The U.S.A Basketball team are fairly confident this year, with the new addition of Kobe Bryant and the veteran Jason Kidd. Unfortunately, the U.S. have not captured the gold since 2000 in Sydney. Despite years of disappointment, the U.S. team is heavily favored to win the gold this year and bring back dominance to the Americas. And I’m extremely confident that they will.
D-Wade, Melo, and King James relaxing on the bench
The only problem I think we’ll have will be on the defensive, low-post end. There are only three “big” guys, and one true center. Bosh and Boozer are natural power forwards, but they will be backing Dwight on the center position. As long as our key scorers score consistently, it shouldn’t be a major problem. The U.S. crushed Canada in their debut of the exhibition match, resulting in a 120-65 victory. But Canada (no offense) is one of the weakest international teams, so the U.S. cannot be judged from this game. The team plays their first team, China, in the preliminary round on August 10, 2008.
This year’s roster consists of:
Jason Kidd (PG) – A true leader for the team being the only gold medalist on the entire squad. He has a record of 38-0 which he expects to only improve after this year. As a point guard, he’s very unselfish and will successfully operate the plays and get the ball to the big guys. Expect to see him and King James execute sick plays.
Kobe Bryant (SG) – Arguably the “best” player in the world by many people around the globe. This year’s MVP and owner of three NBA rings with the LA Lakers. Although he is a relentless scorer, he will play a key defender in the games. Yes, he will be a consistent scorer as well. But his main objective will be to lock down on his opponent and pressure the other team.
LeBron James (SF) – The leading scorer of the 07-08 NBA season. I predict King James as one of the leading scorers of the team. He dominates the paint so well and isn’t afraid to work on the inside. In Cleveland, he is undoubtedly a one-man team. He sat out during the exhibition match against Canada due to a sprained ankle. But reports from ESPN have said it is nothing serious and he should recover fine before their first game.
Carmelo Anthony (PF) – Many people believe he is one of the best international players on the roster. In the FIBA World Championship, he posted 19.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 1.6 apg; and in the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, he racked up 21.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg and 1.4 apg. After watching him dominate in the game against Canada, it’s hard not to say he won’t be a major component of the team. Although he manages to put up points, he is often criticized for his lack of defense. As we saw in this year’s playoff, the Nuggets were swept 4-0 by the Lakers. One of the biggest reasons for their losses was the poor quality of defense. But Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski has strongly emphasized on improving their defense, specifically the pick-and-roll, which I am very happy about.
Dwight Howard (C) – Probably the best center in the league as of this year. He is such a dominant figure in the post, there’s no denying he will be a BIG problem for the opposing team. He averaged 20.7 ppg, 14.2 rpg, and 2.1 blocks per game. There is no doubt he will be one of, if not the most important player on the defensive end. Like many other centers, he has a low free-throw percentage. But that’s where Bosh and Boozer will come in when teams attempt to perform a Hack-a-Shaq on Dwight.
Reserves: Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Michael Redd, and Tayshaun Prince.
Chris Paul is going to lead in assists during the 2008 Olympics. I’m just going to say that right now. He leads the team so well in transition and can beautifully execute plays. Playing his first game since his injury, D-Wade destroyed Canada during the first half of the game. I was very impressed by him and almost forgot how amazing he was. Deron Williams will be another player to execute plays. Bosh and Boozer are probably not going to put up many points on the board, but will be key players on the defensive end. Of all the players in the exhibition match, I was most impressed by Michael Redd. He scored three pointers after three pointers like they were foul shots. The three-point line in international games are shorter than the NBA 3-pt lines, but still. That man can shoot! As I mentioned earlier, many analysts comment on the fact the team only has three “big” men. If I had to choose one player to replace, I would probably pick Tayshaun. He is a great defender and good player overall, but I would have preferred to see Tyson Chandler or another center on the roster.
Like I said, I’m very confident that the U.S. will home the gold. I’m really, really, really looking forward to the Olympics this year. Tune in on August 10 for their first Olympic game against China!
I agree with your analysis. My one question after watching the Canada game will be the rotation. First of all, I’m excited that Coach K (unlike Larry Brown) seems to trust all 12 of his players and will use the whole bench, but I really liked what we did with having CP3 and Deron playing together. Is that going to continue when Lebron comes back and DWade is on the bench? Will Wade basically be a starter and that second unit of CP3, Deron, Redd, Prince, and Bosh stays together or will he come in with the second wave and one of the pg’s gets squeezed on minutes. I hope the former but don’t know how Mike plans to work it out
By: Andrew Langevine on July 28, 2008
at 7:27 PM
First off, I appreciate the comment! Second, I unfortunately don’t have the official answers to your questions lol. But, in my opinion, I think they’re still going to use Wade as the Sixth Man. The reason he started against Canada was because James had a sprained ankle injury and they did not want to risk him getting hurt. So they replaced James with Wade as the starter in the game as SF. But as we saw, Wade definitely has potential as a starter. Unfortunately, for Wade, James is a stronger starter. Although Wade won’t start, I’m sure he’ll still receive a lot of playing time. And for the second question, I’m not sure if they will continue to put CP3 and D-Will together. Personally, I didn’t like them together. I preferred Paul running the point and then having Kobe or Redd play the 2-guard instead of D-Will which he was essentially playing. Thank you commenting and keep checking for new posts!
By: on July 28, 2008
at 8:08 PM
me like me like.
i am agree with you.
but me think different ideas.
1) LeBron James, not Carmelo, will rise as one of the “… best international players in the roster.” James has a certain type of physique which can create many mismatches on the court from positions 1 through 5. If I remember, it was Barkley who became an unstoppable force for the Dream Team. I am willing to put my pennies worth that LeBron will showcase the same undisputed dominance on the court. Carmelo will have his games of amazing scoring but those gates can close. LeBron, however, has his gates wide open.
2) Although it would be a great advantage for Team USA to have Tyson Chandler, I believe Howard is just the right guy for the job. Indeed Howard is not a 7 footer, but Howard has a lot more athletic ability than Tyson Chandler. Chandler worked wonders for the New Orleans Hornets this year with Chris Paul? But imagine if you replaced Chandler with Howard. A duo of Paul and Howard would work miracles on the court. What Team USA lacks in height is compensated with a youthful roster of raw talent. Howard will become just as effective as Tyson Chandler can ever be simply because of the pointguard pool consisting of Paul, Williams, and Kidd.
3) Tayshaun Prince is a necessity for Team USA. Simply put, there are no expectations from him. A team consisting of Wade, LeBron, Carmelo, Bryant, and Howard will bring high expectations. What can Prince bring that the others cannot? A personality of selfishness on both ends of the court. Defensively, he is a beast. Offensively, he is a factor. Anything else he brings will be more than enough. Prince is athletic with a very long wingspan. He can run the court and, depending on the opponents, defend positions 1 through 5. Prince is expendable; any coach would rather put Prince as the defensive specialist instead of risking the high caliber talent of Kobe, LeBron, and etc.
4) I expect several things from Team USA.. if not.. wishes..
a: During the Olympics, LeBron will try to gain as much playing time as possible with any of the 3 point guards. Just the ability to participate playing time with Kidd, Paul, and Williams will lighten his soul.
b: Dwight Howard will become greater than he is. This may be the first time Howard will be surrounded by talented and unselfish players, let alone the point guards. Howard will see play after play after play. Howard will realize his anxieties and physical pressures decrease when playing with better passers. Everyday he will desire to play with those type players again, possibly in Magic uniform. Something he might want to consider when entering the 08/09 season.
The End. Moar 2 come.
I herd u liek mudkipz.
Response to: SouljaBoyTellem
I enjoyed reading your response and I agree with most of your points.
1) I might have made it very subtle that LeBron James is one of my favorite players. Well, he is. I know that LeBron is going to perform extraordinary and I will not be surprised to see him put up ridiculous numbers. I mentioned Melo as the most successful referring to the past games as well. Although it’s a very close race, I think Melo has a better international record. But hey, that’s just my opinion. Don’t forget that Melo did receive USA Basketball’s Male Athlete of the Year after his stellar performence at the FIBA World Championship.
2) I think you may have misinterpreted my section on Chandler. I absolutely would never, never, never take Howard off the roster, let alone the starting position as center. And to add to that, I live in Orlando so you know I’m an Orlando Magic fan that was chanting with the crowd “MVP!” whenever Dwight took his foul shots. What I was saying is that I would have replaced Prince with Chandler, regarding to the favoring of size, which leads me to 3)
3) Tayshaun is a sick defender. That’s the truth. He had some AMAZING defense plays against Turkoglu and Evans. But, I disagree on your statement about delivering. This is my answer to your question asking “What can Prince bring that the others cannot?” He does not put the same amount of numbers and skills as other dominant forwards. Don’t get me wrong, he has made it to the NBA All-Defensive Team for four years in a row…but in the Second Team level. That’s still a very impressive achievement and I respect that very much.
4) I hope he never leaves Orlando.
and no I do not like mudkipz
By: SouljaBoyTellem on July 29, 2008
at 6:37 AM
I agree with most of what you said. Center position is gonna be the weak point of this team, with Howard as the sole center. We lack depth in the paint!
By: on July 29, 2008
at 8:01 AM
it’s great that the U.S.A has some good players this year but it’s no 2000 dream team and the world doesnt play Basketball how it use to. thanks to the US.
Argentina!!! vamos carajo!!
By: on July 29, 2008
at 10:48 AM
hey nice analysis.
however, it’s never been a question (or not so much) of the material quality. USA Basketball always sent better individual players than their opponents.
what the US players lack is the intangibles: the way they adapt to adversity, their knowledge of international players, how much they’re willing to rely on the team rather than taking over individually. Adding Kidd and KB doesn’t improve the mix in my opinion. Kidd is washed up, he will suffer against younger pG, and KB is…well, he’s KB : you don’t know what to expect from him. He can throw a fit and decide to go at it by himself, like he did in the 2004 finals, or he can fold under perimeter pressure like he did in the Finals this year. DHoward is unexeperienced, Booz is no a winner. The only positive addition I see is Chris Paul. This young fella is the real deal. But then again, he has no international experience.
Honestly, let’s not start celebrating right away. There is a long road to go down, and three major challenge still lie ahead of them :
1/Understand and put into practice the fact that the whole is better than the sum of its parts.
2/ Find the inner strength to stick to a system whenthings go rough.
3/ Know the opponents, and I mean not only their name but their strengths, weaknesses, which side they prefer most, do they have shooting range, are they better off the dribble or catch and shoot…
4/ bonus : DEFEND the PICK AND ROLL
This is what you need at the level. And until now, Russia, Argentina, Greece, Spain and even Lithuania have performed better in this regard.
Look out, America!
Response to bandito:
I was very interested in your comment. Yes, you made a very good point which I also agree. The players on the US roster are individually better players than most of the other international players. However, teamwork wins games, not the players. So yes, there is a disadvantage to the US regarding teamwork since they all come from different NBA teams (excluding D-Will and Boozer). And I completely agree with your four points you listed at the bottom. Thanks for the comment and keep checking for new posts!
By: bandito on July 29, 2008
at 11:21 AM
Nice breakdown. However, the pick-n-roll was one of the US’s biggest probs in the FIBA games. ANd guess what US player is best at defending the pick-n-roll? Did you say Prince? Tell him what he’s won Johnny!!
I agree that Chandler should be on the squad- just not over Prince. If you take away anybody, take away Boozer. He’s too short to play center & won’t be needed at the 4, with LeBron & Melo collecting minutes there. Bosh is also a natural 4 & if Chandler were playing, Bosh would play there. Bosh would only have to worry about playing center if both Howard & Chandler were in foul trouble. Make sense?
By: Zeek on July 30, 2008
at 6:28 PM