Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Selecting the Olympic Basketball Roster

How to choose the roster for USA basketball? I think the answer is easy.

Looking back at the original Dream Team, 9 of the 12 members were between 27 and 30. Two senior members, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson provided iconic leadership, and 23 year old Christian Laettner filled out the roster.
PG: Magic, Stockton
SG: Jordan, Drexler
SF: Bird, Pippen, Mullin
PF: Barkley, Malone, Laettner
C: Robinson, Ewing

Given these guidelines the 2004 Roster:
PG: Chauncey Billups, Jason Kidd (31)
SG: Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Vince Carter
SF: Grant Hill (senior), Pierce (young guy)
PF:Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace
C: Tim Duncan, Brad Miller, Shaquille O'Neal (senior)

The 2008 Roster:
PG: Jason Kidd (senior), Mike Bibby
SG: Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Michael Redd/Richard Hamilton
SF: Lebron James (young guy), Paul Pierce, Shane Battier
PF:Tim Duncan/Kevin Garnett (senior), David West
C: Dwight Howard (young guy), Elton Brand

The 2012 Roster: (getting harder to find big guys) (this looks like the best team; could use 1 more big guy though)
PG: Chris Paul, Deron Williams
SG: Kobe Bryant (senior), Dwayne Wade, Brandon Roy, Kevin Martin
SF: Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Danny Granger
PF: Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer
C: Dwight Howard (young guy), Amare Stoudemire

The 2016 Roster: (here they are!)
PG: Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo
SG: O.J. Mayo, J.R. Smith (need some help here)
SF: Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay
PF: Kevin Love, Michael Beasley
C: Dwight Howard, Al Horford, Andrew Bynum, Greg Oden

And if the superstars are injured or do not want to play, you can plug in a deserving 27-30 year old to take his place.

1992 Dream Team Roster

1992 Dream Team Roster