1992 Dream Team vs 2012 Olympic Team

Lebron James cracked that this Olympic Team is better than the Dream Team of 1992. Kobe Bryant agrees.

They must be smoking something pretty good. Time for a blood test.

Here is the roster of the Dream Team vs Today’s team

If you go position by position, the checkmarks are probably accurate. Although, I think they slight Laettner. He was four years older than Anthony Davis. Sometimes having been through a few wars gives you an edge on the court.

But if you look at the Dream Team’s roster, there are many on the 2012 team that would have been cut. The 2012 team is terribly weak up the middle compared to the 1992 team. Some might say the game has changed, but do you think players like Jordan, Bird, Johnson, Ewing and the others wouldn’t dominate the way the game is played today. It’s not that much different.

The other thing people forget about is defense. There isn’t one guy on the team today that can defend like Scottie Pippen. Put Pippen together with Jordan, Ewing and Johnson(who was a pretty decent defender) and I doubt if the 2012 squad could come within 20.

Is there anyone on the team that could have hung with Karl Malone down low? Anyone? He was a beast. When Ewing got tired at center, they brought in The Admiral, David Robinson. Both would have worn out any of the centers or power forwards on the current roster.

The age from 1980-2000 was truly a golden age of American basketball, similar to the golden age of baseball. In addition, the players were fundamentally better basketball players. They knew how to pick and roll, pass, and position their feet on offense and defense. NBA games were much prettier to watch. It truly was ballet on the hardwood.

Players today are stronger, and more athletic due to better training techniques. But give the old players those techniques, and they would be just as strong and just as athletic.

I am looking forward to watching this edition of USA basketball. The one exciting difference between 1992 and today is that the level of competence among other international teams has risen. The US will have some competitive games. In 1992, that wasn’t the case.