Who else can't wait for USA Basketball?

[craftsy21]

Surprisingly enough, i am very excited for this. I'm not a huge NBA guy all the time, i do enjoy the playoffs most years.. But this is going to be specialthis summer. I think we steamroll everybody - i don't want to get into the whole debate again, but i think this squad we have this year is as close to theoriginal dream team in talent as you can get (if not better in some ways). If the chemistry shows up, they take gold in their sleep.

 

[scuse7]

I am excited for the Olympics in general

 

[jmause3]

Originally Posted by paidndade

Are they taking any college players this year ?

I highly doubt it because, im pretty sure none played with them last year. There are going to be some positions on the line for sure though.


There is no way K can leave Paul off after the great year he had this year. So i think its gonna be between Billups-Williams. I also really don't knowhow well Wade will fit in. I dont think Prince will make it.

What do you guys think?

 

[seymore cake]

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

^ From what I understand, he was invited 2 years ago, but he wasn't willing to commit to the full 2 years required.

It wasn't a contract, because that would be against the rules.

But everyone on the team right now was told 2 years ago, when they were invited, that their acceptance of the invitation would be taken very seriously, and that their acceptance of the invitation means that they are committing to the full 2 years, regardless of what happens. So basically, if you thought 2 years ago that you might be getting married around the time of the FIBA tournament last summer and you would miss it, that's fine, but they didn't want you on the team. They wanted a team that had practiced with each other for two FULL years, and had played a FULL tournament together (which happened last summer).

And everyone on the team has honored their commitment so far; the ONLY time that has been missed has been for injury (and obviously, that's perfectly acceptable).

So that's the thing with Iverson (from what I understand). He wasn't willing to make that commitment.

And except for Kidd, NO ONE that quit last time was asked back (and I'm fairly certain that the reason he quit last time was because of the birth of his very large headed son).

And I know some are going to say 'Well hey, he shouldn't be playing then! If they're supposed to remain committed, then how come... " Stop it. They were asked two years ago to be committed through 2008; they weren't asked 6 years ago to be committed through 2008.

Those that quit last time and were not asked back this time because of it:
- Garnett
- T-Mac
- Pierce
- Shuttlesworth

Shaq was asked to participate in '04, but had some excuse for not playing.

Kobe was asked to participate in '04, but I can not remember at ALL why he didn't. Was that the time of the rape trial? Was he injured or something in early '04? I can't remember. Of course there were rumors that he was declining because he thought Shaq would play and he didn't want to play with Shaq, but neither Shaq or Kobe said anything even close to that.

I could be wrong Ska but I remember seeing an interview where they asked him about playing again and he said he would love to play and that he hadhoped they would invite him. I could've sworn he said he had no issues with the 3yrs saying that that he understood where Colangelo was coming from...Never got the invite tho... Next thing I heard they had invited Kurt

.

 

[darthska]

^ Like I said that was just from what I understood, just reading articles and stuff like that; I've never actually heard Iverson say 'No, I didn'twant to committ to the full time he wants us to committ to', and I've never actually heard Colangelo say 'No, Iverson didn't want to mae thefull committment.'

So if you actually heard Iverson say himself that he had no problem with making the committment, then you've heard first-hand more than I have, becauseI'm only going on articles and stuff (hearsay).

If it's true that he said he wouldn't have a problem making the committment, and he was waiting for an invitation that never came, then that'struly a tragedy, because he was one of only 2 or 3 people that actually played like they cared in 2004.

 

[classy lawrence]

WHen I look at guys like Scola, Arroyo, Gin and Juice, and whoever else plays well for their international team I wonder why that doesn't translate totheir NBA game as well. Maybe they feel more entitled to play well since they're representing their country.

That's probably a good reason too, people always have up I heart Puerto Rico signs and stickers on their cars and shirts and stuff. I'm not goin to gotoo deep into that, I'll start to sound racist.

 

[eeibaby]

Iverson would love to play for team USA, it's not that he wasn't commited hell he was the only one with Tim Duncan that was committed and came back in04. Iverson haven't gotten an invite ever since, what's the reasoning behind this? He's one of the most popular players around the world, a scoringjuggernaut, plays well with other stars and the question I ask is why won't they bring Iverson back? 2004 wasn't his fault it was Brown's for notplaying rookies and poor offense plans. Give him another shot

Who remembers this

 

[seymore cake]

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

If it's true that he said he wouldn't have a problem making the committment, and he was waiting for an invitation that never came, then that's truly a tragedy, because he was one of only 2 or 3 people that actually played like they cared in 2004.

Yea... Colangelo never spoke on it, nothing else was said after that interview. And you damn right it's a Got Damn Travesty

 

[abok3]

I know competition to make the USA roster is tough, but I would've loved to see these guys represent as well (each are great players):
- Baron Davis
- Caron Butler
- Kevin Durant
- Brandon Roy
- Deron Williams

 

[User 15002]

I think the current roster is based more on what players can bring aside from the scoring. They will always find a way to score. In 2004 that team wascomprised of players that were the #1 scoring option on their respective teams. There were very few gel guys. The current roster has quite a few players thatwill do the dirty work of rebounding and locking someone down on defense.

In international play crossovers and thunderous dunks aren't as effective. Iverson certainly played with heart last time but his skills are not as valuablein international play. Considering the proficiency of the jumpshooters on international teams, it is a liability on defense to have smaller players on thefloor as well.

In the last Olympics everytime someone on the national team went off for major buckets, it left the rest of the team standing around. International team playis another animal than what we are used to seeing here.