I actually read this with interest earlier Isaac, good article hey?

Personally my money is on the original Dream Team, great mix of shooters and slashers, size (Ewing and Robinson would kill Stoudemire and Howard) 2 of the greatest point guards of all time, and the ultimate finisher with Killer instinct..

Starting 5
Magic v Kidd-I am a big Kidd fan, however Magic wins this hands down

MJ vs Kobe- If anyone believes Kobe would beat a 1992 MJ in entering his prime...pfft..

Pippen vs Lebron...tough one, even

Barkley vs Stoudemire- hard to go past the Round Mound, but Amare's athleticism wins over here..

Robinson vs Howard- No contest. D Rob.

Even? Lebron would tear scottie pippen a new ring!

Agree with all others though. Depth is the issue that needs to be looked at i dont think the depth was there in 92, the starters prob have the wood over the current team but the quality to come of the bench for team america nowdays is astonishing.

I don't know, Pips was pretty tough then, don't think Lebron has hit his peak...YET..then he will tear him a new one..

Bench depth
Mullin, Bird, Stockton, Ewing, Drexler and Laettner

vs
Melo, Billups, Chandler, Miller, Prince, and Redd..

More depth on Dream Team IMO, depends on whether this year's version of Team USA get there injured players back or not.

Any team that has Larry Bird on their bench has got my vote. However I think you will find that Bird started and Pippen came off the pine if I remember correctly.

Only in the first and last games..

Bird had a shagged(ers) back by that stage, only played because Magic convinced him to...still, I would have him even if he was in a wheel chair!

Pippen started, perhaps Mullin started one..

Might go home and watch their games now, what a team!

ooh, no varejao? Wow, brazil are missing out!


The original dream team would kill this years squad. Imagine if they had the same training as the current team.

I wish I could get my hands on footage of the original team in 5 on 5 scrimmages....

Now that would be some viewing!!!

Anyone who thinks LeBron would kill Pippen has no idea. Pippen was the best defensive forward in the game at that time, and one hell of a finisher.

He had the height, strength and reach to go with LeBron. I think it would be a great match up to watch.

Original Dream Team for me thankyou....

I'd take the Round Mound over Amare... Amare is a whiny biatch, like the majority of current NBA players. Barkley's toughness, attitude and all-round game puts him before Amare IMO.

Today's players rarely get put on their arse compared to the old school players. Today's NBA is garbage compared to the 1980's and early 1990's NBA.

Lebron and Pippen (92 version) would of been a marquee match-up. Can't really split them.

The bigs of 1992 dominate the bigs on 2007.

The only dud on the 1992 was Laettner. Players like Miller, Billups, Chandler and Prince wouldn't get a look in if they were around in 1992.

The make up of the two squads is very similar. Great goto players, spot up shooters, slashers and quality big men.

I've read come the Olympics that Miller will be replaced by D-Wade and Chandler will be shipped for Bosh. I think that's a bit of a mistake to not include Chandler, I think he's the best defensive bigman the squad has. Dump Billups and replace him with Bosh instead.

Shit, knew there was one more there..

Sorry King Karl!

Zo would have been better on that team instead of Laettner, could play the 4.

Old school for me too.
Those guys pumped every team and did not even get out of second gear.

Could you imagine Jordan being on a national team that lost? Not going to happen. The so called standouts of the squad have bronze and silver, no medals of that colour in the 92 teams locker.

Also wasn't Shaq chosen ahead of Lattner but could no go as Pepsi would not let him be seen drinking out of Coke cups?

Also (i stand to be corrected) to show how little effort they put into their games Barkley lead the team in 3pt FG %

Highlights to me how few shots and makes that the shooters even took on.

Good call Kent, same as there were issues with the Nike contracted players wearing Reebok issued uniforms..hence why Jordan, Pippen etc had flags strategically draped over there shoulders during the medal ceremony.

Barkley also led the tournament in elbows and derogatory comments to other nations.

Shaq didn't go as Laetnner went because he win the NCAA Player of the Year and as such went to the Olympics as the winner of that award was given a spot on the team.

I think the thing that wins the Originals for me was their aura of invincibility and reputation that these guys bought to the court.

The whole basketball world looked at the 1992 squad and went "sh*t, they are unbeatable", how in the hell could anyone compete against a squad of MJ, Charles, Malone, Magic, Bird, Mullin, Pippen, Drexler, Ewing etc etc. The 1992 squad had the game in the bag even before the tip-off.

Other countries now look at the USA and think 'we can beat these guys'. Names like Kidd, Howard, Amare, Bosh, Deron don't exactly put the fear of god into any good squad (Argentina, Spain etc) and carry the same weight as the 92 squad.

I only learnt today that during the 92 Olympics, Chuck Daly never called a timeout for the whole tournament.

Pippen would Kill Lebron, the Pippen MJ combo would have to be one of the best 2 players to compliment each others games the league has seen. Those two working together vs lebron an Kobe would be a whitewash, the Old Dream Team had alot more all round talent.

Some of my all time favorite Barkley quotes include:

"I don't care what people think. people are stupid"

"I love New York City; I've got a gun. "

"Kids are great. That's one of the best things about our business, all the kids you get to meet. It's a shame they have to grow up to be regular people and come to the games and call you names. "

""I don't know anything about Angola, but I know they're in trouble."

"Somebody hits me, I'm going to hit him back. Even if it does look like he hasn't eaten in a while. " - This one is from the Angola incident during the 92 Games.

"I miss America. I miss the crime and murder. I miss Philadelphia. There hasn't been a brutal stabbing or anything here the last 24 hours. I've missed it"(During his stay in Barcelona for 92 Olympics)

"Poor black people are in great shape. Black people use duct tape for everything. You break a chair, use duct tape. Your pants rip, use duct tape. You tear your ACL, use duct tape!"

original team for me... MJ would kill any player after or before his time...

an argument you could make for the current team is the international game is so much better than it was in '92...and im pretty sure that i saw on sportscentre that this is the best any teams done in the fiba qualifying tournament..its not a matter of looking at matchups and decided whose the best player out of those matchups either...

having said, '92 dream team for me, mainly coz of what TR said - that they scare the shit out of their opponents

to be fair - wait till beijing is over...and talking up mj is just stupid isnt it e.l.g?

wow TR, barkley would totally kill amare, just because he is a 'whiny bitch' (of course you didn't take into account the fact amare hasn't complained once about the game 5 suspensions) amare owns him in athleticism and height.

yes jules, talking up MJ is stupid when you've got the whole team to consider. He cant win by himself. And may i add, they probably would have won without him!

Lebron tear up Scottie Pippen!!!

YOU HAVE GOT YOUR HEAD IN THE CLOWDS MY FRIEND!!!!

How did Lebron go against Bruce Bowen?........ Now Scottie Pippen bit taller, more Athletic and stronger than Bruce Bowen.

I say Lebron James is a great tallent, but no where near Scottie Pippen!!!!

Back when Dream Team 1 were playing in the NBA you still had defence and you still had offence. Now the players who are in the Team are all star players from different teams that are not teams. Its all give the ball to Lebron and clear out!!.

I think USA with struggle to bring home the Gold again in the Olypics

Barkley has it all over Amare, I have no problem with that. Barkley is a better rebounder, better scorer, better basketball IQ and all round better game. Amare has the edge with his athleticism but that's about it. Barkley also played in a tougher era with more bruisers and thugs. Hell, he was a thug himself..

I'd take Sir Charles every time over Amare. Charles did it by himself and carried a franchise whilst Amare has a trio of support.

Barkley goes down as one the 50th greatest players in the NBA, Amare won't even get close.

It's time to get over that Game 5 bullsh*t. It was crap and we all know it, but that was last season...

Yeah well I'll tell you somethin, noone could match up to the skills of a superstar like christian lattener! He sh*ts all over dwight, amare and tys in every category!

.... and hes white with a College Cut!!! Can't guard it. His hair is feathered and lethal

Pippen in 92 would shut down LeBron of 07 easily, remember how Pippen shut down Magic in 91 finals?

Laettner is awesome in NBA Hang Time on N64. Deadly running hook from the foul line. End of discussion.

Im taking barkley over amare too, but not because amare is a 'whiny bitch'

pippen owns lebron. anyone who can get 20 ppg on the same team as jordan must be good

So the final scores are:

Isaac thinks it is an interesting topic capable of arguing.

Dr Bullshit agrees that the Dream Team romps in but disagrees on the Pippen v Lebron matchup.

Everyone else thinks no contest and are prepared to argue about it. Not a lot of support for the newbies!

i gave support

But jules you are clearly delusional.

when exactly?

If you believe there is warrant in claiming that the 2007 team would have any chance against the Dream Team.

Bizzy, Jules never said that.

If you read below your last post he said - I gave support - in regard to the newbies.

Bizzy what are you on about mate?

Im trying to work it out...

Are you saying he didn't give support?

Or that giving support is the delusional part because its a no-brainer?

Because both of those are wrong

He's saying that Jules is silly for thinking that the current team could prove competitive against the 92 side.

As I said originally, I think people tend to have these really romantic ideas of past legends and I wouldn't rule out the current team putting up a fight through Kobe, LeBron and Melo.

Thankyou Isaac, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a pretty strange thing to say considering he said 'an argument you could make' and then later said however '92 team would win...

And if he wants to believe anyone is delusional wouldn't he think of you?

I'm not delusional, just supporting the under dog for the purposes of encouraging discussion! ;)

"An argument you could make" is a great way of putting forward an opinion that you don't want to have to defend!

Can i throw a what if in to this argument.

What if USSR has not broken up pre 1992 and the Ruski's brought their crack squad through to Barcelona.

Would that team have made a game of it?

Sabonis
Volkov
Divac
Marcialonus
Kurtaniatis plus plus plus
all in their prime.

Would have got beaten by 35 instead of 50.

Fair call Kent,

they definately would have put up more of a fight in the Gold medal game than Croatia did....


Hopefully the timekeeper was not Russian though...

That Croation team was the only team that gave the 1992 team one ounce of trouble. Croatia took a 25-23 lead at one stage.

Croatia was tough back then, Petrovic, Kukoc, Vrankovic and Dino Radja.

I guess if you added:
Kurtinaitis, Sabonis, Marciulonis (Lithuania) and Divac, Bodiroga then they would of had a decent crack at them.

Still take the Dream Team....