2008 United States men's Olympic basketball team

The men's national basketball team of the United States won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. They qualified for the Olympics by winning the FIBA American Championships 2007 held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team was nicknamed the "Redeem Team", a play on an alternative name for the legendary 1992 squad that was called the "Dream Team", and a reference to the fact that the United States came away with disappointing Bronze Medals during the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Kobe Bryant was named the team captain and Mike Krzyzewski was named the head coach of the 2008 team. LeBron James, called the "voice of the U.S. team" by Time, stated: "It's the gold, or it's failure."[1] An ESPN program, Road to Redemption, followed the team's preparations.

2008 United States men's Olympic basketball team
Basketball at the Summer Olympics season
Head coachMike Krzyzewski
2008 Summer Olympics
Scoring leader Dwyane Wade
16.0
Rebounding leader Chris Bosh
6.9
Assists leader Chris Paul
4.0
The USA Men's Basketball Team on August 10, 2008.

The United States defeated Spain 118–107 in the final to win the gold. Dwyane Wade was the leading scorer for team USA averaging 16 points per game.[2]

The withdrawal of all major stars prior to the 2004 Olympics and an embarrassing performance of those young and inexperienced who were called to replace them prompted USA Basketball to change its approach to the formation of a national team. As a result, the organization initiated a long-term project that saw NBA players committing to play for the team long before the start of the 2008 Olympics (instead of hastily accepting invitations merely weeks prior to the start of the tournament). Many 2008 Olympians participated in the 2007 Americas championships, where the US won gold, thus qualifying for the Olympics. The final roster featured eleven NBA All-Stars, a Hall of Fame coach, and two NBA MVPs.

Record

Preliminary Round

The team competed in Group B of the Preliminary Round

Team W L PF PA PD Pts
 United States 50515354+16110
 Spain 41418369+499
 Greece 32415375+408
 China 23366400−347
 Germany 14330390−606
 Angola 05321477−1565
August 10, 2008
United States 101 – 70 China
August 12, 2008
Angola 76 – 97 United States
August 14, 2008
United States 92 – 69 Greece
August 16, 2008
Spain 82 – 119 United States
August 18, 2008
United States 106 – 57 Germany

Tournament bracket
Quarterfinals
(August 20, 2008) 		Semifinals
(August 22, 2008) 		Gold medal game
(August 24, 2008)
         
A2  Argentina 80
B3  Greece 78
A2  Argentina 81
B1  United States 101
B1  United States 116
A4  Australia 85
B1  United States 118
B2  Spain 107
B2  Spain 72
A3  Croatia 59
B2  Spain 91
A1  Lithuania 86
A1  Lithuania 94
B4  China 68

Roster

The following is the United States roster in the men's basketball tournament of the 2008 Summer Olympics.[3]

United States men's national basketball team – 2008 Summer Olympics roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
F 4 Boozer, Carlos 26 – (1981-11-20)November 20, 1981 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Utah Jazz
G 5 Kidd, Jason 35 – (1973-03-23)March 23, 1973 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Dallas Mavericks
F 6 James, LeBron 23 – (1984-12-30)December 30, 1984 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Cleveland Cavaliers
G 7 Williams, Deron 24 – (1984-03-24)March 24, 1984 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Utah Jazz
G 8 Redd, Michael 28 – (1979-08-24)August 24, 1979 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Milwaukee Bucks
G 9 Wade, Dwyane 26 – (1982-01-17)January 17, 1982 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Miami Heat
G 10 Bryant, Kobe (C) 29 – (1978-08-23)August 23, 1978 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Los Angeles Lakers
C 11 Howard, Dwight 22 – (1985-12-08)December 8, 1985 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) Orlando Magic
F/C 12 Bosh, Chris 24 – (1984-03-24)March 24, 1984 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) Toronto Raptors
G 13 Paul, Chris 23 – (1985-05-06)May 6, 1985 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) New Orleans Hornets
F 14 Prince, Tayshaun 28 – (1980-02-28)February 28, 1980 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) Detroit Pistons
F 15 Anthony, Carmelo 24 – (1984-05-29)May 29, 1984 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Denver Nuggets
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on August 9, 2008

References
  1. Sean Gregory (July 24, 2008). "1. LeBron James - 100 Olympic Athletes To Watch". Time Magazine. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  2. https://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/teams/USA/2008
  3. "2008 Olympic Basketball Men (FIBA) – United States roster". FIBA. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
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