Making the Cut: Choosing the U.S. Men's Basketball Team

With the 2008 Olympics coming, USA Basketball has just released its roster. The problem? It’s 33 players long, only 12 of whom can be on the Olympic roster.

With an eight-year Gold Medal drought in the making, it’s time to figure out just which 12 of these players will lead the U.S.A. back to the basketball promised land?

With NBA stars like Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Kaman and Manu Ginobili defecting to their home countries, this year's men's talent pool seems to be deeper than ever.

(For the record, I don't have a problem with NBA stars playing for their home countries. If every Euro and South American player played for the U.S., it just wouldn't be nearly as much fun to watch.)

For those of you saying “Wah wah, the U.S. hasn’t won in eight years, but you always get a medal,” two things: first of all, you’re obviously not American, so go back to your hole, commie. Second, we invented basketball. We don’t do well in soccer, football isn’t overseas yet, and baseball is making its way over there. We should be dominating basketball because it is our sport.

It would be like if Japan started making better bourbon than us. It should never happen.

Delicious alcoholic diversions aside, let’s go down the roster spot by spot, and whittle those 33 down to 15, three for each position. Then we will cut the remaining three, and you will have you 2008 Men’s Gold Medal Basketball team.

POINT GUARD

Gilbert Arenas, Chauncey Billups, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Luke Ridnour, Jason Kidd, Kirk Hinrich

Here’s a general rule of thumb: if your team is about to move, or you're in danger of losing your job to the No. 1 pick, you probably aren’t going to help us win the gold. See ya, Ridnour and Hinrich.

Jason Kidd, while a once-in-a-generation player, is past his prime, especially when going up against run-and-gun Euro teams. Sorry J-Kidd, start working on helping Dirk get his ring.

Agent Zero, while a dynamic and unpredictable talent that could explode on the world stage, needs to get healthy. And since he just opted out, he’s not going to cost himself even more dough by showing and being slow on the court. Sorry, Gil.

That leaves us with: Chauncey Billups, Deron Williams, Chris Paul.

SHOOTING GUARD

Kobe Bryant, Joe Johnson, Michael Redd, J.J. Redick, Dwyane Wade

Call me crazy, but I think the best player on the planet in his prime is going to be an asset. You ain’t going nowhere, Black Mamba.

D-Wade, much like Arenas, needs to get himself healthy, for his sake and his team’s sake. Playing less than 100 percent isn’t going to help anything.

J.J. Redick. Now THAT’S funny.

Well, that was easy: Kobe Bryant, Joe Johnson, Michael Redd.

SMALL FORWARD

Bruce Bowen, Shane Battier, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Shawn Marion, Mike Miller, Adam Morrison, Tayshaun Prince, Paul Pierce, Lamar Odom

Here’s where it gets tricky.

With 12 spots standing between us and national pride, there is no room for lock down defense and threes, but nothing else. Bye bye, Bowen and Battier.

Adam Morrison, Tayshaun Prince and Mike Miller. Sorry, guys (especially you Tayshaun, you don’t deserve this company), but you’re not the type of game-breaking talent we need going after the gold.

Durant? Too young. He’ll have his chance, but we don’t know how badly he has been scarred by his situation. We can’t risk it.

Bron Bron. You better believe he’s in. If you think there is a person on earth (there sure as heck isn’t anyone in the NBA) that can stop the L-Train, I haven’t seen him. He’s going to eat those Euros and South Americans for lunch.

Now it gets tricky. We’re down to Odom, Pierce, ‘Melo and Marion for the last two spots.

Marion, while a great defensive talent, lacks the, how do we say, proper attitude. If he didn’t like being a second option in Phoenix, how is he going to fare with the best of the best. They say defense wins championships, but good teamwork wins gold medals. Later, Matrix.

Here’s a big shock: One of the last two spots goes to Odom. While he’s not as dynamic as Kobe or Paul, he can play multiple positions, and he’s got the size and the speed to blow by some of those tiny Asians. While he’s not clutch, I’d rather have his versatility.

Pierce or ‘Melo? While it seems it should be obvious, remember ‘Melo plays his best ball on Team America. That being said, we’ve got enough offensive firepower, we need some D. Pierce is clutch enough and intimidating enough that he will be a great weapon. Although losing 'Melo is probably the hardest decision in this whole discussion.

We did it: LeBron James, Paul Pierce, Lamar Odom.

POWER FORWARDS

Elton Brand, Antawn Jamison, Nick Collison, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh

I don’t know whether to be mad or happy that Tim Duncan isn’t on the list. Sure, this would be the only time I would ever root for him, but it leaves the third spot open for someone else.

Brand and Collison, bye bye.  Jamison can jump shoot, run the floor, and also dominate the boards. He stays. And there’s no question about Boozer or Bosh. Yet.

Power Forward: Antawn Jamison, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh.

CENTER

Dwight Howard, Brad Miller, Greg Oden, Amare Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler

As much as I like token white guys, not when the gold is on the line, sorry, Brad Miller.

Oden. Yeah, right. As good as he will be, I’m not going to trust him in the Olympics when he hasn’t played a minute in the NBA.

Can you imagine Chris Paul playing with Chandler and Howard? Why, that’s 50 points worth of alley-oops right there.

Imagine the Nash-style feeds that Paul can give Stoudemire, where he barrels through the paint like a runaway freight train? Can anyone stop that?

Centers: Amare Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, Dwight Howard.

All right, we’re down to 15. Time to lose three guys. Anyone could be cut next, except for Kobe, Chris Paul and LeBron, because, well, get serious.

Joe Johnson. Sorry, dude. I like you, but we’ve got some great guards, and it’s not like an extra SF can’t play the 2. Peace.

CB4. Even sorrier. I love watching him, but he’s got some maturing to do, not personally, but his game does. Boozer is a one man wrecking crew, and Jamison could be great at EuroBall, for reasons explained above.

Finally, see ya Deron Williams. What? How could this be? One of the best young PGs on the game? Yeah, it has to be this way. You don’t need three point guards, and you don’t want Paul and Williams leading the team, as good as they are they don’t have the experience.

And I know people said that about the Hornets, but its different on the world stage. Billups is still Mr. Big Shot, he can run all sorts of teams, and he will be a good backup to Chris Paul.

So here is your 2008 USA Men’s Basketball Team:

GUARDS

Chauncey Billups, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Michael Redd

FORWARDS

LeBron James, Paul Pierce, Lamar Odom, Carlos Boozer, Antawn Jamison

CENTERS

Dwight Howard, Tyson Chandler, Amare Stoudemire

Can you imagine the crunch-time lineup of Paul, Kobe, Bron Bron, Boozer and Dwight Howard?

How about a small ball lineup of: Billups, Redd, Pierce, Odom and Stoudemire?

How about a board dominating big man lineup of: Paul, Kobe, LBJ, Jamison and Chandler?

How about a shoot-the-lights-out lineup of Redd, Kobe, Pierce, Jamison and Stoudemire?

How about a gritty-low post lineup of Kobe, Pierce, Odom, Boozer and Chandler?

How about a lockdown defensive lineup of Paul, Kobe, Pierce, Boozer and D-Ho?

Is there any style of basketball that group couldn't play, and play well? I don't think so.

Coach K, I hope you're reading this. I know I want the gold.