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And yet Kobe "will be centerpiece of team." OK. Perhaps this says it best:Allen Iverson, a member of the bronze-medal team, was not invited to training camp. Colangelo said he was looking for more distributors of the ball, not scorers.
Bryant will be centerpiece of USA Basketball team
By MELISSA MURPHY, AP Sports Writer
March 5, 2006
Kobe Bryant will be the centerpiece of the new-look USA Basketball team that is expected to improve upon a disappointing bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics.
Bryant brings NBA championship credentials and high-powered scoring, joining Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and 20 other players selected Sunday for a possible spot on the world championship and 2008 Beijing Olympic teams.
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"It's his time," USA Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski said of Bryant. "He's 27 years old now. He should try to assume a position of leadership in the team. I would think he's very hungry to do this. I see him fitting in very, very well."
Bryant was supposed to play in Athens, but withdrew because of his sexual assault trial in Colorado. Criminal charges eventually were dropped, and he settled a civil suit with his accuser.
Lamar Odom, Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire and Dwyane Wade -- members of the 2004 Athens team -- also were selected to the roster. They'll be joined by Gilbert Arenas, Shane Battier, Chauncey Billups, Chris Bosh, Bruce Bowen and Elton Brand.
National team managing director Jerry Colangelo announced the team. He was appointed last April and hired Krzyzewski after the United States finished a disappointing sixth in the 2002 worlds in Indianapolis and third in Athens.
"We wanted a team not of individual stars, but athleticism, shooters, role players and distributors," Colangelo said. "Chemistry is something we all talk about, we seek."
Others on the roster include Dwight Howard, Antawn Jamison, Joe Johnson, Brad Miller, Chris Paul, Paul Pierce, Michael Redd and Luke Ridnour.
College players J.J. Re (Duke) and Adam Morrison (Gonzaga) also were chosen.
"They're both great scorers," Krzyzewski said. "I think some collegiate players going into this type of situation would be a little bit intimidated. I don't think either one of these guys will. They more define the specialist role."
The 2004 Olympic team was plagued by withdrawals, so Colangelo required a three-year commitment from players, a likely reason players such as Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett were not interested.
"The thing is they got guys that are willing to make a three-year commitment, which I think is tremendous," Larry Brown, the U.S. coach in Athens, said Friday. "We had guys that committed and then all of a sudden 9/11 happened, and then there were injuries."
Allen Iverson, a member of the bronze-medal team, was not invited to training camp. Colangelo said he was looking for more distributors of the ball, not scorers.
He also said Billups and Redd will miss the world championships in August because of previous obligations. Billups is a new father, and Redd will be getting married.
Players will attend training camp in Las Vegas in July, then travel to China and South Korea for exhibition games before a 12-man roster is selected for the world championships in Japan.
A training camp in 2007 -- and possibly regional Olympic qualifying -- will be followed by a camp and more exhibition games in 2008 before the Beijing Olympics.
AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this report.
And yet Kobe "will be centerpiece of team." OK. Perhaps this says it best:Allen Iverson, a member of the bronze-medal team, was not invited to training camp. Colangelo said he was looking for more distributors of the ball, not scorers.
AI has led his team to an NBA Finals appearance. Kobe has led his team to a possible 8th seed one of these years.
Allen Iverson is supposed to be a point guard. Kobe Bryant is a "SHOOTING" guard. Distribution of the basketball should be the primary responsibility of the point guard.
I am a huge Allen Iverson fan. In fact, he's still my favorite player in the league, but I understand why he was not invited. Perhaps he should have at least been invited to tryout. But, once he would have tried out, it may have looked even worse to cut him then instead of not inviting him at all.
Kobe Bryant SHOULD be the centerpiece of Team USA. He is the best player in the league right now. It should be Kobe's team to lead.
Looks like Josh Howard and Rashard Lewis didn't make the 22 man team. Lamar Odom did get in.
Rashard Lewis and Michael Redd bowed out. I don't know why Redd is still listed.
Never mind. It says here Redd was going to bow out.
http://www.journaltimes.com/nucleus/...hp?itemid=4372
But now it says that he accepted.
Don't be rapin'.
One of the Pacer/Sixers game announcers mentioned that not a single person with a Reebok deal was selected for Team USA. At least 15 who were selected had Nike deals. Considering that Iverson is the poster child for Reebok basketball merchandise in America, he never had a chance in of being selected for the team.Nike Hoops It Up With USA Basketball
(March 3, 2006) - Nike said today it has signed a multi-year deal making the footwear and apparel company a marketing partner and exclusive apparel outfitter of USA Basketball. Financial terms were not disclosed. Under terms of the agreement, Nike will provide all USA Basketball members with uniforms, warm-ups and practice gear for all of its events, including the 2006 World Championships and the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. Support will encompass all teams represented by USA Basketball, including the USA Basketball junior teams, the 2006 Nike Hoop Summit (an annual basketball game featuring Americas’ top senior boy prep players taking on a World Select Team), and additional grassroots USA Basketball activities. Nike will also unveil a line of USA Basketball consumer merchandise that will include uniforms, warm-ups, active wear, headwear, and footwear. Uniforms and additional products will feature player identification from the men’s and women’s senior national teams. The collection will be available for consumers at sporting goods stores, sports specialty retailers, the NBA Store on Fifth Ave in New York City, USAbasketball.com, NBAstore.com, Niketown and Nike.com.
Is that what it comes down to in the USA these days? A player is selected by his shoe contract rather than his latent talents and abilities?
Pretty sad.
This is what USA Basketball has come to. Thanks, Jerry Colangelo.
Kobe as the poster child? I think I just vomited in my mouth a little.
Forget Team USA, this is team Swoosh.
Go put on a Kobe jersey jack. Kobe hasn't won without his fat old daddy.
That's the way I see it.
this gives me a better reason to hate this usa team cose its built around kome, lets hope they choke like the fakers buildin around kome
I understand that you are not in the US, but why on earth would you ask Americans who still make up a majority of this forum, to hope that Team USA chokes?
I am not huge fan of Kobe either, but - he is on my country's team, and I am gonna root for him.
im still bummed about Timmy not on the team
I don't think Timmy would have played in another FIBA rules and officiated event even if it meant a 1-year commitment instead of a 3-year.
Okay, so here is Exhibit A:
================================================== ========
Duncan has had it with FIBA and its referees
08:46 PM CDT on Saturday, August 28, 2004
By BRAD TOWNSEND / The Dallas Morning News
ATHENS, Greece – Tim Duncan wasn't available for comment after fouling out of Friday's semifinal loss to Argentina.
The probable reason became clear after Saturday's bronze-medal game victory over Lithuania, when Duncan spewed forth some of his frustrations about officiating during the Olympics.
"I'm about 95 percent sure my FIBA career is over."
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) governs basketball played outside the United States, including the Olympics.
Asked whether he is concerned that his experiences will deter NBA players from playing in future Olympics, Duncan said: "I hope not. I'll try not to share my experiences with anybody."
In eight Olympic games, including Saturday's, Duncan was whistled for 30 fouls. In Duncan's seven seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, his coach Gregg Popovich recalls him fouling out once, maybe twice.
"He was very frustrated throughout the whole deal," Popovich, a Team USA assistant, said. "To his credit, he kept his cool when a lot of guys would have exploded."
...and here is a FIBA.com article about true "World Champions" and acknowledging that not even the "best player in the world" could help Team USA. Was Tim a marked man? Did he have a big, red target on his back? Argentina deserved the Gold but Tim got jobbed.
http://www.fiba.com/pages/en/news/la...r_cat=8&page=5
26/12/2004
FIBA - Basketball proves yet again to be international game
NEW YORK (Olympics) - The winners of NBA Finals have always been called "world champs" in North America but that le is no longer appropriate following the remarkable development of the international game.
NBA champs, certainly. But not world champs. Not even close.
In fact, if there was one thing we could derive from pro basketball in 2004, it was that no team from the United States - not the Pistons, not the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers, not the Olympic team - could properly be called "world champs".
The FIBA World Championship 2002 and this summer's Olympics have proved once and for all that the best basketball is not always played by American teams.
The gold medal game at the Athens Games was the culmination of a true international tournament several years in the making. Scores of nations had competed; a dozen had qualified.
Now just two were left, playing for the honour of knowing it had won on basketball's international stage. And neither team had the letters "USA" across its chest.
Team USA's run through the tournament had ended minutes earlier with a bronze medal win over Lithuania, avenging a loss in group play. Even with the best player in the world in Tim Duncan, the Americans could do no better than a consolation prize.
Coaches Larry Brown and Gregg Popovich, both of whom had won NBA les and had heard their teams improperly anointed as "world champs", sat and watched as an Emanuel Ginobili-inspired Argentina took on unheralded Italy for global bragging rights.
"Out of the 24 players on the two teams, 19 had Italian passports," said Phoenix Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, who played and coached in Italy for over 20 years.
"I think it's a tribute to the league in Italy. They do a great job and I was really proud of them. You hate it for the US, but I was proud of my guys."
It was also a tribute to the game in Spain, where most of Argentina's players compete professionally.
There were names some NBA fans knew, like Ginobili and Wolkowyski. There were some names NBA fans would come to know, like Nocioni and Scola and Delfino. And there were names that now had to be acknowledged, like Basile and Oberto, Galanda and Montecchia, Sconochini and Magnano.
Con uous by their absence were names such as Iverson and Wade, Stoudemire and Marbury, James and Anthony. These players populate NBA All-Star Weekend, which is billed as a gathering of the best players in the world.
But it does not include the world champs. That le officially belongs to Serbia & Montenegro. In 2002, the erstwhile Yugoslavia invaded Indianapolis and came away with the world le, which it retains until 2006.
At the Summer Olympics, Argentina defeated Italy for the other internationally acknowledged global crown. It was yet another reminder to the jingoistic folk that the best basketball on the planet isn't necessarily played in America.
However, if you need incontrovertible proof, just take a look around the NBA. There are 81 international players, approximately one-sixth of the league. That means if there isn't one starting for your team, then he's your sixth man.
At least one foreign player populates every roster except that of the Indiana Pacers.
The San Antonio Spurs - virtually every prognosticator's pick to win the NBA le - have seven, including Duncan and three other members of their starting lineup.
"It was pretty evident that it kept growing," D'Antoni said . "I'd been over there 20 years and you could see it coming. There's no reason not to. A lot of NBA coaches went over there. There's film, and satellite television was probably the biggest thing. The coaches and the players over there kept getting better. It was pretty obvious that it should happen."
These guys can play. In each of the last two years, six of the 24 players in the All-Star Game hailed from outside the US. Come February, the number could be even greater.
Or take a look at the statistics. Dirk Nowitzki, a German, is third in scoring and eighth in rebounding. Steve Nash, a Canadian, leads the NBA in assists. Peja Stojakovic, a Serb, is the top free-throw shooter.
It is no accident that the Spurs, Phoenix Suns and Seattle SuperSonics - the teams with the top three records as we approach the new year - have a combined 14 internationals on their rosters.
"I think it (international influx) will keep growing for a while and then it will plateau," D'Antoni said. "Then it will be a battle back and forth. But it's good for basketball."
If the international influence has caught you by surprise, that's okay. You probably were too busy watching American players flail with fundamentals, question coaches or storm into the stands.
But it's high time that fans stop living in the past and recognise that the game has gone global and is not going back.
It is not 1992 anymore, with Larry Bird posing for photos with Cubans, Charles Barkley elbowing Angolans and Chuck Daly calling for tee times during timeouts.
There is no shock and awe. The rest of the world can play with the USA, and it knows it.
On the global stage, the US no longer owns the spotlight. And if American players do not recognise that, it won't be long before the international game takes over the NBA as well.
PA International
Last edited by Geno Billy; 03-06-2006 at 02:11 AM.
this is USA SUNS team, wtf is joe johnson doin on the team?
We all know better than to think much of GiG's posts.
good luck with THAT
Haters....all of you...Kobe barring any injury will lead the team to Gold. Sorry kids the whole arguement of AI going to the finals and getting smashed is old hat. Look at Kobe's team and they are still in the playoff hunt. You exchange billups and kobe and let's see how the Lakers do.
Update: Kobe's status as "Centerpiece" has been upgraded.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/45757
Kobe Bryant Named As 2008 Olympic Basketball Team
PHOENIX—In a press conference Wednesday, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo announced that Kobe Bryant has been selected as the 2008 men's Olympic basketball team.
"When they put me in charge of the selection process, I promised the committee that I would not assemble a collection of selfish, self-centered superstars with no team concept," said Colangelo, referring to the every-man-for-himself Olympic team that finished an embarrassing third place in Athens two years ago. I am confident that, with a team comprised entirely of Kobe Bryant, the infighting, ego-clashing, and divisiveness that plagued the 2004 team will not be a problem."
Dubbing Bryant the "Dream Individual," Colangelo said that, by eliminating such weaknesses as the presence of coaches and other players, Bryant will be able to reach his full potential.
"Kobe has already been working hard during the regular season to get accustomed to being the sole contributor of a basketball team," Colangelo said. "If he, and USA basketball, want any chance of winning the gold in Beijing, he's going to have to play the game as if he's the only one on the court. Anyone who knows basketball will tell you it will be an easy adjustment."
During the press conference, Bryant told members of the media that he was "honored" and "not surprised" to be chosen as the Olympic team.
"I have to tell you, I'm not in any way humbled by this moment—this is what I've been working towards my whole career, from entering the NBA draft right out of high school to getting Shaq traded away to my 81-point game," Bryant said. "I'm used to it. I know that if I don't bring my A-game on any given night during the regular season, the Lakers will be in trouble. The same applies to the U.S. Olympic squad, where I am, more so than ever, the most indispensable player on the team."
Bryant added that he is also working on a special new kind of jump shot that is "indefensible and can only be done by me."
Commissioner David Stern applauded the decision to select "only one greedy, self-serving, ball-hogging, stat-padding superstar instead of the usual 20," saying that Bryant's behavior both on and off the court is an accurate reflection of the current state of American basketball.
"Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest individual talents in the game, and we're proud to have him represent our country, our sport, and the 28 or so other deserving individual talents who were vying for a spot on the roster," Stern said. "Kobe may not be a great team player, but we think he will be a great team."
"Besides, 81 points beats a lot of teams, especially foreign ones," Stern added.
Bryant was scheduled to begin training with personal coaches Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Karl Malone this week, but, in the true spirit of his new role as Olympic team captain, head coach, and lone member, he has opted to prepare for the tournament on his own time without anyone's assistance. Starting at the end of the 2005-2006 NBA season, Bryant will practice tip-offs, work on fundamental self-inbound passes, learn how to play defense, and draw up several play formations, each of which he will be responsible for calling during the games.
Although the general response among fans has been complete indifference, many players around the league have objected to the decision, saying that it is unfair to others who have worked just as hard as Bryant.
"Kobe Bryant shouldn't be the only one allowed to represent our country at the Summer Games," Sixers point guard Allen Iverson said. "I should be the only one allowed to represent our country at the Summer Games."
LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Jermaine O'Neal, Tracy McGrady and Tim Duncan all expressed identical reactions.
Yeah I posted this a while back..still very funny
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