Olympic Basketball

This years Olympic team was looking pretty disappointing but Lebron will make it exciting. He is expected to accept the invite tomorrow.

Who's in and who's out:
Marbury (invited to replace Kidd)
Marion (invited since Elton Brand, Kevin Garnett and Karl Malone not expected to participate)
Shaq is a long shot
Kobe won't because of court issues
Duncan will
Jermaine might drop the team because of advancements in the playoffs and fear of terrorism (Martin and Odom are replacement candidates)
Richard Jefferson
Allen Iverson 🙁
Ben Wallace could get an invite but not yet
Bibby might drop (Cassel is leading candidate to replace him)
T-Mac might drop (Artest or Carmelo candidates for replacement)
Carter and Ray Allen won't because of family things
Amare Staudemire really really wants to be on the team but USA Basketball has not mentioned him yet (they should be able to find better)

hey outa of the all those superstars iverson has been the one has been the most commited

I don't know if I want him representing the U.S. though. 🙁

Amare is getting the invite now damn it. Practically begged to go and for that, I don't want to see him there.

who begged to go...amare?

my thoughts exactly. Iverson IS a great basketball player. Probably pound for pound the best in the league, but he's a TERRIBLE representative of the United States.

I think it would be interesting to see the US have a bunch of only defense minded players on the team. Instead of out running the opposition and out leaping them on offense...it'd be cool to watch the US try and hold teams to under 50 points.

how is he such a terrible representative? besides the sittin out thing? its not like he's the only players whos done somethin stupid? i' m not gonna bring anyone other players in the mix but there are alot of players on that roster who has done somethin dumber than the sitting out of a game....i'm curious why u guys dont think he should be on the team

The guy has so many tatoos that he has to wear a shooting sleeve because they are inappropriate to be on television. And don't try telling me he wears that as a fashion item...because that's a 1/2 truth.

He's selfish, very poorly spoken, little want to be thug. What ever happened to being just a black guy with skills? He'd be fine with me if this whole psuedo-gansta hip hop genre wasn't what he is all about. He needs to pull up his damn shorts, and go back to 6th grade English class

I'd feel the same way about Dennis Rodman. Sure he's a great basketball player...but i sure the hell wouldn't want him representing the US.....Rasheed Wallace either.

And name one guy on the current Olympic team that hasn't been worst than Iverson. Can you? Artest was on a bad road last year, but he straightened his act out pretty damn well this year.

i have no problem with the way he talks or his tattoos or the way he acts....yea he tries a lil too hard with the gangsta thing but thats only because he doenst want to forget where he comes from and i can respect that..and i want him on that team coz like it or not thats part of America....and i want ALL of America to be represented...and what do u mean worse?...iverson was fine before brown bailed on him he just needs the right guidance....u already mentioned artest.....look at marbury....horrible rep in new jersey....wouldnt pass the ball and did nothing but shoot even when he was tripled covered and van horn was wide open in the corner...isiah thomas traded for him had a talk with him and he's toast of the town....i can even say that about jason kidd.....he didnt like his coach in phoenix so much he bought the problem in his family life....traded to new jersey under Scott and it was all good granted he got Scott fired but thats also after Scott fired but it was all good before that

it's exactly the "tries a lil too hard with the gangsta thing" that pisses me off. There aren't gansters in the NBA. Everyone should be a normal functioning adult. Iverson went to college for what...4 years? He should atleast show that he learned something from that.

Don't forget Iverson's run ins with the law. He through his wife out of the house naked then went looking for her while waving around a gun. He later must have payed everybody off because suddenly everybodies' stories changed. He is well known for not getting along with coaches (thats why Brown bailed). You said yourself that "iverson was fine before brown bailed on him he just needs the right guidance." Good representatives should be setting good examples, not needing good examples for guidance.

Originally posted by wuTa
who begged to go...amare?

Yes, Amare.

"I would love it," Stoudemire said. "I would absolutely love it. It would mean so much to me."

he went to college for 3 yrs....and c'mon lets not bring up that incident with the lawup even kobes got legal issues...dont get me wrong i think he's innocent but he should have never have put himself in that position....ok i think u guys both agree with me that he's one of the best players in the league with alot of heart...he's been the most comitted player out of all of them and u guys dont want that just coz some tatoos and his image? alot of americans have that image too

yeah punk musicians, bikers, and those guys that serve me coffee at starbucks. Image? yah nothing like trying to be something he's not. Iverson is about as gansta as I am black.

He plays his ass off i will give him that much, but that's because his supporting cast is less than stellar. Philly needs to do something to switch it up otherwise they're in for a long haul at the bottom of the East.

yea but iverson grew up with that lifestyle....i dont know if he lived it but i know it was around him like i said...there aint nothin wrong with forgetting where u came from......even if he had a stellar cast he's still gonna play his ass off

Iverson works his ass off and thats just about the only thing I respect about him. The gangsta image is not something that we should flaunt to other countries. Hell, they hate us enough, imagine what they think with the gansta badass image of "Stand back yo! We America."

yea well i agree wouldnt shouldnt flaunt it to other countries....i'm not sayin we should get the AND 1 mix tape street ball tour to represent us but the fact is that gangsta image is part of america and thats part of iverson if we made him wear suits and talk like an english professor than that just aint right coz that aint who he is

street ball is crap. Iverson's image fits in perfectly with the AND 1 tape. Funny enough, all his fans tend to take a liking to that bullsh!t they try to call basketball too.

They officially added Lebron, Marbury, Marion, Stoudemire, and Richard Jefferson.

Current team if nobody drops:
Lebron
Marion
Stoudemire
Jefferson
Marbury
Malone
Kidd
Duncan
Iverson
Jermaine
Bibby

Here is something by Jason Fleming at Hoopsworld.com that I completely agree with:

It's usually pretty easy to tell if your team is good or not. They win games, they earn accolades, they earn big endorsements, the stadium is packed - things like that. In Phoenix though not too much of that is happening for the Phoenix Suns, yet they keep getting recognized. Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire are going to be Olympians - it's rare to get two players on a team like that, and it's even more rare for the team for a pair to be from to have won as few games as the Suns.

and del harris is gonna coach china...was he even born in china i dont even know if he speaks chinese? that doesnt make any sense

Lebron
Marion
Stoudemire
Jefferson
Marbury
Malone
Kidd
Duncan
Iverson
Jermaine
Bibby

This team doesn't look all that great.