This topic contains 17 replies, has 12 voices, and was last updated by AvatarAvatar ENOGSIWONdede 11 years, 7 months ago.

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  • #42615
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    Memphis Madness
    Participant

    That was a great gold medal game with the two best teams in the world going at it. It was back and forth through much of the game before we pulled away somewhat late thanks to Chris Paul. We played well and capitalized on Marc Gasol’s foul trouble. We went out and earned it, playing smart, moving the ball, and hitting the big shots.

    People are talking about how this team stacks up to the Dream Team. I give the Dream Team a slight edge but if the Vintage Kobe shows up, the one who lit up Argentina, this current 2012 team is as good as anyone. Tyson Chandler isn’t Patrick Ewing or D Rob but he is solid. Kevin Love rebounds great and we have a ton of versatile guys on our roster. Durant put on a scoring and shooting clinic, the likes of which we rarely see. Carmelo played great in these Olympics as usual and dropped 37 in one game (actually 15 minutes). And, the 2012 version of LeBron is one of the best ever. Just dominant. Making awesome passes and powerful hammer dunks down the middle of the lane.

    1992 featured MJ, the best ever. Magic, a top 5 guy ever. And Larry Bird, a top 10 guy. Stockton, Malone, Barkely and the two centers are also top 25-50 guys. This team doesn’t have Jordan but it has LeBron who should go down in the all-time top ten. Kobe is either there now or close, top 15 at minimum. Durant is shooting (literally) up the charts and looks like a candidate to be in the top 15 ever. Carmelo is great in the NBA and even better in the Olympics. Two golds, a bronze, and an NBA title for him. Plus his all-star games. That says HOF to me. His game should age well and I can see him inching up the list of all-time greats. Chris Paul is a HOF point guard, and Kevin Love and Westbrook are two young super stars with a full decade ahead of them. The Dream Team might be better, more heralded, one through twelve, but the 2012 team, at the top is great.

    I think the 1992 team was deeper and better at the 4 and 5 spots, but this team is better at point guard and at the 3. Both teams were great defensively, but I think this current team is more versatile, top to bottoms. Also better from 3 point range aka Dream Team Three. We dialed in 29 in one game and 20 in another. Carmelo, Kobe, and Durant each had video game moments from long range in this tournament. Then LeBron hits the big 3 late to put Spain away in the gold medal game.

    Given our three point shooting and our athleticism/versatity I think we are more explosive offensively.

    This team also featured our only triple double in Olympic history, thanks to LBJ. He and Melo also join David Robinson as the only three USA players to have 3 Olympic medals including 2 golds. Durant also scored more in an Olympics than Spencer Haywood, the previous record holder from the 1968 games.

    Based on all that I think we could call the 2012 team Dream Team Three.

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  • #705848
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    Sewok15
    Participant

    Did you just write that Melo has an NBA title? And who cares about a Bronze medal? For the US anything short of Gold is a total failure.

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  • #705851
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    IndianaBasketball
    Participant

    Congrats to 2012 for winning gold, but it’s just silly to compare them to 1992.

    They’re just too small. IF they had trouble defending the Gasol brothers, think what Robinson, Ewing, Barkley and Malone would do…

    Another thing 2012 wouldn’t be able to do, which they rely a lot on, is turn 1992 over. Magic and Stockton weren’t turning that ball over.

    In fear of 2012’s athleticism, these European teams were playing zone against them… 1992 wouldn’t be playing zone lol. It’d be straight man to man. They have wing defenders to check Durant, LeBron and Kobe, plus the help behind to back them up.

    Let’s just be happy that 2012 won gold with so many top players injured and stop comparing them to 1992… It’s just not even close.

    And let’s stop throwing the word "Dream Team" around. There was only one… And that was 1992. There will never be another.

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  • #705853
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    Malik-Universal
    Participant

     indiana i love u for that^

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  • #705856
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    Memphis Madness
    Participant

    I meant to put Melo down for an NCAA title.

    This 2016 team was good and closed games well. I think the rest of the world is catching up to us. Having
    LeBron and Durant helped a lot. Without those two we would have been in trouble.

    I am looking forward to our 2016 team. If LeBron, Melo, and Durant return and bring Dwight Howard D Rose with them we will have a great core, probably even better than this year’s team.

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  • #705857
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    sheltwon3
    Participant

    The original dream team would have issues with this Spain team.  I think they would have won by more only because of their size depth.  I think if this team had Howard on then you can add another 10 points to their game margins.

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  • #705861
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    ENOGSIWONdede

     Teamm USA not even that athletic really, 4 years ago they were, Westbrook, Lebron. Durant, Iggy the only guys who are athletic.  Mike, Scottie, Clyde, Barkley, Robinson were every bit as athletic as them.  Yes the other guys were kind of slow but the 1992 team would have no trouble matching up.

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  • #705880
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    apb540
    Participant

    I want to point out that Team USA’s second team could/should be considered the second best team in the world. 

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  • #705896
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    Tyreke Johnson
    Participant

     The fact that you think Love and Chandler could defend and keep up with prime Barkley, Malone, Ewing and Robinson that you are sadly mistaken because they would eat them alive. The Gasol brothers scored 41 on them and you think those guys i listed wouldnt score more? This 2012 team is good, but please it really would not be a challenge for the Dream Team to beat them. People will always make unfair comparisons to the Dream Team and though some teams are good, nobody will come close to their completel dominance and impact on the game of Basketball.

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  • #705911
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    frogman
    Participant

    If you honestly don’t think this team would challenge the 92 dream team you’re a moron.. there I said it.

    They might not win but to think any team ever assembled would walk all over Lebron, Durant, Melo, CP3 and Kobe then you are seriously underrating the greatness of this team.  If Howard was healthy then that would close the gap between the two greatly.  (I admit Love and Chandler aren’t defending anyone on the 92 team)

    Ill get negged to hell and back for this but the dicck riding of the dream team on this site is ridiculous.

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  • #705918
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    roni3
    Participant

    This 2012 team does not stack up with the 1992 dream team, not with a weak pf and c spots. But everyone keeps forgetting the 2012 team was originally supposed to have Rose, Wade, Bosh, Griffin and Howard who all were left out of the roster thanks to injuries. The finals roster could of looked something like this

    Pg-CP3, Deron, Rose (Coach K and the staff would of picked Rose over Westbrook)

    Sg-Kobe, Wade (Wade was the leading scorer in the 2008 run)

    Sf-Lebron, Durant, Melo (These are not their defined positions, since they could all play pf when U.S. goes small)

    Pf-Bosh, Love, Griffin (Bosh’s mid-range jumper would of gave the team so much more space for others to drive)

    C-Howard, Chandler (Howard and Chandler’s defense would of killed the opposition)

    Rose over Westbrook

    Wade over Harden

    Bosh over Iggy

    Howard over Davis

    Now this team vs. the Dream Team would of been way more exciting.

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  • #705952
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    mj23mj23bestever
    Participant

     it was made obviuos on the gold medal game this usa team cant stop a big and no knock on pau he isnt ewing or robinson and carmelo will never been mentioned as an all time great until he plays d or starts too rebound better or god forbid he actually passes the ball in an nba game can he score yes can he do or should i say does he do anything else in the nba nope 

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    • #705956
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      kobyz
      Participant

      U.S just had a bad game against Spain, it does’nt have much relevance with having trouble playing against that big size team.

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  • #705954
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    kobyz
    Participant

    i think this year Dream Team can give a fair fight to 1992 Dream Team, especially with LeBron looking like he can’t be denied now after getting his first NBA ring, it’s also a matter of style of play, what style will win – the bigman power or the wing and shooting power.

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  • #705964
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    Jlv2012

    For those of you who think the 2012 team is anything special.  Get your head checked.  They can barely beat Spain, kind of embarassing really.  If they had a healthy 2012 team with Howard, Wade, etc then I can see them losing by 8-10 points.  Current team would lose by 20 or more. Case closed.

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  • #706101
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    IndianaBasketball
    Participant

    2012’s best lineup was LeBron, Melo, Durant, Kobe and Paul… How could they get away with that versus 1992 when you have a rotation of Robinson, Ewing, Barkley and Malone? LeBron is a great defender, but he’d be outmatched trying to defend Robinson and Ewing. 2012 would be forced to sit Melo down in favor of a bigger defender, which would take away offense from 2012.

    And if 2012 puts Chandler in, he’s getting abused. Robinson and Ewing would be able to play off of him and help against LeBron’s drives. And 1992 would definitely play LeBron for his drives and not his jumpshot… And if 2012 puts Love in, he doesn’t stand a chance trying to defend any of 1992’s bigs.

    LeBron is probably the only guy on 2012 that could defend Barkley or Malone. And if he’s defending them, who’s defending a prime Jordan??? Don’t even say Kobe… He’s too far past his prime to keep up with Jordan. Kobe would have a very inefficient game. As a matter of fact, 1992 would put Magic on Kobe in the half court and let Jordan pressure Paul. Jordan would only have to check Kobe if Kobe went vintage or something.  

    And while Durant could shoot over any of 1992’s defenders and would definitely have success, he’d have trouble putting the ball on the floor against Pippen, who would be closing out on him a lot quicker than any of these European defenders.  

    This is just a bad matchup for 2012. Had everyone been healthy for 2012, 1992 would still win that series. And if that’s the case, 2012 with injury replacements would have an even more difficult time.

    1992 beats 2012 by double figures. I’d say at least 15-20 points.

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  • #706120
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    iguapops420
    Participant

     Give me the 08 team. Don’t tell me that MJ would light that Kobe up or stop him. That was the same Kobe who won the gold by himself in against spain. Not to mention Kobe was locking literally EVERYBODY up. that Olympics. Barbosa couldn’t even get it past half court. And I’m sorry, but I really don’t think the Dream Team was as good as they looked. 

    From my brother on FB.

    And when the Angola team isn’t having their teammates hold cameras DURING live game action and telling Magic to stand "like this", so they can get a picture of themselves defending Magic or Michael, we can talk about the "competition" the ‘

    92 team faced.

    You’re a man of logic and reasoning. You have to see how that has impacted the Olympics. In ’92, the other countries’ players had never met such larger than life celebrities. It was the first time these teams had been in such close proximity with guys that THEY idolized from afar. Their was a mysticism about the Dream Team that permeated throughout those games. May as well been the Golbe Trotters vs the Generals out there. Those games were no kind of "competition". 

    Nowadays, even a scrub on the Nigerian team has spoken with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James on a handful of occasions over the course of 6-8 years between Olympic play and the World Championships every two years. The "zeal" has worn off.

    And with that first Dream Team came a world born to love basketball. In that era, the NBA had seven, ONLY SEVEN, international players with Vlade Divac as some kind of international hero for "making it big" in the league. Today’s NBA? That Spain team ALONE had two Gasol’s, Ibaka, Rudy Fernandez, and Juan Carlos Navarro that have all multiple NBA seasons to varying degrees of success. That’s SIX NBA players on one team vs SEVEN international players in the ENTIRE NBA league in ’92. 

    The US game hasn’t devolved from ’92, Broseph Gordon-Levitt. It has evolved, BECAUSE a 10 yr old Pau Gasol was in the stands in Barcelona suddenly dreaming of becoming an NBA player vs the doctor he thought he would become. It has evolved, because a 20-something Toni Kukoc was able to take a beating at the hands of Jordan and Pippen, both looking at him like two rabid dogs, only to be standing beside them holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy 4 years later as TEAMMATES. 

    The game of basketball exploded the moment Larry, Michael, and Magic stood in unison wearing Red, White, and Blue. It was like God had stood up and said, "And on the 1 trillionth day, LET THEIR BE HOOP!!!", and a world of former soccer players, doctors, track and field athletes, etc suddenly had been filled-in on the hoppers game known to man.

    You know the argument isn’t Black and White, brother. You know it isn’t. The ’92 team likely beats this one, but that assumption is not based on Team USA only winning by 7.

    As for the Practice Squad comment, it wasn’t meant to say the practice squad could beat that ’92 team day-in, day-out. It happened ONCE. The point was to bring light to the fact that the ’92 team wasn’t facing anyone with the kind of naturalized American game the Dream Teamers were playing. 

    There’s a reason international players typically take a season to become adjusted to the size and speed of the game.

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  • #706136
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    ENOGSIWONdede

     Pau Gasol was not 10 twenty years ago he is 32 now

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