2008 US National Team

[Lebron232]

U.S. men's team announced, with high hopes of regaining gold

Associated Press

Updated: June 23, 2008, 11:08 AM ET

CHICAGO -- LeBron James will get another shot at Olympic gold, and this time, he'll have reigning MVP Kobe Bryant alongside.

Bryant -- making his first Olympic appearance -- and James will lead a U.S. team that hopes to capture the gold medal in Beijing in August after a third-place showing in Athens four years ago. They'll have plenty of help.

Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Jason Kidd were among the 12 players placed on the team Monday. They were joined by Tayshaun Prince, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Michael Redd and Deron Williams.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/news/story?id=3457058


Team USA ( Depth Charts)

Starting 5

C- Dwight Howard 6'11"
F- Chris Bosh 7'0"
F- LeBron James 6'9"
G- Kobe Bryant 6'6"
G- Chris Paul 6'0

Off the Bench

C- Carlos Boozer 6'9"
F- Tayshaun Prince 6'9"
F- Carmelo Anthony 6'8"
G- Dwayne Wade 6'5"
G- Deron Williams 6'3"

F- Michael Redd 6'6"
G- Jason Kidd 6'4"



Ginobili will not play for Argentina because he is recuperating from his injuries, and I think this current USA Team is capable of winning the Gold in the 2008 Beijing, Olympics.


http://cbs11tv.com/sports/Manu.Ginobili.Olympics.2.752382.html

 

[Nikoo2]

Awful selection - no shooters, no big mans.
In Kobe and Kidd we thrust

 

[rikhardur2]

Ginobili will not play for Argentina

It's not known yet.

 

[Phantim3dx2]

i am still under suspicion of the whole d wade being with the team, but @ 6-5 and he is no skinny dude. i wonder if he got that spot, mainly because the pg's in intl ball tend to be bigger. i.e. greece and so they needed someone with more height? whats the verdict for you guys

 

[mvblair2]

Thanks for posting the rosters so quickly, LeBron23. I agree that this team is going to be very competitive.

Awful selection - no shooters, no big mans.
In Kobe and Kidd we thrust

If this team turns into "In Kobe We Trust," I think we can all guarantee a return to the Finals: great first halves, terrible game-taking-over second halves.

i am still under suspicion of the whole d wade being with the team, but @ 6-5 and he is no skinny dude. i wonder if he got that spot, mainly because the pg's in intl ball tend to be bigger. i.e. greece and so they needed someone with more height? whats the verdict for you guys

Do you think we put him in there for defense? Yeah, he's a big fellow for a guard. But we've got other bigger guards in the US, especially considering we don't need the things that Wade is good at (scoring by cutting to the basket). I don't like Wade on the team.

I don't know what to make of the selection. I suppose this is what everybody was pretty much expecting.

Is this a bad roster? Certainly not. It's basically an All-Star team without the NBA's international players or Kevin Garnett. Is this the best roster we could have made? Certainly not.

What I like about our roster:

• Great versatility in guards/forwards
• Great offensive players
• Great potential for "small ball"
• Good individual defenders

What I dislike about our roster:

• Only three "big men"
• Too many individual play-makers
• Too much potential to get in foul trouble

Seriously, that foul trouble stuff worries me, especially for our big men. That's going to be our Achilles heel. If Howard gets three fouls in the first half, we could be dead. Sorry, but if Bosh and Boozer are out their together, the Lavronivic boys are going to tear us apart offensively and defensively.

 

[Vasileios Spanoulis2]

Team USA ( Depth Charts)

Starting 5

C- Dwight Howard 6'11" (no real post skills)
F- Chris Bosh 7'0" (too soft)
F- LeBron James 6'9" (not a good enough shooter)
G- Kobe Bryant 6'6" (tries to be the hero too much)
G- Chris Paul 6'0 (he gets rattled too easily)

Off the Bench

C- Carlos Boozer 6'9"
F- Tayshaun Prince 6'9"
F- Carmelo Anthony 6'8" (no defense)
G- Dwayne Wade 6'5" (without NBA refs he's not the same player)
G- Deron Williams 6'3"

F- Michael Redd 6'6" (no defense)
G- Jason Kidd 6'4" (no shot whatsoever)


It's the best team on paper and is the favorite, but it's not that good of a selection if you ask me. I don't think Colangelo and Coach K understand how to build a proper team. It's the best team but it's not good enough of a team that you can just say "yeah no one will beat them".

 

[damelo2]

Starting Five must contain Melo. He is their best player in FIBA rules, and the only one who knows how to play a zone.

 

[JGX2]

Starting Five must contain Melo. He is their best player in FIBA rules, and the only one who knows how to play a zone.

Indeed, he has been the USA's best player over the last two years and a lock for the starting lineup IMO.

The starting lineup last summer was Kidd, Bryant, James, Anthony, and Howard, and I would imagine that will be the lineup to begin with this year as well...things could change according to performance afterwards.

This has been beaten to death by now, but I think they should have picked another perimeter defender and another real big man. With solid options like Chandler, Okafor, and Kaman there really is no excuse for the second one. Just wanted to make it official so I can say I told you so if the USA loses

 

[rikhardur2]

With solid options like Chandler, Okafor, and Kaman there really is no excuse for the second one.

Kaman is almost set to play for Germany.

 

[zuma1692]

to answer everyone's complaint on Dwayne Wade being on the USA team, Wade averaged 19.2 points behind Melo's 19.8 during the FIBA 2006 Championships... He was the second best scorer behind Melo during that championships..

enough said...

 

[Vasileios Spanoulis2]

to answer everyone's complaint on Dwayne Wade being on the USA team, Wade averaged 19.2 points behind Melo's 19.8 during the FIBA 2006 Championships... He was the second best scorer behind Melo during that championships..

enough said...

Yeah but without the NBA refs he's not that great of a player. He can score and rebound and penetrate really well but some other areas of his game are questionable.

 

[americanplayers2]

yeah i'm pretty sure the plan is to start

Kidd
Kobe
Lebron
Carmelo
Howard

 

[JGX2]

to answer everyone's complaint on Dwayne Wade being on the USA team, Wade averaged 19.2 points behind Melo's 19.8 during the FIBA 2006 Championships... He was the second best scorer behind Melo during that championships..

The biggest issue with Wade is his health. Maybe he is in good condition and maybe he is not, but with the talent pool the US has to select from they shouldn't have to take any risks.

Second is that his career has gone backwards since 2006 while players like James and Howard have just gotten better.

Third is that this team has Kobe to play the 2 spot.

I have to say that I don't really buy the "Wade needs NBA refs" theory though...he got to the line a lot a ton in 2006.

 

[ajaxballer2]

This team looks a lot like 2006's, with no shooters I think it will be tough to win the gold.

 

[Federoy2]

This team looks a lot like 2006's, with no shooters I think it will be tough to win the gold.

Three point shooting is not and should never be the ultimate concern for the US. As Coach K pointed out during the press conference, out defending teams is the main priority, and if they do that, I like their chances to win gold. Comparing this team to the 06 team is a bit of a stretch. This team is way more loaded (esp. at the guard/forward positions), offensively and defensively, and experienced than that one.

 

[Federoy2]

The biggest issue with Wade is his health. Maybe he is in good condition and maybe he is not, but with the talent pool the US has to select from they shouldn't have to take any risks.

Second is that his career has gone backwards since 2006 while players like James and Howard have just gotten better.

Third is that this team has Kobe to play the 2 spot.

I have to say that I don't really buy the "Wade needs NBA refs" theory though...he got to the line a lot a ton in 2006.

JGX...

These are the exact same issues that I've raised about Wade's inclusion on this team. Injury aside, after reviewing the roster, they don't really need what he brings to the table. That's what makes his selection all the more puzzling. You would think the leadership would go after players in areas the US is most weak in (outside shooting, defending and rebounding etc.), and Tyson Chandler, Mike Miller, and possibly Joe Johnson would've given Team USA those role players they need to be successful. It seems to me that Colangelo and Coach K are putting him on as a favor for his services in the past. Personally, I'm stoaked that Wade is passionate about representing his country, but in my opinion, the coaching staff should've tayloring this team to what they NEED not what they WANT. Given who's on the roster, Wade's inclusion is definitely not what they need.

PS: As for the "Wade needs help by the refs argument," ...well, that's just complete bull@#$%. The one attribute that makes D-Wade D-Wade is his aggressiveness, and few players in the NBA go as hard as he does. It doesn't matter what level of basketball he's on he's going to get the whistle because of his nature.

 

[Duke2]

I think in a way, Wade selection was building on future plans. Possibly this will be last Kobe's participation on the international competition. While they dont really need him now, they will surely need him in the future, as Dwade is one of the best sg there is (if not the best) after kobe. If not selected he might refuse to play in other comeptitions (ala arenas?).

 

[Prizmatic2]

This USA team is completely full of guards and devoid of big men with the exception of Dwight. I don't understand why they need so many pg's when they're weakness is their frontcourt. No lockdown defenders like Shane and Bruce as well.

 

[damelo2]

Wade vs the Greeks in 2006 got lots of FTs, and missed lots of those. But, he is interesting, whatever, still, he lacks a shot to be really unstoppable there.

Anyway, lack of shooters is not that big, as Melo is very good shooter from 6m75, as is Kobe, etc... Ok, only one real shooter, but you can't neglect too much the other guys. How many pure shooters Lithuania have? 2 maximum. Spain? 1. But most guys shoot all right, now, it is the same with this team.

 

[Straight forward2]

Anyway, lack of shooters is not that big, as Melo is very good shooter from 6m75, as is Kobe, etc... Ok, only one real shooter, but you can't neglect too much the other guys. How many pure shooters Lithuania have? 2 maximum. Spain? 1. But most guys shoot all right, now, it is the same with this team.

It depends on what is pure shooter? SG with a great jump shot? That would be to strict. This year Lithuania has at least 4 pure shooters not to mention Kleiza and brothers Lavrinovic. Melo and Kobe are the main shooter for USA, we'll see will it be enough.