The Dubz Report: USA basketball

Friday, August 1, 2008

USA basketball

Reminiscing about the Dream Team days brings back some fond memories of the high point in USA basketball. Whether the competition has gotten stronger, or the American stars have gotten to big headed to play with each other, something over the years has changed. The Dream Team, despite having Christian Laettner.... and Charles Barkley.. would have beaten our current team by 20 points, if not more. They had pride to play for there country, and ultimately I don't think they ever would have let themselves lose.

Despite hyping up the only team ever that doesn't even need hype (the Dream Team), this current team we have is no slouch. The USA is still home to the best players in the world, and should win the upcoming olympics. The thing is though, that winning the olympics is not guarenteed, which is a little unsettling because I couldn't handle seeing a repeat of last time this team was together. So far, they've looked solid, running there first few opponents off the floor with little trouble. The real challenge however, will come when they have to face the likes of Argentina, Spain, China, and even Greece. I would put USA at about a 92% chance of winning this year, especially since i feel they don't want a repeat of 3rd place which was worse than embarrassing for teh country. We'll most likely come together and destroy every team by 20 points and win the gold; but in the off chance that we don't I don't even want to imagine what it will be like to be an American basketball fan. The country that every European player dreams of coming to one day to play with the best players, can't even win the olympics anymore? The thouht is scary.
Now for a little fun, here's what my 2008 "Dream Team" would look like assuming everyone accepts the invitation to play.

Starting lineup
PG: Chris Paul
SG: Dwayne Wade
SF: Kobe Bryant
PF: Lebron James
C: Dwight Howard

Reserves
PG: Deron Williams
SG: Ray Allen
SF: Paul Pierce, Tayshaun Prince
PF: Chris Bosh
C: Kevin Garnett, Amare Stoudemire

Coach: Don Nelson

The USA is committed to playing the running style of game in the olympics, and who better to teach it than Nelson?
Also i think a couple flawes with the current USA team is the lack of big men. If Howard gets into foul trouble against China or go's down with an injury, the team would be forced to use Boozer or Chris Bosh against Yao, which isn't gonna work. Adding Kevin Garnett and Amare Stoudemire there will never be a lack of big men. Ray Allen was put in for Michael Redd since he played better D, and basically as a reward for winning the finals. Paul Pierce was put in for Carmelo Anthony, since Anothony is a chemisrty killer, and any team he will ever be on will win despite him, not because of him.
An interesting idea someday might be to use the NBA championship team and have them play in the olmpics. That way chemistry will never be an issue, and almost guarenteed they will win every time. The only problem obviously is the growing interest from otehr countries in the NBA, and the championship team might be full of foreign players. Just a thought.

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Possible Depth Chart for the 2008/2009 season

PG: Marcus Williams/ CJ Watson
SG: Jackson/ Morrow/ Belinelli
SF: Maggette/Azubukie/ Randolph
PF: Harrington/ Wright/ Hendrix
C: Biedrins/ Turiaf/ Perovic

Injuries- Monta Ellis

As we know nothing is set for sure on a Don Nelson run team. We could see Monta, Marcus Williams and CJ all on the court at the same time, just as well as we could see Nellie trot a big lineup out there. One thing i like more about this roster compared to last years, is the depth. The second unit is much stronger and should give our starters some important rest, which was a problem last year. I also expect Azubukie to be the backup for Jackson AND Maggette, rather than Randolph who probably wont get to much playing time this year. Also, i rarely expect to see the combination of Biedrans/Wright on the court together.. I more expect to see Turiaf in the game when Wright is, so Ronny can bang and Wright can grab rebounds. Hopefully Perovic is somehow ridded of our team, and Hendrix gets a little run off the bench.

Western Conference

These are very early predictions, and the picks are subject to change up until the time the season starts. Since other trades will be made and players will be signed, there is a good chance that the predictions will change more than one time. For now though, this is how i believe the Western Conference will shake out... at least for now

1) L.A. Lakers (63-19) Even though teams that lose in the finals usually struggle the next year, the Lakers are my early pick to return to the Finals from the Western Conference. They have good depth and the best starting 5 in the league next year. Last year they didn't even get a full season of Gasol, plus the return of Bynum will make a huge difference. They will just be to big for most teams to hang with, since they should have 3 players in there starting lineup who are at least 6'10.

2) Utah (59-23) It feels like Utah's been extremely close the past couple years, and who's to say this isn't there year? Deron Williams is getting better every year, Boozer is still a force down low, and they have the necessary role players in Kirelenko and Okur. Like the Lakers, they also have a pretty deep bench, and now a good shooter with Kyle Korver.

3) New Orleans (58-24) They kind of suprised me and the rest of the league last year, but that won't happen again. They have the best PG in the league, and all the other pieces they need to be sucessful. They have the dead eye shooter (Stojakovic), a good PF (West), and a good rebounding and defensive center (Chandler). The one thing they don't have in common with all the other Western powerhouses is the depth. Most likely they will fill out there bench with decent players before the season starts.

4) Houston (56-26) The trade for Artest bumped them up over San Antonio, but thats just until the inevitable injury to Yao or McGrady, or both. They have tons of talent on there roster, but are to injury prone. If Yao, McGrady and Artest were guarenteeed to stay healthy through the whol season, I would say that they finish with 63 or more wins, but it's more of a "when" and not a "if" when talking about Houston's injuries.

5) San Antonio (53-29) They're getting older, and slowing down a bit it seems. Still though, I would never ever, ever, bet against them come playoff time. They usually turn it on when it matters, after coasting through the whole season.

6) Phoenix (46-38) They tailed off a bit last year after aquiring Shaq for Marion, and I expect that to continue this year. They changed there style from running to half court, and got a new coach to help the transition. I think they'll fall off a bit this year, and have to fight for there playoff lives at the end of the year.

7) Portland (45-37) They suprised everyone last year with there play of the young guys, and they did it without Oden. I'm not completely sold on Oden however, the kind of injury he had is not one to be taken lightly. Oden says himself that he is still only about 80% healthy, so who knows how effective he can be this year. Basically i'm not sold on Portland in general, and even saying that I think they will still be a playoff team. My guess is that they will finish in 7th, moving up one spot from my previous prediction, because of the injury to Monta Ellis.

8) Dallas (43-39) Dallas had their chance the last couple years and blew it. They are almost completely done in my opinion, and will never get back to the top with the general roster being the same. Howard seems to be on a mission to see how much he can actually do without being traded, and the Kidd trade isn't helping them in any way. They still have Dirk who is definately a star, but as we have learned he is not the kind of star that is a great leader. I almost feel bad for the guy, but thats just the way it is. There reign of being a top team is done for now, but they too move up in my predictions becasue of the injury to Monta Ellis.

9) Denver (42-40) The worst defensive team in the league somehow found a way to get worse this offseason. They traded away the only player on there team who seemed to play any defense what so ever (Marcus Camby) and all they got was a 2nd round pick and some cap relief. They can still outscore just about any team in the league; but with even less defense, this team might be a train wreck.

10) L.A. Clippers (40-42) They replaced an often injured big man, with an often injured PG. The trade off seems about even if both stay healthy, but let's not forget they also lost Maggette and the 20 PPG he brought. If Baron stays healthy they will be decent, but if he gets hurt which is very likely, they really have no one else who can do much of anything besides Thorton. If Baron stays healthy they will win 40, if he go's down it will be bad news for the clippers.

11) Golden State (40-42) As written before, I believe they will make the playoffs this year.That was before the injury to Monta Ellis. He will be out about a month of the season, and could miss up to 30 games.They did replace one scorer with another this offseason, but lost some of the leadership. They seemed to have caught on with the theme to being good in the Western conference and thats depth. Since every game is a struggle to win in the West, the depth is very needed. Unfortuantely for them there best player is down with an injury. If they can hang on without him, they may be able to make a run at the end of the year with a lot of home games, but that seems unlikely.

12) Sacramento (37-45) They are you, and seemingly getting better every year, I just think they don't have quite enough to get into the playoffs this year. Kevin Martin, John Salmons, and Beno Udrih are all players that any team would like to have. Unfortuantely they took a step back by losing Artest, and Brad Miller is still a questionable big man, especially when he is your only one. Next year they might have a shot at the playoffs, but I don't see it this year.

Don't expect much to change with the bottom 3 teams this year. They are so far off from the rest of the Western Conference that it may not be worth even mentioning. Minnesota has Al Jefferson, Memphis has some young Pg's, and Seattle has Durant.. Thats about all there is to tell.

13) Minnesota (24-58)

14) Memphis (24-58)

15) Seattle (19-63)

The Dubz Report

Friday, August 1, 2008

USA basketball

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