US Olympic Basketball Team

US OLYMPIC BASKETBALL TEAM, June 23, 2008
Today, the US Olympic Basketball team was announced. The team of 12 meant that many NBA stars were left off the squad. One can’t really argue with the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmello Anthony, and Josh Howard you don’t need very much else to have a pretty good chance to win the Gold medal. I have just a few comments on the team: 1) Jason Kidd is the planned starting point guard? During the playoffs for Dallas he was slow, couldn’t guard anyone, and didn’t really score. While his sole role will be to keep the other four guys on the court happy by trying to equally distribute the ball to each of them, there is no way he is one of the top three point guards that the US has. If I am Coach K, I think Chris Paul and Deron Williams both likely play a lot more than Kidd. Chauncey Billups, Gilbert Arenas, or Allen Iverson all seem to be better point guards at this point in time than Kidd. Maybe the coaches are just looking for a veteran presence that won’t act selfishly and will be a role model for the young stars chosen for the team. 2) Lack of dominant center and power forwards – the centers chosen for the team include: Dwight Howard and Carlos Boozer while the sole true power forward is Chris Bosh. Dwight Howard is a star, no question about it. However, there is no dominant defensive center patrolling the paint and just daring opponents to try and drive the lane. Maybe there just isn’t much driving in the international game and in the last Olympics the US was done in by sharp outside shooting, but if my memory is right, Puerto Rican point guard Carlos Arroyo helped PR beat the US with his quickness and his ability to penetrate the lane and if necessary dish to an open outside shooter. This lack of defensive presence might allow opposing point guards to penetrate and if there is no help, either score or pass off to an open shooter. This issue is also a problem if Jason Kidd is in the game and can’t seem to guard anyone. It seems like the selection committee wanted hybrid type players – forwards that can play the 3 or 4 spot, centers that can play the 4 or 5 spot, and guards that can play either the point or shooting guard or the 2 and 3 spot. 3) This is a team of small forwards – Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmello Anthony, Tayshaun Prince all are capable defenders and the first three are dominant scorers. This is where the team will win or lose. If Bryant and James play like they are capable – they are the two best players in all of basketball, the US team has a chance to dominate any opponent. 4) Outside shooting – Michael Redd made this team because he is the best outside shooter and after the problems in Athens; the US team needed someone who can break up a zone defense with lights-out shooting. The hope seems to be that in addition to Redd, that James, Bryant, Anthony, or Dwayne Wade will also be able to hit an open 15 footer. One would assume, based on just the names on the back of the jersey, that the US team will be the favorite for the gold medal. However, it is the Olympics, and strange things typically happen to the US team. Let’s just hope that the twelve players play as a team and put aside personal statistics and just play for the gold medal.