Basketball Dream Team

It just pisses me off when i see players playing on the Dream Team and others left off cause they weren't "proper" enough to be selected on the Dream Team. It hurts to watch losers like Vin Baker trot up and down the court and tim hardaway trying to run with the rock. There are MANY players in the NBA better than those two who weren't selected because they were too "thuggish". It just pisses me off. Sorry, i had to get that off my back. __________________ I have no problem with that whatsoever. Guys like Allen Iverson choose to act in a certain way. While that behavior may garner them some street cred, it doesn't exactly score in the eyes of Basketball USA. So they reap different rewards: they get to "keep it real", while a clean-cut, very fat, Vin Baker probably doesn't get to roll with many crews, but gets to go to the olympics. BTW, there aren't "many" other players that are better than those two. I'd say there are maybe 2 or three guys ahead of them. And only one of them is "thuggish", Iverson. Marbury hasn't displayed the consistent achievement that these other guys have. Who else? __________________ I don't believe the "thug" players of the NBA deserve to go to the Olympics. Just because they are good does not mean they deserve to go. They wouldn't be able to truly honor the fact of winning a gold medal. Of course I could be wrong in judging them like this just because of the way they represent themselves on the court and to millions of basketball fans. But that is how I feel. The olympics is about honor and pride for your country. I don't think those players can do either. Of course, what do I know? I do not know the players personally. __________________ To defend Iverson: I think Iverson definitely deserves to be on the Olympic team. What's it about? Being the best. Not about being the fattest, or being without tattoos, or without a possie. Hell, his possie was supporting his family when they didn't have any money. And no one can deny his heart, he lays it on the line every single game. Marbury wasn't ever exposed to the life on the streets the way iverson was because everyone on Coney island was warned by his teammates and his associates not to touch him, or they would reap hell because he was their ticket out. So he was protected and able to ball in the middle of the night and what not. Who's better than Tim Hardaway? At this point, many people, but i will narrow it to just "point guards" instead of "guards" cause there'd be a hell of a lot more. ok, stephon marbury, terrel brandon, steve francis, eric snow, sam cassell, darrell armstrong etc... Is that 2 or 3? I think thats more. Now for fat man Vin Baker, Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber, Elton Brand, Antoine Walker, Shawn Kemp (yes, he's fat, but better), DC, and more. Those two guys are bad representations for the Olympic Team. __________________ Who cares if the BEST players aren't on the Dreamteam? The US is gonna place first anyways right? Why would we ever need any better players than the existing? I say screw the best players and let some rookies get good exposure and a challenging international experience. "The olympics is about honor and pride for your country?" That's true. But you're wrong if you think that's what you're getting by Vince Carter doing 360 alley-oops in foreign players' faces and following up with a little victory dance under the hoop. I guess in that sense I agree with Pennypinch a little. Get some decent players out there that play hard and show respect. Don't get me wrong. I agree the US team is the best and they deserve to win. But sometimes It just makes me wanna puke watching them do it. __________________ Oh yeah, I forgot another thing. I don't think players should go if they've already gotten a medal. That's just not fair at all and shows their greedy personality. __________________ I can't agree with your assessment of things, Tse. Remember the US hockey team's trashing of the Olympic Village? That was pretty embarassing. There's more to being a great athlete worthy of the Games than just athletic endeavor. Granted, some have strayed from the path (Hello, Alberto Tomba, Ben Johnson, the Bulgarian weightlifting team, Team Sterio...er, the Chinese swim team circa 1992). I don't care who Iverson's posse is, but I do care what he's done since he came into the league. That includes openenly fueding with his coach and other players on his own goddamn team, defaulting on, like, three or four Mercedes during the lockout year, and general "thugz4life"ery. That's not the type of person I'd like representing my country, and even if it was a more competitive, I'd rather see guys that were playing hard and clean than Vince "I'm a badass" Carter pushing Italian guys in the throat and generally acting like an idiot. Talk about your prototypical Ugly American. Vince, I'd like to introduce you to the mirror. Mirror, Vince. As for you, Spidey, how is that greedy? I think you're probably talking about just the basketball team. You're talking about the best competition in the world; how good would you feel if you won an event, but there were six guys out there who maybe coulda beaten you, but couldn't compete because of "taste" or "humility"?