The Greatest US Men's Olympic Basketball Team

[D.Rex]

I had to wait for them to win gold to say this but now that they have i can, this my favorite of all the teams, they had the toughest challenge of any USA pro national team and they beat all the competition so i congratulate them. I think this is the best team, not the most dominant but the best "team".

[Raiden]

I have say the Redeem Team, after they won gold. The '92 Dream Team was amazing, and featured many HOF players like Magic, Jordan, Bird, Barkley, etc., but their competition was soft so they just steamrolled everyone. These recent years the international teams have all gotten alot better, like Argentina and Spain, thanks to the fact that many of their players joined NBA and have alot of experiences. So Redeem Team's perfect run in this year's Olympic is far more impressive imo.

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Originally Posted by Kaleb

IF this team wins it should be called the greatest u.s basketball team, simply cause the level of compitition has increased alot during the last decade ( Greece ,argentina ect,ect).

Wrong. You're right about the competition level but that has nothing to do with the competition level of the US teams.

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Originally Posted by Mister J

There is the Dream Team and then there is every other collection of athletes assembled in any sport at any time ...ever.

Thank you. Finally someone that isn't a prisoner of the moment and knows what they are talking about.

The 92 dream team IS THE BEST SPORTS TEAM EVER ASSEMBLED. PERIOD.

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Ok for all of these people saying they aren't taking anything away from the 92 dream team but the competition level wasn't there. Ummm.....hello. How good do you think the competition level was in the NBA back in those days? Waaaaay better than it is now, by far and easy.

Basketball players may be more athletic now but that does not make them better basketball players.

Let's break it down a little for those that do not understand.

1. The majority of the players on this redeem team haven't won ****.

2. The dream team had every piece of the NBA championship from the previous 10 years.

3. The dream team was far better in the post. FAR BETTER.

4. Hell they were better at every position.

MJ, Magic, Bird, John Mother ****ing Stockton, Malone, Robinson, Drexler, Ewing, Pippen who could shut down anyone as a defender except for maybe Kobe, Mullin, Barkley would show boozer how to bang down low, and CPOY Christian Laettner.

This really is a joke. It's not even close this team's Basketball IQ is off the charts not to mention their skill and hard nose playing. Plus these guys don't need any encouragement to get up for the Olympics or to play any game. These guys ALL played because they loved the game deep down.

Not that these new guys don't but they are soft compared to the guys of the 80's (the best era of basketball ever) and early 90's.

[Dr. Evil]

Except for Christian Laettner, everyone on the 1992 Dream Team was pretty damn good.

- 10 are on the NBA 50th Anniversary Team that was named in 1996
- 5 of them are in the Basketball Hall of Fame (Bird, Ewing, Magic, Barkley, Drexler)
- 6 more should go into the Hall of Fame in the future (Stockton, Malone, Jordan, Pippen, Mullin and Robinson). Mullin was a semi-finalist a few years ago.
- 17 combined NBA Championships

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Originally Posted by Dr. Evil

Except for Christian Laettner, everyone on the 1992 Dream Team was pretty damn good.

- 10 are on the NBA 50th Anniversary Team that was named in 1996
- 5 of them are in the Basketball Hall of Fame (Bird, Ewing, Magic, Barkley, Drexler)
- 6 more should go into the Hall of Fame in the future (Stockton, Malone, Jordan, Pippen, Mullin and Robinson). Mullin was a semi-finalist a few years ago.
- 17 combined NBA Championships

Woa woa woa. You're getting ahead of yourself there buddy.

NBA Christian Laettner was ok.

College Christian Laettner was the mother ****ing man. He was CPOY and he punked Shaq every time they played against each other. Plus his Duke coach, Coach K was an assitant on the 92 team. Plus he is easily one of the top 20 if not top 10 college players ever. He certainly was the weak link, but if Christian Laettner fresh from his college glory is your weak link, you are in damn good shape.

[Mister J]

This notion that somehow the '08 squad is superior to the Dream Team because they faced tougher competition is overblown, regardless of how sparingly it's mentioned. The focus of this thread is which team is greater, which I take to mean better.

• It's not as if the Dream Team rolled over nobodies. The Croatian team that they defeated for the Gold had 5 guys who would play in the NBA. Lithuania, who won the Bronze, had a couple of players too. The edge in competition certainly favors today's international teams, but the reason everything in sight was destroyed in Barcelona wasn't because of weak competition; it was because the Dream Team was that good. For all the talk about 'the world catching up', the Redeem Team still won their games by an average of 28 points, with only one real test. While notable, I believe the aspect of increased competition is a bit overstated. A lack of concern/urgency with international competition, less continuity and structure in building the team, as well as a decline in the quality of play in the NBA have all played a part. This squad still pretty much thrashed everything in sight ...just not at a Dream Team-level clip.
  
  
• One of the slights going into Beijing was whether or not the USA had enough of a presence in the post with Boozer, Bosh and Howard. It specifically got mentioned heading into the final game against Spain; whether they could handle the physicality. Hell, Carmelo and LeBron were logging time at power forward. Now, compare that against Barkley, Malone, Robinson and Ewing. It's not even close. There's nothing to be done against that line. Rebounding would have been even more of a concern than it was in this competition. The Dream Team's big guys would have destroyed the '08 squad.
  
  
• The Dream Team didn't have any problems with 3 ball. Bird, Mullin (who was shooting them like they were layups), Drexler, Pippen, Jordan, even Barkley threw some up. They used the 3 much better. Redd was the best shooter on the Redeem Team and he barely was noticed. The execution improved down the stretch (notably Wade and Bryant), but there's a big edge in favor of '92 here.
  
  
• It was cited that if someone could slow down Team USA's relentless fast break, that they might be in trouble (largely because of lack of a strong post game and inconsistency with the 3). Speed was the primary factor, as in the international teams simply couldn't prepare to deal with the American's breakneck pace. That advantage largely goes bye-bye when dealing with another group of players familiar with the NBA style (which is why the matchups with Argentina and Spain were particularly noted to be a challenge). There would have been a greater emphasis on executing in the halfcourt, which I saw practically none of in the games/clips I watched. I'm not saying Kidd, Paul and Williams couldn't get them into those sets, but it would have been a much different dynamic in scoring then what Team USA just went through. The Dream Team used to fast break people to death too, but they also incorporated the screen and roll/catch and shoot aspects of the game that the Redeem Team struggled with.
  
  
• Outside of their overwhelming advantage in talent, what separates the Dream Team is their mentality/attitude. How many times was it mentioned that the Redeem Team's success depended on their intensity or commitment to defense? There were no such concerns in '92 because the players had their heads on differently. On top of that, the Dream Team's roster came from arguably the best era of basketball that the NBA has ever seen; far superior to today's brand. Players hustled more, they shot better from the outside, there was a better focus on cooperative play (as opposed to the one-on-one/isolation style that's so prevalent today) and they actually could play defense back in '92, not this watered down version of what passes for D today (largely due to rules that heavily favor the offensive player). Additionally, the Dream Team boasts some of the headiest, most intelligent players in the game's history.

Look, I'm thrilled that Team USA 'redeemed' USA basketball. They were clearly the best team, from start to finish, and I hope the new approach to these competitions results in continued and unquestioned American dominance in hoops. However, these comparisons just need to stop. The Dream Team would have kicked the Redeem Team's ass just like they kicked everyone else's. They were simply better. I doubt a more impressive collection of talent is ever assembled.

To borrow a phrase; the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be.

[Immortalfire]

Ah David Robinson...


or these days as he would be known, D-Rob.




My favorite player of all

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Originally Posted by Mister J

This notion that somehow the '08 squad is superior to the Dream Team because they faced tougher competition is overblown, regardless of how sparingly it's mentioned. The focus of this thread is which team is greater, which I take to mean better.

• It's not as if the Dream Team rolled over nobodies. The Croatian team that they defeated for the Gold had 5 guys who would play in the NBA. Lithuania, who won the Bronze, had a couple of players too. The edge in competition certainly favors today's international teams, but the reason everything in sight was destroyed in Barcelona wasn't because of weak competition; it was because the Dream Team was that good. For all the talk about 'the world catching up', the Redeem Team still won their games by an average of 28 points, with only one real test. While notable, I believe the aspect of increased competition is a bit overstated. A lack of concern/urgency with international competition, less continuity and structure in building the team, as well as a decline in the quality of play in the NBA have all played a part. This squad still pretty much thrashed everything in sight ...just not at a Dream Team-level clip.
• One of the slights going into Beijing was whether or not the USA had enough of a presence in the post with Boozer, Bosh and Howard. It specifically got mentioned heading into the final game against Spain; whether they could handle the physicality. Hell, Carmelo and LeBron were logging time at power forward. Now, compare that against Barkley, Malone, Robinson and Ewing. It's not even close. There's nothing to be done against that line. Rebounding would have been even more of a concern than it was in this competition. The Dream Team's big guys would have destroyed the '08 squad.
• The Dream Team didn't have any problems with 3 ball. Bird, Mullin (who was shooting them like they were layups), Drexler, Pippen, Jordan, even Barkley threw some up. They used the 3 much better. Redd was the best shooter on the Redeem Team and he barely was noticed. The execution improved down the stretch (notably Wade and Bryant), but there's a big edge in favor of '92 here.
• It was cited that if someone could slow down Team USA's relentless fast break, that they might be in trouble (largely because of lack of a strong post game and inconsistency with the 3). Speed was the primary factor, as in the international teams simply couldn't prepare to deal with the American's breakneck pace. That advantage largely goes bye-bye when dealing with another group of players familiar with the NBA style (which is why the matchups with Argentina and Spain were particularly noted to be a challenge). There would have been a greater emphasis on executing in the halfcourt, which I saw practically none of in the games/clips I watched. I'm not saying Kidd, Paul and Williams couldn't get them into those sets, but it would have been a much different dynamic in scoring then what Team USA just went through. The Dream Team used to fast break people to death too, but they also incorporated the screen and roll/catch and shoot aspects of the game that the Redeem Team struggled with.
• Outside of their overwhelming advantage in talent, what separates the Dream Team is their mentality/attitude. How many times was it mentioned that the Redeem Team's success depended on their intensity or commitment to defense? There were no such concerns in '92 because the players had their heads on differently. On top of that, the Dream Team's roster came from arguably the best era of basketball that the NBA has ever seen; far superior to today's brand. Players hustled more, they shot better from the outside, there was a better focus on cooperative play (as opposed to the one-on-one/isolation style that's so prevalent today) and they actually could play defense back in '92, not this watered down version of what passes for D today (largely due to rules that heavily favor the offensive player). Additionally, the Dream Team boasts some of the headiest, most intelligent players in the game's history.

Look, I'm thrilled that Team USA 'redeemed' USA basketball. They were clearly the best team, from start to finish, and I hope the new approach to these competitions results in continued and unquestioned American dominance in hoops. However, these comparisons just need to stop. The Dream Team would have kicked the Redeem Team's ass just like they kicked everyone else's. They were simply better. I doubt a more impressive collection of talent is ever assembled.

To borrow a phrase; the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be.

****ing Amen.

[Dr. Evil]

Originally Posted by Immortalfire

Ah David Robinson...


or these days as he would be known, D-Rob.




My favorite player of all

I was happy when he got his first NBA Title.

[mcentepede]

A No-brainer thread. 1992 Dream Team was the "super-friends" of basketball NBA glory. They would have beaten up anybody, anywhere, any era. Barkley's elbow to the African guy was typical Barkley, rough-aggressive and prime-time Barkley at his best. People tend to forget Barkley was 6'4. And Ewing was actually 6'10 with his afro. No team even comes close.