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I don't think the pedigree is nearly as high as '92 but overall compared to the '96, '00, and '04 teams this roster is pretty elite. 6 very likely HoFers in Paul, Kobe, Wade, James, Durant, and Melo, and all the rest besides Chandler I would say have hall of fame ceilings.
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Wade will get an MRI on his knee this week and most likely pull out of the Olympics.
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PG - Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook
SG - Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Eric Gordon
SF - LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodala
PF - Chris Bosh, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Lamar Odom, Anthony Davis
C - Tyson Chandler
This is who I'd take...With Wade out, don't see Harden or Gordon making it over the plethora of SF's...you can always run Bron at the 4 and Melo too for spots...Love and Bosh to spread the floor at the other 4...
I'd love to see an Anthony Davis/Chandler frontcourt too...
Read more: http://www.virtualsportsnetwork.com/...#ixzz1yev6ApQnOriginally posted by Nick MangoldComment
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Wade is officially off the team and Bosh may be off too, due to an injury.
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And now it's looking like Griffin will pull out due to his knee injury.
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Bump. The preliminary round kicks off next Sunday (I added U.S. times to the original post).
Here's a piece from Yahoo! on the big five questions for Team USA
LAS VEGAS – Team USA has already dealt with its share of challenges in the opening week of training camp, and plenty of questions still remain on the Americans' road to London.
Contract situations, fatigue and injuries limited the progress of Team USA. Three players – Eric Gordon, Rudy Gay and Anthony Davis – were cut and named alternates. After Blake Griffin suffered a major knee injury that will keep him off the Olympic roster, Davis, the 20-year-old top pick in last month's NBA draft, was added.
Blake Griffin won't play in the Olympics because his left knee is hurting.
"There have been a lot of distractions – not Vegas distractions, but contract, injury, different situations during these first eight days," Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Team USA hopes to limit those distractions before its Olympic competition starts on July 29. Here are five questions facing the Americans before they arrive in London:
1. Who will start for Team USA?
Chris Paul started at point guard, with Kobe Bryant at shooting guard, LeBron James at small forward, Carmelo Anthony at power forward and Tyson Chandler at center in Team USA's exhibition victory over the Dominican Republic. Unless Paul’s thumb injury worsens, expect him to remain as the starting point guard. The only position in question is power forward, where Anthony started in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
It’s possible that Kevin Durant, who scored 24 points off the bench against the Dominican Republic, ends up starting over Anthony. Durant, however, also has a comfort level playing with Oklahoma City Thunder teammates Russell Westbrook and James Harden, both of who will come off the bench.
"Coach just said before we went out on the floor that 'Melo was starting and I was like, ‘That’s cool with me. Whatever the team needs,' " Durant said. "That’s something we may do down the line, but I really don’t know. It was a little different coming off the bench, you know. I was there for three or four minutes, but then he left me out there for the rest of the first [quarter]. So, either way I felt good."
2. Who will be Team USA’s biggest competition in London?
Spain is led by the Gasol brothers, Marc and Pau. The Spanish roster also includes NBA players Serge Ibaka, Rudy Fernandez, Jose Calderon and rookie Victor Claver – Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio is out with a knee injury. Ibaka has already claimed Spain has as much talent as the Americans. USA defeated Spain in the gold-medal game during the Beijing Olympics.
Argentina, the 2004 Olympic gold medalists, is always a threat while led by Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola. France has Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw, but is missing Joakim Noah. Lithuania and Brazil are also countries to watch.
"When you put on this jersey, there’s a sense of pride for us, a sense of patriotism," Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love said. "So, we just want to get out there and play as hard as we possibly can, no matter who we’re playing, no matter what night it is. At the end of the day we’re going for the gold on August 12."
3. Could this be the most athletic and fastest team in Olympic history?
Speed and athleticism are major weapons for Team USA – and that’s without Griffin. Westbrook, Chris Paul and Deron Williams are all speedsters, and Durant, Anthony, James and Bryant can also fill the lane on the break.
Kevin Durant could eventually start over Carmelo Anthony in London.
Team USA scored 63 points in the second half against the Dominican Republic. Any country that is forced into a track meet with Team USA will lose. Expect Westbrook, Paul and Williams to pressure opposing teams' ball-handlers. Andre Iguodala will be a defensive specialist on the wing while Chandler, James and Davis challenge shots.
"It is like a dream," Anthony said. "I get a rebound, I push the ball up the floor and I have Kobe one way, LeBron one way, I have K.D. trailing and I got Chris Paul out there, too. It is kind of surreal."
4. Will size matter for Team USA?
The Americans have only three players taller than 6-foot-9: Chandler (7-1), Love (6-10) and Davis (6-10). The one benefit of adding Davis to the roster is he can provide some needed length.
Anthony, Durant and James can take turns playing power forward and possibly even some center with smaller lineups. What Team USA lacks in size, it makes up in versatility with a roster of players who can play multiple positions. The U.S. had Paul, James, Anthony, Bryant and Durant on the floor at the same time during one stretch of the first half against the Dominican Republic.
Size, however, will be the biggest concern against Spain because of the Gasol brothers: Marc stands 7-1 and Pau is 7-0. But if James, Durant or Anthony play power forward or center, the Spaniards could have trouble using big men to defend them. Expect Krzyzewski to use Team USA's speed and athleticism to compensate for the lack of size.
When asked what is Team USA’s biggest concern, Anthony said with a laugh, "We’re small – too small."
5. How is Team USA's chemistry?
Team USA's chemistry is the best since it began using NBA players in 1992. James and Anthony will be playing on their third Olympic team. James, Anthony, Bryant, Paul and Deron Williams won Olympic gold medals together four years ago in Beijing. Durant, Chandler, Westbrook, Love and Iguodala won gold medals together two years ago at the world championships.
The only U.S. players without international experience at the senior level are Harden and Davis. No U.S. team has had a roster with that much familiarity or international experience.
"Overall, one of the things we wanted to accomplish here was to develop good camaraderie," Krzyzewski said. "Guys seemed to get along really well. They pull for each other, and they play hard. Now, we have to translate that into an effective system, both offensively and defensively, and they have to get to know one another, and we have to get to know them in this context."
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U.S. beat Spain in the final exhibition game in what many expect will be the Gold Medal game again. Melo scored over 20 off the bench while Spain worked to exploit their size advantage.
Opening ceremonies are Friday and the preliminary round kicks off Sunday morning (our time) against the French.
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Wasn't able to watch the game but I heard Ibaka played great for Spain.Comment
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There were stretches where the lineup was Paul-Kobe-Durant-LeBron-Melo. Pretty crazy stuff.Comment
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Russell Westbrook is an awful fit for international play. Way too much dribbling against the zoneComment
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Olympic basketball Power Rankings
LONDON -- Mike Krzyzewski said it in Manchester, said it Barcelona and said it again Friday afternoon when the coach, sporting a 54-1 record in international competition, met the world media at Team USA's first news conference of the Olympics.
"There are a number of teams that can beat us in this tournament," he said. "We know that."
Precisely how many of the other 11 countries entered that can pull that off is a matter of debate, but trotting out a special FIBA edition of ESPN.com's Power Rankings -- listing the men's Olympic basketball entrants from 1 to 12 -- can't be a bad thing.
1. UNITED STATES There's a reason bovada.lv has Team USA listed at 1-10 odds to win its second consecutive gold medal despite everyone who's not here. Even without the injured Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Chris Bosh and Blake Griffin, Krzyzewski's roster is teeming with depth, length, strength and plain hard-to-guard talent that surprised some international experts during the Yanks' five-game exhibition swing, most notably when they thumped Spain in Spain.
While their lack of proven centers outside of Tyson Chandler, Chandler's penchant for foul trouble and the ever-present fear that one bad shooting night at the wrong time could doom the Americans, coaches from other countries chuckle when you try to tell them about their advantages in terms of, say, continuity or having an established pecking order. There isn't a coach in this field, having witnessed the withering defense Team USA can produce, who wouldn't trade for Coach K's problems.
2. SPAIN No one question's Spain's credentials. It has the talent (seven players with NBA experience) and the expertise in FIBA conditions (reigning European champions and 2006 world champions) to upset the United States -- and it's certainly due after a few close calls against Coach K-led squads in 2008 and 2010.
Yet it's easy to forget that Pau Gasol's crew has been hit by injury as hard as the Americans -- maybe even harder when you consider its smaller talent pool. Besides the unavailability of Ricky Rubio (knee), three key members of the team, Marc Gasol (shoulder), Juan Carlos Navarro (back/foot) and Rudy Fernandez (back), are somewhat compromised by injuries.
Is the silver-medal favorite healthy enough to take advantage of its size edge on Team USA? Do the Spaniards have enough shooting to space the floor around the bigs? Those are legit questions.
3. BRAZIL Outside of Spain, no team worries Team USA more than the Brazilians. That's good enough to bump them ahead of Argentina and into the medal reaches of the pre-tournament rankings. You'll hear lots in the coming days about their bruising trio of NBA big men (Nene, Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter), their dynamic backcourt partnership boasting a supreme playmaker (Marcelinho Huertas) and a speedy finisher (Leandro Barbosa) and their coach (Argentine Ruben Magnano) who is revered internationally like Coach K is domestically.
The discipline and direction Magnano's system provides and the trouble they gave Team USA in a warm-up game with President Barack Obama in the house clinched a top-three spot going in. Dare I say that Bovada will rue having the Brazilians sixth at 40-to-1. Sixth?)
4. ARGENTINA Too old to cope with an every other day schedule? Best days are behind 'em? Swan song for a golden generation? Something tells me Manu Ginobili has heard it all before.
Eight years removed from the gold medal in Athens that shook USA Basketball to its core and prompted the Yanks to revamp their whole program, Argentina has been subjected to a lot of the dismissive "they're done" talk that greets Ginobili's Spurs most years. The truth is that Ginobili & Co. are indeed old by tournament standards, with an average age of 33 in the starting lineup, but don't forget that no team played the Americans closer in their five warm-up games.
Although depth and size are issues, I'm not going to be the guy who writes off a group that, when you see the names (Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni, Carlos Delfino and soon-to-be New York Knick Pablo Prigioni) next to Ginobili's, demands respect at this level.
5. RUSSIA The Russians finished third behind Spain and France at EuroBasket 2011, but they're a feared wild card in London, even more than the French if you buy into the pre-tournament chatter. Princeton alumnus David Blatt has long been one of most respected coaches outside of the NBA, and Blatt has significant size everywhere you look on the floor.
"When you play them, it feels like they're 6-7 and up at all times," one coach said.
Players to watch: Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov, Timberwolves acquisition Alexey Shved, scoring guard Vitaly Fridzon -- "Russia's answer to Navarro," the same coach said -- and Minnesota-bound FIBA force Andrei Kirilenko, who is rejuvenated by his Euroleague MVP season at CSKA Moscow.
6. FRANCE Les Bleus are in the midst of their most successful spell as a basketball country, but they don't pose the same threat with Joakim Noah absent because of a left ankle injury and Tony Parker sporting goggles after the nightclub incident that badly damaged his left eye.
You'll have a level of familiarity with several players on this roster: Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf and Kevin Seraphin. San Antonio-bound Nando De Colo and Florent Pietrus, brother of Mickael Pietrus, are known quantities too.
Yet as one rival coach aptly put it, "These guys are extremely Tony Parker dependent." How Parker plays so soon after his eye scare will determine how far France goes.
7. LITHUANIA Dangerous floater is probably the best way to describe Lithuania. This roster, thanks in part to the injury absence of seasoned big man Robertas Javtokas, lacks the depth and know-how of the Lithuanian squads that racked up three bronzes and two fourth-place finishes in their first five trips to the Olympics as an independent nation.
But you can rest assured that no one looks forward to playing these guys. You can also rest assured that, with longtime Stein Line HQ favorite Sarunas Jasikevicius still running the show at age 36 and bouncy rookie big man Jonas Valanciunas about to receive his first dose of extended exposure to an NBA audience before joining the Toronto Raptors, your trusted rankings committee (of one) will be at the front of the line to watch them.
8. AUSTRALIA Even without another Stein Line favorite -- star center Andrew Bogut, who has been sidelined by ankle surgery -- Australia has the best chance to emerge from the bottom five teams to claim the final spot in the single-elimination round that begins with the quarterfinals, thanks in part to a couple of strong exhibition showings against Spain.
The Aussies, as usual, are known for playing a physical game even without Bogut in support of lead guard Patty Mills, who is sure to see the ball a ton to make up for the limited role he has in San Antonio. Aussie big man David Andersen has a key role and ample motivation, with sources close to the former Rocket/Raptor/Hornet telling ESPN.com that Andersen hopes to play his way back into the NBA with his showing at this tournament.
9. GREAT BRITAIN It's difficult not to root for Luol Deng to sneak the host country into the quarterfinals and a near-certain matchup with Team USA in the knockout rounds knowing that Deng, whose family found refuge in the United Kingdom after leaving their native Sudan, has put off wrist surgery because representing Great Britain in its first taste of Olympic basketball since London hosted the 1948 Games means that much to him.
It's difficult to see how Team GB is going to get that far in its current state, though, with two of its top six players -- point guard Mike Lenzly and combo forward Dan Clark -- carrying worrisome injuries. The hosts and their deep American coaching staff (Chris Finch, Nick Nurse and Paul Mokeski) need huge play from Deng, Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Joel Freeland, as well as the magic of home-court advantage, to score the wins they need over Argentina and China to get to the single-elimination stage.
10. NIGERIA As well as Nigeria played in the last-chance qualifying tournament earlier this month in Venezuela just to get to London -- besting the John Calipari-coached Dominican Republic in the final to claim the final Olympic spot that had been widely forecasted to go to Greece -- this ranking might be a spot or two low.
Brothers Al-Farouq Aminu and Alade Aminu team with former NBAer Ike Diogu in a more-than-passable frontcourt rotation, with Israel-based Tony Skinn being counted on to supply something out of the backcourt for the Nigerians, who are making their debut in Olympic men's basketball after a third-place finish at the 2011 African championships. And they're making it with a good bit of momentum after qualifying wins over Greece and Lithuania.
11. CHINA Expectations, as always, far exceed the realistic ceiling for China, even in the post-Yao Ming era. Thanks to the huge production it receives on the international stage from Yi Jianlian and the influence of American coach Bob Donewald, China won the Asian title in 2011 to secure Olympic qualification.
Just getting to London was China's Olympics, even though (A) Yi is unquestionably a different player with his national team's jersey on and (B) no one in China wants to hear or read that. Donewald has made a habit of getting more from this group than expected and has had them together since March to play nearly 40 -- yes, forty -- warm-up games.
12. TUNISIA If these were the Olympic Basketball Continuity Rankings, Tunisia would easily crack the upper half. Its players are largely unknown even to folks who work in the sport, but it's a group that has been together for some time and, by all accounts, knows how to play together.
The reality, though, is that this is Tunisia's maiden Olympics after winning the African title in 2011, and roughly no one sees them winning a game. One international scout acquainted with the squad nonetheless insists that it is fun to watch and, in 7-foot center Salah Mejri, has at least one name that's blipped on the NBA radar thanks a summer-league stint with the Utah Jazz.Comment
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9:30 eastern in the morning bitches....anyone watching them kick France's ass?
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