Best US Olympic Team (Outside of '92 Dream Team)?

[scandisk_]

dat 96 backcourt is sooo sick it's like a f*cking joke, so unfair

[fpliii]

96 might be better than 92.

[bootsy]

96 might be better than 92.

This. They aren't I don't think but it's damn close. A young Shaq, a not quite over the hill Olajuwon, Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Pippen, Reggie, Payton and Robinson. Prime Penny and GHill.

[dubeta]

How did Deron even make the 2012 team?

I can think of at least 7 better Pg's

[SamuraiSWISH]

'96 Dream Team II is actually slept on as the best given their health, and age. Dream Team had a lot of dudes past their prime (Bird, Magic), and injured (Stockton).

The original Dream Team had the advantage of peak MJ / Barkley, and prime D-Rob, Malone, Pippen, etc. '92 is the more historic team. But both the '92 and '96 team beat all the others based off the strength of their size, and interior talent.

The '96 Dream Team II would've been PERFECT with Jordan. Anyway, how I rank all things considering:

1) Dream Team
2) '96
3) Redeem Team
4) 2012
5) 2000
6) 2004

[OncePerMonth]

1996. That front court with knock down 3 point shooters, an all-time great PG and Pippen guarding the best player on the other team.

[OncePerMonth]

'96 Dream Team II is actually slept on as the best given their health, and age. Dream Team had a lot of dudes past their prime (Bird, Magic), and injured (Stockton).

The original Dream Team had the advantage of peak MJ / Barkley, and prime D-Rob, Malone, Pippen, etc. '92 is the more historic team. But both the '92 and '96 team beat all the others based off the strength of their size, and interior talent.

The '96 Dream Team II would've been PERFECT with Jordan. Anyway, how I rank all things considering:

1) Dream Team
2) '96
3) Redeem Team
4) 2012
5) 2000
6) 2004

That ranking looks perfect.

[jinsanity]

This should have been the actual 2004 Team. The pic is the 2003 Team that was picked for the qualification round because USA actually had to qualify for the Olympics. Marriages, injuries and terrorism fears meant the majority of this squad pulled out when 2004 came around. Kobe was also on this roster but the Colorado incident trials meant he wasn't able to participate.

[SamuraiSWISH]

This should have been the actual 2004 Team. The pic is the 2003 Team that was picked for the qualification round because USA actually had to qualify for the Olympics. Marriages, injuries and terrorism fears meant the majority of this squad pulled out when 2004 came around. Kobe was also on this roster but the Colorado incident trials meant he wasn't able to participate.

Good choice, they dominated in the qualifying tournament. Spanked Argentina pretty hard. Combined peaks of: Duncan, Kidd, McGrady, VC, Ray Allen, Bibby, J. O'Neal, and Brand.

Featured Prime Iverson. Would've had Kobe who was entering his prime following a blistering hot MVP caliber season. He missed out in 2003, and 2004 due to Colorado incident.

This team also could've used PEAK KG, and tail end prime Shaq. I still stand by the fact the '96 Dream Team 2 w/ '96 Jordan would've been ABSURD mix of everything. Perimeter Defense, Interior Defense, Size, Scoring, Post Play, Shooting, and Bball IQ.

Look:

PG - Payton / Stockton
SG - Jordan / Miller
SF - Pippen / Hill / Penny
PF - Malone / Barkley
C - Shaq / Robinson / Hakeem

Mitch is better than Reggie, as a defender and scorer. But I like Miller's role. This team would've DEMOLISHED anyone. Could've been an east 3x Gold Medal for MJ too. Oh well.

[Psileas]

96 might be better than 92.

In row power, maybe. Results don't support this, though, although the rest of the world got closer during those years: They struggled vs a good, but not great Argentina team for a whole half. They couldn't score even 90 against weak Angola. Beat, but not destroyed Lithuania and Brazil. Played well against Croatia and weak China, beat Australia handily, but Australians also put up a fight in the 1st half. Struggled mightily against Serbia in the final, leading by only 1 point well into the second half, and Serbia was playing with a weakened frontline due to Savic's injury (even more so when Divac picked his 5th foul, a crucial point when the margin started to grow).

[SexSymbol]

08 easily

[jstern]

The 96 team looks unstoppable. Followed by 2004. Jk.

[iznogood]

96 might be better than 92.

Agreed.

[dunksby]

96
08
12

[SamuraiSWISH]

In row power, maybe. Results don't support this, though, although the rest of the world got closer during those years: They struggled vs a good, but not great Argentina team for a whole half. They couldn't score even 90 against weak Angola. Beat, but not destroyed Lithuania and Brazil. Played well against Croatia and weak China, beat Australia handily, but Australians also put up a fight in the 1st half. Struggled mightily against Serbia in the final, leading by only 1 point well into the second half, and Serbia was playing with a weakened frontline due to Savic's injury (even more so when Divac picked his 5th foul, a crucial point when the margin started to grow).

1992 team didn't go full bore the entire tournament, only really tried against the power house Croatia. 1996 team relaxed even more. You could see it in their play.

The '96 team needed a Magic, Bird, or Jordan as leaders to keep them from doing that. They took it easy, especially at home in the states in Atlanta. This has to be taken into account.

The '94 World Games, '96, and 2000 teams all knew they were going to win big, had massive egos ... so they chilled. That's when tighter more competitive games started creeping into the picture for Team USA.

It wasn't until the embarrassing losses in '02 FIBA, '04, and '06 Qualifiers where we were humbled but began to take things way more seriously to win back our reputation. 2008, and 2012 probably faced the best competition, they do have that going for themselves.