Regional NBA Squads

First of all, if you haven't read the Collegiate NBA Squads post, check that out first. 

After finishing that, I decided to take this a step further and figure out which region could put together the best team. This meant a bit more effort, as it took looking up where each player was born, and then a bit more effort as I realized that where you're born is not always necessarily where you're "from." For example, Paul Pierce was born in Oakland, California, but is far more often associated with Los Angeles. If there were differences between where a player was born and where they went to high school, I tried to do a little research and determine where they would say they "grew up." Going to Oak Hill Academy does not make you a Virginian (unfortunately). Some players, I decided, didn't have a sufficient enough affiliation with any part of the country or world to make a squad: sorry, Kobe Bryant. That's what you get for being so fucking sophisticated and international. 

Anyways, listed below are the teams, with reserves listed where appropriate:

Metrostars 

New York & New Jersey

PG: Rafer Alston, Ben Gordon

SG: Ron Artest, JR Smith

SF: Lamar Odom, Charlie Villanueva

PF: David West, Troy Murphy

C: Andrew Bynum, Elton Brand

I would have liked to have put together an all-NYC roster, but decided that allowing a little regional variety was better than having to include Stephon Marbury and Bassy Telfair. Overall, this might be the most realistic of the regional teams, in that I could imagine an NBA GM managing to put these guys together. That said, most of the other teams are like All-Star squads, so it doesn't bode well for the success of the Metrostars.

Coffee & Rain

The Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Northern California)

PG: Jason Kidd, Nate Robinson

SG: Brandon Roy, Jason Terry

SF: Marvin Williams, Bruce Bowen

PF: Kevin Love

C: Spencer Hawes

I was pretty surprised at the level of talent coming out of a region not traditionally associated with basketball. Seattle alone boasts Robinson, Roy, Terry, Hawes, and Rodney Stuckey. Still, not a lot of big men coming out of this area, and though Love and Hawes are young and promising, Coffee & Rain will require some frontcourt help before they can compete.

Corn-Fed

The Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri)

PG: Devin Harris, Derrick Rose

SG: Dwyane Wade, Eric Gordon

SF: Andre Iguodala, Caron Butler

PF: Zach Randolph, David Lee

C: Brad Miller, Greg Oden

A large region, and the first that I'd call a contender. Like Coffee & Rain, the frontcourt has some weakness, and their inside success will depend on the development of Oden. Corn-Fed has four fantastic guards, though, (five if you include Caron) and one of the best players in the game in Dwyane Wade.

DMV

DC, Maryland, Virginia

PG: Allen Iverson

SG: Kevin Durant, Jeff Green

SF: Rudy Gay, Grant Hill

PF: Carmelo Anthony, Michael Beasley

C: Roy Hibbert

I could have made a Mid-Atlantic region, or included Virginia in the Atlantic South, but I thought maybe we could hold our own as a region. Depth is obviously an issue here, as is the fact that Durant, Green, Gay, Hill, and 'Melo are all essentially small forwards. Still, the swagger on this squad is phenomenal, and the idea of AI and Grant Hill (the anti-Iverson) as veteran co-leaders makes me laugh.

Country South

Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas

PG: Rajon Rondo, Mo Williams

SG: Joe Johnson, Monta Ellis

SF: Danny Granger, Shawn Marion

PF: Gerald Wallace, Paul Millsap

C: Al Jefferson, Ben Wallace

Perhaps not surprisingly, this is probably my favorite squad. With the exception of Al Jefferson, all of the starters are either Black Prezodents or would-be BPs. This is also a flexible team, able to bring defensive specialists and pure scorers off the bench. This being the Country South, they're also mostly humble dudes, so no problems with superstars co-existing here.

Atlantic South

North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida

PG: Chris Paul, Raymond Felton

SG: Vince Carter, Josh Howard

SF: Tracy McGrady, Josh Smith

PF: Kevin Garnett, Antawn Jamison

C: Dwight Howard, Amare' Stoudemire

This is my pick for the winner. Lots of ACC representation, fitting the region, and lots of damn good basketball. Paul/Garnett/Howard alone is probably enough to win it all for them, even if Carter's motivational issues or McGrady's injury issues become a factor. A Garnett-Howard frontcourt pair could probably keep almost anybody from scoring points in the paint.

Born Commies

The former Eastern Bloc

PG: Beno Udrih

SG: Sasha Vujacic

SF: Peja Stojakovic

PF: Andrei Kirilenko

C: Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Not really a serious contender, but fun to say all these names together nonetheless. 

Rust Belt

Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, West Virginia

PG: OJ Mayo

SG: Michael Redd, Rip Hamilton

SF: John Salmons, James Posey

PF: LeBron James, Hakim Warrick

C: Rasheed Wallace

Thanks God the Rust Belt is shit for b-ball, so that LeBron has a challenge. Luckily, his presence at point-forward can cover up this team's lack of a ball distributor. Still, small size and poor depth make this like the Cavaliers of a few years ago: All LeBron, into the Playoffs but out early.

Fallen Empires

Spain, France, Germany

PG: Tony Parker, Jose Calderon

SG: Rudy Fernandez

SF: Dirk Nowitzki, Nicolas Batum

PF: Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf

C: Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol

This team can definitely hold its own, and has good size up front with Dirk at the 3. The only thing that keeps them out of title contention for me is a lack of depth.

SoCal

Basically L.A.

PG: Baron Davis, Andre Miller

SG: Gilbert Arenas

SF: Paul Pierce, Tayshaun Prince

PF: Tyson Chandler

C: Brook Lopez

I thought about adding the Desert (Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado) into this region, but it ended up not really doing much to help the team and eliminated their claim to the title of highest talent-to-area ratio. Truly amazing that this team is all from within probably 30 miles of each other, but they, like other teams are hampered by a relatively weak inside tandem of Chandler and Lopez. If Brook continues to grow, though, this is a solid team a few years down the road.

Conmebol

Brazil and Argentina

PG: Leandro Barbosa

SG: Manu Ginobili

SF: Andres Nocioni

PF: Luis Scola, Anderson Varejao

C: Nene

Easily the most dramatic team in the tournament, guaranteeing moments of potentially all five starters flopping to the floor.

Lone Star

Texas

PG: Deron Williams, TJ Ford

SG: Stephen Jackson, Boobie Gibson

SF: Rashard Lewis, Anthony Randolph

PF: Chris Bosh

C: Shaquille O'Neal, Emeka Okafor

Our Cluj final match-up was all-Austin, and I suspect the regional final could involve some Texans as well. This is a solid squad from top to bottom, and with Bosh/O'Neal/Okafor, has what a lot of other teams lack: size. These guys squaring off against Howard/Stoudemire/Garnett in the final would be a treat, and would also offer up the classic Paul-Williams match-up. I'd pay to see it: let's make it happen.

So what do y'all think? Who's your winner? Who'd I leave out? What line-up changes would you make? Just how long did I spend on this?