Though I'm pretty sure no one here or anywhere thinks this years team is better than the Dream Team. Where does this years team rank among the rest? One thing you gotta consider is that the competition they're going up against is better than the ones from the past. The rest of the world has gotten much better at basketball over the years.

We just thumped a good basketball team from Spain and have not lost yet or came close to losing for that matter.

Discuss...

If they continue on the path they're on, I think they can be considered the best other than the original 92 (and maybe 96) team. I won't try to compare those two since it's across eras...but that one certainly had more star power. But their competition was a lot weaker...you could have put some of those awful/lazy "dream teams" into the 92 games and they probably would have cruised to gold.

It's just nice seeing this team take it seriously. I think if we'd just train and focus, we'd win gold every time even with less talent than this year's team.




[This message has been edited by SJEAg (edited 8/17/2008 9:48a).]

US is pounding the competition. If this team runs the table there should be a debate on which team was the all time greatest.

todays world competition > A decade and a 1/2 ago

quote:

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Of the twelve players on the team, ten would be named in 1996 among the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, the NBA's official list of the 50 greatest players of the league's first 50 years. Because of this star line-up, the team's games usually featured opposing teams asking for pregame photos with their U.S. opponents—their idols.

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Local sports radio show had a sportswriter (Mike Freeman, if anyone knows who the heck he is) call in, and the discussion turned to 92 vs 08. Freeman then claimed Kobe Bryant was one of the ten best players ever in the NBA.

I don't follow basketball. The only two games I've chosen to see in person were A&M's 1st and 2nd round games of the NCAAs here in Jacksonville a couple years back. But even I could spend 30 minutes thinking about it and come up with 10 guys better/more influential than Kobe. Magic, Bird, MJ on the Dream Team; at least three centers in Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; and so forth.

Dream Team would wipe the floor with Redeem Team. Dream Team's second string would probably beat the Redeem Team's starters 60-70% of the time.

I don't think so. I think the Redeem Team could give the Dream Team a run for the money. Like someone said earlier, the competition level has grown exponentially, and yet the Redeem Team is still smashing everyone. Plus the game is a lot faster now. I also think the Redeem Team is a lot deeper than the Dream Team. The Dream team had some guys on the team that were way past their prime, just as figureheads (Larry Bird, for example).

ESPN radio here in Dallas had this conversation the other day. And brought up some very good points.

I am 1 of the people who think the Redeem team could DEF. play with the dream team and possibly beat them.

I believe Magic Johnson was 1 year into retirement when he played for this team, and like previously stated... many of the players were out of their prime like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. The European basketball rules arent really made for "real" centers to play the game. Thats why we dont have any true centers on the team this year.

darn it, yall beat me to it. I was thinking about this today when I was watching a game. The argument about the Dream Team being out of their prime. The Dream Team had a bunch of huge names in basketball. Does anyone remember what kinda shape Larry Bird was in during that time period? His back and I think knee were shot. Magic is my all time favorite basketball player but he was past his prime. Jordan was still entering his right?

We will never know but you can't argue the Redeem Team wouldn't give the 92 team fits (or the 96 team).

Where do yall think guys like Kobe, LeBron and Carmelo end up on the all time great lists? Theres also a bunch of other guys on this team that are super young but extremely talented and could go down as some of the very greatest

the mistake that so many people make is that they focus on magic and bird and their age. that team actually belonged to jordan and barkley. throw in drexler, malone, pippen, robinson, stockton, ewing, and mullin, and you're absolutely loaded.

anyone think that michael redd, tayshawn prince, or carlos boozer would have even sniffed that roster?

the top talent from each side would create some entertaining matchups, but if depth became an issue the dream team would have an edge. it wouldn't have been a blowout - we're talking NBA all stars versus NBA all stars. but based on the relative experience and the big game mentality of so many of those guys from '92, the original dream team would have defeated the current team.

i think the dream team's low-post advantage - with robinson and ewing - would be a lot to overcome, and that doesn't even account for jordan (the greatest player of all time) and barkley (the hottest player in the tournament). the original dream team had a better understanding of the game from a team perspective, they shot the ball MUCH better, and they played better defense. that's a recipe for success.

with that said, i think this year's roster is the second-best of all time. they're damn good.

[This message has been edited by Gramercy Riffs (edited 8/20/2008 3:43p).]