USA vs Dominican Republic: Road to the Gold Must Begin with Exhibition Win

Kobe Bryant thinks the 2012 U.S. men's basketball team could beat the legendary 1992 Dream Team. Now, it's time to prove it, starting with a win over the Dominican Republic in Thursday night's exhibition matchup in Las Vegas.

Earlier this month, the Lakers star caused a stir when he told reporters, including the Salt Lake Tribune's Michael C. Lewis, that the 2012 national team would "pull it out" against the Dream Team that featured the likes of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and more.

Kobe's remarks were innocuous; likely, he was just trying to earn some laughs, make some headlines and ruffle a few feathers as the Olympics creep closer. But to many, the remarks seemed thoughtless and unwarranted, especially given the fact that this team is totally untested, not to mention thin: Star player after star player has dropped out of the Olympic Games due to injury.

But Kobe might be on to something. This roster may be iffy in terms of post players, but when you run through the names on it—Kobe, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Deron Williams—it's hard to believe that any nation is going to be able to take down this crew.

In the end, that's what matters—not whether or not this Dream Team could beat the real one. What matters is whether or not this team can come home with a gold medal in August. Thursday night's exhibition matchup is the first step toward proving it can.

Thursday's game might not be a demolition, and expecting as much would be naive. The U.S. hasn't yet played in a single exhibition game, while the rest of the world's teams have already gotten started. As a result, the Americans are likely going to be understandably rusty.

Free agency just started on July 1, so the Olympics haven't been the first priority for many of these players. There have been distractions, contract negotiations, media blitzes to attend to, and all the while, this crop of superstars—all of whom are accustomed to doing battle with each other from October through June—has been tasked with finding a way to gel as a team.

The Dominican Republic is their first test, and it looks to be a tough one. The U.S. team will still have lots of kinks to work out and lots of fine-tuning to do before it is able to truly show what it's capable of.

Some of the most notable stars likely won't even participate in Thursday's game; according to Fox News, LeBron may not play because he needs extra rest after making a title run a month ago, and D-Will could also sit out because couldn't even begin participating in contact drills until Wednesday.

Obviously, the team we see on Thursday may not look like a team capable of destroying the Dream Team right off the bat. But it will come; it just takes time. As head coach Mike Krzyzewski told Fox News:

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We have 12 really good guys that over the next couple of weeks we have to develop into a team. That's why we'd like to get everybody healthy and out of free agency so we can start the team-building process, do it a little quicker.

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You can't just throw a bunch of superstars together and expect them to make magic, no matter how talented they are. Skill level aside, winning takes time and finesse.

Thursday's game will give this team its first chance to learn how to win together. Once these players accomplish that, they can set their sights on that gold medal.

Thursday's exhibition game will be played at 9 p.m. ET and will be shown on ESPN.