With the back injury to
Dwight Howard possibly sidelining him for the Olympics, the United States team
could be in disarray now. What was once
the defensive anchor in the middle that gave the U.S. a distinct advantage will
not be traveling the London and Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyewski have their
work cut out for them. Here is my take
on how they should build the roster to bring back the gold.
MORTAL LOCKS
Lebron James, Kevin
Durant, Kevin Love, Dwyane Wade
Barring a catastrophic
injury in the playoffs, all four of these guys will be suited up and playing significant
minutes in London. Love will probably
get a good portion of Dwight Howard’s newly freed minutes as he is the best
rebounder on the planet not named Dwight.
His ability to stretch the floor and get the fast break going will
ignite the other three on this list to fill the lanes for monstrous dunks.
LOCKS, BARRING FURTHER
INJURY
Kobe Bryant, Derrick
Rose, Chris Paul
I can’t remember the
last time Kobe wasn’t injured, but he is probably closer to the top group than
this one. Bryant will want to get
another gold medal to add to his resume as he chases Kareem (scoring) and
Jordan (titles). Rose has missed a third
of the shortened season with a variety of injuries, but most significantly his
back. While his absence would be a
detriment to the U.S. gold medal hopes, point guard is the deepest position of
the roster candidates. The real question
with this group besides their health is who Coach K will tab as the starter,
Paul or Rose.
SAFELY ON THE TEAM DUE
TO RECENT HAPPENINGS
Carmelo Anthony, Tyson
Chandler
Melo is having the best
stretch of his career right now as he is scoring and rebounding at will. Using his big body to bang on the boards will
help him get minutes for the suddenly small U.S. squad. Chandler would have most likely made the team
even if Dwight had not have gotten hurt, but he is a safe bet now. He is the best defensive (American) center
outside of Howard and he can finish the U.S.’ most used and go-to play, an alley-oop.
THE OTHER CANDIDATES
Current pool: LaMarcus
Aldridge (injured), Chauncey Billups (injured), Chris Bosh, Rudy Gay, Eric
Gordon, Blake Griffin, Andre Iguodala, Lamar Odom, Russell Westbrook, Deron
Williams
Possible injury
additions: Anthony Davis, Andrew Bynum, Rajon Rondo, Al Jefferson, Stephon
Curry, Josh Smith
With the injuries to
Howard, Aldridge and Billups, there are a few spots in the talent pool
left. Andrew Bynum will definitely get
one of them and Rajon Rondo should get another.
The last spot for the pool is completely up for grabs. Bill Simmons noted that the shooter of the
bench might be out of play this year, so Curry is probably out, and he believes
that the Unibrow should get the spot. However,
I would be more apt to Jefferson or Josh Smith as Anthony Davis is still too
raw and skinny to really defend against the Gasols or the Brazilian bigs. While Jefferson is the better overall player,
especially offensively, I think Josh Smith should get a look.
So then that leaves the
last three roster spots from these 11 players.
With only one center and one power forward on the roster you’d think
that backups at each position would be a must.
Coach K likes to have three point guards so I’m guessing Gay, Gordon and
Iguodala are all out of the running. Let’s
start with the bigs.
Chris Bosh is a decent
player having a decent season, but with this team assembled already, a
jump-shooting finesse power forward is not needed. There is enough scoring already with the big
names, and Bosh doesn’t play enough defense to earn the spot. Bynum should be a lock now that Howard is
out, but you never know when he is going to start doing Andrew Bynum-things
like sulk on the bench or take out an opposing foreign player that is a foot
shorter and 150 pounds lighter. If he
can get his mind right then he should be a viable addition. He can provide the big body that Dwight
Howard did for when the U.S. plays Spain with Pau/Marc Gasol and Serge
Ibaka.
With the matchup
against that team in mind, I think I’m going with Josh Smith for the last
spot. That thought comes with a side
note though: only if Coach K can get him to not shoot beyond 12 feet. Smith is a phenomenal defensive player and
matches up perfectly with Ibaka. So
should Spain go big with all three of their big guys on the floor, the U.S. can
match with a Chandler-Bynum-Smith front court.
While he may not be quite as long as Davis or as good of a shooter, I
think his experience guarding the bigger, more mature and muscular big men in
the NBA is a greater asset. Now should Smith
start pulling up for 3’s during the training camp I’d have no problem with
Davis or Jefferson getting the nod.
That leaves the last
spot, which will presumably be a point guard.
With Paul and Rose being somewhat injury prone, I think this spot needs
to be someone who could conceivably run the show for almost the entire
game. While it may seem like a homer
pick, I think Deron has to get this spot over Westbrook and Rondo. The Lakers/Thunder game from yesterday
solidifies my stance even more.
Westbrook does not know when to let the alpha dog be the alpha dog yet,
and he would be playing with the 8 or 9 biggest alpha dogs in the world. While his athleticism and speed would be an
asset, Deron’s court vision and leadership would be more valuable. I almost think him starting would be the
better fit and the All-Star game somewhat showed that. He scored when he needed to, but he knew when
to give it to LeBron or Carmelo if they needed to get a bucket to stay
involved.
For the starting
lineup, I think Coach K should be flexible with it. If they are playing Great Britain with no legitimate
NBA-talented big mean, he go start with a Deron-Kobe-Durant-LeBron-Chandler
lineup, or if they are playing the aforementioned Spain who is lacking a legitimate
point guard, he can go with Kobe-Durant-LeBron-Bynum-Chandler. Either way by picking Williams over
Westbrook, and a non-jump-shooting Smith over the other contenders, the U.S.
will have much more flexibility and depth when they are in London.
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