Someone recently posted a thread about a 2012 Dream team which caused a good debate about who the best 12 players were for the US Basketball team at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Here are some other countries that could challenge the US and factor into the medals.
Contenders:
Spain: Spain really pushed us in 08 in the final. Expect more of the same in 2012 with the two Gasol Brothers coming back. Current NBA contributors Jose Calderon and Rudy Fernandez will provide offense from the guard spots. Spain will bring a wealth of "out of the NBA because I make more money in Europe" guys to the table as well. Hopefully Ricky Rubio will have played his first NBA game by then too. Either way, Spain's a true challenger for the gold.
France: France's inability to be better in international competition is puzzling. They should have enough players in the NBA by 2012, to make a 12 man roster consisting entirely of Association players (yeah I was shocked upon researching this too). Tony Parker highlights the group, while Boris Diaw, Nicolas Batum, Rodrigue Beaubois, and Ronny Turiaf are all rotational minute players and starters already. If their current NBA prospects get into the league, and they bring those young guys along with the mentioned players, and their less known NBA players, France should be a tough, tough out in 2012.
Argentina: They'll be older, but more experienced. Fabrico Oberto, Andres Nocioni, and Carlos Delfino will support the two stars: Texas's own Luis Scola and Manu Ginobli. They have more than enough talent to factor into the medal round. Will they be healthy, though?
Turkey: Don't look now, the the Turks have a nice group of NBA veterans and up 'n comers to fill their starting 5. Memhet Okur and Hedo Turkoglu will be well into their decline by 2012 but expect Omer Asik, Semih Erden, and Ersan Ilyasova to be better and make contributions by 2012. They have a lot of depth in the PF and Center position. Should be good enough for them to play a role into the semis.
Italy: Danilo Galinari, Andrea Bargnani, and Marcos Bellnelli lead an strong group of high skill, low athleticism players who can all shoot with virtual unlimited range. Multiple 6'10"+ guys who can shoot will alway pose problems.
Sleepers:
Australia: Patty Mills and Andrew Bogut provide a nice inside and outside threat. Throw in David Anderson and you have a nice little team. They'll compete.
Brazil: They can throw a LOT of size at you in Nene, Anderson Varejoa, and Thiago Splitter. Leandro Barbosa will be asked to carry the scoring load. If he's shooting well, they can be dangerous.
Great Britain: Its Ben Gordon and Loul Deng. Can you do worse than two guys who, if they were your 3rd best player, you could win an NBA title with? Absolutely. Home crowd will help!
Dominican Republic: I know its not the world baseball classic. Look at their team. Fransisco Garcia can score on a bad team. Charlie Villaneava can FLAT out score. And Al Horford is just an 2 time All-Star. This team can surprise people.
Not contending:
China: No Yao, no problem
Puerto Rico: JJ Barea, Renaldo Balkman, and Carlos Arroyo, can't get it done. Though Carlos is 100 times better playing for his country than he is for the NBA. The Dream Team will never take these Dependants for granted after the most embarrassing day in US basketball history in 2004.
Serbia: They've fallen big time. Their roster is blah.
Germany: The Dirk and Chris Kaman dynamic is a strange one. They should be better than they've shown before; but too many better teams in this tournament.
Thoughts? Let me know if I missed anyone (player or country).
[This message has been edited by PascalsWager (edited 2/15/2011 8:37p).]
Here are some other countries that could challenge the US and factor into the medals.
Contenders:
Spain: Spain really pushed us in 08 in the final. Expect more of the same in 2012 with the two Gasol Brothers coming back. Current NBA contributors Jose Calderon and Rudy Fernandez will provide offense from the guard spots. Spain will bring a wealth of "out of the NBA because I make more money in Europe" guys to the table as well. Hopefully Ricky Rubio will have played his first NBA game by then too. Either way, Spain's a true challenger for the gold.
France: France's inability to be better in international competition is puzzling. They should have enough players in the NBA by 2012, to make a 12 man roster consisting entirely of Association players (yeah I was shocked upon researching this too). Tony Parker highlights the group, while Boris Diaw, Nicolas Batum, Rodrigue Beaubois, and Ronny Turiaf are all rotational minute players and starters already. If their current NBA prospects get into the league, and they bring those young guys along with the mentioned players, and their less known NBA players, France should be a tough, tough out in 2012.
Argentina: They'll be older, but more experienced. Fabrico Oberto, Andres Nocioni, and Carlos Delfino will support the two stars: Texas's own Luis Scola and Manu Ginobli. They have more than enough talent to factor into the medal round. Will they be healthy, though?
Turkey: Don't look now, the the Turks have a nice group of NBA veterans and up 'n comers to fill their starting 5. Memhet Okur and Hedo Turkoglu will be well into their decline by 2012 but expect Omer Asik, Semih Erden, and Ersan Ilyasova to be better and make contributions by 2012. They have a lot of depth in the PF and Center position. Should be good enough for them to play a role into the semis.
Italy: Danilo Galinari, Andrea Bargnani, and Marcos Bellnelli lead an strong group of high skill, low athleticism players who can all shoot with virtual unlimited range. Multiple 6'10"+ guys who can shoot will alway pose problems.
Sleepers:
Australia: Patty Mills and Andrew Bogut provide a nice inside and outside threat. Throw in David Anderson and you have a nice little team. They'll compete.
Brazil: They can throw a LOT of size at you in Nene, Anderson Varejoa, and Thiago Splitter. Leandro Barbosa will be asked to carry the scoring load. If he's shooting well, they can be dangerous.
Great Britain: Its Ben Gordon and Loul Deng. Can you do worse than two guys who, if they were your 3rd best player, you could win an NBA title with? Absolutely. Home crowd will help!
Dominican Republic: I know its not the world baseball classic. Look at their team. Fransisco Garcia can score on a bad team. Charlie Villaneava can FLAT out score. And Al Horford is just an 2 time All-Star. This team can surprise people.
Not contending:
China: No Yao, no problem
Puerto Rico: JJ Barea, Renaldo Balkman, and Carlos Arroyo, can't get it done. Though Carlos is 100 times better playing for his country than he is for the NBA. The Dream Team will never take these Dependants for granted after the most embarrassing day in US basketball history in 2004.
Serbia: They've fallen big time. Their roster is blah.
Germany: The Dirk and Chris Kaman dynamic is a strange one. They should be better than they've shown before; but too many better teams in this tournament.
Thoughts? Let me know if I missed anyone (player or country).
[This message has been edited by PascalsWager (edited 2/15/2011 8:37p).]