PG - Chris Paul
SG - Dwayne Wade
SF - LeBron James
PF - Chris Bosh
C - Dwight Howard
Dwayne Wade will be turning 30 during those Olympics but keeping him on as a sort of veteran leadership wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea, additionally, this keeps a core of starters that have played together on the international scene before and know what it's like. I personally liked Chris Bosh's contributions more than Carmelo Anthony's in the past Olympics so I'm inclined to start him over Melo, and I believe that Melo can be a more effective floor leader with the newer players in the second unit, which would be consisting of:
Guards: Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, Derrick Rose
Forwards: Carmelo Anthony, Lamarcus Aldridge, Kevin Durant
Center: Al Jefferson
So the new additions would be Roy, Aldridge, Durant, Rose, and Jefferson, with D-Will and Melo anchoring the whole team down. It's a more traditional lineup that 2008 Olympics and creates a much more balanced team, of course, one item to note is that there is no real 3 pt specialist (like Michael Redd) so perimeter shooting might be an issue. If he develops a consistent stroke considerations might include someone like JR Smith or someone of that ilk. Not really sure though, but this is who I'd go with.
As a note, for the qualifiers, I would love to see an Amare Stoudemire/Dwight Howard frontcourt. Please let that happen within the next two years in FIBA Americas. A Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire, Dwight Howard starting 5 would be sick.
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2 comments:
So are you just leaving off Bynum and Oden because they haven't really proven themselves? I like Jefferson, but I don't think he has the correct skillset for the international game. He reminds me of Boozer (who didn't play very much this past summer) in that he's all raw power and post moves. Even Timmy D didn't like playing international ball because the refs and the bigger paint don't really allow for post play. I would rather have an Oden or a Bynum because USA is the only team that can really throw out athletic 7 footers than can play D like that. The rebounding and shot blocking takes the team to a whole nother level. It also lets us play a more active 4 like 'Bron or 'Melo which opens up the offense. Starting 5 I would love to see is a James, Durrant, Anthony, Bosh, Howard. We would still have all of the athletic wings and still keep the versatility at the 4, but the size on the floor would make us very hard to pass around or get any rebounds.
That's a very good point, however, I can very easily see Oden or Bynum making the roster as well, and leave off Jefferson, he's not really essential, starting a large forward-based 5 would also be very interesting. Again, this is just my speculation. Oden and Bynum aren't really proven yet, but I can definitely see the high upside with playing them. Perhaps more players down the line would be better fits. Having an effective big-man definitely does make a difference, but I think Bosh and Howard will eat up most of the minutes there rather well. My primary concern is that there would be no effective perimeter scorer, Durant shoots a horrible long-range percentage, and the best shooter then would be Deron Williams, who I'm not really inclined to ink as a 3 pt specialist. From there we just get Brandon Roy, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, and maybe Derrick Rose and Chris Paul, perimeter play will definitely be lacking, that's my concern. Thanks for the comments though, you bring up very good points.
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