The USA Mens Basketball Team has struggled to beat teams around the world. The American NBA consists of the most talented players to play the game. Players from other countries like Europe, China, and more hope to have a chance to play and compete in the NBA. It would be a privilege to have a chance to play among players with great talent. Look back in 1992 at “The Dream Team”, who consisted of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, and more. “The Dream Team” embarrassed any team who tried to challenge them. Can the new USA team carry the torch to win the gold in the 2008 Olympics? Guess we will have to wait and see. Olympics starts August 08, 2008.
1992 "The Dream Team"
In the last several years, the USA basketball team has struggled and shock the world.
–In 2004 Olympics, they struggled in Athens and won the Bronze Metal
–In 2006, They went as far as the semi-finals and got stunned by Greece.
The USA starting 5 in the last few years wasn’t the strongest.
–2004
Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Lamar Odom, Richard Jefferson, Tim Duncan
–2006
Kirk Hinrich, Joe Johnson, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Elton Brand
That still isn’t an excuse.
The 2008 USA Mens Basketball team has upgraded since then with the projected line-up of Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwight Howard.
The rest of the line-up to help is:
1. Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets)
2. Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons)
3. Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks)
4. Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)
5. Deron Williams (Utah Jazz)
6. Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz)
7. Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors
2008 USA Mens Olympic Basketball Team
This year USA is concentrating more on chemistry among players and defense. They added Tayshaun Prince as one of the best defenders in NBA. They also added Kobe Bryant not as an offensive objective, but more on the defensive end.
So far in the exhibitions, USA has done pretty well;
USA vs. Turkey, 114-82
Lithuania vs. USA, 84-120
Then USA Mens Basketball Team faced Russia, a team that didn’t make the game exactly a “breeze in the park”. They brought the score as close as 9 points at one time with the help of familiar NBA players like J.R. Holden and Andrey Kirilenko. But the U.S. team fought with their defense. The offense came from several players, but one stood out, made clutch shots when we needed it and got the crowd cheering, screaming MVP! MVP! He was designed to be a defensive player for the team, but he finished with 19 points to help team USA win the game at a score of 89-68. This year we got the NBA’S MVP and the best basketball player right now playing in our team. It is Kobe Bryant.
It looks like a better team since 2004. It looks like they are playing well together and so far successfully winning. Will the 2008 USA Mens Basketball Team succeed to win the gold in Beijing? Let’s hope and see..