wow was 92 dream team competition weakest teams in last 40 years??

[QUOTE=90sgoat;14930370]Yeah, that team would beat this US team.

Gasol brothers, Navarro, Fernandez, Rubio, Calderon.[/QUOTE]

Also, the Golden Generation Argentina. Manu, Scola, Nocioni, Delfino, Oberto, Herrman.

[QUOTE=1987_Lakers;14930372]I wasn't aware 1992 took place in 1989.[/QUOTE]

I imagine the bureaucracy had to be insane back in the day even after the fall of the Soviet Union, but maybe teams just weren't wiling to pay the bribes.

[QUOTE=jlip;14930374]One of the funniest stories from the 1992 Olympics which demonstrates the level of international competition back then was that while "guarding" Magic an opponent was literally frantically waving at his teammate on the bench who had a camera trying to make certain he got a picture of him and Magic on the court at the same time. In 1992 opposing players from other countries were lining up for autographs like awestruck teenagers. The Dream Team was playing against "fans."[/QUOTE]

Yes, it was embarassing maybe, if you were an adult.

If you were a child outside the US, I guarantee you it was the greatest thing you ever saw. I watched them play on a tiny antenna tv while at vacation and it made me want nothing more than to play basketball. It was crazy. One of those experiences of a lifetime. And it created generations of european basketballers.

As an adult you understand the bigger picture, finally supposedly we see the US vs the world in this competition, but really, it was also a way of saying the US won. The US defeated the commies. Here we are, we're so much better than you. Now watch Arnie and Stallone in a movie this summer.

It sucks the US wasted that cultural capital by unilaterally bombing Serbia, but that's another issue.

OP is over 300lbs.

Funny enough USA vs Angola popped up on my youtube feed a few days ago, so I watched it until the score was like 90-42 or something like that. Man that was ugly.... Angola couldn't shoot, the ballhandlers couldn't get around MJ and Pippen if they were defending them, and good luck with Ewing and Robinson contesting anything within 5 feet of the rim.

That team would have been even crazier had they gone with Shaq over Laettner, and replaced Magic/Bird with like Isiah and Nique.

Why are you highlighting Magic as someone to replace?

He shot 57 percent from the field and 46 from deep in the Olympics. 5.5 assists a game in 18 minutes a game (team leader in minutes was MJ at 23)

[QUOTE=Carbine;14930399]Why are you highlighting Magic as someone to replace?

He shot 57 percent from the field and 46 from deep in the Olympics. 5.5 assists a game in 18 minutes a game (team leader in minutes was MJ at 23)[/QUOTE]


7 players had higher percentages that that on more shot attempts, so there's nothing exceptional about that number when you add a degree of context. I get why both he and Bird were on the team, I'm just saying at that point in their basketball careers there were other choices that would have made the USA team even more devastating( not that they needed to be given the chasm in talent back then).

Magic was actually third in efficiency with basically 70 TS

[QUOTE=Carbine;14930404]Magic was actually third in efficiency with basically 70 TS[/QUOTE]

Well you first quoted his field goal percentage and now you're turning to TS% lol but ok, regardless he took 5 shots a game. That's pretty much at the level of his scoring contributions being a bonus, he wasn't looking to score and really wasn't needed to.

wow how did the dream ream win by 30 against juan, albert, jose, jose, jose, andres, rafa and santi. amazun!

[QUOTE=MrFonzworth;14930388]OP is over 300lbs.[/QUOTE]

"we're alaskans" :oldlol:

lol at this alaskan

'im an alaskan' :oldlol:

[url]https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vlUXCrAwDhE[/url]

[url]https://www.youtube.com/shorts/p9sbcAJMq1g[/url]

found fonzwrthless :oldlol: is this you and your fam?
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/C5Gm546Y/fonzwrth.jpg[/img][

[QUOTE=Phoenix;14930406]Well you first quoted his field goal percentage and now you're turning to TS% lol but ok, regardless he took 5 shots a game. That's pretty much at the level of his scoring contributions being a bonus, he wasn't looking to score and really wasn't needed to.[/QUOTE]

Exactly. What is Isiah going to do that would make them more devastating?

Isiah was pretty washed at that point compared to what he was. He was entering his final two years of his career at that point and the efficiency dropped off a cliff and his playoff performance was awful.

I just don't see what Isiah is going to do that's noticeably better at that point in his career. Magic was a better shooter, better passer.

[QUOTE=Carbine;14930434]Exactly. What is Isiah going to do that would make them more devastating?

Isiah was pretty washed at that point compared to what he was. He was entering his final two years of his career at that point and the efficiency dropped off a cliff and his playoff performance was awful.

I just don't see what Isiah is going to do that's noticeably better at that point in his career. Magic was a better shooter, better passer.[/QUOTE]

I would say somewhat less washed than what Magic would have been at that point if you're going by respective primes, but if you want to split hairs between those two, they could have gone with Tim Hardaway or KJ in 92. Point is 92 Magic isn't the best option the U.S Team had at their disposal. And ditto for Bird who could barely run up the floor by then. I'm not sure if Dominique was fully recovered by summer 92 but he would have added more scoring punch and perimeter athleticism over a near 36 year old busted back Bird. It's pretty widely understood that they were mostly ceremonial choices and having the novelty of MJ/Magic/Bird being on the same team.

You said it yourself, they didn't need scoring punch. Dominique is a phenomenal first option scorer only type in the NBA.

On a team where he is way down the pecking order it becomes redundant. He would be shooting the ball 7 times a game, not 25.

Magic was a facilitator, which is also why Pippen worked so well on the Olympic team. They complimented the games of the 4-5 big time scorers they had, instead of taking shots away from them they added to them.

Same could be said for Bird, it's about team construction not how many dominant scorers you can field on a team.

[QUOTE=Carbine;14930440]You said it yourself, they didn't need scoring punch. Dominique is a phenomenal first option scorer only type in the NBA.

[B]On a team where he is way down the pecking order it becomes redundant. He would be shooting the ball 7 times a game, not 25. [/B]

Magic was a facilitator, which is also why Pippen worked so well on the Olympic team. They complimented the games of the 4-5 big time scorers they had, instead of taking shots away from them they added to them.

Same could be said for Bird, it's about team construction not how many dominant scorers you can field on a team.[/QUOTE]

Doubtful. Just off the fast break opportunities Nique would have probably been one of the leading scorers. Jordan and Barkley were the only ones on the team taking double digit attempts. Bird only took 6 shot attempts hobbling up and down the floor and similarly to Magic, was moreso picking his spots. Nique would have been probably more in the 9-10 attempts range and a finishing target on the break. Not sure how much facilitating credit you're giving Bird who averaged 1.8 assists on that team.

Isiah was one of the best PGs at balancing scoring and passing, he could have played a facilitator role if needed. Yeah he was past his prime but was still an all-star in 92 putting up 19 and 7. Magic was a year removed from high level competition. But since you're not sold on Isiah, the aforementioned Tim Hardaway or KJ were among the league leaders in assists and were more than capable of playing set-up guys. Either of those two would have been perfectly viable selections.

Also I'd say you're overselling how perfect the roster construction needed to be back then. The world was so far from the USA in talent in 92 that they had a much greater margin of error in terms of team composition than they do today.