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I'm going out on a limb here and assuming that the US is going to win the Gold medal. But looking back at the team in 2004. Sure the team was hastily put together, but they still should have had enough to at the very least avoid losing 3 times.

Allen Iverson
Stephon Marbury
Tim Duncan
Lamar Odom
Richard Jefferson
Dwyane Wade
Carlos Boozer
Carmelo Anthony
LeBron James
Shawn Marion
Amare Stoudemire
Emeka Okafor

Sure maybe the team could have used a little more outside shooting but it might be that the greatest improvement is not having Brown as the coach. He was stubborn in his refusal to play Carmelo and LeBron significant minutes. It just seems to me that this team underperformed more than it reflecting on the rest of the world catching up with US basketball.

2004 USA Men's Olympic Games Cumulative Statistics


G/S FGM-A Pct 3PM-A Pct FTM-A Pct Reb/Avg Pts/Avg At Bk St
Iverson 8/8 34-90 .378 15-41 .366 27-38 .711 13/ 1.6 110/ 13.8 20 1 11
Duncan 8/8 38-67 .567 0- 2 .000 27- 36 .750 73/ 9.1 103/ 12.9 13 10 6
Marbury 8/8 30-71 .423 10-31 .323 14-19 .737 10/ 1.3 84/ 10.5 27 0 7
Marion 8/0 34-64 .531 4-10 .400 7- 9 .778 47/ 5.9 79/ 9.9 6
3 9
Odom 8/8 29-51 .569 4- 8 .500 12-23 .522 46/ 5.8 74/ 9.3 11 5 16
Boozer 8/0 20-32 .625 0- 0 .--- 21-32 .656 49/ 6.1 61/ 7.6 3 1 6
Wade 8/0 21-55 .382 0- 3 .000 16-23 .696 15/ 1.9 58/ 7.3 19 3 17
Jefferson 8/8 18-56 .321 6-23 .261 12-22 .545 22/ 2.8 54/ 6.8 8 3 2
James 8/0 19-32 .594 3-10 .300 2- 2 1.000 8/ 1.0 43/ 5.4 13 0 6
Stoudemire 8/0 9-16 .563 0- 1 .000 4- 8 .500 14/ 1.8 22/ 2.8 1 4 3
Anthony 7/0 7-28 .250 2-11 .182 1- 2 .500 11/ 1.6 17/ 2.4 0 0 2
Okafor 2/0 0- 2 .000 0- 0 .--- 0- 0 .--- 3/ 1.5 0/ 0.0 0 0 0
USA 8 259-564 .459 44-140 .314 143-214 .668 311/38.9 705/ 88.1 121 30 85
OPP. 8 233-483 .482 86-195 .441 116-171 .678 225/28.1 668/ 83.5 88 19 45
Wow, the US team actually shot under 500 as a team. Has this team had even a game where they shot under 500?

The zone ate this team alive very few good shooters from long range, and Duncan didn't play well under FIBA rules. Larry Brown's stubborn refusal to play the younger guys didn't help either. With all that said they still managed bronze losing to NBA laden gold medalist Argentina.

No good shooters plus you have AI and Steph as the Pgs.

Hell, I am going to say that this team is absolutely horrible at shooting. The only decent shooter on that team is Melo and Marion and they are both decent at best shooting open jumpers.

iverson 34 for 90, 37.8%
marbury 30 for 71, 42.3%
wade 21 for 55, 38.3%
anthony 7 for 28, 25.0%

ouch.

The starting PG line up is crap when you are depending on distribution to get the other players involved.

And if you put me on the roster I would have instantly been the best shooter on the team.

Whoever put that team together was an idiot.

mebury happened

Tim Duncan is the only legitimate defender on that team, and his stlye of play isn't suited to FIBA style of play.

That team is so poorly structured. Reading down the list I kept seeing players names that I would highly avoid. The first two names on the list are Iverson and Marbury... the complete opposite type of players that succeed in FIBA - team oriented - baksetball.

My question is why Tim Duncan is bad at FIFA bball. I would think that's more suited for him since FIBA is more team play and a higher emphasis on fundamentals and less on athleticism.

The bombings in Greece scared numerous players off, so that made things pretty iffy

But man, that's a bad shooting team...

Well just from glancing. . .


No one on that team was a "pure" shooter at that time. . .

Also none were roll players. . .

Nor had any any of them established themselves as a defensive presence, well with the exception of TD. To be quite honest, I don't think some players came in expecting to ride the bench or play a "small" roll on the team

lj4mvp wrote:mebury happened

Tisk Tisk... No insults...BR

no mamba.

kooldude wrote:My question is why Tim Duncan is bad at FIFA bball. I would think that's more suited for him since FIBA is more team play and a higher emphasis on fundamentals and less on athleticism.

The zone. There is no 3 second rule or illegal defense in FIBA and guys can stay in the paint all day long if they want. Duncan is the best PF ever but nobody can get good shots off when there are 3 guys in the paint. He was forced to kick out and that team had no real spot up shooting threat outside of Anthony.

International play is heavily dependent on guards over forwards and centers. This year's team is so good at stealing the ball and running the break, it doesn't matter as much but you can see when they go into half court offense and are forced to hit long jumpers, they are not nearly as effective.

AI and Marbury were ineffective because they weren't paired up with shooters. US had horrible perimeter D, which lead to teams driving in the paint and racking up fouls on Duncan. Wade, Boozer, James, Stoudemire, Marion, Anthony weren't what they are right now. Odom and Jefferson can't shoot. Okafor didn't even get a chance to prove himself, he could of helped Duncan defend the paint. The final and main reason why USA did bad was because Larry Brown is a overrated coach and can not work with young players(see Knicks). Gregg Popovich should of been the head coach.

kooldude wrote:My question is why Tim Duncan is bad at FIFA bball. I would think that's more suited for him since FIBA is more team play and a higher emphasis on fundamentals and less on athleticism.

The refs didn't like him and kept putting him in foul trouble. They were specifically why he quit FIBA basketball. Still he was the second leading scorer on the team (12.9 to AI's 13.8) and the leading rebounder.

There were just too many players that didn't fit FIBA basketball. Although I think with a different coach, they should have still been able to win. They still have the talent, just have to play the right way.

AI = The Cancer

Remember the 2003 team? That team would of taken gold for sure.

They had elite NBA players (at every position) that played well together, like the 08 team.

Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Ray Allen, Allen Iverson were among the best SG's in the league at the time, and all brought great all around skills needed in international game. A prime J-Kidd was running the point with All-Star bigs Duncan, J.O'neal, Brand and Martin who were brought in as big, athletic, intimidating bigs (and of course skillful).

That team would of DEFINITELY win the 04 Olympics.

The 04 team consisted of few elite star players with very young and inexperienced players (LeBron, Carmelo, Amare, Wade, Okafor) and players that just didn't compliment each other well. And Larry Brown wasn't the greatest person to the coach the team either...

here's a list of players that would have made that roster a lot better, including some top notch guards.

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/g ... 230837.asp

The terrorists have won at least one battle with the United States this summer. They have scared away many of our most talented basketball players from playing on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team in Athens. The list of perennial NBA All Stars that either declined invitations or withdrew after previously agreeing to play is quite impressive: Tracy McGrady, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Jermaine O'Neal, Vince Carter, Elton Brand, Kenyon Martin, and Ben Wallace — to name just a few.

Many of these players have not been shy about why they refused to play for Team U.S.A. Wallace and fellow NBA championship teammate Richard Hamilton quit the Olympic team for "security reasons," according to the Detroit Free Press. Even though their own head coach, Larry Brown, is the head coach of the Olympic squad, both players were apparently not as brave. Same goes for Kidd, O'Neal, McGrady, and Wallace — all of whom cited "security concerns" as their primary reason not to play.

Several of these players will be in the basketball Hall of Fame one day. But there ought to be an asterisk next to each of their names, to let generations to come know that they decided not to represent our country in the Olympics while America was at war.

To be fair, not all of these guys were cowards. Kobe Bryant has a few legal issues to deal with this summer, and Ray Allen's wife is expecting a baby. They get a pass. But the rest of the players who abandoned Team U.S.A should be ashamed of themselves (not that Kobe shouldn't be, for other reasons).

put in tmac, kobe, ray allen, vince carter, kidd take out marbury, jefferson, iverson, a young wade...gold.

yeah that team would win gold and no one would ever talk about the 3-year plan or commitment.

T-Mac, Vince, Ray Allen, Kidd were in their absolute prime they are 10x better than marbury or jefferson.

Kobe is Kobe.