What was the reason for all the doubts? It was simple, the USA Basketball Team fielded in this year’s FIBA Championship held in Turkey doesn’t have the likes of Kobe Bryant, Le Bron James, Dwayne Wade, Deron Williams and Dwight Howard in its starting lineup, nor does it have the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce or Kevin Garnett on its bench. The team was bannered by Kevin Durant (shooting forward on his 3rd NBA season) and the rest of young NBA semi-superstars together with a few veterans like Chauncey Billups and Lamar Odom. Because of this composition, they were tagged as “Team B” with obvious referral of the first groups of players as the premiere team. Yet today, they proved everyone wrong.
The first 2 games of Team USA against Croatia and Slovenia, from which they won by an average margin of 25 points were not enough to silence the critics and the doubters, including me. Their third game against Brazil which they won only by 2 points almost revealed the team’s true character and nearly suggested that critics were right. But the succeeding 5 games (championship not included) which Team USA won by an average margin of 30.4 gradually changed the perspective of us doubters. In a little span of time, Team USA has matured to become a solid basketball team that relies not on individual talents but on the team concept of basketball. Kevin Durant has been the focal point of the offense and everyone played their part on defense. Coach K had successfully brought out the best in the team.
A transcript from the NBA’s official site says; “We belong," Kevin Love said simply. "We belonged from the start. And we knew it."They belong with the stars that won gold in Beijing two years ago. They belong with U.S teams that dominated in the first few international competitions with NBA players. And they belong in the discussion when a new Olympic team is chosen in 2012.” I have to agree, in fact I would have to add that their team was far better than the USA Basketball team composed of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Shane Battier, Brad Miller, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Elton Brand, Antawn Jamison, Kirk Hinrich, Chris Paul and Joe Johnson who lost to Greece in the 2006 FIBA World Championship held in Japan.
Will it have a different ending if they have met Serbia in the finals? That is something that deserves a greater analysis considering the fact that Team Serbia has always been a powerhouse team. Serbia is the official successor of the former Yugoslavia Basketball Team that is 1 Gold behind Team USA in the FIBA medals tally, after Team USA grabbed this years’ title. In fact, had it not been on last minute lapses on the referees judgments, the semis game between Serbia and Turkey (82-83) could have gone the other way and Serbia could have given Team USA a better fight. Just how powerful are the Serbians this year? Well, they have dismantled Argentina and Spain, 2 of the top ranks team in the tournament. Whatever it could have been, today, Team USA deserves a standing ovation.
Team USA is composed of: Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets), Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunders), Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls), Russel Westbrook(Oklahoma City Thunders), Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies), Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia Sixers), Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers), Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves), Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers) and Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks).
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