Sydney Olympics Roster

[opi@unesco.org]

Hi List. What do you all think of the final Dream Team roster for the
Aussie games? The selection committee just finalized the roster by
adding Ray Allen, Grant Hill and Alonzo Mourning.

PGs are Gary Payton, Jason Kidd and Tim Hardaway.
SGs are Allan Houston and Ray Allen
Cs are Tim Duncan and Alonzo Mourning
Fs are Kevin Garnett and Grant Hill.

Tom Gugliotta, Vin Baker and Steve Smith are also selectees, which
leaves NBA household names off the team including notably Allen Iverson,
Vince Carter and Chris Webber but also Shareef Abdur Rahim, Kobe Bryant,
Stephon Marbury, Antonio McDyess, Eddie Jones and many others (Shaq
turned down his offer to play). Shaq, Kobe and the All Star Game's
leading vote getter Vince Carter are arguably the three best known
basketball players on the planet. Obviously, the US could field 10
separate teams and still win the top 10 places at the Olympics (and at
least twice as many if they just sent the individual NBA clubs intact).

I guess somebody has to be willing to benchwarm on any successful team .
Despite the relative lack of quality depth at forward, Baker and Goog
seem to be the likely candidates to play "Waltah McCarty" minutes (it's
not like you are going to sit down Kevin Garnett, Grant Hill or Duncan
that much at forward).

Goog is presently just the fourth leading scorer (13.6ppg) for the Suns,
although he leads them in boards at 8.2 per game. Neither Baker
(17.1ppg) nor Steve Smith (15.4ppg) are clear favorites to even make the
Western All Star roster. All three have only so-so reputations on the
defensive end at this point in their careers.

As for how this team compares to the previous Dream Teams, I think the
relative weaknesses are at shooting guards (grade: "C+") both forwards
(grade:"B/B-") and bench (grade:"C"). It's impossible to compete with
Bird, Jordan, Magic & Malone. One of my biggest regrets is that Kevin
McHale didn't get to be a part of that historic team.

I do think this Dream Team will win by huge margins, though. They are
literally unguardable at power forward (Tim Duncan) small forward (Kevin
Garnett) and at point guard (Gary Payton etc).

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