BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — It is hard to believe that it has been twenty years already since the greatest roster of basketball talent ever assembled won the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics. I am speaking of course of the 11 Hall of Fame players (plus Christian Laettner) that made up the 1992 squad rightfully known as “The Dream Team.”
There has been a lot of talk recently (most of it from Kobe Bryant) about who would win a grudge match between the 1992 version and the present day manifestation of the US Men’s Olympic Basketball Team. I can just hear Charles Barkley saying without any hesitation something to the effect of “Kobe you must be out your mind.” And I would readily agree with the Chuckster.
Before you make any predictions of your own, I suggest you watch this…it is the NBA-produced documentary on the original Dream Team. NBC ran bits and pieces of it the other night and the NBA Network, (which I don’t get) ran the whole thing before the London Games started. Thankfully, Vimeo is our friend:
I’m not gonna bother analyzing the lineups mano a mano because that has already been done for me. Here is the Bleacher Report’s comparison, complete with slideshow badness:
If you ask me, the only place where the 2012 team has an advantage is with the 12th guy. I’d take “Unibrow” over Laettner in a heartbeat.
Latinospost.com does a half-assed job of it:
The current version gives their outlook on the matchup, including Coach K who should know because he assisted Chuck Daly in 1992 and is at the helm now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dWG__nF1L4
CNN found a Sociology prof who agrees with Kobe:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/17/opinion/lee-kobe-bryant-dream-team/index.html
Who better to answer the question once and for all than Strat-O-Matic, right? They did a simulation and have The Dream Team beating the 2012 squad 4-1 in a best-of-seven series:
“The Dream Team” beat their opponents by an average — an average — of 44 points. Kobe and company struggled to beat the Gasol brothers by seven points in the Gold Medal game. What seals the deal for me in favor of The Originals is the fact that 11 of them are in the HoF. Kobe and LeBron are givens to be enshrined in Springfield, MA from this year’s team; Durant and Melo maybe if they both keep it up; but who else? CP3? Too soon to say. Russell Westbrook? Tyson Chandler? Frank the Tank’s little brother Andre?
Child please.
Elsewhere in the wide world of hoops:
— NYC Hoops evaluates 2013 UD prospect Dayshon “Scoochie” Smith:
http://nychoops.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1392367
— It’s never a good thing when a kid who Archie has already offered says he’s waiting for more offers. Such is the case with St. Raymond’s (NY) HS prospect Shane Rector:
http://www.zagsblog.com/2012/08/03/shane-rector-hoping-to-add-offers/#more-77560
Next!
— On the bright side Hallice Cook of St. Anthony HS (NJ) has cut his list to six and UD is one of ‘em:
http://www.zagsblog.com/2012/08/05/hallice-cooke-cuts-list-plans-visits/#more-77730
— UM Hoops interviews Jae’Sean Tate of Pickerington (OH) HS:
— Kyle Davis of Chicago Morgan Park HS in Vegas, now with video goodness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DM2IArplZ0
— The revolution will be recruited:
http://m.espn.go.com/ncb/story?storyId=8229423&i=TWT&w=1c0js
— The modern history of conference realignment, according to Ken Pomeroy:
http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/the_modern_history_of_realignment
— Speaking of which, latest A-10 member Butler didn’t waste any time recruiting in their new conference’s footprint by grabbing a kid from Massachusetts:
— The NCAA has raised the bar for college eligibility. Here is a single link to the complete series from every expert who weighed in on the subject at ESPN.com:
— Nothing makes a guy look goofier than attempting to throw a rock with their opposite hand:
— A tip of the FTS cap to Bob Ryan as he retires after 44 years writing for The Boston Globe. Here is a link to his final column:
— Three guesses what this little bird saw (and heard):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=L7t79RktA9g
That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: [email protected]
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