From: bewillia@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Maj. Devon McKnight)
Subject: Re: Australias would heve beaten dream team
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 92 11:36:48 EDT

Bryan Lip writes:

>australia defeated puerto rico by 40 points, which was 2 points more
>than what the USA could do... 38 points

	No, that was 2 points more than what the USA _did_.  I honestly
think that the Dream Team, had it wanted to, could have beaten them by, oh,
fifty or sixty, had they really wanted to.

>which proves if the dream team played australia, i feel australia would
>be the team closest to beat the USA , even maybe, kick their asses.
>i hoped and prayed australia played USA.... (honestly!!! (barkley!!))

	That proves nothing.  A couple of years ago, the LA Clippers beat the
LA Lakers in a game at the Forum.  The LA Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics.
Thus, the LA Clippers were better than the Boston Celtics, right?  Well, the
C's wandered into the Clips' home court and laid the archetypal shellacing of
a bad team on them.
	Okay, that's a little extreme.  Last year, Milwaukee gave Chicage fits,
for some ungodly reason.  Did that mean that Milwaukee was the best team in the
NBA, or at least the second best, having played about as well as anyone against
the strongest team in the league?  Nope.

>
>and remember australia also kicked the germans butts, by 30 points.
>so just remember, stop discrimminating the australian team until you see
>their potential....

	The Australians do have a lot of potential.  But I find it difficult to
believe that _any_ team in the Olympics _this_ year, the future notwith-
standing, could have beaten Team USA.  
	I do think they could have given the US a game, and kept it close, if 
not for the entire game, for a good chunk of it.  But in the end, the US would
have emerged on top.


>andrew gaze: guard, played for the seatle supersonics, italian side,
>Udine, NBL side, Melb. Tigers.

	No, Gaze never played in the NBA, for Seattle or anybody else.

>lucian J. Longley : college star for new mexico, drafted 7th in NBA last
>season, and is now playing in the NBA with the minessotta t-wolves.

	And getting some pretty serious sores on his bum from sitting on the
bench behind Felton Spencer.  At this point, Longley has not proven by any
stretch of the imagination that he can play at the NBA level.

>australia, was well and capable of defeating the USA, and giving them
>the biggest nightmare, just australia needs a new direction from now to
>atlanta and for sydney 2000, a new coach, and assistant, some new youth
>(lots of it that aust. aren't using) and inject some more class into
>australia's team, by playing more international games, and showing how
>good australia really is....

	Australia was well and capable of defeating the USA, had they fielded
an all-college team, as they had in years past.  But they didn't.  The Dream
Team was just too strong this year for anything that any country could throw
at it.  
	As you went over some tidbits about the Aussie team, I would think it
repetitive to go over the merits of the Dream Team.  Michael Jordan, Charles
Barkley, Magic Johnson... my God, the lineup was nothing short of mythic.

>comments welcome!

	And it stands for me, too.

>Blip@tartarus.uwa.edu.au

				- Dev