From Jay Mariotti, Chicago-Sun Times:
Briefly, I weighed the possibility, recognizing that the current
team is loaded 1 thru 12 with gifted stars in their prime, right down
to final pieces Tayshaun Prince and Michael Redd. The Dream Team,
remember, had a retired Magic Johnson and an old Larry Bird and had the
feel of a traveling museum -- or, in Charles Barkley's case, a nightly
party in Las Ramblas. Also, the Redeem Team is playing markedly better
compe tition in a world that improved enough to catch up to the
Americans, then beat them down.
But, please. In the Jordan vs. Kobe matchup, take MJ's scoring,
defense and clinically insane competitiveness every time. And if James
looks like the Incredible Hulk and plays like a Hummer rambling at 100
mph, I'd like to see him deal with Scottie Pippen's Doberman act. Karl
Malone would create a mismatch at power forward. Wade is a force off
the bench, but so was Clyde Drexler. Inside, I like the fury of Patrick
Ewing and finesse of David Robinson over Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh.
We never saw the best of the Dream Team because the mode was cruise
control. We've seen the best of the Redeem Team. And so far, it's
damned good. "For 40 minutes, it's nonstop movement and chaos,"Chris
Paul said. "That’s what we try to do. We wreak havoc."
In the end, Jordan would hang 16 in the fourth quarter and the
Dreamers would win by eight points.
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NBA, Olympics
dream team, redeem team, tayshaun prince, michael redd, magic johnson, larry bird, michael jordan, kobe byrant, karl malone, chris paul, david robinson, dwight howard, chris bosh