Dream Team Vs. Redeem Team

Wow, these Olympics have really been something huh? The first week was dominated by Michael Phelps, his 8 gold medals, his 7 world records, that fingernail finish, the come from behind in the 4X100 by Lezac. The second week was all about the American track and field team failing to come through and the Jamaican team, led by Usain Bolt, blowing past the competition.

Fitting then, that the biggest star in China not named Yao Ming closed out the games in his typical fashion.

I’ve been down on Mr. Bryant for the past two weeks. I’ve neglected to write about him here because I didn’t want to be too negative. I didn’t want to jinx anything. He seemed to be doing all the right things, playing the team game. He just wasn't hitting shots. And where Dwayne Wade and Lebron James seemed to be everywhere on the floor all at once, Kobe seemed to be picking his spots.

He wouldn’t crash the boards, he would too easily switch on defense, he would overpressure the ball at the top, and for being the supposed “team stopper” he sure let a lot of the guys he was guarding score a lot of points—check Rudy Fernandez’s game in the gold medal match up, check Juan Carlos Navarro.

That being said, Kobe Bryant came through in the clutch. I mean, what else could I have possibly expected?

There was his turning 30 that had me a bit concerned. There was also the massive failure to secure his fourth ring just a few months earlier. And of course, there was that finger that he still needs to have surgery on.

Then, he started the tourney 1-15 from beyond the arc and just plain looked slower and older than both Wade and Lebron. He missed some gimme shots, a couple of layups, even a few dunks. His J wasn’t falling (45 percent) and he wasn’t coming up with the hustle plays like Flash and the King. He didn’t crash the boards, didn’t look as energetic, didn’t dominate. 

Sure, he failed to deliver in the finals against Boston, but I should have known that there was no possible way that he was going to fail in Beijing. If anything, he used the Boston massacre as fuel to ensure that the gold came back to U.S. soil after being off it for 8 long years.

Early Sunday morning’s game against Spain was easily one of the best games I’ve seen. I’m not sure if it was because of the magnitude, the “redemption” value placed on what Team U.S.A. was trying to accomplish, or the fact that these Olympics have been hands down the most exciting of my lifetime. Whatever the reason, into the early hours of Sunday morning I sat watching, easily the game of the year. 

It was Dwayne Wade’s first half. He dominated. Got an early chance because Kobe got two quick fouls. Went 7 for 7 to start the game. That included a couple of threes. He ripped the ball, knifed through the lane. He was everywhere. Wally West quick.

But it was Kobe’s fourth. Kobe Bryant took over the fourth quarter on the way to a dramatic finish. It was vintage Kobe. The team started to fall behind, and he willed them to victory. He scored 13 points and handed out 2 assists in the quarter and had, perhaps, the biggest play of the night (among several) when he drilled a three pointer and got the and 1 simultaneously fouling out Rudy Fernandez, Spain’s most electric scorer of the evening (although I see you Juan Carlos Navarro).

On a quick side note, I am going to miss Juan Carlos Navarro (JCN). It’s sad that he didn’t get the proper go at it this past season with the Grizzlies. Not only was Pau traded away from the team (he’s best friend’s with Pau and took the bare minimum salary to come to the U.S. to play), but the Lakers gave back Javaris Crittendon stacking the team with undersized combo guards. JCN’s a great player and a lot of fun to watch. True, he had a bad tourney, but in the final game, he came out and when he’s on, like he was against the U.S., all those running floaters and long threes falling are like glistening raindrops in the ocean.  

More from the Spaniards. Fernandez showed why the Blazers are excited about adding him to their roster next season, and made Suns fans cringe to think that Phoenix basically just gave the 23-year-old star in the making away to save money. He led Spain with 22 points, 3 of which came on an-and-one dunk on Dwight Howard. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, check it out on YouTube. I was texting my cousin about how dope Wade was playing when Rudy threw down that jam. Immediately, my next text was: “RUDY!!!!!!”

Back to the U.S. Lebron, well, nobody has talked much about Lebron’s contributions, but he was the glue that held everything together. The ultimate glue. He blocked shots. He dropped dimes. He rebounded. He guarded the opposing bigs. He finished plays. He stole the ball. He barked and shouted, talked and led.  

The whole team came together beautifully in fact. Everyone seemed to find their roles. Deron Williams and Chris Paul were lightning off the bench. Chris Bosh was the co-MVP to Wade. In fact, I want to say that this team would give the Dream Team a run for its money. In fact, they could straight out beat the original team.

What? Silence. No more talking from me you say? I am officially talking crazy.

Well, no. No I’m not.

Let’s compare the rosters.

Dream Team: MJ, Magic, Larry Legend, Sir Charles, Chris Mullin, Patrick Ewing, The Mailman, J Stock, The Admiral, Scottie Pippen, Clyde the Glide, and Christian Laettner

Redeem Team: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, Deron Williams

Strictly on a matchup level, the Dream Team beats the U.S. team in the size department. They’re packing Robinson, Ewing, Malone and Sir Charles. That’s a tough frontline. They also get the edge in the mental department. You have 10 of the greatest players of all time going against the likes of Melo and Howard…nuff said.

I won’t take too much away from the Redeem Team, the youngins play well above their years (see CP3, Lebron, and Williams), but, I’d be kidding myself if I thought, as of right now, they can even compare in the mental matchup. 

But the redeem team has athleticism and speed. A lot of speed. In fact, the fastest guys on the Dream Team would be hard pressed to make the top five in the speed department of the 08 squad. Paul, Wade, and Williams are Speed Racer fast, and Kobe is on the MJ level, while Lebron is a wholly different creature all together. To put some perspective on Bron, he’s an inch shorter and weighs 10 pounds less then Karl Malone. Uh, and he can move like that. Yeah.

Let’s not forget that Dwight Howard and Bosh are very athletic, mobile bigs, while Robinson, fairly athletic for his day, still played like he had a stick up his ass and Ewing was a slow, prodding, defensive dinosaur. 

The overall numbers comparisons for the teams are pretty similar, especially if you factor in the vast increase in talent level of the competition. In 1992, the teams the Dream Team faced were unknowns just happy to be there. In 08, the field was littered with NBA players, from arguably the League’s best center (Yao), to all stars (Manu, Gasol) as well as a former MVP (Dirk Nowitzki…hey! He counts!). Let’s take a look at the numbers. 

                         1992       2008

W-L                    8-0        8-0
PPG                    117.3     106.3
Opponent PPG         73.5     78.4
PPG differential     +43.8     +27.9
FG pct                     57.8     55.0
Opponent FG pct       36.5     40.3
3-pt FG pct               40.0     37.7
Opponent 3-pt pct     30.5     29.9
FT pct                    72.6     68.0
RPG differential     +13.5     +5.6
Assists per game     29.9     18.8
Steals per game     22.1     12.5
Blocks per game     5.9     3.9

The steals are high and the assists are phenomenal for the Dream Team. All of the other stats are pretty close.

Now, we should be able to agree that besides Christian Laetner, the original Dream Team was the absolute best of the best in the NBA at that point in time. If there are any who disagree, they might state Hakeem Olajuwon which would be a fair assertion or possibly Tim Hardaway, Kevin Johnson, or Mark Price. But, there isn't anyone, no matter what condition they were in, that  would take any of those three over Stockton and Magic. Period. A popular name might be Isaiah Thomas, but he was way past his prime (which was short anyways) at that point. 

If the 08 team brought with it the absolute best of the best, that would have to include Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett in any discussion. Probably add Amare Stoudamire and Paul Pierce in there as well. You bring that team against Dream Team, and we might not be having this discussion at all. Of course, they didn’t bring those guys, instead they brought Tayshaun Prince, Carlos Boozer, Jason Kidd and Michael Redd.

So, how am I proposing that the 08 team could even hope to compete with the 92 team?

Well, let’s consider the Dream Team first. Magic and Larry, two of the greatest players ever, were both out of the league at that point. Larry’s back was shot and he finished the 91-92 season playing only 45 games though he still averaged an impressive 20 ppg, 7 apg, 9.5 rpg on 46 percent shooting. 

Magic, as we all tragically remember, contracted the HIV virus the year before. He was also suffering from knee injuries during the Olympics that limited his minutes. So, two of the best players on Dream Team, were fading, injury-prone shells of themselves.

Of course, Jordan and Barkley were in MVP form. Clyde the Glide was on top of his game, averaging 25 ppg, 6.6 apg, 6.7 rpg on 47 percent shooting. Robinson led the league in blocks at, gasp, a whopping 4.5 per. His other stats? 23.2 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2.7 apg, and 2.3 steals per game! Oh, and he shot 55 percent. Ewing was having a very good Ewing year. Stock was leading the league in assists at 13.7 per. Malone was averaging 28 and 11. Mullin was on the last leg of his peak years. 

So, there you go. Now, we match them up with this year’s squad.

Kobe Bryant’s coming off an MVP. Sure, everyone will always say that Jordan is hands down better than Kobe. Those people probably truly believe this as well. There’s no denying the success and gaudy numbers that Jordan had, but Kobe is as close to Jordan as we might ever get. I’m not saying that matchup is a wash, but if there was ever anyone who could compete mano y mano with MJ, it’s Kobe Bean Bryant.

Now, you might want to be tempted to put Lebron up against Magic, seeing as Lebron and Magic are both 6’8-6’9 triple-double threats with superior court vision, but, as mentioned earlier, Magic had been out of basketball for a year and was going through some knee injuries. Plus, Bron Bron spent most of his time as a power forward. If we match the King up with Sir Charles…well, let’s just say I’d pay good money to see that matchup. And, because of Bron’s superior athleticism (you see those blocks he had?), I’d have to give the nod to Lebron James.
That leaves Carmelo Anthony on Larry Legend. Now, Larry’s got Melo in all the skill areas plus the mental area, plus the cool nickname area. But Melo trumps Bird, especially an aging, post back surgery Bird, in the athleticism department. No question. Melo even showed in this tourney that he could play a little bit of defense. I’d call this one a draw, just because Larry would have found a way.

Magic verses Chris Paul. The MVP runner up verses the man who had been out of basketball for a year with a balky knee. CP3 put up numbers this season that no other point guard in the history of the game had ever done. He’s, arguably, the best point guard in the game right now. Magic would kill him in the post, but CP3 would run circles around Magic. It’s the ultimate matchup nightmare on offense and defense for both squads.

As great as Clyde the Glide was, I’d have to give the edge to Dwayne Wade, who, only two years ago, many were comparing to Jordan himself. While I think those comparisons were extremely premature, Wade opened eyes in Beijing and reminded everyone why he won the finals MVP two seasons ago.

Now we get the fun Utah Jazz matchup, which, the pair of Stockton and Malone win out, but where you could see Deron giving Stock a lot of problems being the tough, physical as well as quick point guard that he is. Malone would eat Boozer for lunch.

Redd and Mullin, two supremely talented offensive, shooting forwards who play(ed) little to no defense.

The offensive, unbreakable force of Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard verses the defensive, immovable juggernaut of Ewing and Robinson. Howard’s size, strength and speed would be a huge problem for either opposing center, but Patrick and David would be a wall of defense. Bosh verses Robinson? Ewing verses Howard? I dunno, that’s pretty close.

20.7 ppg, 14 rpg, 1.3 apg, 0.9 spg, 2.1 bpg on 59 percent shooting for Howard.
23.2 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.3 spg, 4.5 bpg, 55 percent shooting for Robinson.

22.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.0 bpg on 49 percent shooting for Bosh.
24 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 1.9 apg, 3.0 bpg, 52 percent shooting for Ewing.

The last two matchups Tayshaun Prince and Scottie Pippen and J Kidd and uh, what’s his name, oh yeah, Laettner. Prince is like the poor man’s version of Pippen. J Kidd, even at his advanced age, is far superior to anything Laettner ever aspired to be in the NBA.

So there you have it. I’m not going to put grades or say who would have been better than who, because, frankly, that can never be known. But, for those who think that the original Dream Team was far and away better than this present incarnation, well, I think you’d have to take a closer look. I’m an 80s baby, so I was really young when the original Dream Team’s members were making names for themselves. I remember Jordan dominating everything.

But I’ve also had the privilege of seeing the Kobe era and now the Lebron/CP3/Dwayne Wade era. My head tells me to go with the OG members, but my heart and my rebel spirit wants to believe in the Redeem Team.