Team USA Basketball: All the Right Choices

The choices made for the 2008 "Dream Team" for USA Basketball were the right ones.

The primary difference between this year's and the last Olympics' U.S. team is that this one has been selected in order to win at INTERNATIONAL Basketball. The inclusion of Tayshaun Prince and Michael Redd prove this. Neither player truly dominates the game in the way that the other players on this roster do. These players were chosen because their particular skill set translates better into the international game.

More important than the players that were included were those who were not included. Most notoriously absent from the list were Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics and Tyson Chandler of the New Orleans Hornets.

Leaving these players off of the roster demonstrates that USA Basketball has now realized that a different strategy needs to be utilized in order to win at the international game. By taking a look at why these two players were not chosen will help demonstrate the ways how the international game is different and requires a different strategy.

Winning at International Basketball requires quick guards to defend the point guards of international teams. Guys like Carlos Arroyo are quicker models patterned after Steve Nash and Jason Kidd.

Players like Arroyo shoot the lights out and can get to the hole. Once they break down the first level of defense, they can distribute and score at will. Bigger, European slashing guards, like Manu Ginobili, also require a faster defender. International refs call the game much more tightly. 

Now, I don't want to call out Peirce so soon after he has won his first championship, but similar players were the bain of the Team USA in 2004. While Pierce is indeed a better defender than Vince Carter, he is still too slow while playing NBA style defense (physical). While his scoring would be valuable, he doesn't shoot as well as Redd.

Remember, one of the best players for Team U.S.A. in 2004 was Allen Iverson. His quickness allowed him to break down the defense and his range was perfectly suited to the international game's shorter 3-point line.

Chandler is another player who would seem to be a good choice. He is as quick as Prince, with the size of Chris Bosh. However, his limited offensive game kept him out. The international game is full of posts who can shoot from 10 feet out. The zone rules enforce spacing and require good ball movement. Chandler's inability to hit the open jumper would allow defenders to stay close to the basket to repel penetration, forcing Team USA into charging fouls and poor outside shooting that doomed them in Greece. 

While Paul Pierce and Tyson Chandler helped their teams to achieve great success, neither qualified for Team USA in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The players that were chosen all demonstrate a vision for representing the U.S. in international competition. By looking into two of the players who didn't make the team, one can see that the U.S. made the right choice with the picks they selected.

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