Growing Up Overseas: Kevin Durant And USA Squad Proving The World Wrong

When every player from the 2008 Gold Medal winning U.S.A. team declined invites to the FIBA World Championships, the same thought ran across every NBA fan's head.

With a roster that consists mostly of players that have yet to play five years in the league, most fans of the United States basketball team immediately thought of the disaster in Athens at the 2004 Olympics when rookies and role players were thought to be the next Gold Medal winners, only to fall twice in the preliminary rounds and end up with their first bronze medal in Olympic history.

The 2002 FIBA's told the story as the United States failed to medal for the first time since 1978. It too featured a group thrown together due to superstars declining invites. Like Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett did eight years ago, players like Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James all declined to play in Turkey to try and bring home their first FIBA gold medal since 1994.

Out of it we got a team led by Kevin Durant, three years of experience, Derrick Rose, two years of experience, and Russell Westbrook, two years of experience, just to name a few. While this U.S.A. team does have some sort of veteran leadership in Chauncey Billups, Lamar Odom, and Tyson Chandler, it's the young guns that are running the show.

The team put on a number of clinics in the exhibitions making easy work of contenders such as France and Greece and defeating the reigning world champions in Spain by one after giving up a 12 point fourth quarter lead. The team hasn't shown any signs of letting up in their first two FIBA matches with a 106-78 victory over Croatia and then following it up with a 99-77 win over Slovenia.

In both games, the youthful squad had dominant stretches where they would continually make jump shots, create fastbreak opportunities, and play hard nosed defense that would make Ron Artest and Bruce Bowen impressed. The hounding defense has been one of the more surprising attributes of the U.S.A. team as they have greatly limited their two opponents of easy scoring opportunities.

Their only downfall on defense has been their size as they only have one seven footer on the team in Chandler. While Croatia and Slovenia have sometimes had their way in the paint, the United States have been forced to play against zones, a defense seldom seen in the NBA.

In both games, Durant and company had a stretch where they couldn't buy a basket including the past game against Slovenia where they didn't register their first field goal of the second quarter until it was halfway through. The deficit was cut to five, the team appeared to be getting frustrated, and a close game could have been on the horizon if the United States didn't figure out how to break the zone.

One Westbrook floater and a Kevin Love opportunity later and the United States were back on easy street. It has been interesting to see how this young team recovers from scoring droughts and just how resilient they can be when a large deficit has been trimmed. The team has taken advantage of the shorter three-point line and have gained confidence along the way.

Players like Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose are already brimming with confidence, but this is a huge opportunity for rising stars in Eric Gordon, Russel Westbrook, and Kevin Love to get their feet wet and make an impact. Gordon has been huge from beyond the arc in the exhibition's and transitioned it into the FIBA's hitting four of six from three.

Westbrook has been nothing short of brilliant as his unbelievable quickness and athletic ability have been huge against the first two opponents who have nowhere near the speed of the American team. We have seen players give up fouls in the open court just to stop an American fast break due to the fact that it is a guaranteed two points and a confidence builder.

Many people didn't expect Love to make an impact, but it has been his astounding rebounding ability that has provided a spark to this team when they need one. It was his basket and the foul that got the ball rolling for the team in the match against Slovenia following a five minute drought. Kevin is 6'10", but has been playing like he's 7'1" thanks in part to knowing how to run the tip drill to perfection.

At 21 rebounds combined in the first two games, the former UCLA star is giving Timberwolves fans something to actually look forward to next year.

If anything has thrown this young squad off, it has been the officiating. Unlike NBA officials, travelling will be called at any misguided movement and this team has already gone a number of stretches where they commit a few travelling violations and become frustrated. The foul calling has also been consistently questionable on both ends as touch foul's are sometimes called on one possession and then legal on another.

The U.S. team shot 11 less free throws than Slovenia and went a number of defensive possessions of committing fouls. It's dangerous for a young team to become frustrated as they could begin to point fingers, rush shots, or even begin to blame the officiating for their problems, but they have played it off so far like veterans as they recovered every time they have faced an international rules call.

Nobody should receive more credit than reigning scoring champion Kevin Durant who has been as the ESPN2 analysts put it today: "undefendable." Durant scored a game-high 22 points in the match earlier today and provided the team with the fire they needed to get through rough stretches and to put the deficit at insurmountable.

Kevin is an oddity for any player guarding him or having to go against him on offense. On the offensive end, Kevin has a plethora of ways to score which could either come by using his speed to drive, his range to shoot from deep, or his lengthy seven and a half foot wingspan that allows him to shoot over defenders. On defense, it's self-explanatory as his ridiculous length and lateral defense makes it near impossible for the opposition to get off a good shot.

An accolade the United States team holds over every other squad competing for gold is athleticism. Some of the teams can boast range and others can claim height, but it's athleticism that makes this American team so good and with a group of young 20 year olds that have ample enough energy and stamina for 40 minutes.

For example, the fastbreak opportunities are the Americans biggest threat as no other team has been able to keep up with them in the open court. Nearly every player has speed and with five point guards, there's plenty of fast break experience and depth for this team to run opponents up and down the floor.

It's not Bryant, Wade, and James, but this is the future of the NBA that we are witnessing in Turkey. Durant, Rose, and Gordon will be the next players we see continually making All-Star games, winning MVP's, and making their teams into championship contenders.

This is hardly a "B-Team" as critics have put it and while it is understandable to not be too high on this team because they have only defeated Croatia and Slovenia in international play, but this team looks ready and motivated to take on the beasts of the world in Argentina and Spain. What sets this team apart from teams filled with veterans prior is that this team has something to prove.

The players on the 2008 team had already proven themselves as superstars and went into the Olympics possibly overconfident which might have been the reason they nearly lost the Gold Medal game. This 2010 FIBA squad is motivated to prove the world and their critics at home wrong. They don't want to be known as the 'B-Team' and they don't want a repeat of the 2002 and 2004 squad.

This is the future of the NBA and international basketball and Durant and Co. are ready to bring gold back to the States no matter who stands in their way. They'll receive their first true test with a match-up against Brazil, but it appears from the first two contests that nothing is going to stop this team from their objective: proving us wrong.