USA NT NOT PLAYING IN 2012 OLY???

[Raze Lupin]

Maybe I am wrong, but the "stars" rnt playing for NT for years now,

True the Redeem team of '08 Olympic gold with Kobe, LeBron etc.. did not show up to '10 world cup BUT USA has new "younger" stars that won gold and were undefeated. Kevin Love, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook etc.. The "Stars" are not needed.

the NBA is threaten with a lock-out,

NBA has had Lockout before and USA basketball has survived. A lockout will not stop children from playing or stop Colleges from playing. NBA is only the the top of basketball here in the US. The fondation is still very strong. Junior leagues, High school, NAIA, NCAA etc This is more important than NBA. NBA is small by comparison. I don't think foreigners understand this they only know NBA.

season is too long and NT doesn't have preparations.

Yes I agree! The NBA season is too long. Causes more injuries and fatigue. In my humble opinion USA will not win Gold in 2012 Olympics with no preperation. If all other countries send their best teams. We are in trouble. I beieve in USA depth but there is so much talent in the world

every country has special players!

And the most important, the world economic crisis will most likely lead to "less money for sport" and what will super-stars do then?

This is an important fact that effects the entire world. The world has endured similar problems before. In USA history during the great depression the popularity of sports increased. When people are poor or sad watching and playing sports make them happy. Many poor countries have great sports tradition. I think the players will be forced to play for less money and find other sources of income. American basketball is not soely about the "Super-stars" Its about the development of players, its about the children, the High-school system, Junior league system(s) University system. USA basketball is about love of the game. Americans love basketball and as long as there is interest in the sport there USA will remain competitive. For example Brasil, Argentina and other countries may not be rich BUT they have some of the best soccer/Futbol in the world! Brasil and Argentina also have great basketball. So yes USA will be fine in the long-term..

Just my opinion like everything else here...

I'm sure most everyone welcomes your opinions. Thank you for sharing them. It is good to hear different opinions. I hope things work well for new Serbian federation president. I hear Serbian federation chooses new president on April 18th, 2011. The only canidate is Dragan Dijilas. Hopefully this will be good for stronger infrastructure.