Team USA, the undoubtedly best and favorite team when it comes to any international basketball tournament, named their 12-man roster to try to win Gold again on the 2016 RIO Olympics.
Included in the list are six players with previous Olympic or World Cup experience – winning Gold. However, they will also miss some favorite names and top NBA players, such as LeBron James, James Harden, and Stephen Curry, due to preparation for the next season, injuries, and some other personal reasons. Despite of this, the remaining line-up is still the team to beat in this year’s Olympics.
Here is your TEAM USA:
- Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks) – seeking his third Olympic title.
- Harrison Barnes (Golden State Warriors) – first timer, a very versatile player of the record-breaking team GSW.
- Jimmy Butler (Chicago Bulls) - first timer, a scorer and could easily dominate his counterpart in the three or two position.
- DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings) – with World Cup experience, the second big man on the team who could easily muscle up opponents in the one position.
- DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors/USC) – with World Cup experience, can easily be the backup of Thompson as a shooter, or go to guy.
- Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) - can easily be the best player and scorer of this team. This NBA MVP can easily dominate his counterparts with his height and ball-handling abilities.
- Paul George (Indiana Pacers) – a special player with his greatness of his own, can easily be a backup for Anthony or Durant.
- Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors) – the intense player who could do almost anything inside the court, he is also a boost in defense if they really need one.
- Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers) – this guy just won a championship and can easily be the starting point guard of the team. We are worried when top point guards such as Curry, Paul, and Westbrook are out but uncle Drew is still here to steer, so no worries.
- DeAndre Jordan (Los Angeles Clippers) – with the absence of other big men, Jordan is really a necessity for the team. European teams can easily dominate inside with their seven-footers but not against DeAndre.
- Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors) – good to know he is there with his partner DeRozan, they could easily run the show with their special chemistry.
- Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors) – the guy who can always make that shot. We are sad Curry is not in the team but we have his brother who can also dominate the game.
Jerry Colangelo, the managing director of the team, said that they are extremely excited about the team.
Mike Krzyzewski is now on his third Olympic assignment as the team’s head coach. Krzyzewski tied the record of coaching legend Henry Iba in having the most Olympic basketball head coaching assignments of the USA. He expects that team USA will continue their standard.
Krzyzewski also believes that they have a well-balanced team. They have fast guards who can pass the ball or contribute to offense. They have dominant scorers, who can dominate in any time they want. Their frontcourt is also strong and tall.
This will be the fourth time Carmelo Anthony helps team USA for an Olympic. He will surely have his fourth Olympic medal in this tournament.
Durant, after skipping the 2014 World Cup, is now active for his second Olympics. He was the team USA’s leading scorer at the 2012 London Olympics by averaging a U.S. Olympic record 19.5 points a game. He might repeat this kind of scoring in Rio.
The only weakness we can see here is having only two legit centers in the team – Jordan and Cousins. Jordan is still improving from poor free throw shooting and Cousins could easily be in foul trouble. Tall teams from other countries, for sure, would love to find a way on capitalizing on this. However, it will be very exciting to see Green or Durant take the one position and other teammates show the versatility of Team USA – a quality that will surely keep them in the top spot.
Outside scoring and transition offense are big plus for USA. They might have some bad days/nights in RIO Olympics but they can rely to the proven efficiency of Thompson and Durant. They can easily recover against a three-point shooting team.
Pre-Olympic games for Team USA:
July 22 – vs Argentina at the T-Mobile Arena.
July 24 – vs China at the Staples Center.
July 26 - vs China (again) at the Oracle Arena.
July 29 – vs Venezuela at the United Center.
Aug. 1 – vs Nigeria at the Toyota Center.
