Black Ball Sports

All the talk for four years has been the embarrassment of the US Men’s Basketball team not winning gold in the 2004 Olympics.  In general, the analysis has been that the rest of the world has caught the US team.  Well, this year proved that wasn’t true.

Sure, some national teams are able to compete with the US, and play them pretty well for most if not all of the games.  The thing to remember is the Olympic “tournament” is akin to a Hoop It Up tournament.  For the most part, these are all teams which are put together for this purpose only, and the day after they separate for their various professional teams.  This occurs for each and every country, and many of the better players from foreign teams return to the NBA.  The method of team building generally means, each country will have it’s moments where things come together.  For Argentina, this occurred four years ago, now they are a bit older, their best player Manu Ginobili is starting to age, and there is no one to replace him, because their talent pool isn’t very deep.  Conversely, the US team, if put together right, will always have replacements for their stars.

Consider the oldest US player, Jason Kidd is 35.  The next oldest player?  Kobe Bryant, at 30.  Even expanding the roster to look at the full squad from which the 12 were chosen, shows few players over 30, and most of them had little shot at making the final team.  Look down at the younger players, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.  That is the core for 2012, if they so choose, and the oldest of them is Wade at 26. By the way, add to that core, Kevin Durant, Greg Oden, Michael Beasley and possibly Derrick Rose.  How in the world is any team going to compete with them in four years?

Bottom line, the NBA and hence USA basketball really had a down period in development leading up to the 2004 team.    Many of the best players of that era, were individual players (Allen Iverson), knuckle heads (Stephon Marbury) and big men prone to whining (Tim Duncan).  Add to the mix, a hard nose coach who has a reputation for alienating players, and you have the right chemistry for failure.  Coach Brown did as he always does, and shunned young players such as Anthony, LeBron and Wade in favor of underwhelming veteran players such as Richard Jefferson, Shawn Marion and Lamar Odom.

I don’t usually give him much credit, but Mike Krzyzewski deserves kudos for getting these players on the same page.  They played defense, passed the ball and accepted roles willingly.  Part of this comes from a core which generally seem to like each other, and wanted to do whatever it took to wipe the bad taste out of USA basketball fans mouth.

Credit also goes to Jerry Colangelo, who put together a quality team top to bottom.  One thing also overlooked, is the players selected were generally leaders, good locker room guys and players from teams which made the NBA playoffs (only Wade and Michael Redd’s teams didn’t).  He recognized that even though technically many of the players selected weren’t big men, they often played bigger then the European big men, in that they are athletically superior and aren’t soft.

One more thing, can we stop using the term “Redeem Team” and comparisons to the “Dream Team“?  Calling this a redemption would only be logical, if the core of this team was the same as 2004, and it wasn’t even close to the same roster.  The USA program may have needed redemption, but really what they needed was a plan, and they came up with one under the guidance of Colangelo.  Prior to that, the plan was put 12 of our best (or those willing) on the court and we’ll win.  That may work as it did in 1992, 1996 and 2000 or it will fail as in 2004.  However, a good plan as it was implemented over the past 3 years, placed the players and coaches in a better frame of mind and ready to win.  It was built as a team and hence succeeded as a team.

It is blatantly unfair to compare the 2008 team to the 2004 or 1992 teams.  Sports media has an obsession with comparing the past to the present (I’m guilty too of course). But in this scenario it isn’t even worth the effort.  All I have to do is list the players, Jordan, Bird, Barkley, Pippen, Magic, Stockton, Malone, Drexeler, Mullin, Robinson, Ewing and Laettner.   Each one of those players is legendary (albeit Mullin and Laettner mostly for their college years).  The 2008 team can only dream to be that legendary, and they certainly haven’t reach that level yet.  Only Bryant and Kidd have at this point had careers in which you would mention them in the same breath as those players.

Congratulations to the USA Basketball team on proper planning, coaching and dedicated on the court execution which brought the gold back home.  Will it always work this well?  No.  But this is the norm for the USA team and expect it again in 2012.

Teams are orchestrating and trading and not resigning free agents in anticipation of 2010.  Why 2010 you ask?  Because that is the year Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and others from their great draft class will be available for free agency.

Teams are openly saying that they are positioning their salary cap and rosters to have space for these players.  Teams such as the New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks are openly advertising that they’re moving their rosters around to get Lebron James.  I’m not a fan of either one of these teams (matter fact Hate the Knicks) but this is ridiculous.  How can teams be openly trading players and getting rid of salary in HOPE, HOPE I say of landing one of those big time players.  First off what does that say to the fans and season ticket holders of these teams?  There is no way that you can say the Nets trading Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian makes them a better team in the near future..  Right now, Richard Jefferson along with Vince Carter and Devin Harris makes the Nets a playoff contender.  By trading for Yi, you clear Jefferson’s salary for 2010 and can HOPE for Lebron.

I for one believe that teams should openly rebuild and say, “ as our team is constructed we can’t win a title.”  But if that is going to be the stance of the organization some kind of restitution needs to be offered to the fans and season ticket holders.  I would even be willing to support the team trying to get a great player if weren’t still forced to pay full price for a product that isn’t worth full price.  I don’t hear the owners in New Jersey saying “tickets cheaper this year, because we want Lebron in 2010.”

And the other problem with this philosophy is what if Lebron or D. Wade don’t leave and come to any of these teams.  So, now you have no superstar and you have retarded whatever process your team had made these last couple of years.  All these teams that are getting rid of salary can’t sign Lebron and or D. Wade.  And would signing Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh really be worth postponing your team’s progression?

And finally how does the NBA allow teams to openly be talking about these players that are still under contract with their current teams?  Do you think Cleveland fans are looking to renew season ticket packages for years to come when it appears that their franchise player is heading to New York.  All they hear is that Lebron is heading to New York how does that make the Cleveland fan base feel about its franchise?  There is nothing the NBA can do about the media speculation and rumors of the Jay-Z influence on Lebron.  But they can make it a point for all their teams to be trying to win ASAP and not praying for a miracle.  Last year the Celtics were hoping for a miracle in landing Greg Oden or Kevin Durant.  That miracle didn’t happen and they became aggressive and put together a team in one off-season that won the title.  Miracles can happen, but in reality that isn’t the way to make your franchise a champion.  And maybe it’s just in the fans minds, but isn’t that what it’s really all about.