This year’s Team USA ready to snatch gold; Bryant helps lead way to Olympics

Team USA capped off a stunning performance in the FIBA Championship last week with its last smashing win over Puerto Rico, leading many analyst to believe that the team, led by major NBA super-stars Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Michael Redd and Carmelo Anthony, will have a good shot at its ultimate goal: winning the gold in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Team USA’s record thus far isn’t too shabby - winning the tournament gold medal and an automatic berth into the summer games. In last Saturday’s game against Puerto Rico, U.S.A. made more than 60 percent of its shots from the arc and during Sunday’s second game of the two-day match-up, again blew Puerto Rico away during the first quarter of play and continued to hold them off, according to a story published Sept. 11 on ArmChairgm.com. Now, as the team gets compared to the previous dream team (1992’s first ever NBA line-up Olympic team including mega-stars Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan) many critics are wondering the same question: Can this group of talents create the same amount of hype? And if they do, will they really bring home the gold?

Some are not so sure. According to the review by ArmChairgm, NBA fans were a lot less jaded, a lot less plentiful and a lot less committed to the NBA teams and its players back in the 90s - all of which factored into the amount of attention given to the “Dream Team.” The author points out that America’s increasing cynicism and the NBA’s loss of popularity over the years could contribute to this year’s U.S.A. team being lost between the cracks and not receiving the proper praise it should. Many basketball fans are also romantics and chose to hold on to the thought that no other team could consist of players more talented than Bird, Johnson, Jordan, Barkley and O’Neal, however, when you get right down to it, the author states, why not compare the players from yesterday’s team to those from today’s? Are they so far on a pedestal that Bryant and LeBron James pale in comparision? Not really. Bryant, who has been the NBA’s lead-scoring point guard on Los Angeles Lakers for the past two seasons, was averaging more than 14 points per game in the FIBA championship - while playing a defensively position. His scoring ability and overall talent come naturally, much like the skills of players on 1992’s winning team. As fans continue to await the 2008 summer games, they should keep in mind that excellence - as well as winning the gold - are both possibilities. Meanwhile, the Lakers will soon start their training camp to prepare for this season of NBA action. To snag a pair of Lakers tickets visit Stubhub.com

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