Do you want to see NBA players competing for the United States in the Olympics?
Bob Ford: Star-packed U.S. team set, so what?
The USA Basketball roster for the Summer Olympics in Beijing was announced yesterday and - big surprise - it looks good on paper again.
Whether it will also look good against teams from other nations, teams that have a habit of using dirty tricks like passing the ball, running good motion offenses, setting screens, and playing defense all the time, is another matter.
That 2004 U.S. Olympic team looked pretty good when it was announced, too, and that one finished 5-3 in Athens, sneaking out of town in third place. Think any of those bronze medals are prominently displayed on the mantels of the players who were awarded them?
Contact columnist Bob Ford
The coming tournament will be a marketing fest. That much is always certain. With Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard as the headliners, there will be plenty of hype, plenty of buzz, but, at this point, little reason to actually watch the games.
What could happen that hasn't been seen before? The U.S. team could get its international act back together and turn the opposition into smudge marks on the court, a tradition begun by the 1992 Dream Team in Barcelona. Or it could struggle a little, come together, and still win the gold medal, like the team that played in Sydney in 2000. Or it could become tired of this little exercise and pack it in early, like the guys in Greece.
Which will it be this time? Does it really matter?
"We respect the game so much," Wade said. "We respect the team basketball that they play internationally so much."
Not enough to actually play it in the NBA, of course, but it is a deep and abiding respect. Wade was one of those coming home with the bronze four years ago, so at least he knows what he's talking about.
The rest of the team - Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd and Deron Williams - knows that it won't necessarily be easy, but the first-timers have no idea what they're getting into. Anthony, Boozer, James and Wade have those third-place medals in the back of the sock drawer. Perhaps they can warn the others.
What they all know, however, is that their various shoe companies and sponsors love the idea of Olympic exposure for their clients, even though the other-side-of-the-world scheduling will put some games on television at odd times, and others will be broadcast well after the result is known.
What they also know is that USA Basketball will find them the best accommodations available - none of that Olympic Village stuff - will prepare all their meals, and will shepherd them through the process with as little fuss as possible. This will be more like a Far East all-star tour than like actually being, well, in the Olympics.
The grueling regimen begins this week with a minicamp in . . . Colorado Springs? Oklahoma City? Des Moines? No, that would be Las Vegas, and you only hope that these patriotic Americans don't supplement their training with some of Javon Walker's supine Pilates.
The team goes into full training on July 21, and that get-serious work will be accomplished in . . . Charlotte? Spokane? Houston? No, that would be Las Vegas again, for a five-day camp that will finish off with a game against the Canadian national team in the State Farm USA Basketball Challenge. Like a good neighbor, Canada will be there. It is Las Vegas, after all.
Then it will be off for a four-game tune-up series in Macao, China, and Shanghai as the team gets acclimated to the time change. The 1992 team did its training in Monaco before taking over the nightlife in Barcelona, but, hey, you can't have everything.
The Olympics will begin for the United States on Aug. 10 against the host Chinese with a game that tips off at 10:15 a.m. Philadelphia time. The gold- and bronze-medal games are two weeks later.
Will it be great if they win it all? Maybe. But will it be remembered? That's the trouble with the current state of basketball in the Olympics. If the tournament is such a big deal and we care so much about the outcome, can you recall which two nations did make the gold-medal game in Greece, and which won?
Time's up. Argentina beat Italy.
The Summer Olympics - just my opinion - should be track (oh, all right, and field), swimming and gymnastics. Everything else is just fluff on the schedule or something that was invented to sell television time. Team sports are out of place, as are the arcane holdovers such as the modern pentathlon. And don't get me started about a peace and brotherhood sham that includes pistols and rifles.
Basketball in the Olympics? Just a way to sell shoes, potentially improve the resume a little, and get some quality time in Las Vegas. If that's not the American way, what is?
Contact columnist Bob Ford
at 215-854-5842 or bford@phillynews.com.
Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/bobford.
