With the ending of the recent edition of the Summer Olympics, many people have begun to ponder if Team USA’s “Redeem Team” would be able to defeat the original “Dream Team” from the 1992 Olympics. Making the assumption we are playing the same international rules these teams just encountered, I would actually make the tough decision to side with the Redeem Team. I know it might seem nuts, but hear me out.

One key to remember is that most of the players on the Dream Team were even more revered for their talents and abilities because no one else in the world could duplicate them. These days every nation seemingly has NBA level talent so our players are disproportionately good. Also, this year’s team has athletes…freakish athletes! I’m not here to take away from Jordan, Pippen, and Robinson. However, you’d be hard pressed to find better athlete-basketball combos than Kobe, D-Wade, Dwight Howard and the like. Another factor in the Redeem Team’s favor is the way the team was built. Each member from top to bottom is on the team for a specific talent or purpose. Tayshaun Prince for D, Michael Redd for 3-point shooting. The Dream Team was essentially the colossal mash of the best the NBA could offer at that point and time so I feel mismatches could be created.

The Dream Team could have a few advantages in that they were put together with more savvy veterans who would find a way to win (like slowing the game down to a crawl), or how they would have a more imposing front line. But as we see with all sports equally skilled opponents are only as equal as their athletic abilities allow them to be.

Bank it: Redeem Team in a thriller 98-94.

Justin

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 11:10 pm and is filed under NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.