Olympic team

[elindholm]

Unless I've missed one of the roster changes, this is the current Olympic team, with guesses about where the players are likely to see most of their minutes:

C - Tim Duncan, Emeka Okafor
PF - Carlos Boozer, Amare Stoudemire, Lamar Odom
SF - Shawn Marion, Richard Jefferson, Carmelo Anthony
SG - Allen Iverson, LeBron James
PG - Stephon Marbury, Dwyane Wade

Sorry to pose the obvious question, but is this team good? They have a lot of guys still developing their games, and no one who is what you would call a pure shooter.

They might do very well, but if they lose, I'm not sure it can be considered an upset.

 

[fordronken]

Unless I've missed one of the roster changes, this is the current Olympic team, with guesses about where the players are likely to see most of their minutes:

C - Tim Duncan, Emeka Okafor
PF - Carlos Boozer, Amare Stoudemire, Lamar Odom
SF - Shawn Marion, Richard Jefferson, Carmelo Anthony
SG - Allen Iverson, LeBron James
PG - Stephon Marbury, Dwyane Wade

Sorry to pose the obvious question, but is this team good? They have a lot of guys still developing their games, and no one who is what you would call a pure shooter.

They might do very well, but if they lose, I'm not sure it can be considered an upset.

Would this team beat last year's Pistons?

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I see no reason why Boozer would start in front of Amare. I mean maybe if you want to make the second unit stronger I guess

 

[elindholm]

I see no reason why Boozer would start in front of Amare.

In my opinion, Boozer is a better player right now, although I do expect Stoudemire to overtake him by the end of this season. Stoudemire still has tunnel vision when he gets the ball and is turnover-prone (nearly twice as many turnovers per game as Boozer). My guess is that he won't be quite as effective against European-rules defense. Also, Boozer has a pretty decent jump shot from the free thorw area, and that should work better with Duncan.

 

[scotsman13]

sorry boozer is no where close to the player amare is. boozer cant score anywhere close to what amare can. also once boozer is in the west his rebounding will go down and his turn over will go up.

 

[Yuma]

The only obvious thing I see with that lineup, is if the centers you have listed get into foul trouble, Amare is the only forward I think could play center. Also, Duncan has balked at playing center in the past. I would be looking to see if Amare gets any significant minutes at center, and how he plays if he is put at center.

 

[elindholm]

Duncan can balk all he wants, but if he and Stoudemire are on the floor at the same time, Duncan is the center.

 

[slinslin]

Boozer isn't nearly as good as Amare.

 

[George O'Brien]

The only thing that gives this team a CHANCE to win gold is Duncan. He is a two time MVP at the top of his game and is almost impossible to stop one on one. But how do you double team him when Amare is in the lineup?

In any case, Larry Brown has his work cut out for him. He will have to develop a strong team defense and a pass oriented offense with outside guys who prefer to play one on one.

 

[elindholm]

Boozer isn't nearly as good as Amare.

What do you base that on?

 

[George O'Brien]

Boozer isn't nearly as good as Amare.

What do you base that on?

Boozer is paid more.

 

[cepstrum]

I see no reason why Boozer would start in front of Amare.

In my opinion, Boozer is a better player right now, although I do expect Stoudemire to overtake him by the end of this season. Stoudemire still has tunnel vision when he gets the ball and is turnover-prone (nearly twice as many turnovers per game as Boozer). My guess is that he won't be quite as effective against European-rules defense. Also, Boozer has a pretty decent jump shot from the free thorw area, and that should work better with Duncan.

As good as boozer is, there is no one in europe that can stop amare. Hell there's no one in the us that can stop amare. I would think that amare would start over booz, but who knows.

 

[Chaz]

That is a pretty good team, but they do lack a shooter or two.

Defense and rebounding will be their bread and butter as is the case with most US Olympic squads after the '92 team.


As far as Boozer vs. Stoudemire, I think Boozer is a better all-around player because of his passing and game savy. It is no suprise, as Boozer is a more experienced player than Stoudemire. But I don't think Boozer can compete with Amare in regard to strength and scoring. If I had to choose one for my team, Amare is a much better choice than Boozer.

I am interested to see them play together, I enjoyed the rookie/sophmore game during the all-star weekend. They seemed to play very well together. The level of competition was pretty low as the rookie team had nobody that could begin to deal with Amare.

 

[scotsman13]

Boozer isn't nearly as good as Amare.

What do you base that on?

how about averaging 20 ppg? or the fact that boozer doesnt creat his own shot like amare can? or the player that got the rookie of the year? going to the line 10 times a game? grabing 9 boards a game with another player on the team also getting 9?

what can you say that boozer is a better player? he averages more rebounds? hey rodman average more boards then malone would you say that rodman was better then malone? boozer will never have a team build around him like the suns are building around amare. now dont get me wrong i think that boozer is a nice player who will be a player in the lines of horace grant.

 

[slinslin]

Boozer is a worse defender than Amare and Amare clearly dominated him in their matchups so far.

 

[elindholm]

Boozer is a worse defender than Amare and Amare clearly dominated him in their matchups so far.

I confess I don't remember their individual matchups, but even if I did, three or four games over two years doesn't prove much.

Boozer is a much more efficient scorer. I disagree that he can't create his own shot, although I do agree that he isn't as good at it as Stoudemire is. Boozer knows how to move without the ball and find open spots where he can be effective; Stoudemire (so far) is still effective only right around the rim.

Stoudemire gets to the line a lot more, but he also commits a lot more turnovers -- nearly four per game, once he was the primary option (after the All-Star break). In fact Stoudemire led all PF/C players in turnovers and would have been in the league's top five if his post-break numbers were extended over the whole season.

I would rather have Stoudemire on my team because, as I said before, I think he will continue to get better. But especially if you are talking about someone to be the second or third option on an Olympic team right now, I maintain that Boozer is the better choice.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

All I am going to say is:

If you asked every GM if they would rather have Carlos Boozer or Amare Stoudemire assuming their games remain the exact same over their career, and they make exactly the same amount of money.

Amare would be unanimously selected. And no Eric, you can't argue that one


With that said though, I think I like the idea of Duncan/Boozer in one lineup with Amare/Okafor in the other. It gives the dominating offense coupled with the blue collar worker in both lineups.

 

[Chaz]

I think Boozer would be an outstanding bench player for this squad because of his versatility and his energy. It doesn't really matter who starts, it's who finishes that is important.

 

[elindholm]

If you asked every GM if they would rather have Carlos Boozer or Amare Stoudemire assuming their games remain the exact same over their career, and they make exactly the same amount of money.

Amare would be unanimously selected.

Only because, in their gut, every GM would be sure that Stoudemire will improve, even if you assured them that he won't.

If we're talking about an actual snapshot of where they really are right now, I don't think it's such a clear call. Don't get me wrong: I'm very high on Stoudemire, but I think that Suns fans overrate how good he already is.

His big jump in scoring in the second half of last season is entirely due to the fact that he became the first option on a bad team that was committed to developing him, and they were willing to put up with the turnovers and limited offensive vocabulary. If you look at all of his other stats, he hasn't made much progress from his rookie year.

But, before everyone gets hysterical, let me make it as clear as I can one more time: I do think he will get better, and I do think he will soon become better than Boozer.

Wait, that probably wasn't clear enough:

Stoudemire will soon be better than Boozer.

Okay, I hope that does it.

 

[cepstrum]

If you asked every GM if they would rather have Carlos Boozer or Amare Stoudemire assuming their games remain the exact same over their career, and they make exactly the same amount of money.

Amare would be unanimously selected.

Only because, in their gut, every GM would be sure that Stoudemire will improve, even if you assured them that he won't.

If we're talking about an actual snapshot of where they really are right now, I don't think it's such a clear call. Don't get me wrong: I'm very high on Stoudemire, but I think that Suns fans overrate how good he already is.

His big jump in scoring in the second half of last season is entirely due to the fact that he became the first option on a bad team that was committed to developing him, and they were willing to put up with the turnovers and limited offensive vocabulary. If you look at all of his other stats, he hasn't made much progress from his rookie year.

But, before everyone gets hysterical, let me make it as clear as I can one more time: I do think he will get better, and I do think he will soon become better than Boozer.

Wait, that probably wasn't clear enough:

Stoudemire will soon be better than Boozer.

Okay, I hope that does it.

I dont know how you can deny that the stoudamire at the end of the year was not better than the boozer at the end of the year. At the beginning no doubt boozer was doing more, however, after the all star amare was averaging 24/25 10/11. Those are rediculous numbers. In addition, no one is mentioning that boozer had a very good playmaker to set him up in king james, and amare did what he did on his own. This is huge.

With Nash you will trully see a change for the good in amare IMO. He wont have to work as hard to get his. Defensively, they're both pretty bad, but amare has better tools to be a better defender (down the line though). Right now though, no doubt STAT is better than Booz IMO.

 

[yotes1921]

Who won the MVP in the Rookie game?

 

[elindholm]

Who won the MVP in the Rookie game?

Yeah, that's significant.

 

[fordronken]

If you asked every GM if they would rather have Carlos Boozer or Amare Stoudemire assuming their games remain the exact same over their career, and they make exactly the same amount of money.

Amare would be unanimously selected.

Only because, in their gut, every GM would be sure that Stoudemire will improve, even if you assured them that he won't.

If we're talking about an actual snapshot of where they really are right now, I don't think it's such a clear call. Don't get me wrong: I'm very high on Stoudemire, but I think that Suns fans overrate how good he already is.

His big jump in scoring in the second half of last season is entirely due to the fact that he became the first option on a bad team that was committed to developing him, and they were willing to put up with the turnovers and limited offensive vocabulary. If you look at all of his other stats, he hasn't made much progress from his rookie year.

But, before everyone gets hysterical, let me make it as clear as I can one more time: I do think he will get better, and I do think he will soon become better than Boozer.

Wait, that probably wasn't clear enough:

Stoudemire will soon be better than Boozer.

Okay, I hope that does it.

Eric, keep it down! Do you want to get kicked off the board?

 

[carey]

Who won the MVP in the Rookie game?

You can't use that as an argument. No one plays defense at those things and _clearly_ Amare is the more selfish player.

 

[fordronken]

Who won the MVP in the Rookie game?

Didn't you listen to the media? Amare didn't play in that game. Nobody did. It was just LeBron and Carmello playing two-on-none and throwing a bunch of alley-oop dunks.