Team USA 2012 Opens with a Spanker

Team USA comes out opening exhibition against the Dominican Republic winning by over 50 points and if they continue to do that, they will certainly be able to entertain the argument that they could last and win against the Dream Team.

Of course that is after this team puts 11 people in the Hall of Fame (as Michael Jordan) said in an interview after Kobe's comments. But it was a nice opener for this team; they showed defense, tenacity, speed, and basketball skill; especially coming from Kevin Durant.

Kobe did not really go for the gusto; I think he is a great scorer (in traffic) but Durant and Anthony (Melo)
 are far more natural in their scoring ability. We'll see more on these guys later.


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Did Kobe Bite Off More Than He Can Chew?

Kobe the Bean, the Black Mamba Bryant came on and said this years USA Men's Olympic Basketball team (2012) would pull off a victory against the heavily known Hall of Fame loaded 1992 US Dream Team. Now I listened to his arguments or points and they were certainly noted and valid. The athleticism of the 2012 team would certainly run the 1992 team off the court.


The point guard position would hound the 1992 team; I mean I can see Magic and (John) Stockton calling for the paramedics after (Russell) Westbrook, Deron Williams, and CP3 (Christ Paul) run a fun clinic against them. Outside of the athleticism and the point guard positions; there is no other advantage the 2012 team has. Sure the 1992 team had a few players who were perhaps at or almost past their prime like Larry Bird.

Would we lose to 2012 Team?...Nah

Nevertheless, they still beat opponents by tons of points. And these days more NBA players are playing for these international teams, so you can't expect the USA team today to knock guys out by 40 or 50 points when it was the 92 Dream Team that opened the awareness and doors for international players to step up their games up.


Back to Kobe's big bite statement: I think it is safe to say there still is no answer for MJ. Scottie and Mike were in their primes, fresh off back-to-back titles and were getting up and down the floor. The Dream Team's size would probably fair too much for the 2012 team here but I can say this, it would not be a blow out. 


Personally, I just don't see answers for Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Pat Ewing, and MJ. And let's not forget Scottie Pippen, who Lebron James is just a big stronger and badder version of, Pippen can slow down the point guards all the way to Durant in his prime.


What do you think about this match up? Post up...




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Heat Sign Lewis and Allen

If you thought Shane Battier, Mike Miller, and Mario Chalmers benefitted from the constant double team of Wade, Bosh, and Lebron; wait til you get a load of Lewis and Allen. That is Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen; who I call "Missile Launchers" because of their three-point shooting ability.

If you remember a few years back when Lebron walked off the Orlando court without shaking hands with D-Howard after the Magic upset his highly tooted Cleveland Cavs; it was mainly because of the missile launching by Rashard Lewis and his teammates. They benefited from the double team of Dwight Howard. Now they have Bosh, Wade, and the new translation King James to open the court with.

This definitely makes Miami better going into next season. I knew a lot of people would come over to their squad once they won. It was like the veterans said, "Let's see if they can win," and once they did they decide to come over and play with them. Ray Allen is going to have a ball playing with the Heat, and depending on how the east continues to beef up, with the Nets, Knicks, and Celtics adding major pieces; I have a feeling that the Heat and Bulls are still the primary guys to look out for.

I'm ready for training camp already and we haven't even got the gold medal yet. Tell me with you think... post up


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1992 Dream Team Olympic Review

20 Years ago, these were the days of basketball vengeance when team USA went over with Michael Jordan and the rest of the stars and really made Basketball a global sport. Cheers to the 1992 USA Men's Basketball Gold Medalist...

USA Men's Basketball Olympic Team 2012

USA Men's Basketball Olympic Team Trims the fat and makes it's final roster for the 

London 2012 Olympic Games.

London, here we come...well after a few exhibitions. The USA announces its
team and it is ready to play ball. Led by Lebron James and Kobe Bryant,
this team looks ready to go for gold. No cash for gold here, strictly gold
around the neck.

Take a look at the squad:

Cutting the roster was the first major step for Colangelo and Krzyzewski,
whose job it is now to craft a cohesive unit from the 12 players who did

make the cut – a star-studded bunch led by James, *Kobe Bryant, Kevin

Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Tyson Chandler, Kevin

Love* and *Russell Westbrook* that was rounded out with *Andre
Iguodala*and national team newcomers *Blake Griffin* and *James Harden*.

That list includes five players — James, Bryant, Anthony, Paul and Williams
— that own gold medal from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Five more —
Durant, Westbrook, Iguodala, Love and Chandler — helped the U. S. to gold
at the 2010 World Championship in Turkey.

Carving a 12-man crew out of the 15 healthy, mostly, stars that showed up
for training camp was the sort of endeavor most of the competition wish
they had to endure. With Bryant, James, and Durant on the team and the
three point guards they have, I see no reason for team USA to come home
empty handed.

I noticed no one on this team outside of Chandler, James and Bryant have won a NBA 

Championship. They have seven between the three.

Post Up Due

Walter Ray Going to Miami...

I think he did not like how his teammates wouldn't shake hands with the Heat after their loss and decided to really show them how to be sportsman like. So he took his talents down to Championship-ville Miami.


This move will open the game up for the Heat...just imagine, if Battier, Miller, and Jones opened the floor for Bosh, James, and Wade to enough damage to win a title; you can imagine what Ray Allen will bring. 


 With so many changes in the last few weeks (Nash to LA, Kidd to NYC, J-Terry to Boston, even Brandon Roy up and out of retirement to Minnesota) Allen's move to leave Boston and go to rival Miami Heat speaks volumes. I imagine some conspiracy going on... Rumors were that he was not going to enjoy coming off the bench to up and coming player, Avery Bradley. Another rumor is that he wants to spend his retirement years in Florida (I made that rumor up), someone in the Celtic organization is making passes as his wife or mom (stuff you hear from corny gossip sites). 

Regardless the reason, I think Ray Allen wants to win and must have felt the Celtics chances of doing so are not that good for him to win another title before he calls it an illustrious career waiting for a Hall of Fame appearance. 


 The question that I need you to post up is does this make the HEAT repeat winners? Post your answer in the comments section Post up Due


Here is an article from NBA.com -

The Big Four are no more. At least not in Boston.

Free agent guard Ray Allen agreed to sign Friday evening with the Miami Heat, ending his five-year run in Boston that was highlighted by two Finals trips for the Celtics, including the 2008 championship. Allen chose Miami over Boston, Memphis and Minnesota, giving the Heat a potentially lethal perimeter option to go along with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Boshnext season.

The 37-year-old Allen visited Miami Thursday and left town Friday morning after being courted by the Heat organization. He was supposed to visit the Clippers on Friday, but that visit was cancelled after Los Angeles agreed to terms with free agent guard Jamal Crawford on Wednesday. Allen never met with the Grizzlies or Timberwolves.

The Celtics had been optimistic that they’d be able to re-sign Allen after agreeing to terms last week with Kevin Garnett on a three-year deal and reaching terms on Thursday with forward Brandon Bass.

Allen took less money to go to Miami. All the Heat had to offer was the taxpayer’s exception that starts at $3.09 million next season and can go out a maximum of three years and $9.5 million. Boston had offered a two-year, $12 million deal, and the Grizzlies were willing to give Allen their full non-taxpayer mid-level exception that starts at $5 million next season and can go out as long as four years.

Heat owner Micky Arison broke the news on his Twitter account Friday, writing, “Its 2:30am in London and I was just woken up with great news. Welcome to the family #20!!”

Allen came to Boston in 2007 in a Draft day deal that sent him and Glen Davis to Boston to the then-Seattle SuperSonics for the number five overall pick, guard Delonte West and forward Wally Szczerbiak. (That pick became forward Jeff Green, now a free agent expected to re-sign with Boston after missing all of last season with a heart ailment–though a source had indicated earlier Friday, before Allen’s decision was public, that Green was waiting before deciding to re-up in Boston, in part to see if Allen would stay with Boston.)

Garnett had initially balked at signing an extension with Boston when the Timberwolves and Celtics were discussing a trade, but after Allen’s arrival in Boston, Garnett quickly accepted the deal, and a new Celtics Era was born.

With Garnett and Paul Pierce (and, in recent years, guard Rajon Rondo), Allen made the Celtics a formidable veteran team that could grind playoff games out. He had several clutch postseason performances in Boston, including seven three-pointers in the Celtics’ series-clinching Game 6 rout of the Lakers in the 2008 Finals. He had played that series while his son, Walker, was hospitalized and nearly died after being diagnosed with diabetes.

This past season, however, Allen was slowed by ankle injuries. He lost his starting job to second-year guard Avery Bradley down the stretch in the regular season, and was never comfortable coming off the bench. Allen got the starting job back during the playoffs after Bradley suffered separations in both shoulders.

The likelihood of diminished playing time in Boston in future years–the Celtics agreed to terms this week with veteran Jason Terry on a three-year deal–along with occasional friction with Rondo always made a return to Boston an iffy proposition. Still, through most of this week, the Celtics were hopeful. Now, they’ll go on another path, while Walter Ray Allen, the NBA’s all-time leader in three-pointers made, takes his talents to South Beach.