Blake a shoo-in for 2012 US Men's Olympic team?

Post #1 » by **mkwest** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 2:10 am

And the first pertinent sub-question on that topic: Who will the big guys be? As in big and tall.

Dwight Howard is the first name on that list, because like most of the 2008 Redeem Team, he has earned the right to defend the gold medal he won in Beijing.

Ditto Chris Bosh.

The same goes for Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant, and maybe to a slightly lesser degree to Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

You can also set aside a spot for Blake Griffin, who has been described to SheridanHoops.com by people in the know as a shoo-in for the London 2012 roster.

If you want to take an extra big, the candidates would have to include Chandler, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kendrick Perkins. (You must excise Amare Stoudemire from consideration because the New York Knicks would probably not allow him to play. In 2010, they pulled him off the roster on the night before camp began).

If you want to take an extra shooter, Eric Gordon and Stephen Curry definitely have earned the right to be atop the list because of what they brought to the team in Turkey in 2010.

Chris Sheridan, Sheridan Hoops

Ranma · Post #2 » by **Ranma** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 3:07 pm

Barring injury, I would think Griffin would be a lock for the US Olympic squad. Gordon has a shot as well given his contributions to the US National team, but the backcourt could be stacked against his favor with names like Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade all putting their hats in the ring. I'd love to see the Clippers' G-men go for gold together.

Post #3 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 7:01 pm

It would be a great experience for Griffin and Gordon to participate in the Olympics. They would be competing against the NBA's best and have a chance to show just how good they are. I feel that training with these guys would really up their level of play.

Post #4 » by **mkwest** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:54 pm

I think that having them both on the roster would really benefit us long-term and work toward solidifying this team's future. As Ranma stated, Gordon does have quite a bit more competition to deal with. On the "B Team" he played both the 2 and the 3 depending on the circumstances. LeBron, Durant, Melo & Gay? will take up the lion's share of minutes at the 3 when they're not playing the Euro 4. I don't expect Kobe to play, but the shooting guard's minutes are pretty much gone. The one thing that he has over the rest is what helped secure him a spot last summer. He can drive, he can shoot lights out from 3 and he can play pretty good defense on the perimeter. There's a need for that outside touch (e.g. Mike Miller or Michael Redd in the past) and he's not a liability on the other end of the floor.

Coach K and Colangeleo will have their hands full on who to bring and who to leave home. I'd personally probably lean more toward the B squad members for the fact that they were committed to playing in what we (as Americans) consider the lesser of basketball tournaments.