In Beijing, Team USA faces a very competitive field including Spain, Argentina and Lithuania. With the announcement of the American squad, there were a few changes to the line-up from last year.
Jerry Colangelo and the coaching staff added past Olympians Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer to last year’s team. But there are a few questions which remain.
Is D-Wade healthy enough again? Is Chris Paul big enough to play against the much bigger European guards? All of that is secondary because Team USA has the ultimate weapon. Jason Kidd. J-Kidd. Mr. Kidd, the twice named Dallas Maverick who, although he did not bring a ring for Cuba this year, will bring a gold medal back to Dallas despite Mark Cuban’s protestations about NBA players and the Olympics.
Kidd is the ultimate Olympic basketball player. A truly gifted passer who makes everyone on the team, and I do make an emphasis on TEAM, better. Although he does not have any NBA rings, Kidd is a perfect 44-0 in international games and was a gold medalist in 2000 at Sydney.
The triple-double machine plain and simply makes Kobe better (the best player in the world better?) and watch out for the montrous dunks Lebron will lay upon the opponents.
With that said, Boozer and Bosh will bring the toughness and size needed to handle the boards along with Superman’s cape, Dwight Howard.
My main reservation is the number of point guards Team USA have. Do they need three PG’s? Granted, Chris Paul showed everyone how good a playmaker he was this year but at the Worlds he was, well, quite ordinary.
In any event, pencil in Team USA for at least a medal, and most lilkely gold. But just like last year, I am holding the eraser ready if the Greeks make it out of the qualifying round and meet up with Team USA. Watch out for the Pick and Roll.
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