Team USA 19-Man Preliminary Roster

Four years ago seems like nearly a decade by the way time flies these days. I was just 19 years old and entering my sophomore year at Indiana University when Team USA’s ‘Redeem Team’ took the gold medal at the ’08 Olympics in Beijing. The ’92 Dream Team is still the hardest team ever assembled with a Starting Five that consisted of Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and Magic Johnson.

But the ‘Redeem Team’ were no slouches, either.

LeBron James was their best all-around player with Kobe coming in a close second, Dwyane Wade regained his ’06 championship form, and we got a chance to see both Chris Paul and Deron Williams be taken under Jason Kidd’s wing.

The way all that talented meshed together as one was a thing of beauty for a daily hoop-head, especially since most in my generation don’t remember watching the ’92 Olympic games. I grew as Carmelo Anthony grew into The Bully, and he’s since grown into my favorite player ever.

Although only 12 of the best players in the world will be selected to attend the 2012 Olympics in London this year (18 attend practice and try to earn a roster spot), but former ESPN beat writer Chris Sheridan is reporting that they’re planning on bringing in one more heavy hitter for his chance to shine: LaMarcus Aldridge.

From Sheridan:

The Portland Trail Blazers forward has gained the attention of Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski with his strong start to the season, averaging 22.6 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Blazers (6-2), who are tied with Philadelphia for the NBA’s fourth-best record. The Blazers are coached by Nate McMillan, an assistant under Krzyzewski on the national team staff.

“Everybody has had the number at 18, and everybody had Blake Griffin as the only guy who wasn’t on the ’08 (Olympics) and ’10 (World Championship) teams. But they don’t know about Aldridge,” a source with knowledge of USA Basketball’s plans told SheridanHoops.com.

With Aldridge added, this is what the 19-man roster would look like:

LaMarcus Aldridge
Carmelo Anthony
Chauncey Billups
Chris Bosh
Kobe Bryant
Tyson Chandler
Kevin Durant
Eric Gordon
Blake Griffin
Dwight Howard
Andre Iguodala
LeBron James
Kevin Love
Lamar Odom
Chris Paul
Derrick Rose
Dwyane Wade
Russell Westbrook
Deron Williams

Just by looking at that roster I see growth, more experience, and a better team than the ’08 squad. I don’t see Russell Westbrook knocking D-Will off the list, and as of right now I don’t see Lamar Odom beating out Kevin Love for a spot.

Which players do you think will make the cut? Training camp begins July 5.

Deron Williams Rejects Extension With The Nets

You know what the best thing about LeBron’s “Decision” and Carmelo Anthony’s “I’ll keep playing with the fans and teams head and act like I don’t know where I want or will be traded to but secretly I know it’s New York” is? It gives all the other superstars in the league that are about to be in the same situation a little advantage. They got to sit back and watch players like ‘Bron make a national mistake and guys like ‘Melo prove that the players can control their own destiny in certain situations.

Now, it’s Deron Williams turn.

With the new rules due to the lockout, any chance the Nets had at saving millions of dollars and getting Williams to sign an extension are now out the window. Deron’s agent Jeff Schwartz went public earlier today stating that Deron will play out this season in New Jersey and will ultimately become a free agent once the season comes to an end. Now that doesn’t exactly mean he wants to leave the Nets — although he probably does unless they get another superstar — but he’ll become richer.

Deron will not be signing the extension,” Jeff Schwartz told The Record this afternoon. “Based on the new rules it doesn’t make any sense for him to sign the extension. It has nothing to do with how much he likes New Jersey. Because of the rules, he’s going to play the season out and probably opt out of his deal.”

With the new rules now set in stone, Williams can either choose to sign with another team as a free agent and roughly get around $73 million for four years, or he can re-sign with the Nets — if they get a superstar — for a five-year, $101 million ext. The only way he comes back is if they can somehow land Dwight Howard, which means goodbye to Brooke Lopez. Nothing against Lopez but, he’s nowhere near Howard’s level of play. Not even close. And he’s definitely not the kind of player that’s going to help lead the Nets to an NBA title. They already have some solid outside shooters and a decent bench, but they could use a couple upgrades in those areas as well. All big men in the league need someone to feed them the ball, and who better than Deron Williams? The biggest/strongest PG in the league who many consider to be better than Chris Paul.

This Is The Happiest New Jersey Nets Fan In The World

Take a quick look past Deron Williams and you’ll see the happiest pink and blue polo wearing kid in the world.  One could not fake that amount of happiness.  That’s just pure 110% happy.

Read more

Deron Williams Dunks On Derrick Rose

Eventually, everyone gets got and last night it was Derrick Rose’s turn. Even though, D-Rose barely attempted to block the shot (meaning he didn’t get enough time to elevate as soon as he turned around), he still got nicely dunked on by Deron Williams.  Shouts to Dime!

Deron Williams & Kyle Korver Play Dodgeball With The Unsuspecting

Watch the video as D-Will and Ashton Kutcher Kyle Korver get their Patches O’Houlihan on.  It’s most likely scripted but funny nonetheless.