World Redemption by David Leister

World Redemption
by David Leister

LeBron James
After two long years, the Americans’ first crack at FIBA redemption has arrived. While the chance to improve on a disappointing bronze medal performance in the 2004 Olympics must wait a couple more years, an equally great chance has arrived to save some face starting at midnight tonight. It seems like yesterday that the Yanks stunned the world by not merely losing an international game with NBA-laden star players, but several games to finish an improbable sixth in the 2002 World Championship standings. On American soil. Incredible.

Nonetheless, the echoes of Team USA failures to meet high expectations in the recent past still shout volumes. In recent years superstars Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson have had their cracks at restoring U.S. dominance, but have failed. This year its up to Lebron James and Dwayne Wade to take America back to the pinnacle. But regardless of the year, player makeup or venue, one thing is for certain. The American teams have suffered from a lack of continuity and leadership on its coaching staff. The onus cannot be placed entirely on the players. In international play, paychecks are not cut and players do not have too much say in how many minutes they will play. After hearing Larry Brown’s nonstop whining and finger pointing in New York last season, its now easier to imagine how difficult it must’ve been for players like Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson to bring it daily for Team USA with such unsteady leadership at the helm.

Thankfully for America, Team USA seems to have gotten it right in selecting Coach Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K brings to Team USA’s NBA-filled yet young roster a steady hand and incomparable track record in forging the team concept in basketball and translating it into wins. Coach K is a household name, perhaps among the three most recognizable coaching names in the basketball world on all levels. It appears impossible that a single player on Team USA would hold Coach K in anything but the highest regard. And that is what will make this team so formidable in this edition of the World Championships, not to mention the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Unity and Humility

Team USA has needed much more than talent since 1998’s first high profile loss. They’ve needed to shut up and put up, make the extra pass, the extra dive and to represent their country with the humility of Team USA 2006’s team captains, who so gracefully talked about their newly accepted roles as tri-team captains on the official Team USA website:

“We, as in myself, LeBron and Dwyane, are honored. We’re experienced, we know what we have to do to succeed. I know it means more responsibilities, so we have to go out there and take care of business on and off the court,” said Carmelo Anthony.

“This means a lot to be captain with two good friends of mine. To not have had the best experience in 2004 and to now be a captain on the 2006 World Championship team, well, this means a lot,” stated Lebron James. “I’m very excited about being a captain because I am a leader. It’s a big responsibility for us three being captains and going out and representing our country in the right way. You’ve got to show leadership on the court and off the court and you’ve got to show responsibility. We have to approach the game the right way and take care of business.”

“It’s great to be captain of such a prestigious USA Basketball team that has a lot of older guys who you respect. To be one of the young guys with LeBron and Carmelo, and for us to be named captains and to help lead the way means a lot to us. Being a captain means being a leader at all times, when things are great and when things are bad - always being a leader,” said DwayneWade.

Clearly, these three young leaders are all about business and positive results, and they have set a tone of togetherness and surpassing goals. Such boiling team chemistry coupled with such rich talent should make for one potent victory machine. And most importantly, these guys want to be here…and for each other.

That Extra Juice

In addition to an obvious attitude adjustment on this latest “dream team”, its been impossible to ignore the countless hustle plays made throughout every exhibition game. Sure, there were dry patches, such as against Brazil, but the bottom line is that Team USA has always come out on top and tongues have been kept in mouths and chest-thumping has been kept to a minimum. Instead, guys have been making that long dive to save a stray out-of-bounds ball, have made that extra jab step to pop a ball free on defense, and have made that extra pass on fast break dunks. That extra rotation is swiftly made, with outstretched arms reaching toward the roof to get a finger on a launched three pointer from the corner. From top to bottom, every player has sought to improve in a fight for minutes, but have done so with the big picture always in focus- they represent their country, not themselves.

Team USA is hungry. They have the juice.

What to Expect?

A tournament championship run peppered with a little dominance. There will be tough competition from Argentina and Brazil to Slovenia and France, but this tournament is clearly Team USA’s to win. Opposing teams will have far too much to handle in James, Anthony and Wade, but Team USA also has some frontcourt versatility and an athletic big man in Chris Bosh who can hang with the Gasols, Nowitskis and Nesterovices. Kirk Hinrich can stab a three on occasion, and Chris Paul can run with Tony Parker on both ends of the floor. But, again, it’s the team concept and selfless attitude of Coach K which is reflected in this team. That is what will ultimately make the difference.

I would not expect Team USA to lose a game, meaning I could not pick a specific game in which I would bet against them. Then again, I’m not a gambling man. But if a loss does occur, hopefully it’ll come in the preliminaries. However, I am expecting an untarnished run to gold and take your pick among Anthony, James and Wade as your tournament MVPs. Perhaps this will be the first edition in which Tri-MVPs are selected?