Team USA Basketball 2012: Players That Must Step Up Once London Olympics Start

The USA men’s national basketball team is the overwhelming favorite to win the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but the members of the roster are hardly playing their best.

While the squad is undefeated through their two exhibition games leading up to the London Games, they had a bit of a scare against Brazil and could have done much better to soundly beat their undermanned opponent.

Let’s take a look at the stars that must step up in order to ensure Team USA dominates the competition at the Olympics.

Kevin Love

As one of the few true big men on the roster, the Minnesota Timberwolves star needs to find a way onto the floor and contribute more when he is there.

Love should have seen a lot of minutes against Brazil, but instead the 6’10” PF logged just 5:35 of court time, missed his only shot (a three-point attempt) and grabbed a paltry two rebounds.

With Love’s size, shooting ability and incredible knack for rebounding, there is no excuse for him to put up these horrible stat lines in London.

Kobe Bryant

Bryant is the elder statesman on this roster, and he must set an example by playing better basketball. That means taking smart shots, sharing the rock and taking over when the time and matchups are right.

He did not do that against Brazil, jacking up 11 shots and hitting just three. He took seven of those from beyond the arc and hurt his team by fouling three times and turning over the ball twice.

Bryant finished with just eight points (no foul shots), two rebounds and an assist in 25 minutes of play. He’s got to improve those numbers by the time the actual tournament begins.

Carmelo Anthony

‘Melo is going to lose his job as a starter to Kevin Durant if he keeps playing this poorly. He had just three points on 1-7 shooting from the field, 0-4 from beyond the arc and 1-3 from the charity stripe.

Those are completely unacceptable stats for a starting forward on Team USA. There are so many skilled players at the position that it makes no sense for coach Mike Krzyzewski to continue giving Anthony big minutes if he’s going to relentlessly jack bad shots like he does while playing with the Knicks.

Look for the skilled scorer to step up on the court or face a long sit down on the bench.