Ramble On ...

In case you missed my Basketball 24/7 column this week, here it is in text form:

USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo and USA senior national team coach Mike Krzyzewski held a press conference Monday at the national Italian-American sports Hall of Fame in Chicago to name the 12-member team that will be nominated to the United States Olympic Committee for the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

The site of the announcement was significant because in June 2005, Colangelo brought a group of USA Basketball's past and present together to help decide its future. They met in Colangelo's former hometown of Chicago where the newly appointed USA executive sought advice from past Olympians and Olympic team coaches. He realized that people like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, along with former coaches Chuck Daly of the 1992 gold medal team, Lenny Wilkens of the '96 gold medal team and John Thompson of the 1988 bronze medal team, could provide insight into the massive changes that took place in the world of basketball between 1988 and 2008.

Colangelo and Krzyzewski brought their Olympic agenda full-circle by reconvening at the little-known sports hall to announce the 12 players invited to USA's mid-July training. As long as the 12 players remain healthy, the same group will head to Beijing to attempt to win the Olympic gold medal in men's basketball, a tournament that is sure to be one of the toughest medals to be earned in the history of any sport.

The 2008 USA team is deeper and stronger than the 2006 World Championship squad that Colangelo first assembled. While the past week's sports headlines focused on USA mainstays Lebron James and Dwyane Wade anchoring the team, two other players will be the keys to success for the Americans. Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant are the two players who set a special tone for the US during the summer of 2007 when they raised the level of intensity, competitiveness and overall performance of the team.

Kidd boasts a 44-0 record as a member of the United States' senior national team. He brought his years of international experience along to help set a standard for the 2007 team and literally changed the way the team prepared for games and executed during games. He was named the USA's athlete of the year for his contributions to the 2007 Olympic qualifying squad.

"Jason was a tremendous addition to the USA Men's Senior National Team program," said Krzyzewski. "His veteran leadership and focus were critical in our success, and his court vision is as good as I've ever seen. He is a joy to coach and when he is on the court it is literally like having a coach on the floor. With Jason directing our offense and distributing the ball, we were able to utilize all of our offensive talents and that made us as a team very successful."

In tandem with Kidd, Bryant, who will be playing in his first major international tournament this summer, also raised the bar for the Americans in terms of team competitiveness. Bryant significantly raised the level of team defense and intensity. He is, by far, the best player on the team and it showed in every USA Basketball game and practice session last summer. Trust me, I've seen every USA senior team game since 1992 and Bryant is "that" good.

Together, Kidd and Bryant formed a new core for the team and provided the US with added experience and the confidence of veteran leadership that James, Wade and fellow team captain Carmelo Anthony could not muster. Although the tri-captains played at very high levels in Sapporo and Tokyo in the summer of 2006, they lacked international experience and game tested skills. They each performed admirably, practiced hard and led by example at the 2006 World Championship. Wade had just completed his NBA Finals MVP performance and was surely championship ready. But, when faced with bigger, stronger opponents, especially at the guard position (against Chris Paul and Kirk Hinrich), the USA could not counter.

In 2007, Kidd and Bryant's presence allowed James and Anthony to 'just play basketball' and it took the weight of the world off their shoulders.

Not to be lost in the shuffle from 2006-to-2008 is the addition of Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz. Williams' game might be the most adaptable to the international style of play of any player added to the USA squad. His size and strength will allow the US to match-up better against older, stronger backcourts. The US found that to be their main concern when they lost to Greece in 2006. In addition, Tayshawn Prince of the Detroit Pistons will be another key addition to the USA team on the defensive end of the floor. Prince can defend any international player at any position, except center. He plays a type of team defense that correlates to the international game. Prince complements his teammates, hits shots when he is open and rarely turns the ball over.

Another key area of concern for the Americans during the 2006 World Championship and the 2004 Olympic Games was their lack of outside shooting. For 2008, the additional of Michael Redd should change that dramatically. Redd excelled during the 2007 Americas Olympic qualifying tournament and impressed Coach K and Colangelo with his shooting and team play.

The possible shortcoming of the 2008 team is the lack of frontcourt size and depth. While Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer and Chris Bosh are all among the elite frontcourt players in the world, injury or foul trouble anywhere along the way and at the Olympics could become a detriment to the team in Beijing.

The Americans will rely on speed, full-court defensive pressure and intensity to wear down their opponents over the 40-minute game. Outside shooting by Anthony, Redd, Bryant and Prince will open up the middle for Wade, James and the frontcourt scorers. Paul should have a field day coming in off the bench to raise the tempo of each game along with Wade.

Still, the pressure will be on the Americans as they seek to reclaim the gold and an ounce of redemption from three major tournaments past, the disappointing third place finish in Japan in '06, the dose o reality bronze medal finish in Athens in '04 and the embarrassing sixth place finish at the World Championship at Indianapolis in the summer of 2002.

Their fellow Americans proudly recite the fact that the USA is 114-5 in Olympic play and 29-3 since 1992 when NBA players were allowed to participate alongside professionals from the rest of the world. But, for some reason, American sports fans still cling to the notion that the gold medal somehow 'belongs' to the USA before the games begin and that the game of basketball itself is played at higher levels in the US than in the rest of the world.

While that might have been true in 1956 and 1992 and others days of yesteryear, the rest of the world has been playing at a very high level since the early '90s and a half-dozen or more countries deserve serious respect as medal contenders. If you doubt that fact, you might note that the USA has struggled at every level of international play in recent years. If you still disagree, please see the Pan Am Game losses by a strong group of NCAA level stars to Panama and Uruguay in 2007 as exhibit 1-A.

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The USA team will be conducting press conferences and unveiling new uniforms along with their apparel supplier, Nike, this Monday at Rockefeller Center. I wonder if NBC Sports will be smart enough to cover it? NBC has ignored the USA Basketball team during its training over the past two years.

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