No one thing was directly responsible for Team USA’s turnaround. It wasn’t just having one of the best point guards of all time running the show. It wasn’t just having the player with the largest competitive streak/killer mentality this side of Jordan. It wasn’t just having one of the top shooters in the NBA to spread defenses. It wasn’t just having freak of nature athletes running all over the place and holding down the post positions. It sure as hell was not Coach K.
It was a combination of everything. Kudos to Jerry Colangelo for not only putting this team together but for getting the elite guys to commit. Sure it took losing to really get the turnaround going, but still. I mean honestly, everyone who played on Team USA saw their stock rise. And a guy like Chris Bosh (who couldn’t play) or even a D-Wade saw their stock take a minor hit. Do they really need those guys next year? Do they need Chris Paul, why not stick with Deron Williams? The time of KG, Iverson and Duncan on Team USA has come and gone. So you’re wrong Coup, I don’t think Duncan would’ve fit very well with this team full of young lions.
Team USA was a well-oiled killing machine. Very similar to Beatrix Kiddo in the way they sliced and diced up the competition. It wasn’t the fact that they won, it was how the won it. In dominant fashion and with such ease. They looked incredibly smooth in every single game. There was never a game when Team USA was not in control. Think back to the 04 Olympics. I remember waking up early in the morning to watch them play. And I felt nervous. I never felt like they were in control. These guys, it was a matter of when they were going to pull away not if.
Its easy to give all the praise to Kobe and to say he brought the killer mentality. I would agree with that, Team USA with Kobe is a million times better than Team USA without him. But let us not forget about Carmelo Anthony. You have got to give a lot of credit to Melo. The man was on a mission of redemption. There is a reason why they went to Melo to set the tone offensively. He was a complete assassin, some of the things he did were sick. Ditto for LeBron. He made people forget about the Finals, and if his jumper finally makes its debut…oh lord Cavs back in the Finals? Hell no. Those three together…*shudder* I refuse to call him the best player on the planet, but I applaud Kobe Bryant. That is the Kobe Bryant that can be admired. A team player, a leader, a defender, a competitor and someone who you just do not want to play against. Period.
My question right now is what do you do? Do you subtract guys? Do you add? Do you take Battier over Prince? How about Joe Johnson over Mike Miller? Do you replace Chauncey and Deron with Chris Paul and Kirk Hinrich? I would be a fan of bringing as many of the guys from this team back. Why? Because this Team USA was a TEAM. This wasn’t Dream Team 2 or the 2000 team who just overpowered people because we were better than everyone else. This was a team similar to the 92 team in the realm that they were a freakin unit. You could tell they united and bonded over the entire experience and I think a Team USA with great chemistry is unstoppable. You’ve got the right guys in the right places willing to sacrifice for each other..I wouldn’t mess with that Mr. Colangelo.
The Tournament of Americas may have come to a close, but International Basketball is still up and running. Starting today is EuroBasket 2007 aka the Euro Olympic qualifier. This will be a grand chance to see just how good the competition really is because the field is stacked. France, Germany, the ever dangerous Greece. Let’s not forget about Italy, Turkey, Lithuania and Spain. The L will be well represented over in Spain over the next two weeks. I couldn’t tell you who would win this without seeing them play. Any European team can get the job done in a two-week span so we will just have to see what happens.
Oh and Coup I knew that tennis jab was coming. No worries, with Maria Sharapova choking and Andy Roddick on a death march to Roger Federer I don’t see me talking too much more about it. Ditto for the WNBA. Once Becky Hammon went down and the best series ended it also died. It’s all about the pigskin.