Friday, December 30th, 2011 at 4:30 pm  |  96 responses

Jerry Colangelo: 2012 Olympic Team ‘Fair Comparison’ to Dream Team


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

It’s apparently never too early to start the hype machine for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Just ask USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo.

Colangelo is excited about what the star-studded hoops team can accomplish next summer, and he claims that people will be forced to draw comparisons between this squad and the legendary Dream Team that destroyed everyone in their path during the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Fox Sports reports:

“I think it will be a fair comparison with the Dream Team,” the USA Basketball chairman said. “Look at the progress our players have made since (winning Olympic gold in) 2008. We have some of the greatest players of all time.

“You’re hearing Kobe (Bryant) right up there with the greatest of all time. Dwayne Wade and LeBron (James) are right up there. You’ve got to add up the names, and you look at the young guys like (Kevin) Durant as an example and (Derrick) Rose as an example. There’s so many. There’s only been one Dream Team, and that’s the way I think it should be. But there’s no question our team will be much stronger than we had in 2008. They’re more mature, more experienced and we’ve got more talent.”

For any true comparison to take place between the two teams, we’ll have to wait for the games to be played. But for what it’s worth, Magic Johnson has already said that the 2008 USA Olympic basketball team couldn’t hold a candle to his ’92 squad.

Jerry Colangelo says that he and coach Mike Krzyzewski will be evaluating 18-20 NBA stars, with the 12-man roster getting finalized on June 20th.

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: , ,

← Older Comments
  • http://knicks.com Gametimeweezy

    Barkley would treat Bosh like he’s Angolian… Dream Team had the bigs no contest.

  • BBaller

    Ewing, Robinson>> Howard, Stat./ Malone, Barkley>> Bosh, Love./Pippen, Bird<> Wade, Kobe./ Magic, Stockton>> Rose, CP3./ Mullins, Leattener<< D.Will, L. Aldridge.
    1992 115 v 2012 108
    MVP Jordan

  • bdog

    lets me honest..92 was a great team but they had very little competition..jordan often said the toughest comp was the college prac team witht cwebb, ghill, a young penny and the intra squad scrimmages..that said…2008 was easily better than the 1994 and the 1996 team sans size..the core of 2008 will be hack add durant, rose and blake griff. we get a little more size and to be honest i would take kb, wade on the wing over pippen and drexler to be honest with you all…92 def had the size though!

  • BBaller

    WTF Pippen, Bird<>Wade, Kobe

  • BBaller

    Why won’t Slam allow me to say JORDAN, DREXLER>> WADE, KOBE
    PIPPEN, BIRD<<LEBRON, MELO 3RD TIME MAYBE

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    BRAIN CRAWFISH…. there is my new 2k12 my player character’s name.
    ^_^

  • boo radley

    IF LEBRONS PLAYING 2012 IS BETTER HANDS DOWN…..MIGHT NOT HAVE AS MUCH HEART BUT STILL BETTER

  • Justin G.

    It doesn’t matter that Magic may have been a bit past his prime. He was still playing great basketball, leading the Lakers to the Finals the year before. You can’t compare Larry Bird’s career accomplishments to others on the 2012 team because we’re not talking about it like everyone was in their prime. If we were this wouldn’t even be a debate and Colangelo wouldn’t have made this statement. ’92 crushes ’12 easily. Pippen would have been the starter and it would have been really interesting to watch Lebron go against a guy with the length, quickness, and greatness of Pippen’s defense. And also as others have stated, the bigs of the ’92 team would destroy the ’12 team. How Jesse has Dwight as a draw vs. Ewing and Robinson is beyond me though

  • http://dodgers.com Joey E.

    durant, kobe, bron, wade, rose, chris paul, dwight. yeah, fair comparison indeed

  • http://slamonline.com Ugh

    No.

  • Justin G.

    Starters are what…Dwight, Lebron, Rose, Kobe and…Durant? Do you start Durant at the 4 or do you have Stoudemire or Bosh start? ’92 team started Ewing, Barkley, Pippen, Jordan, and Magic. Now, Dwight isn’t going to get a lot of points 1 on 1 with Ewing. He just doesn’t have that many moves. Barkley is going to own Bosh, Stoudemire, or Durant on the offensive end. As I stated before Pippen and Lebron might be the most intriguing matchup of them all with Jordan and Kobe being right there too. Rose cannot stop Magic though if they decide to post Magic up. Magic wouldn’t be able to keep Rose out of the lane on the other end though either. Another thing to consider is that the benches might not be that much of a factor. It’s only a 40 minute game so you can keep your starters out there longer. I think Wade probably gets the nod off the bench vs. Drexler but Stockton and Malone get the nod against DWill/CPaul and Bosh/Stoudemire respectively. Who’s coming in to play center for the ’12 team after Howard sits? Stoudemire taking some center minutes? Give the nod to Robinson there too. I think the ’92 team takes it by a dozen

  • One

    Who’s to say that that the dream team would still average 40+ point victories in the 2012. I think we hold their abilities greater then they are as we get attached to the nostalgia of that era. It would be a very close contest but we will never truly know…

  • Justin G.

    Not if you were there to watch them. One of the other things they had going for them back then was that the other countries were so much in awe of them that they stood around and watched a lot. That doesn’t happen now because the international players have gotten a lot better and the Americans aren’t as intimidating as they once were. OK, so the ’92 team doesn’t win by 40+ every game. 30+ is still pretty good

  • http://www.blogspot.com LLC#12

    This team should have 2012 locked down, I don’t think it would be crazy to suggest that they could possibly give an “all world” team a good game too..(Though I’ll be cheering for GB this summer!)

  • AQWORD

    Justin G hit it on the head.

  • http://twitter.com/yo_mister Jesse

    @JustinG: I’ll explain the Dwight thing. Again here is how I thought about this: imagine it is the year 2050 which team 1992 or 2012 will be looked at as having had the better set of players. I didn’t think of it as who would have won if they were in their primes or anything like that. Projecting the rest of Dwight’s career path [which obviously is an extremely inexact science] I can see him ending up having a career very similar to those two players hence a draw.

  • http://www.yougotdunkedon.com LilKDub503

    Every time someone brings up that darned Dream Team, let’s remember something: basketball hadn’t been globalized like it is now. How many foreigners were in the NBA in 1992? No more than 10. Now? Much more than 10. Other countries barely knew about basketball back then. So the competition is much tougher today.

  • http://www.optimabbc.be Max

    ’92 just has to much size.

  • http://knicks.com Gametimeweezy

    Okay, lets for a moment take away the Dream Teams superior BIGS … (Chuck, Mailman, and two 7 footers)
    And lets say Magic and Stockton ability to run a HOF laden half-court offense somehow is neutralized by D Rose, Chris Paul and Deron Williams… (this is where no J Kidd is my question mark for this team)
    You basically are left with a legendary battle of some of the greatest wings ever!
    Jordan vs. Kobe is cold blooded war. The two most competitive shooting guards ever to play are also the two most analytical. Black Mamba will get his but the Black Cat just beats him up in the post. Advantage MJ
    Pippen vs. LeBron is a sick key match-up. LeBron drops a triple double on his head keeping them in the game but completely disappears in the last 5 mins as the King is HOUNDED by Pip. Pippen ain’t easy.
    Drexler vs. DWade is two of the greatest pure slashers in the history of basketball. Drex posterizes everybody not named Dwight as Flash leaks out and calmly finishes at the other end ultimately effects the game even more. Flash wins.

    Mullin vs. Melo – NY stand up! Two of the purest scorers ever. Basketball 101. Mullin live mid range and out, Melo lives midrange and in… and neither one can guard each other! I’m prob undrestimating Melo’s speed but I’m also understimating Mully’s jumper. But it’s an even match-up don’t you think? This is actually a legendary match-up..
    Bird vs. Durant – first off there’s is no way in hell Larry is checkin Durant it just not physically possible for him to be able to do that. But you’re talking about Larry Bird king of the Hoosier people. That means he could drop a triple double on Durants head. He’s actually already proven himself but he’d come out and swish a few 30 footers just for old time sake. Larry Legend has to take the cake. But Durant is cookin his.
    Tally it all up and the wings are a pretty even match up altogether. And even though the Dream Teamer have about 25 ring opposed to about 6… the Redeem Team 2k12 is potentially more devastating.
    But again thats not including the point guard play or the BIGS (Chuck, Mailman and actual 7 footers) Yea kinda important…

  • Yesse

    Good team, but not near the dream team.

  • burnt_chicken

    hahahahahahaha

  • http://www.slamonline.com spit hot fiyah

    what a thread lol

  • http://slamonline.com the nerve

    waddup tarzan. waddup CRRAAWWWWWfit lol

  • http://slamonline.com the nerve

    shout 2 all my ni99as jailin it up in the clink yo. knowwhatimsayin? all deez punkz up here don’t know what it do. punks gettin it in right quick. ayo big ups 2 crack man. aint nuthin like dat crack rock money n!gga. nah mean??

  • http://www.slamonline.com spit hot fiyah

    nerve is always adding something to conversation, u need to post more frequently

  • http://slamonline.com the nerve

    waddup hot fiyah! sh!t b hectic man. gud look on the invite tho. streets b callin punks. nah mean? i b phukkin up by gettin dat crack fiend money man. that shtt gon have me phukked up if i dont chill. feel me? gotta walk around wit ratchets n sh!t. smh

  • http://www.slamonline.com spit hot fiyah

    i totally feel u

  • http://slamonline.com the nerve

    ayo jus the other day i had 2 rob a nicka 4 his kevlar man. idk. phuk it. it b what it b right?

  • http://dodgers.com Joey E.

    [ what are we looking at, CP3/Deron/Rose, Kobe/Wade/Durant, Lebron/Melo, Bosh/Amare, Howard/Love?? Yeah, I’d say that’s damn close. ]

    You’re comparing Melo to Bird or Scottie? Amare to the Mailman? You gotta be kidding me. The Dream Team would OBLITERATE those cats.

  • Posterboy

    Its crazy how a guy named Vince Carter single handly, game after game waz just shuttin down the Olympics, although he had great teammates, but his teammates at the time deferred to him, cuz his talent on that level was really superior to others, that dunk over the french dude was jus an example of what he was doing, he was rippin them international mofos to shreads..lol..yea mann Vince Carter handled that in 2000, most underrated superstar ever, not matter how u look at….

  • Jerome

    Put the Dream Team in any Olympics would still annihilate every team … even a pissed off VC led squad by at least 30. The 90s had the best of most anything … Bball and Hip-Hop being at the top of the ‘best eever’ list.

  • http://slamonline.com Ugh

    @Jesse – I think the problem with your analysis here is that you haven’t actually watched Ewing or Robinson play basketball games. Go watch complete game tapes of all three and get back to us on your ‘draw’.
    Also, you’re forgetting that Larry Bird was reheated from cryosleep for the ’92 Dream Team. If it was ’86 Bird playing on the Dream team, yeah, he’d be more than a match for Durant, but in ’92 he could barely get up the court.
    Also also, you seriously underrate Drexler. Wade is faster (among the fastest I’ve ever seen, actually), but Drexler had incredible strength on the drive and in the post.

  • http://slamonline.com Ugh

    Hmm. Actually, if I were coaching the DT, I’d put Drexler on LeBron, Jordan on whoever was playng point and Pippen on Wade. Drexler’s speed and strength would probably limit LeBron to 20-25 a night, plus both were known to flame out a little in the 4th so they can nullify each other there. Pippen’s length and nouse would negate much of Wade’s insane speed and Jordan would simply eat any ’12 PG and spit out the ball between bites.
    Watching Malone give Bosh a skull fracture by looking at him would be even funnier than David Robinson and Patrick Ewing drawing Howard fifteen feet from the basket and shooting jumpshots over him for 40 straight minutes.
    It’d be a bloodbath! Bring it on, I say!

  • Ballislove

    Brian Scalabrine.

  • http://www.twitter.com/hurstysyd Hursty

    No way. It’d be a massacre led by the ’92 team front-line.

  • http://twitter.com/yo_mister Jesse

    @Ugh – You are definitely right the amount of times I got to see those guys play complete games in their primes was limited due to my age, but I did see some of their classic playoff match-ups as a 10-12 year old in the mid to late 90s. Part of me giving that a “Draw” was that I’m giving Dwight the benefit of the doubt and assuming his game will continue to develop and improve. You have to remember that Dwight came right out of HS, Ewing and Robinson had the benefit of four years of college to hone their skills. Dwight was thrown right into the fire and expected to begin to save a franchise from Day 1. If Dwight continues to improve I think he has the raw talent to eventually reach the level of a Ewing or Robinson.

  • AQWORD

    If he continues to improve(offensively) maybe yes. But i think it’s too late for that. He’s spent alot of time with G.O.A.T.s helping him out & still is at the same level(offensively) as he was say 5 years ago. I know he’s not that old but i feel he don’t have the mental tools to have a dominant post game. Just shows you how much difference a good college coach makes though.

  • b. angus

    as good as jordan n co. were, the level of competition from then to now isn`t a fair comparison to how good either squad is to one another. wit`that, lebron is the best player ever!!!

  • http://knicks.com Gametimeweezy

    I do think Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski are great motivators and all the players that played on the national team have gotten a lot better.

  • Jerome

    @ b. angus – Increased average athleticism does not equal better competition. Other countries have also increased basketball iq overall, but the dream team was so superior that Dwade and co. would also be in awe of the sheer talent of the DT if he were blessed enough to play against them. Laetner was the only player that would get beat by most players of same position in any era.

  • Bash

    2012 – 1992 = 20 which would be about the same margin by which the original dream team would defeat team 2k12….

  • drew

    barring injuries…my guess is the team will look like this: cp3, deron, rose, wade, kobe, lebron, melo, durant, bosh, amare, howard, love/griffin.

  • Justin G.

    Jesse, you can’t look at it as “Who would we look back on in the year 2050?” We’re looking at it as the 2012 team vs. the ’92 team. End of story. And the story ends with Robinson and Ewing killing Howard on the offensive end as he gets pulled away from the hoop, having to respect their jumpers while the offensive boards get crashed by the superior bigs. The more I think about it the more I think the score would be more than a dozen difference

  • Mooney10

    Awesome to daydream about, thats about it. I really don’t like comparing cuz its kinda played out. all I can say is, if it could happen today guys would be in for a class session in how to play, not just athletic ability. who guards Magic? MJ? I only have to mention these two names and my head starts swirling. Both great eras of basketball, I just love Defense! Hopefully Bron and company learned last year that you need it to win. The names on the 92 team had the rings to prove it so…..

  • Jeremy McAlister

    @Jesse:
    Ewing and Robinson had the benefit of 4 years of college? That’s your arguement? Dwight COULD’VE gone to college! Kobe, Lebron, and Amare COULD’VE gone to college! Melo, Durant, and Rose COULD’VE stayed past their freshmen years! Just becasue these guys were physically gifted enough for the NBA doesn’t mean they were ever really ready for the NBA. With the exception of Magic, the 92 team had ALL played at least 3 years of college ball. They were smart enough to hone their skills in college and really learn how to play team basketball and team defense. These guys today coming out or skipping college altogether are all one-on-one players and aside from Kobe and Lebron, none of them play defense. Everyone on the 92 team could defend or play good enough defense for the help to come. Just a hint Jesse, don’t ever defend a current player vs and older one by saying the old guys had the benefit of college!! The colleges didn’t shut down, they are still open…

  • jomomma

    u guys are comical
    not a single player including kobe is better than michael, larry, magic, charles, karl, john, scottie, patrick and even clyde went head to head with michael everyday in practice because he thought he was better than mj.
    your ratings and knowlegde of the past greats who made this league that is slowly being ruined by these rich kids with no class is very poor
    shaq didnt even make the team and even as a senior at lsu hes better than the entire 2012 squad lol d12 has no shot
    are u trying to say that present day dwight is better than lsu shaq or hof patrick ! right between the eyes lol

← Older Comments
Advertisement