Sports and Entertainment

 Tim Falletti

Good ol Danny Wetzel from the good folks at Yahoo just posted something very interesting on his blog.  He says that the current men’s basketball team in Beijing is playing at a higher intensity than the Dream Team of the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona did.  He goes on to say that the current Redeem Team is deeper than that of the original. 

Now, Dan does give his nod to the Dream Team, especially MJ, but as he says, “Immediate reactions to blasphemy aside,” the debate will seriously heat up. 

BLASPHEMY!  Sorry Dan, there is no debate!  Look, this 2008 team is good.  It’s real good.  Hell, Wetzel makes some valid points in his blog.  But if you put these two squads in their prime on the same court, the MJ led Dream Team would wipe out Kobe and Lebron’s team by the average they beat everyone else by: 43.

Imagine some of these matchups if you will.  Kobe on MJ, Lebron on Pippen, Sir Charles Barkley on Carlos Boozer.  The Mailman Karl Malone on Chris Bosh! Ha!  Six foot Chris Paul couldn’t hold John Stockton’s jock.  And I think Chris Paul is fantastic!  But the real difference here is the post presence of each of these teams.  The Dream Team had The Admiral David Robinson!  They had Patrick Ewing!  This Redeem Team’s tallest “Center” is 6-11 Dwight Howard.  Dwight Howard vs. David Robinson is a laugher in the paint.

While I do agree with Dan when he says that this 2008 team plays at a higher level of intensity, I think the reasoning behind that is simple.  The 1992 team played what is essentially known today as “scrubs”.  Sure the competitors were olympians, but The Dream Team were on a whole other planet in terms of ability.  They didn’t have to play intense basketball.  I don’t think you can play intense basketball when you are up by 60 points.

As far as the Redeem Team being deeper…that is up for debate as well.  While Kobe starting and Dwayne Wade coming off the bench is pretty impressive, don’t you think Clyde Drexler coming off the bench is just as or even more impressive?  How about Chris Mullin?  Or Christian Laettner? Christian Laettner in 1992 was a fresh faced college kid that was damned impressive.  Jason Kidd?  Blah.  Michael Redd?  Blah Blah. 

Please don’t take this as a bashfest on this 2008 team.  I think they are enormously talented, and should easily win the gold in Beijing.  I’m sure other countries are better now than they were in 92, but still.  The Dream Team was just that.  The greatest team ever assembled, the best team you can only dream up.  Blasphemy Dan Wetzel.  Blasphemy.

Tim Falletti

OKLAHOMA CITY- What’s in a name?  Apparently for Oklahoma City’s new NBA team, not a lot.  The NBA filed trademarks for the following names: Barons, Bison, Energy, Marshalls, Thunder and Wind, and one of these lucky guys will be gracing the hardwood next season.

While the names are all lackluster, other names for debunked teams in the city over the years have been worse (I’m looking at you Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz.)  The names Energy and Wind sound like WNBA teams,  Marshalls is misspelled, and Barons makes me hungry.  

While no official press release has been given, sources say Thunder is the favorite to win the “Lamest NBA Team Name” award.  How David Stern plans to have “thunder” represented on a jersey, is still pending.

(I do recommend Garth Brooks’ Thunder Rolls for their opening team introductions.)