Last summer's FIBA World Championships didn't go as planned for the United States. A semifinal loss to Greece forced it to settle for the bronze medal, feeding the growing belief that although this country still houses the world's best league and top players, it's no longer home to the best team.
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| Kobe and Carmelo look to build a winning foundation with Team USA. (Getty Images) |
On paper, having some semblance of order and a three-year commitment required for all aspiring team members is a good thing. USA Basketball director Jerry Colangelo is a winner, and his organizational skills and experience in the game make him a strong choice to lead the program. As far as coaching goes, you can do far worse than Krzyzewski, regardless of where you side on the debate over whether an NBA guy should be in charge.
One thing that can be agreed upon is that watching Spain receive gold medals at the World Championship was not part of the equation. A few players I talked to confided that it was painful to watch another country win basketball gold. One didn't know where his bronze medal was.
The future of USA basketball -- LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard -- put on a good show but fell short. Since only the reigning world champion and Olympic host are currently guaranteed spots in Beijing, the Americans have work to do in Las Vegas, where the FIBA Americas Championship begins next Wednesday. The U.S. needs to get to the championship game to secure an Olympic bid, with its stiffest competition likely to come from Brazil, Puerto Rico and Argentina, which is missing most of its key regulars.
Circumstances have limited the cohesion the three-year commitment was designed to cultivate. Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups were among the players who couldn't participate in the new regime's first international competition, while Elton Brand, Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson, Chris Paul, Bosh and Wade are unable to go because of injuries this time around. Bosh was slated to be a major part of the American big man rotation but had to withdraw Wednesday because of plantar fascitis in his left foot.
Team USA's roster for the event, which runs through Sept. 2, needs to be finalized by Tuesday. Bryant is the headliner, expected to provide the consistent scoring threat that has been missing in previous international competitions. James and Anthony, tri-captains alongside Wade last summer, also return.
Expect the U.S. coaching staff to carefully monitor how those three co-exist, considering they figure to be the regulars alongside a point guard (Jason Kidd or Billups) and a center (Dwight Howard or Stoudemire) in the preferred American lineup.
As strange as it sounds, Bryant will be making his national team debut despite a decade of NBA service. For a variety of reasons ranging from injury-related to personal, he has been unable to participate until now, so he's relishing the opportunity to get accustomed to the rule changes and learn the system.
Tayshaun Prince, Mike Miller, Michael Redd, Tyson Chandler, Nick Collison, Kevin Durant and Deron Williams will likely round out the final roster, getting their opportunity to show they deserve to be there to represent the country in the 2008 Olympics.
Chandler might benefit greatly from Bosh's absence, giving him an opportunity to impress the U.S. coaches by supplying an imposing shot-blocking presence that was missing from last year's FIBA squad. Howard and Stoudemire are great athletes, but neither has the natural timing for swatting shots that Chandler has developed.
The presence of long-range snipers Redd and Miller is another welcome addition given how much the Americans have struggled against zone defenses in international play.
It's nice to see that some solid adjustments have been made after the letdown in Japan, and hopefully the few holdovers from that team will make strides as far as the nuances of FIBA rules are concerned. Given the level of competition, finishing in the top two of a 10-team field that includes powerhouses Venezuela, Mexico, Uruguay and the Virgin Islands doesn't sound like much of a challenge, so most of the next few weeks for USA Basketball will be all about progress and looking forward to 2008.
Then again, given how the national team has performed of late in a sport it used to own, nothing can be taken for granted.
