This past week the US Olympic basketball team arrived in China to begin their quest to take back the gold medal that they lost to Argentina in 2004. By most people’s account they have the team to do it and they should accomplish this goal.

For the first time, the US players has to make a three year commitment to this team. The team was assembled back in 2006 and have been playing together in practices on and off since then. It was not the typical “let’s assemble the team and hope they can play together” type of attitude.  The loss in 2004 showed the US that it was not infalliable and thus the reason fof this plan. Chemistry on the court is important and therefore they created it the past three years.

In 2004, the US brought some good players to the floor including some returning, but this year it is the best of the best. Including in this years NBA MVP, Kobe Bryant (Lakers) and Jason Kidd (Mavericks) who not only has Olympic experience but has a gold medal from playing with the US team back in 2000, the 2008 team is ready to hit the ground running. The other team members include Lebron James (Cavaliers), Carmelo Anthony (Nuggets), Carlos Boozer (Jazz), Chris Bosh (Raptors), Dwight Howard (Magic), Chris Paul (Hornets), Tayshaun Prince (Pistons), Michael Redd( Bucks), Dwayne Wayde (Heat), and Daryn Williams (Jazz). The coach is Mike Krzyzewski who currently coaches the NCAA Duke team and has been at the helm of this Olympic team since conception in 2006.

Although there are quite a few members from the 2004 team that took bronze returning, they are not thinking about that experience any longer. They know they can win and the team has been built to do just that. Jason Kidd knows what it is like to win in the Olympics. In Sydney in 2000 the US team went undefeated and took gold. He, however, isn’t thinking of that either.

The team landed in Beijing this past week and based on the Olympic tuneup games, if they stay focused, they should all be standing with gold medals on August 23rd. That would be a great gift to everyone, but to Kobe Bryant, it would be an excellent birthday gift as he turns 30 the day before the gold medal game. GO US!

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Tags: Kobe Brayant and Jason Kidd, olympics, us olympic basketball team

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 at 8:08 pm and is filed under Basketball News, NBA, NCAA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.