olympic athletes are professionals at whatever sport, including the foreign basketball teams. Why is it wrong for the US to send their professionals too?

[BrickJames]

What ever happenbed to the "let's not pick all superstars and instead let's pick some role players" idea?  Glad to see they stayed strong with that idea.

All of these guys have a pretty good international game (with the exception of D-Whistle and to a lesser extent CP3).

[Frontierboy]

The USA team needed another shooter like a Ray Allen or Rashard Lewis........ I don't see the point in having Wade or Boozer on the team...... a David West, Antoine Jamison would have been better....... and what's up with only 1 center (Howard)..... why can't Chandler be chosen.

Granted the US will probably win the gold seeing as Kobe doesn't mind taking a backseat and playing hardcore defense on the other team's point guard like he did last summer....... I just don't like Deron Williams, Wade, or Boozer on this team

[Who]

The USA team needed another shooter like a Ray Allen or Rashard Lewis........ I don't see the point in having Wade or Boozer on the team...... a David West, Antoine Jamison would have been better....... and what's up with only 1 center (Howard)..... why can't Chandler be chosen.

Granted the US will probably win the gold seeing as Kobe doesn't mind taking a backseat and playing hardcore defense on the other team's point guard like he did last summer....... I just don't like Deron Williams, Wade, or Boozer on this team

I like the idea of Rashard Lewis. He'd be a great fit on this team with his shooting ability. I'd also loved to have seen Kevin Durant get the call, instead of Wade or Prince. He got great reviews at their mini-summer camp last year playing off of all the top players and nailing shots. He's grown so much as a player since too.