AI may be a master of contact, but he's a player who RELIES on getting that call when contact is made.
Consider the player who had the WORST time with the officials at last Olympics: TIM DUNCAN. Mr. Fundamental turned into Mr. I-can't-buy-a-call. Our bigs have to be able to go THROUGH players if we're just going to feed them and let them work. We need players who go into motion - much like Krstic did for his team a few years ago. We need cutting Ginobilis instead of isolation players like Kobe, LeBron, and Carmelo - or Pierce.
We CANNOT rely on getting other players in foul trouble. We cannot rely on the officials. We've got to get our players such great shots that they CANNOT miss them. And to do that, you need ball-movement - not a little guard running into the trees in hopes that an official will bail them out. Kidd - not Iverson - is the answer to ball-movement. Prince - not Pierce - is the answer to ball-movement.
I'm not saying we shouldn't have an isolation player. Clearly, having a couple would be a benefit. But we can't win with just isolation players.
The trick to assembling a great basketball team is being able to play top level basketball in the style that the opponent cannot defend. If you're playing a team that cannot defend the fast-break, then you want to assemble a team which has an excellent fast-break. If you're playing against a team that cannot defend a precision half-court offense, then you want a team that has an excellent half-court offense. With the players we have available, we should have no trouble assembling a team that can beat you in the way which you are most vulnerable - which is what the '92 team did. Can't defend the outside shot? We've got Mullin, Bird, Drexler, Jordan and Stockton. Vulnerable to rebounders? We've got Robinson, Barkley, Malone, Ewing, and Bird. Vulnerable to motion? Stockton, Johnson, Pippen, and Bird. Vunerable to post scoring? Barkley, Malone, Ewing, Robinson. Vulnerable to the fast break? Pippen, Jordan, Magic, and Robinson. Vulnerable to isolation? Jordan, Johnson, and Bird. Vulnerable to a press? Stockton, Drexler, Jordan, and Pippen. Vulnerable to shot-blockers? Robinson and Ewing. Vulnerable to a physical game? Barkley and Malone. Vulnerable to position defense? Pippen, Ewing, Jordan, and Drexler. Vulnerable to athleticism? Jordan, Drexler, and Pippen.
It's easy to make a case to leave off Magic Johnson in favor of Isiah Thomas, or to replace a Chris Mullin with a Dominique Wilkins. It also leaves us too much of one thing and not enough of another.
We've recently been trying to assemble teams that are so great at one and only one area that they can dominate the game in that area. And that's fine - as long as you're not playing against a team which is made to defeat a team that specializes in beating that area. We take great athletes, and are surprised when our athleticism is neutralized by zones, and our "good enough" outside shooters AREN'T good enough. We've tried to get smarter, but it's still the usual suspects: Bryant, Wade, Carmelo, LeBron. Why not a Rip Hamilton or Ray Allen (if he'd have played) instead of Wade? "We've got Michael Redd; Redd is enough." Really? Everyone said Hersey Hawkins was enough in 1988 - before he went down with an injury; we remember how that ended, don't we - Sabonis dominating our bigs and Kourtainitis dropping in bomb after bomb and us not being able to hit anything from outside to give Manning (who had an exceptionally poor showing) and Robinson room to work.
Let's face it; our Olympic team is there to sell jerseys and shoes. We've turned into such marketing whores we should have just put Peyton Manning and Terry Bradshaw on the team.
