1992 Dream Team in 2012 Olympics

[markdash]

@Novelty_Bobble

I can’t imagine that any dynamic sports team could re-assemble 20 years on and be in any way competitive.

I looked at the England Euro squad from 1992 and considered the best 11 from that list and what shape they could be in after a year of training. Know what? they would probably get hammered by England’s current U-17 team and certainly any reasonably organised League 2 team.
If basketball relies heavily on physical conditioning then the downward gradient after 40 is just too much to overcome.

I could see maybe an Olympic baseball team (made up of college and young minor leaguers) assembling 20 years later and being competitive, but baseball is a different animal. It’s a non-cardiovascular sport, and there’s usually a group of 40+ players in the big leagues at any one time. Even then, you’d have to have a group of players with unusual longevity (in addition, they would have to turn out to be good players later in life).

[Chicagojeff]

@Barkis_is_Willin

If we took the members of the '92 Dream Team*, most of whom are in their late 40s now, and let them compete in London, could they win a medal? If they had actually trained and prepared for a year or so, I think they could. Gold would be a stretch, but I really think they could hang with the likes of Italy, France and other teams that might compete for bronze.

*In case it’s not obvious, I’m referring to the 1992 US Olympic basketball team.

You my friend.. have been partaking if the “crack rock” if you think some 40 yr old guys could go out and play against decent athletic 20 somethings.. Not a chance in hell. They would get beaten so bad it would be akin to watching the Gerry Cooney Ken Norton fight.. or the Ray Leonard Macho Camacho slaughtering..

And I guarantee you not one of those guys would participate..

[astorian]

@Chicagojeff

You my friend.. have been partaking if the “crack rock” if you think some 40 yr old guys could go out and play against decent athletic 20 somethings.. Not a chance in hell. They would get beaten so bad it would be akin to watching the Gerry Cooney Ken Norton fight.. or the Ray Leonard Macho Camacho slaughtering..

And I guarantee you not one of those guys would participate..

I assume Manu Ginobili is going to play for Argentina, that Ricky Rubio will be playing for Spain, that Dirk Nowitzki will be playing for Germany in London, right?

Those guys (and all the NBA’s other foreign stars) would LOVE to take on Larry Bird, Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan right now.

[zamboniracer]

@markdash

I could see maybe an Olympic baseball team (made up of college and young minor leaguers) assembling 20 years later and being competitive, but baseball is a different animal. It’s a non-cardiovascular sport, and there’s usually a group of 40+ players in the big leagues at any one time. Even then, you’d have to have a group of players with unusual longevity (in addition, they would have to turn out to be good players later in life).

I’m sorry, but you’re just wrong about baseball not being cardiovascular. While it isn’t in little league, where most of the players stand about and mill around most of the time, at high levels it requires the players to be in excellent shape and be able to sprint in the field and around the bases, to say nothing of pitching and catching. IMHO.

[astorian]

@zamboniracer

I’m sorry, but you’re just wrong about baseball not being cardiovascular. While it isn’t in little league, where most of the players stand about and mill around most of the time, at high levels it requires the players to be in excellent shape and be able to sprint in the field and around the bases, to say nothing of pitching and catching. IMHO.

Quite apart from cardiovascular fitness, you’ll USUALLY find that even great hitters start to decline noticeably by the time they’re 32 or 33.

[markdash]

@zamboniracer

I’m sorry, but you’re just wrong about baseball not being cardiovascular. While it isn’t in little league, where most of the players stand about and mill around most of the time, at high levels it requires the players to be in excellent shape and be able to sprint in the field and around the bases, to say nothing of pitching and catching. IMHO.

Let me rephrase. Of course you can’t weigh 400 pounds and play baseball effectively. However, unlike other sports, 40 year olds can compete against 25 year olds partially because the cardiovascular element of baseball is a lot lower than other sports. It doesn’t require running for 2 hours.

Re: Astorian: I agree, it would take a special batch of college players (who happened to age extremely well) for that team to work.

[Marley23]

This is a funny but completely ridiculous idea. A lot of these teams have several NBA players, and a couple of 50-year-old guys are not going to be able to score over them or defend them. Spain won’t have Rubio but they’ll have Marc and Pau Gasol. You’re saying a 50-year-old Robinson and a 50-year-old Ewing are going to guard those guys? I’m guessing Tony Parker is going to miss the Olympics too, but France’s starting lineup will have three or four NBA players. Argentina is going to have Ginobili and Luis Scola, and their other starters aren’t as impressive but they’re all NBA names (Oberto, Delfino, Nocioni). Britain has Luol Deng and Ben Gordon. Brazil has Nene, Varejao and Barbossa. No, none of these are anything like the Dream Team, but against a bunch of guys who are pushing 50 and Christian Laettner?