With the Beijing games approaching and basketball trials in effect, I wanted to get a feel for where everyone stands on this years U.S. roster.
Without going into the growth of Lebron, Wade, Melo, and Boozer since the Athens games along with the addition of Kobe, I have to turn the focal point to our PG depth with Paul, Williams, and Kidd (although I would have preferred Billups over Kidd). During our last Olympic run, international teams succeeded at controlling the tempo as most teams are stacked up with solid outside shooters who know how to roam, space, and play off of each other. Personally, I see this pass first element that we have added to this year's roster to be the x-factor and catalyst for the necessary change that we needed to make to succeed in international play. I have confidence in our guards to recognize and find the most opportune mismatches on each possession, and as a result, I do believe our shooting woes will remain in the past and we can see the tempo being played at our pace for the better part of the 40 minutes. There's a new found level of comfort when we have the ball that wasn't there 4 years ago.
Does anyone see any glaring weaknesses? Any obvious advantages? Biggest threats to team USA?
