I don't know much about basketball, but for those who do, would the NBA championship teams of recent past be able to wipe the floor with the international competition?
I believe so. The Pistons would really roll through this crowd. Despite the ugliness of the basketball produced by a typical modern championship team, they're usually infinitely more balanced and cohesive than any dud of a dream team we've been able to scavange together recently.
Outside shooting, play making and the presence of roleplayers would make them better suited for international play. While they'd likely lose in NBA style competition to a US dream team, they'd clean up in international play.
Another curious question is that if that was a requirement, would the drive to win the championship be higher or lower every 4 years? I imagine that is highly individualistic.
Wouldn't happen, but I imagine teams would view winning during an olympic year as a mixed blessing. They're already tired from going the distance in an overly long playoff structure.
Another idea that strikes me is that there should be an NBA deadline where any players who want to play in the olympics sign a contract that the will if picked. Then the coaching staff can assemble a team from the list of talent without having to scramble to replace noshows
This would never make it past any sort of deal with the player union. The NBA players anyhow would only agree to something that gave them infinite loopholes to escape the system.
The NBA is ruled more by the cry baby millionaires than even baseball is.
A gold medal is just a burden for them. Anything that doesn't result in bling bling is secondary.
The only thing that I think can save US international play is a more intelligent selection process. They need to stop trying to play toward the non-existant rating that they hope will result. They need to stop picking players on the basis of how many Olympic jerseys they will sell. Pick a team that will win, not one that wishes they were at home taking a cash bath.
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