Real Men of Genius: Mr. Olympic Basketball Team Selector

[ShoogarBear]

Washington @ Philadelphia 5:18 left in the 3rd quarter

Gilbert Arenas
28 min, 4-14, 10 points, 2 reb, 6 assists, 1 TO

Allen Iverson
30 min 11-15, 32 points, 2 reb, 8 assist, 2 TO

[timvp]

Iverson is five times the player that Arenas is.

[Sec24Row7]

with 100 times the TV viewer draw

[carina_gino20]

yup..they really messed up this one

[MajicMan]

Reebok

[sa_butta]

And why Brad Miller??

[ObiwanGinobili]

I'm threw trying to figure out this whole team usa thing.
all i know is they recruited bowen and i'm happy with that.
I'll jsut sit back and trust that japan will be worth watching... if it is then I'll be phsyched for the olympics.. if not. well.
I'll refrain from bitching about it.

we cannot realisticaly expect to have a dream team every go around.

[ShoogarBear]

Allen Iverson just retired AD from organized basketball.

[ShoogarBear]

Of course, Arenas is starting to heat up, too. But then he has help.

AI has Chris Webber. Who just added to his legacy by committing a violation on an inbounds pass.

[Guru of Nothing]

Allen Iverson
30 min 11-15, 32 points, 2 reb, 8 assist, 2 TO

Timing is everything.

[Obstructed_View]

Too bad the selection committee didn't use a portion of a single box score to pick the players to invite, with TV viewer draw as a secondary consideration.

[Geno Billy]

:lol ShoogarBear is playing my song.

[T-Pain]

I'm threw trying to figure out this whole team usa thing.
all i know is they recruited bowen and i'm happy with that.
I'll jsut sit back and trust that japan will be worth watching... if it is then I'll be phsyched for the olympics.. if not. well.
I'll refrain from bitching about it.

we cannot realisticaly expect to have a dream team every go around.


Allen Iverson is legit, were not really complaining because we dont have a big star like Iverson on the team, he just deserves to be on the team.

[Dunc]

I still cannot believe AI didn't even get an invite. I've heard people saying lately it's cuz he's not a team player, but that's bullshit. 47 pts *and* 12 assists tonight. That's not a selfish player, that's a fucking superhuman. Way to reward him, USA Basketball.

[T-Pain]

i seriously think we should petition this shit cuz in my opinion, theres no better shooting guard than AI (and thats out of AMERICAN SGs). hes second in the league in points behind KB for christ sake. if we had AI on the team, we would have the 1, 2, 3 leading scorers in the NBA.

[zeleni]

So Kobe and Iverson on the same team?

Too many Supermen for me...

[ShoogarBear]

Too bad the selection committee didn't use a portion of a single box score to pick the players to invite, with TV viewer draw as a secondary consideration.Yeah, instead they used critieria that picked GILBERT ARENAS? :lmao :lmao :lmao

Now THAT's some basketball knowledge on display!

[Pandaemonaeon]

And why Brad Miller??

He's obviously not a real center and doesn't provide any shotblocking but he could rebound, shoot the 15-footer, function like a secondary point guard, maybe throw an elbow or two to shake up the soft gringos. He's the perfect FIBA-ready big man.

[usckk]

I think the comittee is looking at Iverson's age in 2008. He's going to be old.

[waly.mg]

There´s only one ball in a Basketball game

If Iverson, Wade, Lebron, Kobe and Melo are in the same team, you need 2 balls

The USA team need players who can play without the ball, like Bowen.

[spursfaninla]

Wally, that sig about Manu in the playoffs still makes me laugh, even the 1000th time...

[T-Pain]

I think the comittee is looking at Iverson's age in 2008. He's going to be old.


true

[FromWayDowntown]

If Iverson's age in 2008 is problematic, explain why Shaq has a standing invite and why Bruce Bowen (who is older now than Iverson) is going to camp.

This was about Allen Iverson, and for whatever reason, the selection committee believed that Arenas was a better fit than Iverson. That's a boneheaded decision.

[1Parker1]

If Iverson's age in 2008 is problematic, explain why Shaq has a standing invite and why Bruce Bowen (who is older now than Iverson) is going to camp..

Exactly, I still can't figure out how Shaq gets the royal treatment and AI gets the boot. It can't be about age.

[ShoogarBear]

Shit. Watching Colangelo this morning I just realized why Arenas got picked.

HE WENT TO ARIZONA!

:flipoff Colangelo

[zeleni]

Exactly, I still can't figure out how Shaq gets the royal treatment and AI gets the boot. It can't be about age.

Couse Bowen or Shaq would be invited in every team full of centers or wing players.

The same cannot be said about AI. I would care about Spurs if they were
TD-AI pair of players. That's not a team to cheer for or even to win a championship with. That would be Trailblazers re-run.

[whottt]

The thing that pisses me off the most about AI being left off the team...he was one of the few on the 02 team that actually was happy to be on the team representing his country. That should count for something...that he wanted to be there., actually it should count for a lot...

AI deserves better treatment and Colangelo is a dick for omitting him.

[Obstructed_View]

AI doesn't help a basketball team if he doesn't have the fucking ball in his hands 90 percent of the time. That's why he wasn't chosen.

[whottt]

Ya....who wants a former league MVP who annually finishes in the top 10 in PPG, apg, spg, FT and FTA pg, and is one of the fastest players in the world....he's garbage.


It's too bad LB did't let AI be AI on our last Olympic team...we probably would have won.

[Peter]

Ridiculous to leave AI off the team. The problem with the '04 team is that there weren't enough shooters on the court. You don't take away guys who can penetrate and create scoring opportunities for themselves and others. You get rid of the Richard Jeffersons. I'm not sure what the logic is here. Shit, it takes a miracle to get stars to want to represent their country. AI is a rarity in that he's willing to do that.

[ShoogarBear]

AI doesn't help a basketball team if he doesn't have the fucking ball in his hands 90 percent of the time. That's why he wasn't chosen.Hellooooo . . . GILBERT ARENAS???????

Your argument completely falls apart.

[T-Pain]

shoogarbear i love your avatar with the caption Hedo layup drill. is the pic and the caption go together? i just love it

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Sugar Bear fumbles golden crisps like Turkish basketballers miss passes against the Lakers.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

And does anybody have that pic of AI making Antonio Daniels his bitch?

[Obstructed_View]

Hellooooo . . . GILBERT ARENAS???????

Your argument completely falls apart.
In what way? Iverson is a shooting guard that they had to convert into a point guard so he could bring the ball up and they could just dispense with the formality of having to pass the ball to him. Last I checked, AD runs the point for Washington.

[Pero]

Wasn`t Iverson originaly a point guard? And what does Antonio Daniels (AD I assume?) have to do with this?
It doesn`t really matter which position Iverson plays. I mean, again, GILBERT ARENAS instead of IVERSON?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[T Park]

Its about creating a team.

Not a skilly competition.

When building a TEAM, you build around the stars.

Ridenour, Paul will be willing to defer to Kobe and Lebron.



Also, Coach K, you think hes gonna put up with the turd that is Allen Iverson?

"We talkin bout practice"

Right there.

You think a guy that says that, is willing to TRY OUT, for a team!?!?!


Get real peeps.

This isn't a roster created of the best players, THAT FAILED.

Everyone is getting the STARS problem again.


Guys like Battier, Bowen, Miller are great ROLE players.

Something that everyone here said they needed in 04.


Get the studs, Kobe, Lebron, then get the peeps that will say

"Hes the stud, were gonna help make the team better"

[Pero]

While all that is true, how does Arenas fall into that picture? And hasn`t Iverson improved his attitude?

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

The only reasonable explanation for leaving Iverson off is the combination of age and injuries. With each passing year more and more prognosticators are saying, "This could be the year that AI starts breaking down." While it hasn't happened yet it's still a possible (even likely) prospect in the next few years. I know that the same could be said of Shaq and he got a standing invite. I don't have a good explanation for that other than the fact that the media nut rides him constantly. Perhaps it's because AI doesn't have the same cuddly image. The informed fan is up in arms over Arenas getting in over AI, but there's probably just as many average whitebread fans who are saying, "Good. Iverson's a thug." Whereas if they left Shaq off most intelligent people would applaud, but the sheep fans would clammer that he's still "the most dominant force in the game." I could be wrong.

[ShoogarBear]

In what way? Iverson is a shooting guard that they had to convert into a point guard so he could bring the ball up and they could just dispense with the formality of having to pass the ball to him. Last I checked, AD runs the point for Washington.

I honestly don't get what you're trying to say. But it doesn't matter because:

1. If AI is a 1 and Arenas is a 2, AI is STILL a better 2 than Arenas.
2. If AI is a 2 and Arenas is a 1, AI is STILL a better 1 than Arenas.

No matter what facet of the game you may chose to think of, AI is better. Including (maybe especially) coachability and attitude.

And, finally, AD is not the Wizards' point guard. The entire offense starts and ends with the ball in Arenas' hands.

[Obstructed_View]

Fine. Allen Iverson is the greatest player of all time. That's why he's won multiple championships and olympic gold medals. That's why he won all those national championships in college.

Oh, wait. No, he's never won at any level no matter who his teammates are. There's a word for players like that. The word for him next year will probably be "ex-76er".

[Pero]

And Gilbert Arenas did?

[Obstructed_View]

And Gilbert Arenas did?
Gilbert Arenas is ten years younger. What the fuck, people? Iverson is better than Brad Miller, too.

[vanvannen]

The thing that pisses me off the most about AI being left off the team...he was one of the few on the 02 team that actually was happy to be on the team representing his country. That should count for something...that he wanted to be there., actually it should count for a lot...

AI deserves better treatment and Colangelo is a dick for omitting him.

Whottt is right. Instead of asking a guy who actually WANTED TO BE THERE, they keep being rejected by Shaq, KG, etc. They are not going to win with a group of players that don't really want to be there.

[Sec24Row7]

AI got jobbed.

He deserves it a hell of a lot more than Arenas and PROVED when he was there the last time that he was a team player when none of the other yokles did...

Sept Timmy of course...when he wasn't on the bench...

heh

[timvp]

I'm just waiting for Chris Carrawell to be selected for Team USA.

[SoCalSpursFan]

Kobe is the focus of Team USA. and A.I. is not a role player.

Its the Olympics not the All Star Game...last year they brought home a bronze...let this team play then start judging who messed up.