U.S.A. Olympic Basketball Team

Originally posted by MoneyManMike
Because they have been building the team a long time before the 2008 Finals and none of the Celtics made the cut. Anyways, compare the USA starters to the Celtics starters.

PG - Jason Kidd, Rajon Rondo Adv. USA
SG - Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen Adv. USA
SF - LeBron James, Paul Pierce Adv. USA
PF - Carmelo Anthony, KG Adv. Celtics
C - Dwight Howard, Kendrick Perkins Adv. USA

You still apparently don't understand the concept of a TEAM. A TEAM is greater than the sum of its parts.

The US has never sent just a single NBA team; that would be kinda unfair to the team itself. Besides, the networks want a star-studded line up to help the ratings.

BTW, I'm not sure after the playoffs, LeBron James deserves an advantage over Finals MVP Paul Pierce.

Originally posted by NimzovichLarsen
Prince is on the team because we need great perimeter defenders and he is one of the best. International big men shoot really well (as opposed to banging down low) and thus we need more 4's to cover them. Duncan was on the team in 2004 and he was at a disadvantage. This team has been upgraded with shooters (Redd) and defenders (Prince), and is loaded at point (Kidd, Paul, and Williams). If they don't win gold we never will.

He won't play in close games, so his overrated defense is a moot point.

Originally posted by no1marauder
He won't play in close games, so his overrated defense is a moot point.

if the game is close something is wrong.

Originally posted by NimzovichLarsen
if the game is close something is wrong.

Like all your few big men are in foul trouble and you're getting banged inside?

The US might think that it is going to be a cakewalk, but they thought the same thing in 2004.

Originally posted by no1marauder
Like all your few big men are in foul trouble and you're getting banged inside?

The US might think that it is going to be a cakewalk, but they thought the same thing in 2004.

Yes i agree. THe avg age of the 2004 team was 24 yrs old. This team is older and hopefully wiser. They know that they can't be over confident, but if they take it seriously the games should not be close.

Originally posted by no1marauder
Don't start this BS again. There's no way Paul could be left off the team if he wanted to play. And Wade is a much better player than Prince who won't play if the games are on the line. Tyson Chandler would have been a good pick over Prince.

How do you Laker feel about Kobe's decision to have surgery AFTER the Olympics which will probably mean he'll miss the start of the Laker season?

Its not Paul's decision, its Jerry Colangelo's. Oh and if you want to know why KG and Pierce aren't on the team, go check out today's Boston Globe.

Originally posted by no1marauder
How do you Laker feel about Kobe's decision to have surgery AFTER the Olympics which will probably mean he'll miss the start of the Laker season?

Good, Kobe is a soldier, thats why he won the MVP.

Originally posted by no1marauder
You still apparently don't understand the concept of a TEAM. A TEAM is greater than the sum of its parts.

The US has never sent just a single NBA team; that would be kinda unfair to the team itself. Besides, the networks want a star-studded line up to help the ratings.

BTW, I'm not sure after the playoffs, LeBron James deserves an advantage over Finals MVP Paul Pierce.

It not like this will be the first time that all of those "stars" will be playing with each other. Coach K and Jerry Colangelo have been developing this team for years. And LeBron is better than Pierce, he is just on a worse team.

Originally posted by no1marauder
He won't play in close games, so his overrated defense is a moot point.

Are you serious? Did you watch any of the Detroit vs Orlando series?

Originally posted by MoneyManMike
Good, Kobe is a soldier, thats why he won the MVP.

This "soldier" is going to be AWOL for the organization that pays his bloated salary.

Originally posted by MoneyManMike
It not like this will be the first time that all of those "stars" will be playing with each other. Coach K and Jerry Colangelo have been developing this team for years. And LeBron is better than Pierce, he is just on a worse team.

LeBron was completely stifled by the Boston D (who was covering him most of the time BTW?) until Game 7 and then guess who was the player who made the big plays?

The idea that Tayshawn Prince is more deserving of a spot on the Olympic team than Paul Pierce is utterly ridiculous. Pierce's defense in the playoffs was every bit as good as Prince's and the Truth is an explosive scorer, playmaker and unselfish teammate.

Colangelo is a moron. According to this baketball "expert" not a single Celtic player is deserving of a spot on the Olympic team, so how can our team be sooooooooooooooooooooooo superior to the Cavs?

Originally posted by no1marauder
Don't start this BS again. There's no way Paul could be left off the team if he wanted to play. And Wade is a much better player than Prince who won't play if the games are on the line. Tyson Chandler would have been a good pick over Prince.

How do you Laker feel about Kobe's decision to have surgery AFTER the Olympics which will probably mean he'll miss the start of the Laker season?

Maybe the Lakers will learn how to play as a team instead of as Kobe's minions.

Originally posted by no1marauder
LeBron was completely stifled by the Boston D (who was covering him most of the time BTW?) until Game 7 and then guess who was the player who made the big plays?

The idea that Tayshawn Prince is more deserving of a spot on the Olympic team than Paul Pierce is utterly ridiculous. Pierce's defense in the playoffs was every bit as good as P ...[text shortened]... t on the Olympic team, so how can our team be sooooooooooooooooooooooo superior to the Cavs?

lol you have no idea what your talking about. Colangelo considered both Pierce and KG, but neither of them made the cut. KG expressed no interest in joining the national team and Pierce had injury issues during the selection process. And Colangelo isn't at all ignoring the Celtics' success in the Finals, both Perkins and Rondo are going to be on the practice team that is going to play against the National team before they depart for China.

Paul Pierce didn't shut down LeBron, the Celtic team defense did. LeBron is the better player, he is just on the worse team. Isn't it obvious? The Cavs have absolutely nothing on their team besides LeBron, they have no other legitimate offensive threat, of course the Celtics are going to be able to stifle LeBron.

Oh, and yea Paul Pierce is really great because he got the Finals MVP...when was the last time a Finals MVP shot .432 in the Finals.

Tayshaun is longer, more athletic, and durable than Pierce and he is a pretty solid scorer. Like someone already mentioned before, Prince is going to come off the bench to play some quality defense. Regardless of your petty bias, Prince is a better pick for this role than Pierce.

Originally posted by MoneyManMike
lol you have no idea what your talking about. Colangelo considered both Pierce and KG, but neither of them made the cut. KG expressed no interest in joining the national team and Pierce had injury issues during the selection process. And Colangelo isn't at all ignoring the Celtics' success in the Finals, both Perkins and Rondo are going to be on the ...[text shortened]... defense. Regardless of your petty bias, Prince is a better pick for this role than Pierce.

Prince is a role play which the team needs. They don't need another "scorer". Prince is a great role player and a better defender than Pierce.

Originally posted by MoneyManMike
lol you have no idea what your talking about. Colangelo considered both Pierce and KG, but neither of them made the cut. KG expressed no interest in joining the national team and Pierce had injury issues during the selection process. And Colangelo isn't at all ignoring the Celtics' success in the Finals, both Perkins and Rondo are going to be on the ...[text shortened]... defense. Regardless of your petty bias, Prince is a better pick for this role than Pierce.

Your ignorance of basketball has been on continuous display here for months, so I suppose this is nothing surprising. Pierce's .432 in the finals was a bit better than the supposed greatest player's in the NBA, who could barely crack .400. To give Pierce NO CREDIT AT ALL for his stellar defensive job against LeBron shows your massive (not petty) bias.

You might want to check out the Game 6 box score of the Celtic-Piston series before you keep claiming that Prince is a "better pick" for ANY team. He pretty much disappeared for virtually the entire series against the Celts. Considering that he didn't even play significant minutes for the FIBA team last summer, I can only consider his selection a "pity" one.

If Colangelo wanted to say he picked Prince because he's been on the team and Pierce hasn't been able to much the last two years, he should have stuck with the "loyalty" theme. Instead he felt it necessary to take a backhanded swipe at Pierce. The Truth has shown he can play great D and was the ultimate clutch player in the last month. To leave him off the Olympic team is the choice of an idiot if it is done for any reason having to do with an evaluation of his game has compared to a player of Prince's lesser, and lesser used, talents.