Team USA Training Camp Roster

Yesterday, I was excited to see the names of the 19 players included on the Team USA Basketball Roster. This team will be once again coached brilliantly by Duke Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The roster is as follows
Bradley Beal
DeMarcus Cousins
Stephen Curry
Anthony Davis
DeMar DeRozan
Andre Drummond
Kevin Durant
Kenneth Faired
Paul George
Blake Griffin
James Harden
Gordon Hayward
Kyrie Irving
Kyle Korver
Damian Lillard
Kevin Love
Chandler Parsons
Derrick Rose
Klay Thompson

Those that are selected from this training camp roster will do something that Americans have never been able to do at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The United States has never won back-to-back titles at this event. It is really hard to believe that fact with the amount of basketball talent that this country has to offer.  My prediction is that this is the team to do it, but I want to point out a few quick observations about this training camp roster.

Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose could be the 2nd best player on this roster, but if I am in Chicago's front office, I am furious that Rose is going to play. The guy has not been playing effectively for the Bulls for multiple seasons now due to multiple injuries. For him to not be ready for the Bulls in the playoffs, but magically able to play in the World Cup would have me very irritated. No doubt that this guy can play though and count me among those that want him to be 100%.

Kevin Durant

With Team USA going for their first back-to-back win, starting with the league MVP was a very good idea. Durant is as big a lock to make this roster as Team USA has ever had. This guy will be the leader of the team that we send to Spain in late August. I will be very surprised if he isn't the leading scorer of the tournament.

Bradley Beal

Bradley Beal is becoming quite the basketball player and I certainly expect him to make this team. His game continues to improve and he should be a fixture for Team USA and the Washington Wizards in the future. As a Wizards fan, it is great to see the way this guy is playing basketball lately. This should help improve his game.

Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving is the best pure point guard on the roster and should be another lock on this roster. He recently signed a big extension to play in Cleveland for a while and he will be on Team USA for a while as well. This guy will make things happen for Team USA.

Kevin Love and Stephen Curry are also locks to make this roster. Curry's outside shot and Love's inside presence are surely going to be added to the roster for the Americans.

Paul George

Paul George is getting used to being the favorite. He is obviously the favorite whenever he plays on Team USA which he will certainly make for these World Championships. George is also the favorite this upcoming season when his Indiana Pacers will be favored to win the Eastern Conference. That is unless there is some more crazy player movement.

My Picks To Make The Roster

Starters

Kyrie Irving

Stephen Curry

Kevin Durant

Paul George

Kevin Love

Reserves

Derrick Rose

Anthony Davis

Bradley Beal

James Harden

Blake Griffin

Damian Lillard

Gordon Hayward

Important Dates

Vegas Training Camp Begins July 28th

Vegas Training Camp Ends August 1st

USA Blue vs USA White August 1st

Chicago Training Camp August 14-15th

Exhibition vs. Brazil (Chicago) August 16th

Exhibition vs. Dominican Republic (New York) August 20th

Exhibition vs. Puerto Rico (New York) August 22nd

Pre-World Cup Tour (Spain) August 24-26th

2014 FIBA World Cup August 30th-September 14th in Spain

Enjoy the opportunity to see these great basketball players represent our country over this summer. Good luck to this group of 19 that will soon be a group of 12. Go USA!

-Noland

USA Basketball Wins Gold

The headline isn't surprising, but how it happened might be. The United States won 107-100 over Spain in the Gold Medal game. Before I break down how it happened, I must first say that if Pau Gasol plays like this in the NBA next season the Lakers will be unbeatable. Gasol played one of the most amazing games I have ever seen, but as always America comes out on top. Now, how it happened....

Do not underestimate Mike Kryzewski's influence on this team. He has now delivered to gold medals for Team USA and gets a little credit, but not much. Kryzewki had these guys playing team ball when it mattered most and made the proper adjustments throughout the game. Don't forget who was coaching this team in 2004 before these two great performances. The 2004 team had LeBron, Wade, and even Tim Duncan in his prime, but was coached by Larry Brown. Do not underestimate how much a better coaching job Kryzewski has done in the last two Olympics over Brown. That 2004 team was loaded. However, Brown let Allen Iverson do his ball hogging and while leading the team to the bronze. They didn't play as a team and they didn't take advantage of the matchups (mainly that nobody could cover Duncan at the time). Kryzewski though took advantage of matchups and got Marc Gasol into foul trouble early. Great job by Coach K.

The passion and excellence brought to Team USA by Coach K will be hard to duplicate. This guy is a true professional eventhough he coaches college athletes. There is no man better for the job and he will surely be missed. The team truly loves him too and you can easily tell. 2016 will be a much more difficult task without Coach K. He will be more difficult to replace than any player on this team, but one.

Watching this game today, you noticed two things about one player. Chris Paul is the most important piece on this team, and he is clearly the best point guard in the NBA. Nobody can convince me that there was a player who played better than Paul today. The guy was lights out. Paul had that amazing drive to the basket at the end of the game that even Coach K went nuts over. I have never seen Coach K jump up and down like that. This guy is the key to the US repeating in 2016. What an amazing job by CP3.

Chris Paul helped lead this team to the promised land. He led them to the gold medal. Paul only had 11 points, but he made key plays. He got clutch baskets. He excited his teammates and coach. This guy started the runs and made the plays. CP3 didn't care about personal glory or being the guy that everybody gives praise to. Paul let James and Durant take all the praise. All Chris Paul wanted to do was make sure the USA got a gold medal. That is exactly what he did.

-Noland

Team USA

With all the craziness surrounding Dwight Howard I think it is safe to say he will not be a member of the 2012 Men's Olympic Team. The question is, who will be? There are few things I enjoy more than the Olympics and rooting for Team USA so I thought I would give my predictions. Coach K has some decisions on his hands.


Here are the 20 finalists for the Olympic roster.

Lamarcus Aldrige (Portland)
Carmelo
Chauncey Billups (LA Clippers)
Chris Bosh
Kobe
Tyson Chandler (New York)
Kevin Durant
Rudy Gay (Memphis)
Eric Gordon (New Orleans)
Blake Griffin
Dwight Howard
Andre Iguodala (Philly)
Lebron
Kevin Love
Lamar Odom (Dallas)
Chris Paul
Derrick Rose
D Wade
Russell Westbrook
Deron Williams

You have to figure if Kobe can play he is in. Durant, Lebron, Wade, Melo, Love, Griffin, Paul and Rose are all locks so who comes after that.

PG Chris Paul, Derrick Rose
SG Kobe, Wade
SF Durant, Lebron, Melo
PF Griffin, Love
Thats nine locks out of the 12 leaving three spots for the rest.
My guesses are Bosh, Westbrook, and a surprise selection of Bynum who was not a finalist. Either that or do the smart thing and take Duncan.

It will be interesting to see who we choose to bring home the gold.

-Noland