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  • What did you think of the 1992 Dream Team?

    In's only been 16 years since the 1992 Dream Team dominated.

    So in dedication to that team, in July-August of this year, I will be releasing 5-7 articles about the 1992 USA Olympic Men's Team - aka the Dream Team - and I wanted to know what you all thought of the team back when they played in the Barcelona Olympics?

    How did you feel about them? Which players were your favorite coming in? Which players were you unfamiliar with? How do you feel about them now? Did you think they were arrogant?

    What kind of perspective or article would you like to see?

    This is all about personal experiences or opinion. Would also love to hear about how your respective country thought of them/received them.

    Stuart
    http://www.facebook.com/interbasket
    http://www.twitter.com/interbasket
    http://www.interbasket.net

  • #2
    A lot of those players were arrogant, trash-talking jerks. They were the best in the world and they knew it. There was no doubt about it.

    At the time, I don't think I was really aware of that arroganace, but now I can find it in their quotes. "I don't know nothing about that country, but I know they're in trouble." "How did I know that Angolan player didn't have a spear?" Stuff like that. Barkley punched Shane Heal in a friendly and then knocked out Coimbra and made fun of him. That stuff bugs me to death.

    At the same time though, Barkley later kissed and made up with Coimbra and has gone on to praise other international players of that era, like Oscar Schmidt.

    I don't know...

    I the end, the Dream Team lived up to their name. Even the '96 Dream Team II was just a shadow of '92. The Dream Team was boastful and arrogant. They dominated. Germany and Lithuania had a handful of stars. Croatia was strong. But Team USA had freaking Clyde Drexler and Karl Malone coming off the bench. That's just unreal.
    "I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go." -- Donatas Motiejunas

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    • #3
      That was Barkley's style.

      Anyway, Dream Team tells it all.

      They may have been arrogant out of the court, but serious and respectful on the court. Win first, showtime then.
      It's a bird? It's a plane? No, it's Rudy!

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      • #4
        They at least had the reason to be arrogant...

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        • #5
          That was definaetly most dominant team in the world and I doubt anything similar happen in the future. I remember they did not even listened coach advises during timeout, I believe that they would be best team even if I would coach them. And that episode when Karnisovas is taking picture during game...

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          • #6
            Just saw final vs Croatia. What was amazing in that bunch of MEGA Stars was they played dream basketball. Great extra passes. Nobody cared about anything else but victory by the max of points. So, the best placed guy always had the shot, even if they had to eat one or two good shots before. Then, Americans started to play as if they were the star of the team, not understanding, they wer quite all the same level. That was what this team had, they understood they were all as good as their neighbours, and anybody was able to take the game for him, but kept sharing the ball.
            It's a bird? It's a plane? No, it's Rudy!

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            • #7
              Originally posted by mvblair
              A lot of those players were arrogant, trash-talking jerks. They were the best in the world and they knew it. There was no doubt about it.

              At the time, I don't think I was really aware of that arroganace, but now I can find it in their quotes. "I don't know nothing about that country, but I know they're in trouble." "How did I know that Angolan player didn't have a spear?" Stuff like that. Barkley punched Shane Heal in a friendly and then knocked out Coimbra and made fun of him. That stuff bugs me to death.

              At the same time though, Barkley later kissed and made up with Coimbra and has gone on to praise other international players of that era, like Oscar Schmidt.
              All those quotes are attributable to Charles Barkley... the rest of the team just played basketball. Having seen all the games, I don't remember more than 3 times that the Dream Team, outside of Barkley, talked trash and even then, it was arguable whether it was trash-talking or just plain competitiveness.

              I mean, let's not forget that Petrovic and Schmidt weren't exactly the most humble stars. It takes a certain mindset to be great, and not everyone can balance ego with a smile like Magic.

              Barkley and the Heal thing was in 1996.

              Originally posted by House
              I remember they did not even listened coach advises during timeout..
              Well, Chuck Daly didn't call one timeout during the whole tournament.

              Stuart
              http://www.facebook.com/interbasket
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              http://www.interbasket.net

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              • #8
                Originally posted by stuart
                All those quotes are attributable to Charles Barkley... the rest of the team just played basketball. Having seen all the games, I don't remember more than 3 times that the Dream Team, outside of Barkley, talked trash and even then, it was arguable whether it was trash-talking or just plain competitiveness.
                Yeah, that's just the way Barkley is. And of course the media egged him on, because they knew he was quotable.

                I thought the Dream Team was pretty cool. I was actually at summer camp at the time, and access to television was very limited, but I remember gathering around a counselor's tiny TV to watch many of their games.

                When NBA TV replays games from that era, however, I'm not struck so much by the quality of the Dream Team and its successors, but by the lack of resistance that most of their opponents put up. When the other teams stopped being starstruck and started playing for real, they improved by 20 points overnight.

                Part of that is also due to changes in style of play--most international teams in the early 90's were still run-and-gun outfits that didn't play much defense, and the US just got dunk after dunk. But the style of international teams matured a lot during that decade, while on the US side, the NBA became exclusively a halfcourt league and the players lost the ability to push the pace and play the fastbreak game of the 80's generation, so we "matured" into the abomination you saw in 2004.
                Originally posted by Fedfan
                Most ppl get childish when they lose.
                Originally posted by GuTO
                refs in games of Spain walks with literally poop in his pants afraid of the Spanish players

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                • #9
                  the best team ever assembled. no furthur expalanation.

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                  • #10
                    It is the greatest team ever assembled in basketball history... pretty much a line-up of hall of famers... a team that include Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird plus other superstars of their era (two generation of NBA stars)...

                    Charles Barkley redeemed himself from arrogance by finishing the tournament's leading scorer...

                    sigpic

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by stuart
                      How did you feel about them?
                      I feel that by far they were the "Greatest Team" in the history of basketball surpassing any NBA or international team. This was the ONLY time that a basketball composed of the top 3 players of all time.


                      Originally posted by stuart
                      Which players were your favorite coming in?
                      Of course, "The Hoya Destroya" Patrick Ewing followed by Larry Bird, even though it was the "Old Larry".


                      Originally posted by stuart
                      Which players were you unfamiliar with?
                      Back in the days, Christian Laettner and to a certain degree Chris Mullins


                      Originally posted by stuart
                      How do you feel about them now?
                      They are "THE IMMORTALS" and for me a true legacy in the history of sport.


                      Originally posted by stuart
                      Did you think they were arrogant?
                      To a certain degree though not as arrogant as the 1994 - Dream Team II. I would say that the "arrogance" from the team was derived from Sir Charles and his negative/ degrading view of international basketball.


                      Originally posted by stuart
                      What kind of perspective or article would you like to see?
                      A both sided articles on the positive aspects that this historical squad brought to the game, both on and off the court and if there were any negative stories that you could pick up to show that though they were "IMMORTALS" they were still humans.


                      Originally posted by stuart
                      This is all about personal experiences or opinion. Would also love to hear about how your respective country thought of them/received them.
                      Definitely, espeically when Austraila's former starting point guard back and current coach in the Australian National Basketball League Phil Symth's concern with Magic Johnson playing and how Phil had fears that he could obtain AIDS.

                      For me, this was definitely a low point in the basketball competition of the Olympics and definitely outside the spirit of the game. It was good that the Australian "Boomers" did not play against The Dream Team because I am more than certain that The Dream Team would make sure that the margin between the two squads was the largest in the history of basketball. However, the Australian "Boomers" did play against Dream Team II in Toronto and we actually leading 17-10 during the early minutes of the game following a two handed slam from former Philadephia 76ers centre Mark Bradtke forcing Coach Don Nelson to call the first ever timeout. However, eventually the game became lopsided as the Americans annihilated the "Boomers" 134 - 78.
                      "No hay poder en el mundo que pueda cambiar el destino"
                      -El Padrino

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Saskibaloia
                        A both sided articles on the positive aspects that this historical squad brought to the game, both on and off the court and if there were any negative stories that you could pick up to show that though they were "IMMORTALS" they were still humans.
                        Thanks for the comments Saski, I think thats a great idea for an article - I think the current versions could eventually tarnish the reputation of the original team. Though unlikely, it would be a fun challenge to find the negative nitpicking about Dream Team I. Outside of Charles Barkley and a couple Scottie Pippen quotes, I don't know what else I could come up with.

                        Stuart
                        http://www.facebook.com/interbasket
                        http://www.twitter.com/interbasket
                        http://www.interbasket.net

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                        • #13
                          Christian Laetner should not have been included in the team. Granted that he was a winner at Duke, but there were more talented collegiate players at that time like Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, Chris Webber, Alonzo Mourning or Shaquille O'Neal...

                          I think they should have made it All-Pro, with the Laetner's spot be given to the likes of Reggie Miller, Joe Dumars, Kevin Johnson, Mitch Richmond or Tim Haradaway.

                          Isiah Thomas exclusion is just alright and justifiable. He's a selfish evil bitch
                          <--- science always wins over bullshit --->

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by stuart
                            Thanks for the comments Saski, I think thats a great idea for an article - I think the current versions could eventually tarnish the reputation of the original team. Though unlikely, it would be a fun challenge to find the negative nitpicking about Dream Team I. Outside of Charles Barkley and a couple Scottie Pippen quotes, I don't know what else I could come up with.

                            Stuart
                            Well, John Stockton was asked, during one of the press conferences, if the Dream Team's staying at a posh 5 star accomadation (i think they were staying at a luxury shipliner docked at the bay) bodes with the spirit of being an Olympian. His answer was "We don't come here to live with them, we come here to beat them"..or words to that effect.
                            <--- science always wins over bullshit --->

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                            • #15
                              Well, let me remind one thing: Dream team lost their first ever game, with international rules, against a team made of American university stars (Hill, Webber, etc...). That's a point against, and they showed before that some arrogance, self-sufficiency.
                              It's a bird? It's a plane? No, it's Rudy!

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