Can US Bring the Gold Medal Come Back Home?

Since the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia the United States has struggled in International basketball. In 2002 they did not medal in the World Championships, in the 2004 Athens Olympics they struggled their way to a bronze medal, and in 2006 World Championships they once again gathered bronze. This has been a far cry from what we have come to expect from the sport that the United States has dominated since it's inclusion in International events. After the 4 years of embarrassment, the USA Basketball Association decided to implement a program that the ultimate goal was to inspire a patriotic spirit, continuity, and s sense of pride back to the United States Basketball program.

Talent has not been an issue as the US has used NBA players since the 1988 Olympics. But as the results have shown it has not been about talent, but more about playing as a team, and the overall improvement of the world in basketball. Unlike the original Dream team in 1992, other international teams are no longer in awe of the United States. So the days of just rolling the ball out to some stars and letting them go man-handle the competition is long gone. International payers are coming over in record numbers to play in the NBA, so when they go back and play for their countries, they have a comfort level that they can compete on a nightly basis with these players.

So the US team consists of some stars, and some role-players, and as past years have shown they have a couple of consistent outside shooters on the roster. After watching the United States play their first exhibition game versus Canada last night, there were things to be optimistic about, and others that were a little troubling.

On the positive side of things, from the second quarter on, the United States played with a focus, and an intensity that the Canadians could not match as they cruised to a 120-65 win. Although the Canadians had many players that had played Division-I basketball, and in the pro ranks in overseas, the talent differential was apparent to even the most pedestrian of basketball fans. The team defense was impressive as the Americans forced team Canada into 24 turnovers, that led to many fast break points. They also looked to play unselfishly, and players on the bench cheered their teammates on after big plays.

The only problem I saw with the USA basketball team was the continuity in the half-court offense. Sometimes early on in the game, the ball would seem to come to a stand still. The playmakers for the US are supremely talented, and most are the best player on their respective team, so they are use to isolations and taking the big shots. So the bal movement suffered. I am assuming that the coaching staff mentioned something about this, so then the US started "over passing." And by over passing I mean that good, open shots were being passed on by capable scorers. Hopefully a balance can be struck during the exhibition schedule before the 2008 Beijing Olympics start.