Team USA: Youth Movement Will Improve London Roster
Win or lose, the summer of 2010 will be a positive experience for USA Basketball. Even though the United States hasn’t won gold at the prestigious event since 1994, there is much less national attention or pride associated with the World Championships than there is with the Olympics.
Repeating with gold in the 2012 Olympics still remains the primary focus of USA Basketball.
With all 12 members of the gold medal-winning 2008 team skipping the World Championships this summer for a myriad of reasons, all members of the team save, for Jason Kidd and Michael Redd, remain part of the growing pool of available players to be used for the 2012 team.
After watching and evaluating the talent of the current USA roster throughout August and September in Turkey, imagine the embarrassment of riches Mike Krzyzewski and his staff will have when trying to assemble the next Olympic team.
Not only will the young standouts from this summer’s team be available (Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry), but most are expecting former Team USA members Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh and more to be back as well.
The coaching staff of Team USA does not really need further evaluation of those perennial All-Stars before assigning roster slots in the summer of 2012. This summer is about the youth of USA Basketball and how they can fit in with the future plans of the national team.
Obviously, most of the members of the 2010 team will not be chosen to represent their country once again in the Olympics. Players such as Danny Granger, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Love and Rudy Gay have a very slim chance of cracking the Olympic roster. Their job is to nurture the young talent on the roster while helping the team compete and likely win the World Championships.
Meanwhile, despite their youth, the USA team will arrive in Turkey as the favorites to take gold — as the United States is in every international basketball competition—this team will be far from prohibitive favorites.
The Spanish team that pushed the United States to the brink in the gold-medal game in 2008 will return with five members of that team who have NBA experience and Ricky Rubio, the fifth overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft who has yet to suit up for the Minnesota Timberwolves. If the United States is favored for the gold, the Spanish team will be right on their heels.
The United States is not the only team to leave its best players at home for the tournament that many countries place a higher value on than the Olympics. Despite the Spanish team’s formidable roster, the country’s best player, Pau Gasol, will not be joining his brother and fellow countrymen on this year’s team. Other notable players skipping the tournament will be Yao Ming (China), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany), Steve Nash (Canada), Manu Ginobili (Argentina) and Andrew Bogut (Australia).
Most, if not all, of those players will be expected to represent their countries at the 2012 Olympics in London. But for now, the 2010 World Championships represents a youth movement and a changing of the guard for much of the basketball talent across the world.
The United States’ focus on the American basketball youth certainly does not mean that Krzyzewski and his coaching staff are taking the competition lightly. There is still a competitive battle for who will be awarded the final roster spots.
The Washington Wizards’ JaVale McGee has been given another chance to show the world his new physique and maturing game with the departure of Brook Lopez. It will be up to him to help Team USA shore up its depleted front line that in addition to Brook Lopez has lost Amare Stoudemire, Robin Lopez and David Lee.
Should the youth movement pay off competitively and in the short term, it would go a long way to cementing the international legacy of Krzyzewski and the new USA Basketball movement. As mentioned before, the USA has not won gold at the World Championships since 1994, and the World Championships remain the only blight on Krzyzewski’s international coaching record since he took over the team.
Presently, the younger players representing the U.S. this summer will be expected to win gold and will play hard to make their country proud. However, in the long term, the real good work being done right now is pointed toward London in two years and a chance for the USA to start another Olympic winning streak.
