No Dream Team...But Certainly Very Good
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by TLong
Let's establish something right now; the United States Men's Basketball Team WILL NOT lose a game this tournament. The FIBA Tournament of the Americas (an Olympic qualifier) does not feature any world powers outside of the Red, White, and Blue. Argentina's roster is devoid of it's normally potent group, Brazil is missing a few of its NBA players -- and those teams are worse than the United States at full-strength anyway.
However, coming off a disappointing third place finish at last summer's FIBA World Championships, fans of the American team, yours truly definitely included, want to see flashes of greatness. The team hasn't been together quite long enough to mesh perfectly and run as a finely-tuned machine; but there is a boatload of talent on the roster, and things need to be easy for this team.
Wednesday night was a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
Playing a completely overmatched Venezuela team, the U.S. came out strong and never looked back en route to a 112-69 victory. Carmelo Anthony (whom I have nicknamed C.A.-squared...get it? C aptain A merica C armelo A nthony) and Michael Redd tied for a game-high 17 points, and the team looked far better than they did last summer. Kobe Bryant was the best player on the floor, looking motivated and inspired; LeBron James looked flashy and productive, as usual; Jason Kidd looked like a magician with the basketball...no surprise there; Dwight Howard was a man-beast hybrid down low; and Mike Miller and the aforementioned Redd provided an outside shooting threat that had been missing in earlier appearances. Overall, a good night for the team.
There is room for improvement; the ball movement was sloppy at times, too many turnovers, and the shooting percentage was still a bit too low, but those things will come with time and experience playing together. Oh, and it didn't help that the U.S. was up 30 points early and lost the eye of the tiger. Coach Mike Krzyzewski rotated players freely, as there was never a need for a consistent rotation, and guys came in and did a good job of working hard to keep the effort up instead of sitting on the huge lead. When push comes to shove, the best 8-10 players will stay in constant rotation and things will go much more smoothly. This team has the potential to be terrific.
The two guys I most enjoy watching outside of Anthony are Bryant and Kidd. This is Kobe's first time in a U.S. jersey and he is determined to show the world that he is its best player, but he is also anxious to show he can blend in with other talented players. He's learning to juggle that assassin mentality of his with a team concept and the results will be devastating. Jason Kidd has a perfect record in international play, including a gold medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and knows how to get the ball to the right guys in the right situations. Whether on the fast break, in the halfcourt, or just creating on his own, Kidd almost always gets someone a high-percentage shot. His ability to set up other players time after time after time will be an improvement over the inconsistent guard play of last summer.
This United States team is a dynamic group and has all the parts necessary to be tremendous. The talent is there, the swagger is there, the camaraderie is there, and most of all, the hunger is there. These guys are determined to show everyone that United State basketball is still the best in the world, and will stop at nothing to get that point across. After breezing through the Tournament of the Americas, they will turn their attention to Beijing in 2008 to deliver their message on the world's largest stage.
Get ready, world, after a couple hiccups the past several years, the world's greatest basketball superpower is back.
