Team USA Basketball: Positional Versatility Will Lead to Olympic Gold

One of the hallmarks of a great basketball team is the ability to adapt to different situations and different opponents, and Team USA is well on its way to proving its greatness at the 2012 London Olympics.

There are some superb, versatile basketball players on every Olympic squad, but the versatility of the American roster is overwhelming.

10 of the 12 players on the team can wear multiple hats, and some of them can play one of three different positions on the floor if need be or all five in LeBron's case.

This versatility helps them customize every game situation and strike at the Achilles heel of their opponent.

Tyson Chandler's lack of playing time hasn't hurt them much in any of the exhibitions or in Sunday's 98-71 thrashing of France.

Why?

Because Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony have been able to pick up the rebounding and defensive slack.

We all know about LeBron's versatility on the team, so let's look at a less obvious example: Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook still needs to develop and mature as a basketball player, but his size and skills have already proved instrumental for coach Mike Krzyzewski's crew at three positions.

He can run the point or shift over to shooting guard, as his penetration and shot-creating skills allow him to be an effective one or two. He's also 6'4" and freakishly explosive. He might not play the three for long stretches, but he can play help defense and score on nearly every small forward.

When it comes to lineups and substitutions, coach Krzyzewski has some pleasant luxuries that other coaches don't have.

Krzyzewski can send out almost any combination of players and make it work because the players are elite talents who can adjust to different roles.

He can put four prolific scorers on the court at one time because they can divvy up the responsibilities of facilitating, power offense and outside shooting. 

Deron Williams, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James (98.7 combined PPG in 2011-12 NBA season) are all the primary scorers on their respective NBA teams, yet they can coexist on Team USA because each of them is versatile.

Williams can facilitate and score on the left or the right, while Durant can spot up and work to get open. Meanwhile, LeBron can play a point-forward hybrid and Anthony can post up on the block or step out.

International teams can't guard Team USA for 40 minutes because they can't deal with how flexible they are.

Are some of the other Olympic teams bigger? Yes, but that means their power forward is stuck chasing LeBron or Carmelo around the court all night.

Team France, an athletic club with ample size, struggled to keep pace with Team USA because they couldn't rebound with them or slow down a single phase of the game. The Americans, despite not having a "true" center on the floor for most of the game, out rebounded the French 56-40.

Also, it's not too often that the a Tony Parker team commits 18 turnovers and is out performed in the assists category 27-10.

That's what Team USA does: makes life miserable at every single position for the opponent.

They have been picking up steam over the past week, realizing how to utilize their versatility to complement one another and play as a unit.

For the rest of the world, it's a race for the silver medal.

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