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If none of the young players on the Celtics could make the squad. Then I would replace some of the names with players I feel add more size and/or a defensive presence. These aren't players who are necessarily superstars. My thinking is to make it more of a team and a little more less of an All-Star team.

4 - Brand
3 - L. James
5 - Oden
1 - Paul
2 - Wade

Reserves

D. Williams
Hinrich
A. Jefferson
S. Battier
M. Miller
Chandler
Roy

So looking ahead to London 2012, you’ve gotta think anyone on this year’s U.S. squad who wants in should get a spot just out of respect. We can see Carmelo, LeBron, Chris Bosh, Kobe, Dwight Howard, D-Wade, Chris Paul and Deron being down. But J-Kidd will be almost 40 by then, so it’s doubtful he’ll even be playing anymore. If Tayshaun has four more years of deep playoff runs under his belt, he might opt out. Mike Redd is going to look older than he actually is (33) at that point, but we can see him taking a pass nonetheless. And Carlos Boozer? After two straight Olympics of not getting much PT, he might just take his gold medal and call it a FIBA career. So if those four sports are open, who gets them? Rajon Rondo would look good in that third PG spot, maybe even Derrick Rose or Monta Ellis. Redd’s sniper role can be handed to Kevin Durant or Gilbert Arenas. Tayshaun’s lock-down D/glue guy steez, that can be Josh Smith or Josh Howard. And Boozer can be replaced by Amare, Elton Brand or Mike Beasley. And don’t count out KG wanting to make a career-capping run for gold...

http://dimemag.com/2008/08/dime-smack-t ... -comeback/

Rondo can't shoot so he's completely out. And what role would anyone else play? Paul Pierce would have been great on this '08 team, but in 4 years he's gonna be a little long in the tooth. Ditto Allen and Garnett. Giddens and Walker are the only ones with any potential to fill a role on the team, and you'd probably pick about 60 guys before either one of them.

Williams
Wade
LeBron
Melo
Howard

Chris Paul
Kevin Martin
Josh Childress
David Lee
Al Horford
Kevin Love

Go get it. Williams-Wade-LeBron-Melo is just unreal and the rest of the team doesn't even matter once you get past those four as long as they continue to practice together.

From a talent standpoint, Rondo's the only Celtic player who's name would be brought up but he's unlikely to be seriously considered. Still, Rondo and Perkins were among the young players invited to practice with the 2008 team. So, his name's already out there. Obviously, you would prefer not to see your own players join the 2012 team. Especially, considering the three-year commitment one needs to accept. A veteran player would more than not pass. Kidd was played sparingly. The Olympics basketball is becoming more for the younger players due to the long commitment.

A front court tandem of Brand and Oden is much more solid defensively and they won't be needed to score. Anthony at power forward is laughable. Again, I prefer a more traditional starting lineup as oppose to what I saw in the Olympics. Heck, I thought having James, Howard and Paul were enough and the rest of the team could've been filled by second tier NBA talent and the 2008 team would've still been too much of a match for the team that made up Group A and B.

Funny, I thought of Horford too. But, I like Chandler's length more on defense.

I really hope Rondo can shoot by then. lol

He'll be fine. His shot improved last year and I'm confident that's a huge area he's working on this off season. I think he could be a candidate for the 2012 squad.

no, I would say none have a chance

al jefferson would be terrible in international play. there is zero post opportunities with the zone. you need young athletic bigs.

Rajon Rondo has a shot but its unlikely as i'd project Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Derrick Rose to be the three marquee PG's in the NBA by then with Rondo a tier below them.

In 4 years, I'll bet my left naz that one of the players listed above will actually be a Celtic anyway. We have money coming off the books soon and I'm certain that Ainge has his eyes on keeping the Celtics in the hunt for other team's star players.

None of your young guys fit the tee. The closest is Rondo. If he improves his jump shot and takes his defense up ANOTHER notch, then I could see him backing up Paul.

I think it will play out like this. Durant has to be on the squad, hes too versatile and offensively gifted not to be. Bosh relished his role this year, and he played great. Iggy can take Prince's spot. And Horford will add some muscle that we were missing this year. Does anyone know how him being from the Dominican Republic would effect his status?? Has he played for the US or DR in any junior tournys??

Paul->Williams
Wade->Roy->Martin
Melo->Durant->Iggy
LeBron->Horford
Howard->Bosh

i think its hard to speak in such definitive terms over how our young players will or wont progress.

i wouldnt call it likely, but because of the kind of players walker and giddens could be in reasonable expectations, i think its unfair to say there is no chance either one far exceeds our expectations, and if they did so they could be all star caliber players, and that alone puts them into consideration. both have had a lot of bumps, and so arent the bright gems of prospects they both were, but considering the lottey buzz theyve had, i would be shocked if one was a star in the future. again, not likely, but clearly not impossible.

aside from the two, i think rondo is the only consideration. i do think he is a serious potential candidate depending on what is needed. williams and paul are likely to be the all around stud PGs the team needs for years if they continue to play, and who knows what will happen with other young players, but as of the moment, rondo is right behind those two in terms of most potential for the future while being a great young PG now.

and if his shooting improves as he continues to refine the rest of his game, if, then all bets are off

I would think Rondo would get plenty of consideration as he would bring elements to the team that traditional All Stars would not, when you put 4 guys who all score 20+ a game on the court it is nice to have someone to pass them the ball. Rondo also has played and played well in the USA basketball system.

I think that USA basketball will continue to look for long term commitments from the players and it will be a young man's game. I would be surprised to see much of the core of this '08 team back in '12. Would Kobe be there now if he had already won a gold medal? Not likely so why would Lebron come back? Deron Williams in '08 would be like Baron Davis playing now.

Another issue is the impact it has had on guys performance during the season and the injuries, I would not be surprised if teams, whether Stern and USA Basketball like it or not, would look to eliminate participation from international basketball when guys sign huge extensions. Perhaps make exceptions for guys who are already part of the team so Wade, Lebron, and Melo could finish their commitment. But the general pool of players will be guys on their rookie contracts, their will be plenty of talent but the risk to teams financially and the product will be minimized.

With players also having to go to school for a year it opens up participation in the junior level teams and can get younger players involved in team USA early on as opposed to the prep to pros guys being somewhat outside of the program.

Prophet_C wrote:I really hope Rondo can shoot by then. lol

He'll be fine. His shot improved last year and I'm confident that's a huge area he's working on this off season. I think he could be a candidate for the 2012 squad.

Rondo could be like the Jason Kidd of the next Olympics, taking only like 3 shot the entire time and just racking up the assists.

With all the handchecking allowed in international ball, Rondo would create absolute havoc on the defensive end. Of course, he can't shoot, but the US won this Gold playing defense and scoring off turnovers, Rondo can certainly fit into that system. Yet I would imagine Team USA is probably penciling Derrick Rose in as the 3rd string PG depending on how he plays his first few years in the L.

I really hope the core of the Team sticks around for 2010 and 2012. I doubt Kobe will stick with the squad, but he can be replaced. Honestly, he didn't even seem to have a great Olympics anyways, outside of the last game. Lebron and Wade were clearly the most important players on the team. And I think it was clear Lebron was the leader of the team. If Kobe doesn't stick around, I think Kevin Martin, Rudy Gay, or Kevin Durant would be good replacements. The team probably needs one more big guy as well, I think Al Jefferson would be a good fit.

In four years, I would like to think Rondo's a better player than the two guards who are supposed to be point guards from this year's draft. The selection committee's looking at players who can be team players and can play defense among other things. That describes Rondo. The foreign point guards would dislike him but his US teammates would admire his energy on defense.

Durant has to improve his body. Get stronger. He doesn't have a NBA body.

I think Rondo could make it if 2 things happen..

1. The obvious one...He improves his shooting. Not that he becomes great, but not a liability. Somewhere around 70% free throw shooting and 30% 3-point shooting on 1.5-2 attempts a game.

2. The 2nd thing is that he really has to want to be there which I'm not sure he does. He opted out of playing for the select team this summer and he's not like Kobe where he can skip those opportunities and still make the team. Rondo really has to be willing to give up his summers in the next few years to practice/play for team USA which will be very difficult because the Celtics should hopefully advance far in the playoffs and he'll only get a limited amount of time off.

Rondo has a trump card over other pgs not named Chris Paul/Deron Williams in that he is the starting pg for a championship team. He also does not demand a lot of shots and does the little things well. If team USA keeps the same style of pressuring full court, Rondo would be perfect and many of the international pgs would be unable to bring the ball up against his pressure and he would get a bunch of steals. If he commits his summers to team USA over the next few years and one of Paul/Williams elects not to participate, then Rondo could make it. But I don't think Rondo is willing to make the big commitment and Ainge probably doesn't want him to do that either and that would probably be best for the Celtics as well.

I don't understand why those of you that want to insist on drawing attention to Rondo's shooting believe that it's a bigger issue than it is. Are (or were during the Olympics) Kidd, Paul and D. Williams that great or consistent of shooters that you can make a case that they shouldn't have been members of the 2008 team? No, because the committee looked at a lot of things and what could each player add to the team. I think the committee would evaluate Rondo as a whole and not simply single out his shooting percentages over his early career as an absolute reason to not consider him for the 2012 team. Last I'd checked, Rondo has made noticeable improvement in his shot selection and shooting percentages. So, the effort from him to improve is evident. And his confidence is there and he continues to work during the off season on this area. Below are the statistics for specifically Kidd, Paul and D. Williams as far as their field goals made and attempted are concern. Kidd's percentage is probably deceiving as I believe a lot of those shots were in one game and he was "hot."

In my opinion, it's up to what the coaching staff want from Rondo if he were in a game and play to his strengths. It isn't like he'll receive a lot of minutes or ask to take over a game offensively. Simply run the offense, play good defense and contribute as best you can in other areas. I don't see Rondo as a liability that much anymore. Because I know he wants to get better and is getting better. It just isn't as good as Celtics fans would want it. But, Kidd has had a long career from what I can see. Age and erosion of his skills is what would hurt him on a team now. Not his shooting. You can mask that if you're a very good team and coached team.

FG M/A FG %

WILLIAMS Deron 23/52 44
PAUL Chris 19/38 50
KIDD Jason 6/7 86

http://www.nbcolympics.com/basketball/s ... 00000.html

yeah i dont see any reason rondo couldnt make his team as the 3rd pg. his ability to disrupt and play d would absolutely be a welcomed addition to any usa team. not sure why bosh and howards name isnt on the list but id otherwise have to agree with a group that includes: howard, melo, lebron, wade, paul with deron williams, bosh, battier, redd, oden, mike miller, rondo, durant, ellis and whoever else.