A Touch of Gold

I keep hearing about a USA Basketball Team that is going to win gold in the next Olympics.
I keep hearing about a USA Basketball Team that is going to be put together for the International Game.
I keep hearing about a USA Basketball Team that will be made up of unselfish basketball players who match up well against the International Teams.

WHY?

Was our original Dream Team made up of a team to match up well?
No.
Was our original Dream Team made up of a team due to rules over there?
No.

Our Original Dream Team was made up of the best players in the USA and we steamrolled them because we are just better.

The same could be said for today's talent. The problem is that the world has caught up and learned the game of basketball. Well good for them. The world does not have the talent to beat us like they are. Our problem is that we are taking very talented basketball players and making them play a game of basketball they are not used to. Why aren't we making the International Teams play a game of basketball they are not used to? Why are we changing for them when they should be changing for us? Why are we not playing a physical play from the post muscle you down half court game mixed with a run it down your throat dunk on you fast break? Why are we not "D" ing up and shutting them down because we are so much longer and more athletic than them?

Here is my proposed solution to this mess.

Play our game with the best we have and lets see who is better off in the end. Plain and Simple.

PG - Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billups
SG - Kobe Bryant, Micheal Redd and Ray Allen
SF - LeBron James, Teshawn Prince and Stephen Jackson
PF/C - Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Rasheed Wallace and Shaquille O'Neal

Come Fuck with This

We have veteran leadership and we have outside shooting.
We have great passers and we have incredible interior defense.
We have some head cases but we need to get in their heads.

and we have two trump cards above everything else.

We have Shaq who is the only player on the planet that still intimidates all of the time. There is no other player like him and we have him. He also loves the fact that he will be looked on as the guy who saved USA Basketball ... its right up his alley.

and...

We have Kobe. He is far and away the best offensive player in the world and the guy who wants to be a good guy again. He has his chance and he will make the best of it. He is also the most competitive (except maybe KG) and will not let us lose.

Is Dirk going off on this team? Nope
Is Peja going off on this team? Nope
Is Manu going off on this team? Nope
Is Yao gong off on this team? Nope

We won before because we had a team that they were intimidated by. This team intimidates. Sending over nice guys to give them a chance and the occasional 3rd team All NBA guy doesn't do that. And the studs we do send are young.

I'm not taking anything away from the teams in Europe, but we cant play Euroball. But they sure as hell cant play USA Ball. We wont dominate like we did in 92 and 96. But we sure as hell will win.

Time to take our Gold back.