Team USA 2007 no match for Magic and the Dream Team of 1992

FAN NEWS (Chad Kettner, Sportingo) - The Americans fielded a hoops squad in the FIBA Americas Cup that had aficionados salivating, opponents giving up before tip-off, and columnists making (gasp!) comparisons between Bron's boys and Jordan's jumpers.

The performance of Team USA at the FIBA Americas tournament has created a stir among basketball fans across the world.

The Americans have struggled to dominate the competition over the past few years, with notable losses to Argentina, Yugoslavia, Spain, Puerto Rico, Lithuania, and Greece. However, with a revamped programme that finally has the support of the country's biggest stars, Team USA seems relevant again.

Magic Johnson, who sat courtside for some of the games, commented on this year's squad saying: "They remind me of us," referring to the 1992 squad that is considered to be the best team ever compiled.

If Team USA 2007 is good enough to get Magic Johnson drawing comparisons, surely we can rationalize making comparisons ourselves. The original dream team had a victory margin of 43.8 points, this year's team averaged 40.5. Still, even with the similarities, it is impossible to really take this comparison seriously unless USA dominates in a similar fashion at the Olympics in Beijing next year. Nonetheless, I'm going to go ahead with it anyway.

Guards
1992: Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler, and John Stocton.
2007: Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, Chauncey Billups, Deron Williams, and Michael Redd.

While Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant are at the top of their positions world-wide, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan are the top in their positions all-time. Magic has the edge over Kidd, Jordan the edge over Kobe, and the bench is even more lopsided. Billups, Williams, and Redd have all played very well in the tournament, but I don't know anyone who would take that group over a young combo of Stockton and Drexler.

Forwards
1992: Larry Bird, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Chris Mullen, Scottie Pippen, and Christian Laettner.
2007: Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Tayshaun Prince, and Mike Miller.

Nobody can doubt the abilities of Bird, Malone, Barkley, and the rest of the 1992 forwards. However, Lebron and Melo bring quite the challenge. Carmelo Anthony has been Team USA's best performer over the past five years and 'Bron is considered to be on the road to greatness. As of right now, the edge has to go to the 1992 team because of depth and longevity. Ten years from now, however, we might be looking back at Kidd, Kobe, Melo, Bron, and Amare as being the most athletically gifted starting five ever put together. Forget ten years from now, they could easily be considered that already. However, athletic abilities don't trump the 1992 squad's compilation of basketball greatness.

Centers
1992: David Robinson and Patrick Ewing.
2007: Amare Stoudemire, Dwight Howard, and Tyson Chandler.

In 1992, David Robinson was nearing his prime. He was named the defensive player of the year with almost 4.5 blocks per game. He also managed to put up 23 ppg and 12 rpg that year in the NBA. Patrick Ewing wasn't too bad either (24 ppg, 11.2 rpg, and 3 bpg).

Although Stoudemire and Howard are dominant in their own right, they aren't considered to be elite at this point; there are a handful of better big men in the league today such as Tim Duncan, Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Bosh, and Andrew Bynum (Mitch Kupchak told me to add him to the list).

Overall
The 1992 team is still the best team to ever be put together. Ten of the twelve players from the '92 team were included on the NBA's Greatest 50 Players list that was released in 1996. I don't doubt that Kobe, Lebron, Melo, Kidd, and possibly a couple others from the 2007 team will have a chance to make such a list in the future, but even that doesn't match them up with the original Dream Team.

Team USA 2007 are a well coached team that have displayed better chemistry than what was expected. They have given hope to a country that has been let down too many times in the recent past. They are dominating everybody that steps in their way while preparing themselves for Olympic gold. However, they aren't the greatest of all-time . . . yet.

2008 will be an opportunity to prove me wrong. While I can picture them winning the gold, I don't quite see them dominating Spain, Greece, and a full Argentinian squad in the same way they cleared through the FIBA Americas tournament.

* This article is written by a basketball fan and is based on personnal opinions that does not reflect the views of FIBA. Fan articles are part of the Sportingo Network and are brought to you for discussion & opinion matters.