2012 Olympic Team

[Dev11]

Is there any doubt that this is the greatest dunk in the history of basketball - not for time and circumstance (that may be Lorenzo Charles) - but for the pure essence of what a dunk is supposed to be - namely - "#%^$@ yo Mama!"

I think the great part is watching the view from above, where clearly the defender is in a position to take a charge and Vince easily has three other dudes in blue to pass to...and doesn't. Draw that one on a white board and try to explain the logic of his choice, it would be impossible. The only thing you can do is watch the footage.

Nasty.

[Billy Dat]

I think the great part is watching the view from above, where clearly the defender is in a position to take a charge and Vince easily has three other dudes in blue to pass to...and doesn't. Draw that one on a white board and try to explain the logic of his choice, it would be impossible. The only thing you can do is watch the footage.

Nasty.

The other thing I love is that this dunk is, without doubt, the high water mark of Vince Carter's basketball career. It is, by far, the most prominent POSITIVE thing that will ever be remembered about his on court career. The list of negatives is quite long. A truly vapor-thin zenith for a "had the talent to be an All Timer but didn't have the drive/heart" player. Not that I am likely to get much push-back on this board, but I say all of the above because Vince is fun to poke fun at. Obviously, his career has been fine, but he had a chance to be Hall of Fame good.

[CDu]

The other thing I love is that this dunk is, without doubt, the high water mark of Vince Carter's basketball career. It is, by far, the most prominent POSITIVE thing that will ever be remembered about his on court career. The list of negatives is quite long. A truly vapor-thin zenith for a "had the talent to be an All Timer but didn't have the drive/heart" player. Not that I am likely to get much push-back on this board, but I say all of the above because Vince is fun to poke fun at. Obviously, his career has been fine, but he had a chance to be Hall of Fame good.

There was a time, early in both of their careers, when there was legitimate discussion to be had as to whether Vince Carter or Kobe Bryant was "the next Michael Jordan." Carter sort of plateaued though, and never made that next jump.

Part of it was that he was never surrounded by the talent that Kobe was. He played on some bad Toronto teams, and then on a decent but not great New Jersey team with Kidd and a young Jefferson. And by the time he was finally paired with another elite superstar in Orlando, he was well past his prime. Kobe, on the other hand, had Shaq early and Gasol/Odom/Bynum late.

But yes, he had all the talent to be every bit as good as Kobe Bryant (in fact, their stat lines are fairly similar), but the combination of being on the wrong team and not having that killer instinct made the difference.

[UrinalCake]

Other things to love about this video:

- Garnett almost getting punched in the face, then trying to "out-crazy" Carter in his reaction even while the French team is inbounding the ball.
- The commentators giggling like school girls while describing their own player being humiliated
- The crowd reaction after the last replay, which must have coincided with it being shown on the jumbotron

[JNort]

Well, it is fun to hate on LeBron. I do admit that. But he's a choker. He earned that title in the NBA Finals last year. That performance will follow him the rest of his career. More Karl Malone than Michael Jordan.

I think Blake is a lock for 2nd Team All-NBA this year and could make the 1st Team, more likely over Durant this season than over James. But he's getting better and better at a trajectory that suggests he'll be a top 5 player in the league for a while. Would you disagree with that statement?

I disagree, after they win this year and if Lebron does really really well during the finals he will lose that stupid perception. I do not see why people hate Lebron in the first place but that is not a good topic for this thread.

Anywhooo... Blake could make 2nd or 1st team all NBA yes but more likely because of his highlight reel dunks than actual stats. I also disagree that he projects as a top 5 guy. He will never and I do mean never pass until they retire or get washed up: Kobe, Melo, Wade, Bron, Paul, Durant, Howard, Rose. He still is also not better than Pau Gasol, Amare, Deron Williams, Andrew Bynum (this years version), Rondo (If he keeps up his scoring), and Dirk. He is in that 2nd group I listed but better than none. Also the young up and coming guys could have a say so: Monroe, Cousins, Kyrie, Rubio, and Knight all are having stellar starts but just because they do not dunk all the time like Blake does not mean they are not better basketball players (again not saying they are but they could become better).

If Blake never develops his post game, rebounding, mid-range and overall defense then he will never amount to elite status. He will age like everyone else does and will lose his athleticism then he will become a below average player just like what happened to Tracy Mcgrady. Adding to your game is how Kobe is still tearing people up and players like T-Mac and Vince Carter have tapered off. I hope he does add to the fundamentals cause I would love to see what he could become.

[Starter]

I disagree, after they win this year and if Lebron does really really well during the finals he will lose that stupid perception. I do not see why people hate Lebron in the first place but that is not a good topic for this thread.

Anywhooo... Blake could make 2nd or 1st team all NBA yes but more likely because of his highlight reel dunks than actual stats. I also disagree that he projects as a top 5 guy. He will never and I do mean never pass until they retire or get washed up: Kobe, Melo, Wade, Bron, Paul, Durant, Howard, Rose. He still is also not better than Pau Gasol, Amare, Deron Williams, Andrew Bynum (this years version), Rondo (If he keeps up his scoring), and Dirk. He is in that 2nd group I listed but better than none. Also the young up and coming guys could have a say so: Monroe, Cousins, Kyrie, Rubio, and Knight all are having stellar starts but just because they do not dunk all the time like Blake does not mean they are not better basketball players (again not saying they are but they could become better).

If Blake never develops his post game, rebounding, mid-range and overall defense then he will never amount to elite status. He will age like everyone else does and will lose his athleticism then he will become a below average player just like what happened to Tracy Mcgrady. Adding to your game is how Kobe is still tearing people up and players like T-Mac and Vince Carter have tapered off. I hope he does add to the fundamentals cause I would love to see what he could become.

Blake averaged 23 and 12 in his first full season. He's obviously not a finished product, but... doesn't that make him seem even better? He's not a perfect player, but health permitting, there's no reason not to expect him to be one of the absolute best players in basketball for years to come.

[JNort]

Blake averaged 23 and 12 in his first full season. He's obviously not a finished product, but... doesn't that make him seem even better? He's not a perfect player, but health permitting, there's no reason not to expect him to be one of the absolute best players in basketball for years to come.

Yes true but T-mac and Vince are/were the same way. I just do not think he can be considered elite until he can become a threat in some other way than just being athletic. But yes I do expect him to become one of the best and improve in some of those areas but I also realize he may not do that. I want to see some effort and hopefully having Chris Paul does not make him less motivated to improve because Chris right now is the one creating the opportunities and he wont be there forever.

[Starter]

Yes true but T-mac and Vince are/were the same way. I just do not think he can be considered elite until he can become a threat in some other way than just being athletic. But yes I do expect him to become one of the best and improve in some of those areas but I also realize he may not do that. I want to see some effort and hopefully having Chris Paul does not make him less motivated to improve because Chris right now is the one creating the opportunities and he wont be there forever.

True, time will tell. I think it bodes well for Blake that he put up massive numbers last year as a rookie with an out of shape malcontent as his point guard half the year and Mo Williams the other. I've seen no evidence that he lacks in motivation or attitude, quite the opposite in fact. And the free throws are an issue, but it's not like Tim Duncan (for example) has been the second coming of Rick Barry.

I don't think either McGrady or Vince coasted on their athleticism, by the way -- the cousins both developed lethal midrange jump shots. McGrady was first-team All-NBA twice and second team three times. I'd say he was elite. And honestly, I thought McGrady got a bad rap because of his droopy facial expressions projecting an air of aloofness and some dumb comments about having a private jet. I'm not sure Vince was elite, per se, and he obviously gave up on the Raptors at the end there, but he did score 20 ppg every season for a decade. Not easy to do.

[UrinalCake]

McGrady also had injuries throughout his career, so he does have that as a justifiable excuse. Honestly he seems to me like a guy who would have benefitted from a year or two of college. I remember reading an article about him during his rookie year where he said all he did off the court was sit in his hotel and play video games. Perhaps with a more mature perspective of the world he'd have found a little more joy and inner drive.

The truly elite superstars have something innate in them that drives them to always get better. Other guys are content to be pretty good, rest on their talents and still make a lot of money. Honestly if I had the skills to be an NBA player I'd probably fall into this category.

[Starter]

McGrady also had injuries throughout his career, so he does have that as a justifiable excuse. Honestly he seems to me like a guy who would have benefitted from a year or two of college. I remember reading an article about him during his rookie year where he said all he did off the court was sit in his hotel and play video games. Perhaps with a more mature perspective of the world he'd have found a little more joy and inner drive.

The truly elite superstars have something innate in them that drives them to always get better. Other guys are content to be pretty good, rest on their talents and still make a lot of money. Honestly if I had the skills to be an NBA player I'd probably fall into this category.

It's bad luck, too. McGrady never got to play with a healthy Grant Hill on Orlando, and Houston couldn't keep Yao Ming on the court. McGrady had to do it himself a lot of the time, and it wore him down, especially in the playoffs. By the time they had that team with Battier that won 20 in a row, T-Mac was broken down. I just feel he got a bit of a bad rap considering how totally awesome he was. I just feel like, video games or not, how do you average 32/6.5/5.5 in a season if you're coasting?

[SilkyJ]

Bump. Official 20 man roster out today from USA basketball. Only difference b/w this and the 19 man roster Sheridan reported is the addition of Rudy Gay, which makes sense.

Unfortunately for Rudy, he plays the most crowded position on the team out on the wing where Lebron, Durant and Melo all play SF not to mention Kobe, Wade, and Iguodola. If Kobe or Wade don't play bc of injury, then that opens up a spot for Gay potentially, but otherwise hard to see him making the final cut. He didn't play a ton in 2010, we're completely stacked on the wing, and I think the team will have more than enough offensive firepower so if K did want to bump an extra wing onto the team to fill the 11/12th man spot it would be Iguodala b/c of his defense.

[-bdbd]

Bump. Official 20 man roster out today from USA basketball. Only difference b/w this and the 19 man roster Sheridan reported is the addition of Rudy Gay, which makes sense.

Unfortunately for Rudy, he plays the most crowded position on the team out on the wing where Lebron, Durant and Melo all play SF not to mention Kobe, Wade, and Iguodola. If Kobe or Wade don't play bc of injury, then that opens up a spot for Gay potentially, but otherwise hard to see him making the final cut. He didn't play a ton in 2010, we're completely stacked on the wing, and I think the team will have more than enough offensive firepower so if K did want to bump an extra wing onto the team to fill the 11/12th man spot it would be Iguodala b/c of his defense.

Gosh, I just love having K's photo at the top of that article talking about the 2012 US Olympic BB team. I love our chances (and it is all bad for Duke either...).

Here's another link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...Y3P_story.html


Just can't wait to see them in action. I sure hope the chemistry is there, as this group could be as good as the original dream team I think!

WOW! Paul, Kobe, Wade, Lebron, Durant, Bosh, Mello, Howard or Griffin
... that will be real tough selecting just 5 starters!
Can their second 5 play for the Silver???

The Americans announced the 20 players who will be candidates for the London Games, adding Blake Griffin of the Clippers and LaMarcus Aldridge of Portland to the 18 holdovers from either the 2008 Olympics or 2010 world championship who have said they wish to be considered again.

The 12-man roster and alternates for the Olympics will be chosen from the new player pool in June.

Returning from the team that won gold in Beijing are: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Back from the reigning world champions are: Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Tyson Chandler, Eric Gordon, Rudy Gay, Kevin Love, Lamar Odom, Chauncey Billups, Russell Westbrook and Andre Iguodala.

[Newton_14]

There was a time, early in both of their careers, when there was legitimate discussion to be had as to whether Vince Carter or Kobe Bryant was "the next Michael Jordan." Carter sort of plateaued though, and never made that next jump.

Part of it was that he was never surrounded by the talent that Kobe was. He played on some bad Toronto teams, and then on a decent but not great New Jersey team with Kidd and a young Jefferson. And by the time he was finally paired with another elite superstar in Orlando, he was well past his prime. Kobe, on the other hand, had Shaq early and Gasol/Odom/Bynum late.

But yes, he had all the talent to be every bit as good as Kobe Bryant (in fact, their stat lines are fairly similar), but the combination of being on the wrong team and not having that killer instinct made the difference.

Just my take, but I can't go with the bad team argument with Carter. Guys with his talent should dominate night in and night out no matter how good or bad the team is. Look how long Jordan dominated before finally getting some help. I think the argument has merit in some cases (Laettner for example, due to having to play out of position).

With Carter though, he just never had the desire to put in the work required to reach the level he should have reached. Guy had talent in droves. Imagine if he worked as hard as JJ for example..

He had the tools.. all of them...

[superdave]

No new news though.

[superdave]

Check out the Blake Griffin dunk on Kendrick Perkins. I hope Blake makes the trip to London so he can bump the Vince Carter Olympic dunk from the top spot.

[COYS]

Check out the Blake Griffin dunk on Kendrick Perkins. I hope Blake makes the trip to London so he can bump the Vince Carter Olympic dunk from the top spot.

In many ways, this was a better Dunk than the VC dunk, as awesome as the VC dunk was. Perkins is a big bodied defender who is known for blocking shots and blocking the rim at all costs. This was not a ticky-tack foul. Perkins hit Griffin pretty hard. This is also different than the defender on VC's dunk who was trying to draw a charge and had his hands down before moving his head to avoid any additional contact. Perkins was literally blocking Blake's path to the basket while jumping with hands outstretched, bringing his considerable strength to bear on Griffin. Despite all of that, Griffin was able to dunk rather easily after taking off from outside the lane! That's just ridiculous. Personally, I'm not impressed enough with Blake's defense or his outside shot to think he sees a big role on the roster THIS year, even if he makes it. I actually still prefer Bosh for his shooting and length even though Blake has eclipsed Bosh in many ways. However, I'm with superdave in that it would be awesome to bring him along if only because something like this dunk will happen to someone from an opposing team and that can only add to the public interest in Olympic basketball, which is a good thing.

[toooskies]

For saying that Blake Griffin is "athletic" isn't giving him much credit. There have been plenty of freak athletes who simply don't make it in the NBA. Most players in the league would kill for a season averaging 20/10. For him to do it as a rookie, the man has to have some basketball skill.

[UrinalCake]

I still prefer Carter's dunk. Both were awesome, and I see your point that Griffin's was against a bigger dude who was playing better defense... but it wasn't a pure dunk, it was more like he threw it through the bucket from really close. Carter went over the guy and slammed it down right on top of him, which I think was more humiliating.


Lebron had a pretty big dunk a couple days ago that has garnered some attention, though I wouldn't put it in the same class as these other two. Lebron's was against a 5'11" guy who switched on him after a good back screen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvjjEtjwKHE

[NSDukeFan]

In many ways, this was a better Dunk than the VC dunk, as awesome as the VC dunk was. Perkins is a big bodied defender who is known for blocking shots and blocking the rim at all costs. This was not a ticky-tack foul. Perkins hit Griffin pretty hard. This is also different than the defender on VC's dunk who was trying to draw a charge and had his hands down before moving his head to avoid any additional contact. Perkins was literally blocking Blake's path to the basket while jumping with hands outstretched, bringing his considerable strength to bear on Griffin. Despite all of that, Griffin was able to dunk rather easily after taking off from outside the lane! That's just ridiculous. Personally, I'm not impressed enough with Blake's defense or his outside shot to think he sees a big role on the roster THIS year, even if he makes it. I actually still prefer Bosh for his shooting and length even though Blake has eclipsed Bosh in many ways. However, I'm with superdave in that it would be awesome to bring him along if only because something like this dunk will happen to someone from an opposing team and that can only add to the public interest in Olympic basketball, which is a good thing.

I agree Griffin's dunk may be more impressive, but I agree with tooskies in that you may be shortchanging Griffin's basketball abilities because of his outstanding athleticism. This guy is a very good basketball for a second year guy and if he keeps improving, could be a major rotation guy for the Olympic team this year.

[COYS]

I agree Griffin's dunk may be more impressive, but I agree with tooskies in that you may be shortchanging Griffin's basketball abilities because of his outstanding athleticism. This guy is a very good basketball for a second year guy and if he keeps improving, could be a major rotation guy for the Olympic team this year.

Hey, I don't discount his basketball ability. He's amazing! I know K likes him, too (Duke made overtures in recruiting with him but there wasn't much mutual interest). It's just the PF/C position on the Olympic team is STACKED with talent, especially if you count guys like Melo and Lebron as 3/4's in K's scheme. I know the lane will switch from the trapezoid to the NBA lane, which will make things a bit better for the big USA bigs, but in 2008 even though Howard started, a lot of the US Team's best sequences came when Bosh played the five with some combo Lebron, Melo, Kobe, Wade, Paul, and D Will filling the other spots. The Bosh was much better suited to follow 5's to the perimeter, which happens a lot in international ball, and the other positions were covered with sheer athleticism. All of those guys will be in the mix for a spot this year along with Durant, who could even play shooting guard in a ridiculously athletic and tall lineup with, say, Paul, Durant, Lebron, and Melo. Bosh fits into a lineup like that (or one that substitutes one of those four for Wade or Kobe) because he can stretch the defense with his midrange game and his mobility on the perimeter makes him useful on defense. We're splitting hairs, at this point, but unless Griffin can consistently knock down 12-15 ft. jumpers and improve his defense, especially when guarding opposing bigs on the perimeter (which you have to do a lot of in international ball), I still see Bosh as a better fit. If Griffin goes, I wouldn't be surprised to see him fill the role that Boozer filled last time around, where he gets some burn early, but as the games tighten up K goes with the experienced skill of Bosh/Howard rather than the potential of Griffin.

I guess at the end of the day we both agree. Griffin has a chance to make the team right now even if he doesn't improve. However, I have him below Bosh on the international pecking order until Griffin proves otherwise. If he keeps improving, there is no doubt that Griffin could be a much better fit than Bosh in the near future. I would bet that won't happen this year (even if Griffin makes the team), but may very well happen very soon afterwards.