As we head into the elimination round, what role will each USA player play?

Image from bleacherreport.com

As elimination round begins, let's take a look at what each player has to do for team USA to take gold in London.
Chris Paul
Paul lead the USA in minutes played in the preliminary round, he will be the starting point guard, he must be a bulldog on the defensive end, stifling opposing backcourt players to create turnovers and transition offense for his team, we all know that the US wants to get out on the open court, and Paul must be the first catalyst of that. Defense leading to offense, dont expect much scoring from him, he knows this team doesnt need him to score, he will focus more on getting Kevin Durant open looks and finding his wing players on the fast break.
Kobe Bryant
Kobe is the starting SG, at this point we don't know understand why, he has been extremely inefficient with his shot selection, and sometimes tries to force the issue on a team where frankly he does not need to (shot 4-17 going into the Australia game). In addition, his defense (which was his calling card in beijing) hasn't been all that good. Perhaps he's biding his time for when it matters most, but Kobe needs to choose his spots on offense and focus on being that bulldog he was in international play on defense.
Kevin Durant
Durant needs to do what he has been doing, shooting the ball. He's the USA's leading scorer and nothing more is expected of him but to shoot the basketball.
Lebron James
The US's swift army knife, Lebron must continue to do whatever is necessary for this team. For the most part he has not looked to score unless needed and is more interested in being a facilitator and thats what he must continue to do. His presence is more needed on the defensive end though, where he is asked to guard bigger low post players every game, aside from Chandler and Love who else with playing time can guard bigger players with consistent success?
Tyson Chandler
The Team's only true big man, stay out of foul trouble Chandler
Deron Williams
Williams must do the same as Chris Paul and try to limit his turnovers, he has been a turnover machine in these olympics, which does not help the US much.
Russell Westbrook
Westbrook has been the team's best perimeter defender, tormenting opposing ball handlers and providing energy for his team with his highlight dunks, he needs to do the same on defense and NOT take crazy shots 2 seconds into the shot clock
Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo has clearly been a monster scoring the ball, nothing more is expected of him as he battles Durant for USA leading scorer,
Andre Iguodala
The mini swift army knife, he needs to continue to be a lockdown defensive threat whether its guarding 6-10 bigs, or 6-3 guards, on offense anything he provides will be a boost.
Kevin Love
After Carmelo, Love is the most important player off the bench, the only other big on the team with legitimate playing time, he has to establish himself in the low post and NOT shooting threes, and HAS to rebound, he knows he will be depended on heavily when Chandler gets in foul trouble, and must be a presence inside.
James Harden
make threes? Harden does not play a lot, when he does the game has usually been decided
Anthony Davis
Must remember to put his jersey on before walking out on the floor

Team USA destroys Argentina 126-97, but they shouldn't take much from this win

image from the sportsdesignblog.com

As the pre elimination round ends, Olympic basketball has some interesting stories developing. Team USA and Russia have clinched the top  seeds in their respective groups. USA will face Australia in the quarterfinals and we expect no surprise there, USA will roll through Australia. Now, Brazil defeated Spain today in a very odd game. The winner would fall into USA's group and would have to face them to get to the Gold medal game whereas the loser would fall in Russia's bracket and therefore not have to see the US until the gold medal game. Tanking the game was obviously one of the story lines coming into the game. However, both teams competed and had their marquee players out on the floor at the end of the game. Brazil edged out in large part to Leandro Barbosa who had a monster second half and finished with 23 points (Barbosa is still a free agent by the way, and should be helping his stock with his performance in the Olympics). That means that Spain falls out of USA's radar and into Russia's, Spain will face a France team led by Tony Parker in the quarterfinals.  Spain, who was viewed as the US's biggest threat has now lost twice after holding big leads.
They were up 20 to 2 against Russia and lost, and led most of the game against Brazil until Brazil's bench came in the fourth quarter and just swung the momentum into Brazil's favor. Some will suggest that perhaps Spain Tanked, but it didn't seem like it, with Both Gasol brothers out at the end of the game.  So now, is Spain still the biggest threat to USA? sure they have the Gasol brothers and Ibaka, but they are counting heavily on Juan Carlos Navarro who right now isn't looking like himself because of a foot injury. Then there's the US bracket side, and a possible rematch in the semi finals with today's opponent Argentina. USA destroyed Argentina in the second half, with the final score being 126 to 97. They scored an incredible 42 points in the third quarter. Kevin Durant was playing back in rucker park New York, as he shot 8-10 from the three point line and finished with 28 points. The game got chippy, and there will be no love lost should they meet in the semi finals.
Argentina will play against Brazil in the quarterfinals, and that game will be a goody. Both teams have NBA talent aplenty, and Brazil's coach happens to be the same coach who was with Argentina in their 2004 Gold medal run in Athens. Argentina is savvy and have Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola, who have proven they can play against the USA and score at will (not to mention Delfino and Nocioni). Brazil will be led by Huertas, the best pg outside of the NBA (he makes too much money in Europe and therefore has no reason to come to the NBA), Barbosa, Splitter, Varejao, and NENE. Whatever the outcome, one notion is certain, the USA will face a tough challenge in the Semis. Don't look so much into today's game against Argentina, team USA wont score 42 points in the third quarter again like they did today and Argentina clearly rested their main guy because ultimately outside of competitive drive and egos, today's game meant nothing.
As for the prospect of playing Brazil again, remember that in the exhibition game, Brazil was up 10 before Huertas came out the game. Once Huertas came out the game, the US turned Brazil's young backup pg over and over with pressure from Paul and Westbrook. Should they play again, Huertas wont be out the game much, and that wont happen as often.
All in all, the #USA are still the favorites, but as the first half of today's game showed you, they are beatable, it's in the air and the other team's know it. The question is, should the USA falter at some point, can the other team take advantage of it?
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Carmelo Anthony reminds everybody he's a big part of this team

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It wasnt pretty, (at least the final score wasn't) but one thing was clear, everybody seemed to have forgotten how great Carmelo Anthony is. After a disappointing NBA season, Melo rejoined this olympic squad for his third and what will possibly be his last time. He was now in the shadows of Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and yes even Kevin Durant who is arguably the best player on this team after Lebron James. To top it off, Melo also lost his olympic starting spot to Durant, something he's held since 2006.
Yet, in one game Carmelo Anthony showed us why he is (and not Durant) considered the best PURE scorer in the world. Anthony shot an incredible 13 for 16 from the field and 10 for 12 from the three point line on his way to a record shattering 37 points. The US rolled through Nigeria 156 to 73, unlike the previous games of the day which featured a thriller between Spain and Great Britan, and Brazil and Russia, both games came down to the wire. Oh, did we mention that Carmelo only played 14 minutes? Yes 37 points ON JUST 14 minutes!!
The beauty of Melo's game is that he can do it every way possible. He's deadly on 1 on 1 coverage, blowing by slower bigger defenders and posting up smaller ones. He can shoot the three ( did you not just read that he shattered the scoring record?  And we also forgot the record for made three's and attempted) whether spotting up or creating off the dribble. He can handle the ball as well, all in all Melo is a bully. It is an insult to his game and sacrifice over the years in international play when we forget about him on this team.
As far as his record breaking, there will be critics of course. People will say that the US played against a greatly inferior team in Nigeria. No disrespect against the Nigerians of course, but not many people can go 10 for 12 from the three point line shooting by themselves, let alone on the biggest stage of the world against professional basketball players. Anthony, could have easily scored over 40 had coach Krzyzewski decided to play him in the fourth quarter. Would Melo had come back in the game if asked? Of course he would he knew he was making history, but when asked he will downplay his record,  and say that all that mattered was the win. But just because Melo will downplay his big day, it does not mean we should downplay the importance of Carmelo Anthony on this national team.
Other news of the day
-The Russians defeated Brazil on a last second 3 to win a thriller
-France defeated Lithuania behind 27 from an out of shape Parker
-Spain defeated Great Britan but just barely escaped with a one point win
-Celtics coach Doc Rivers says he's open to coaching the US team next
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2012 USA team VS 1992 USA team who has the edge?

Image from Chicagonow.com

This summer marks the 20 year anniversary of that legendary 1992 dream team that took the international basketball world by storm. So as is always the case in sports, there must be comparisons to this years team. Could the 2012 version beat the original dream team? Kobe Bryant thinks they can, while Scottie Pippen mentioned in national television that they would beat the 2012 team by 25. Where do we side on this argument? With the legendary 92 team of course, and there shouldn't be any debate here.
First lets analyze the 2012 version, they are obviously fast and loaded at every position, but they have one major weakness, and thats their lack of size. This is a very glaring need when you consider that Tyson Chandler is on the team, now this is by no means a cheap shot at Chandler who is the reigning defensive player of the year. Yet, Howard's injury left a big gaping hole for this year's group. In addition, this team's starting 5 will most likely not even feature a true PF, it will most likely see Lebron at the 4 and Melo at the 3, with Kevin Durant coming off the bench and filling the role that Dwyane Wade had in 08 (who also happens to be out of this year's olympics because of injury) as the team's leading scorer.
Kevin Love and Anthony Davis are the other bigs with Blake Griffin out with that meniscus tear. That leaves Team USA with only 3 legit big men, not to mention that Davis will probably not see a lot of time on the court. They are however very versatile and fast, and besides Chandler and Paul, every other player can play multiple positions.  This provides a matchup nightmare for opponents, they can put Lebron at just about any position. While Lebron can hold his own guarding the other team's center for some time, the same cant be said about the center that will have to guard Lebron. Not to mention having to guard the 6-10 Kevin Durant who plays like a 2 guard. All these matchup problems is what makes this team so hard to defeat at the international level (not to mention the supreme difference of talent) BUT, not if they play the 92 dream team.
The 1992 team has one overwhelming advantage, size, even if Howard had played for the 2012 team, the advantage would still be considerable down in the post. The 92 team had 11 hall of  famers, some of which were: centers Patrick Ewing and David Robinson, Power Forwards Charles Barkley, and arguably the best PF of all time (second in our humble opinion only to Tim Duncan) Karl Malone. There is no way that the 2012 version could match up with these 4. The 2012 team have three potent scorers in the wing in Durant, Lebron and Melo, but the 92 team had Scottie Pippen who was considered at the time the best defender in the WORLD,  he would no doubt spend most of his time on Durant and Lebron.
Then there's that issue of Michael Jordan, at the peak of his powers in 1992, still young and Athletic, a former defensive player of the year, he would be a problem at both ends of the floor. Everybody wants to talk about Michael vs Kobe, but think about it, 2012 Kobe is 34 years old, 92 Jordan was 29, and even if they were both at the top of their prime, Jordan would still have the advantage. Where the 2012 team could possibly have an advantage is at the point guard position, with Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Russell Westbrook running havoc with their speed and athleticism, but which one of those 3 would be able to guard the greatest PG of all time in Magic Johnson? Johnson was already at the twilight of his career, but only because he was absent due to his HIV sickness, unlike Larry Bird who had a very bad back, Magic was still a very very good player. Not to mention that 92 team had Stockton who was a underrated defender, and the all time leader in steals in the history of the league.
Overall, the game would be splendid, but the lack of size of the 2012 team, in addition with the experience and the fact that about 9 of those players in the 92 squad were in the peak of their prime (it also doesn't hurt when one of those players is the greatest of all time), we give the edge to the 92 dream team.
Do you think the size would be a big problem for the 2012 team? How could the 2012 team counter such problem and turn it into an advantage?
-Elton Brand and Chris Kaman will both join the Dallas Mavericks
-The Houston Rockets now seem to be making the most noise in their bid for Howard
-Lakers are interested in Jamison and Jermaine Oneal
-The Heat might give Greg Oden a look
-Jeremy Linn has signed his offer sheet from the Rockets, which amounts up to 3 years and 25 million all guaranteed.
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