This was discussed duing the all star game in atlanta but i dont know if they were suriously thinking of it or not. I think this is a good idea. Heres my lineups. post urs and discuss *Denotes starter USA All Stars C Shaquille O'Neal- LA Lakers- Newark, NJ* PF Chris Webber- Sacramento Kings- Detroit, MI* SF Kevin Garnett- Minnesota Timberwolves- Maludin, SC* SG Kobe Bryant- LA Lakers- Philadelphia, PN* PG Jason Kidd- NJ Nets- San Francisco, CA* C Ben Wallace- Detroit Pistons- White Hall, Alabama PF Jermaine O’Neal- Indiana Pacers- Columbia, SC SG Tracy McGrady- Orlando Magic- Bartow, FL SG Allen Iverson- Philadelphia 76ers- Hampton, VA SG Paul Pierce- Boston Celtics- Oakland, CA SG Allen Houston- NY Knicks- Louisville, KN PG Stephon Marbury- Phoenix Suns- Brooklyn, NY *Denotes Starter +Denotes out of Reg. Position World All Stars C Zydrunas Ilgauskas- Cleveland Cavaliers- Kaunas, Lithuania* PF- Dirk Nowitzki- Dallas Mavericks- Wurzburg, Germany* SF- Pau Gasol- Memphis Grizzlies- Barcelona, Spain* SG- Peja Stojakovic- Sacramento Kings- Pozega, Crotia*+ PG- Steve Nash- Dallas Mavericks- Johannesburg, South Africa* C Yao Ming- Houston Rockets- Shanghai, China C Vlade Divac- Sacramento Kings- Prijepolje, Yugoslavia PF Tim Duncan- San Antonio Spurs- St. Croix, Virgin Islands PF Nene Hilario- Denver Nuggets- San Carlos, Brazil SF Toni Kukoc- Milwaukee Bucks- Split, Crotia SG Manu Ginobili- San Antonio Spurs- Bahia Blanca, Argentina PG Tony Parker- San Antonio Spurs- Bruges, Belgium I Think this world team is very talanted. Not enought to guarantee a win but if they really wanted to i think they could
Tim Duncan would have to play for the USA, he was born in St Croix, US Virgin Islands, plus I think he was already capped by the US.
First off, I'm very much against this idea, as it messes with 50+ years of tradition. Second, what exactly is an international player? Lots of foreign kids now come to the US to play high school and college ball and have dual citizenship by the time they enter NBA. And what about guys like Dominique Wilkins who are born abroad to American parents?
That would be Hidayet "Hedo" Turkoglu (turk-oh-loo). I think the foreign team would be quite strong in and of itself, but against the American team??? You might have a slight mismatch there...
I put Duncan with the worlds because as u can see he provides much needed depth. also i started Nowitzki over duncan because if the nba ever decided to do this the goal would be to market to all the euros thats y i started nowitzki over duncan but i think duncan is the better player Hedo Turkoglu although his being on the team would bring viewers in Turkey I don think he warrents a spot just yet.
I hope ur being sarcastic when u say slight cuz thats what it would be slight. the americans would clearly have a better overall team but both starting five's are kinda equal. Im not saying the euros would blow the usa out of the water but they would hold their own and I wouldnt bet against them but then again i wouldnt for them either
I think it would be interesting, especially since the all star game is boring and no one watches it at current anyway. The one thing is that you might make non-americans all stars that wouldn't normally be all-stars. Guys like Kukoc aren't really all star quality.
I agree he is not all star quality but he had a better year then the other player i was considering for that spot Hedo Turkoglu. Hes also had a good career winning rings during the Bulls' glory days
If it's a world vs. US charity game or something, I would say okay, but what do you tell that American guy who was really an all star but got left off so that the World team could take Kukoc? That was my only point. If you look at it, say there are something like 300+ guys in the nba (29x12= 348- injuries), so of them only 30 should be all-stars, or 15 a side. Something like 280 americans would be competing for 15 spots while 50 odd foriegners would be competing for 15 spots. You would either have a very tough time getting 15 all star level foreigners, or you'd have the 16th guy on the Yanks who didn't make it b!tching because he got left off when he's better than guys 8-15 on the non-american team. Just saying. I'd be in favor of it for one game.
It would suck if your contract had an All Star bonus and your breakout year just so happened to be the year they played the USA vs World game.
Exactly. I think the player's union would be against this (or, the agents representing the players would be against it, same thing). A lot of contracts have that. Also an interesting idea for baseball, a US vs. World team there would be a bit more interesting if you put Puerto Rico on the World team. You might have a closer to 50-50 ratio in baseball. (again though, contracts are an issue). Though, I'm wondering if you could argue that since it is fan balloting it doesn't matter as much since there are people who "deserve" to go but don't all the time....hmmm.
well, that isn't too far fetched since the all-minor league all-star game is played with the format World vs. USA. This game is always played the day before the MLB all-star game before the homerun derby. I remember seeing guys on the World team from various Latin countries, Canada, and Australia.