Best US Olympic Team (Outside of '92 Dream Team)?

[Soundwave]

Kind of a fun thread. Who you got? Teams are as is too (ie: player's ability at the time he was on the team, so no combining players "in their prime" from different years).

1996 Team (Atlanta Olympics):

http://hittoleftfield.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/1103300226.jpg

Shaq, Hakeem, DRob, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Pippen, Penny, GHill, Reggie Miller, John Stockton, Gary Payton, Mitch Richmond.

2000 Team (Sydney Olympics):

http://hittoleftfield.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/dreamteam2000.jpg

Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett, Allan Houston, Gary Payton, Steve Smith, Vin Baker, Shareef Abdur Rahim, Ray Allen, Jason Kidd, Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway

2004 Team (Athens Olympics):

http://greghornjudge.com/images/Large/4%20Magazine%20art/2004_Olympics_basketball_Allstate.jpg

LeBron, Iverson, Duncan, Stephon Marbury, DWade, Carlos Boozer, Richard Jefferson, Emeka Okafor, Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Lamar Odom.

2008 Team (Beijing Olympics):

http://blog.syracuse.com/today/2008/08/oly_080825_ap_boeheim-gold2.jpg

Kobe, LeBron, DWade, Dwight, Carmelo, JKidd, Bosh, Tayshuan Prince, Carlos Boozer, Chris Paul, Michael Redd, Deron Williams

2012 Team (London Olympics):

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D-5-w3a440c/UAUOf0B9odI/AAAAAAAAAa0/V0xNnIMVZzc/s1600/USA_Dream_Team_2012_Olympic_Basketball_Wallpaper.p ng

LeBron, Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kobe, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Tyson Chandler, Deron Williams, Blake Griffin.

I pick the '96 Team, the front court is just too much to handle and pre-injury Penny + GHill + prime Pippen and Payton is plenty on the wings.

[OldSchoolBBall]

Hakeem looks like a vampire in the first pic lol.

[KG215]

1996
2008
2012
2000
2004

[LongLiveTheKing]

96 or 2008

[dubeta]

Damn 04 was a weak era

[MP.Trey]

96 & 08 are in a class of their own imo.

[jzek]

72-win Bulls team

[TheNaturalWR]

The Redeem Team, for ****s sake we had Wade as our leading scorer coming off the bench. 16 PPG at only 19 mins and shooting 67%. :bowdown:

[kamil]

1996. And that's a team that could have had Michael Jordan.

[Soundwave]

I think the 96 squad's front court would still demolish even the Redeem Team.

Shaq and DRob at center >>> Dwight

Karl Malone would eat Chris Bosh for breakfast (probably literally).

Hakeem or Barkley at PF >>>>> Boozer (lol)

I guess even DRob could play PF or you move Hakeem to PF, either way Redeem Team can't defend that.

96 Team could probably defend the Redeem Team wings decently too ... Prime Pippen, Prime Payton, Penny was a decent defender too, GHill was ok. I'd put Pippen on Kobe, Payton on DWade, let GHill and Penny take turns on LeBron.

[JellyBean]

1996
2008
2012
2000
2004

[kells333]

Gimmie the team with goatbrook.

[Reggie43]

1996 easy. No other answer.

[Dragonyeuw]

That 96 team would have been tough for the 92 team. Easily 96, then 2008....

[stalkerforlife]

Kobe.

[scandisk_]

dat 96 backcourt is sooo sick it's like a f*cking joke, so unfair :lol

[fpliii]

96 might be better than 92.

[bootsy]

96 might be better than 92.
This. They aren't I don't think but it's damn close. A young Shaq, a not quite over the hill Olajuwon, Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Pippen, Reggie, Payton and Robinson. Prime Penny and GHill.

[dubeta]

How did Deron even make the 2012 team?

I can think of at least 7 better Pg's

[SamuraiSWISH]

'96 Dream Team II is actually slept on as the best given their health, and age. Dream Team had a lot of dudes past their prime (Bird, Magic), and injured (Stockton).

The original Dream Team had the advantage of peak MJ / Barkley, and prime D-Rob, Malone, Pippen, etc. '92 is the more historic team. But both the '92 and '96 team beat all the others based off the strength of their size, and interior talent.

The '96 Dream Team II would've been PERFECT with Jordan. Anyway, how I rank all things considering:

1) Dream Team
2) '96
3) Redeem Team
4) 2012
5) 2000
6) 2004

[OncePerMonth]

1996. That front court with knock down 3 point shooters, an all-time great PG and Pippen guarding the best player on the other team.

[OncePerMonth]

'96 Dream Team II is actually slept on as the best given their health, and age. Dream Team had a lot of dudes past their prime (Bird, Magic), and injured (Stockton).

The original Dream Team had the advantage of peak MJ / Barkley, and prime D-Rob, Malone, Pippen, etc. '92 is the more historic team. But both the '92 and '96 team beat all the others based off the strength of their size, and interior talent.

The '96 Dream Team II would've been PERFECT with Jordan. Anyway, how I rank all things considering:

1) Dream Team
2) '96
3) Redeem Team
4) 2012
5) 2000
6) 2004

That ranking looks perfect.

[jinsanity]

This should have been the actual 2004 Team. The pic is the 2003 Team that was picked for the qualification round because USA actually had to qualify for the Olympics. Marriages, injuries and terrorism fears meant the majority of this squad pulled out when 2004 came around. Kobe was also on this roster but the Colorado incident trials meant he wasn't able to participate.
http://www.nba.com/media/usab/team_500_030811.jpg

[SamuraiSWISH]

This should have been the actual 2004 Team. The pic is the 2003 Team that was picked for the qualification round because USA actually had to qualify for the Olympics. Marriages, injuries and terrorism fears meant the majority of this squad pulled out when 2004 came around. Kobe was also on this roster but the Colorado incident trials meant he wasn't able to participate.
http://www.nba.com/media/usab/team_500_030811.jpg
Good choice, they dominated in the qualifying tournament. Spanked Argentina pretty hard. Combined peaks of: Duncan, Kidd, McGrady, VC, Ray Allen, Bibby, J. O'Neal, and Brand.

Featured Prime Iverson. Would've had Kobe who was entering his prime following a blistering hot MVP caliber season. He missed out in 2003, and 2004 due to Colorado incident.

This team also could've used PEAK KG, and tail end prime Shaq. I still stand by the fact the '96 Dream Team 2 w/ '96 Jordan would've been ABSURD mix of everything. Perimeter Defense, Interior Defense, Size, Scoring, Post Play, Shooting, and Bball IQ.

Look:

PG - Payton / Stockton
SG - Jordan / Miller
SF - Pippen / Hill / Penny
PF - Malone / Barkley
C - Shaq / Robinson / Hakeem

Mitch is better than Reggie, as a defender and scorer. But I like Miller's role. This team would've DEMOLISHED anyone. Could've been an east 3x Gold Medal for MJ too. Oh well.

[Psileas]

96 might be better than 92.

In row power, maybe. Results don't support this, though, although the rest of the world got closer during those years: They struggled vs a good, but not great Argentina team for a whole half. They couldn't score even 90 against weak Angola. Beat, but not destroyed Lithuania and Brazil. Played well against Croatia and weak China, beat Australia handily, but Australians also put up a fight in the 1st half. Struggled mightily against Serbia in the final, leading by only 1 point well into the second half, and Serbia was playing with a weakened frontline due to Savic's injury (even more so when Divac picked his 5th foul, a crucial point when the margin started to grow).

[SexSymbol]

08 easily

[jstern]

The 96 team looks unstoppable. Followed by 2004. Jk.

[iznogood]

96 might be better than 92.
Agreed.

[dunksby]

96
08
12

[SamuraiSWISH]

In row power, maybe. Results don't support this, though, although the rest of the world got closer during those years: They struggled vs a good, but not great Argentina team for a whole half. They couldn't score even 90 against weak Angola. Beat, but not destroyed Lithuania and Brazil. Played well against Croatia and weak China, beat Australia handily, but Australians also put up a fight in the 1st half. Struggled mightily against Serbia in the final, leading by only 1 point well into the second half, and Serbia was playing with a weakened frontline due to Savic's injury (even more so when Divac picked his 5th foul, a crucial point when the margin started to grow).
1992 team didn't go full bore the entire tournament, only really tried against the power house Croatia. 1996 team relaxed even more. You could see it in their play.

The '96 team needed a Magic, Bird, or Jordan as leaders to keep them from doing that. They took it easy, especially at home in the states in Atlanta. This has to be taken into account.

The '94 World Games, '96, and 2000 teams all knew they were going to win big, had massive egos ... so they chilled. That's when tighter more competitive games started creeping into the picture for Team USA.

It wasn't until the embarrassing losses in '02 FIBA, '04, and '06 Qualifiers where we were humbled but began to take things way more seriously to win back our reputation. 2008, and 2012 probably faced the best competition, they do have that going for themselves.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

'96 Dream Team II is actually slept on as the best given their health, and age. Dream Team had a lot of dudes past their prime (Bird, Magic), and injured (Stockton).

The original Dream Team had the advantage of peak MJ / Barkley, and prime D-Rob, Malone, Pippen, etc. '92 is the more historic team. But both the '92 and '96 team beat all the others based off the strength of their size, and interior talent.

The '96 Dream Team II would've been PERFECT with Jordan. Anyway, how I rank all things considering:

1) Dream Team
2) '96
3) Redeem Team
4) 2012
5) 2000
6) 2004

Another key factor: handchecking. It's actually allowed in international play. Some of these weak European squads may not be able to use that to their advantage, but the likes of MJ, Glyde and Scottie could.

Not only would the chemistry on the 1992 Dream Team be far superior to most, but their defense was vastly superior. You have 2 of the best perimeter defenders in NBA history (Jordan & Pippen) containing the likes of Kobe and LeBron. You have one of the best rim protectors (David Robinson) that the game has ever seen. You also have intimidation under the hoop (Barkley & Malone) who were quick to throw a swift sharp elbow into your temple if you attacked the basket.

I got mad respect for the 96 and redeem teams (CP3 is one of my favorite players in todays game), but nobody can honestly look at the match-up objectively while coming away with the conclusion that any of these Olympic teams would stand a chance against the 1992 squad.

[Dragonyeuw]

96 might be better than 92.

From top to bottom, they probably are. 92 had prime versions of MJ, Barkley, Malone, Ewing, Drexler, but 96 Pippen> 92 Pip, 96 Robinson> 92 Robinson, Hakeem and Shaq are a better two-headed center than what the 92 team had, Barkley was past his peak but still great, Malone was still in his prime, Payton at the peak of his powers, Hill and Penny were more dynamic players than magic and bird at that point in their careers.....yeah 96 team was better, not bigger in terms of name power, but in terms of overall basketball prowess I'd say they are. Swap 96 MJ with Richmond or miller, and its a wrap.

[Optimus Prime]

It's hard to see which one is best, but you can at least say definitively that it isn't 2000 or 2004. :lol