2008 US Olympic Basketball Team
June 24, 2008
Monday was the day that Team USA finalized the roster on who they were going to take to the Olympics. Now it’s time of the basketball betting experts to figure out whether this team can recapture the glory days of the Dream Team. With Kobe Bryant and LeBron James leading the way, this team has more than enough talent.
It’s kind of strange that Bryant will be leading the team from the United States, and another top contender also comes off the Lakers roster with Pau Gasol leading Spain, who stands at +350 to win the gold in Beijing.
In the 2004 Olympics the US team was embarrassed with three losses to Puerto Rico, Lithuania, and Argentina. How could a team led by LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwayne Wade lose to Puerto Rico?
Of course, that just motivated all the big names to want to reclaim glory for the United States. This team only has three big men, and is smaller and quicker. Insider it’ll be up to Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, and Dwight Howard, with Howard being the only true center.
This US team is going to need to pick up the intensity on defnese as well as hit the outside shot and play smart. They can’t just show up and treat this like a pickup game, kind of like they did back in the glory days when the talent level here was heads and tails about the rest.
Deron Williams and Chris Paul have shown what kind of difference they can make at the point, leading turnarounds in both Utah and New Orleans. That is why we think taking the US team at -350 to win the gold medal is not such a bad idea. They’ll spread the floor for the prolific scorers and slashers this team has.
If the US team doesn’t bring home the gold this time, then it’s going to be a complete disaster. Even if you are feeling confident in the US team, remember that it’s been several years now since they dominated any international tournament that meant anything.