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USA announces final roster for 2012 Olympics


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Nominated for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team are:

 

Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)

Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)

Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks)

Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)

Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers)

James Harden (Oklahoma City Thunder)

Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers)

LeBron James (Miami Heat)

Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves)

Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers)

Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)

Deron Williams (Brooklyn Nets)

 

http://www.nba.com/2012/news/07/07/team-usa-announced/?ls=iref:nbahpt1

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This team is so stacked it's ridiculous. Winning the gold by less than 25 points would be a huge disappointment to be honest.

 

It's really not even as stacked IMO as the 2008 squad, and they came very close to letting the Gold medal game slip away. That team also had the benefit of gaining chemistry together the previous year in the FIBA tournament. Not saying this team shouldn't dominate, but don't get too carried away and underrate the international game.

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Where's Bosh? Is he injured?

 

I think he's probably better than Blake Griffin. It's a nice team though for sure

 

yeh he's not playing because of the groin injury. US team is undersized, but I still don't see any team competing against such a a talented roster.

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I would have dropped Hardens dumbass before anyone!

 

Lol, Harden has 4 bad games and people are ready to crucify him, forgetting just how good he was this past season.

 

I would've taken Gordon or Gay over Harden and Davis over Griffin.

 

Eric Gordon played what, 2 games last season? Even assuming he is 100% healthy, I'd still probably lean towards Harden.

 

And Davis over Griffin? Davis hasn't even played a minute in the NBA, and we have no idea how his game will adapt to stronger competition...especially when you consider how the FIBA game can be quite physical. And if any games in the medal rounds are close, would you trust a 19 year old kid with no NBA experience to perform at the level necessary to win? Besides, Griffin is a proven ALL-STAR. His weaknesses were exposed this past season since the Clippers received so much national attention and they made the playoffs, but he is still a terrific, proven talent.

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Gordon is a better perimeter shooter than Harden and Griffin is useless in international play. Davis provides length, defense and shot blocking that we'll need against some of the longer front lines.

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I think Harden is perfect for international play, I'm not so sure about Griffin, but with Davis being hurt and the fact that he's unproven on the professional level hurt his chances against Griffin. But overall this seems like a solid roster,

 

Paul

Kobe

Durant

LeBron

Chandler

 

or...would they put Melo in there somewhere? I'm hearing Coach K is gonna put LBJ at the five often, as well as Durant at 4.

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Paul

Kobe

Durant

LeBron

Chandler

 

or...would they put Melo in there somewhere? I'm hearing Coach K is gonna put LBJ at the five often, as well as Durant at 4.

 

I'd say the best lineup would be:

 

Paul

Kobe

Durant

Melo

LeBron

 

They would just run and pressure everybody to death. Obviously for certain matchups you would bring Chandler in but I think that would be the best lineup for the Americans. Nobody would be able to handle the pace, athleticism, speed and pressure that they would be able to put on.

 

Melo may not fit in that mold, but we've all seen how dominant he can be in FIBA play, so I just don't think you can put him on the bench, assuming he plays like we've seen him in the past.

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The issue the US team might have is that at International level they will run a lot of zones and won't let the US get off to fast breaks they will intentionally foul to stop the break.

 

The US team doesn't really have any dead-eye 3-point shooters - sure KD, Harden etc can shoot the 3-ball but the certainly aren't a Ray Allen type shooter.

 

Davis wouldn't have been considered due to his ankle injury, but wouldn't have been a bad gamble to get some experience and see how he stacks up. It would at least have given them a second defensive center for playing against some of the post teams like Spain.

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Story from D'antoni

 

So coach K brought like an Army veteran or something along those lines to a meeting once, LeBron and I forget who the other guy was maybe DWill, I forget, sat and the back and just texted the whole time. Kobe was in the front row listening intently. Next time it happened, LeBron said oh shit and went and grabbed his notebook and sat in the front row.

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Gordon is a better perimeter shooter than Harden

 

Harden shot 39% from 3 last season..last 3 seasons Gordon has been hovering around 36-37%.

 

and Griffin is useless in international play.

 

Huh? He's never played an international game and now he's useless? Dude is a 20/12 player in the NBA with above average passing and ballhandling skills for a big man...you have 0 basis to say that he'll be useless in international play.

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With what we'll be throwing at them on the defensive end, I doubt Griffin will be a liability out there. He's going to run the break, and that's where Team USA will dominate, anyway.

 

These international teams are trying to play bigger, but they still won't be matching our athleticism.

 

Dwight Howard would have been nice, but I can't say that Anthony Davis belongs on this team. I'm not saying he's a bust, but I'm also not going to say he's an all-star, either...because as it stands, he hasn't proven to be anything in the NBA.

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