Olympic Basketball Betting Preview – Can U.S. Rekindle Dream Team?

[Shame About Ray]

The U.S. basketball team finalized its roster on Monday, leading to the speculation on whether or not this team can recapture the glory days that made the U.S. a country that took pride in its basketball. The team is headlined by Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, who are supposedly pretty good at the game.



Bryant, fresh off the thrashing that he received at the hands of The Boston Three Party, will be looking to reassert his reputation as the best basketball player in the world. Standing in his way, ironically, will be Pau Gasol and those wily con quistadors from Spain, who stand at +350 sports betting odds to win the gold in Beijing.

The last time around was memorable only because after the highly touted U.S. team was absolutely embarrassed by Puerto Rico, Lithuania and Argentina in the 2000 Olympic games. That team boasted LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and a reluctant Tim Duncan and looked like a herd of lost lambs after their hopes were shattered by Puerto Rico.

This time around, revenge is on the mind of the U.S. Men’s Basketball team as they prepare to cross the ocean and erase the nightmares of the 2000 games for basketball betting fanatics everywhere. In an effort to do so, this team has gone smaller, which was obvious when they selected elite defender Tayshuan Prince over the rebound monster, Tyson Chandler.

The team has Carlos Boozer, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwight “Superman” Howard for size and athleticism. I’m not sure if Tyson Chandler would’ve helped much considering that those four players are far more versatile and much stronger defenders (Melo excluded). The argument is that the U.S. needs size. That argument is idiotic.

What the U.S. team needs to make an online betting difference for sports gamblers is defense and versatility. Prince is a team guy, who excels at playing within a system that allows him to affect games defensively, while complimenting all the slasher-scoring of the U.S. team with his balanced outside shot and high basketball IQ.

The team also boasts Deron Williams and Chris Paul, which is perhaps the only reason that they are a wise investment at -350 to win gold. Nobody in the NBA can cover Deron or CP3. What makes you think anyone in the world could cover these guys?

That will open up an offense that will have a supposedly healthy Wade as well. Jason Kidd is also on the roster, but I’d be extremely surprised if Kidd warranted any playing time with the young guns of the new NBA emerging.

With Spain boasting Gasol, Garbajosa and Calderon, along with much more, they look like very strong candidates to return to the finals. Coach K and Colangelo need to resurrect the reputation of the U.S. men’s team immediately, lest they fall in to the category headlined, “complete joke”.

Considering how stacked the team is, gold is the only option for the U.S. team. Anything less would be considered failure. As confident as you may be about this squad, don’t forget how confident everyone was about the roster four years ago.

Let the game’s begin.

You’ll find the latest 2008 Olympic Basketball odds and lines in the best online sportsbook, BetUS.com.