Team USA: A Fresh Start

&It's hard to believe that it has been 15 years since the Dream Team first took on the world in the first Olympic Games to feature NBA players on the USA team. That team, with 10 of the 12 players eventually landing on the NBA 50 greatest players list, won their eight Olympic games by an average of 44 points. The gold medal game against Croatia was their toughest test. They won by 32.

Fast forward a mere 12 years to the 2004 games in Athens, where the U.S. team lost three games en route to a most disappointing bronze medal finish. In a little over a decade, the U.S. team went form invincible to embarrassing. Turning down the Olympics became the cool thing to do. Turing things around became a more daunting task.

That's when Jerry Colangelo was brought in. Realizing that the team concept had taken the international teams to a higher level, Colangelo wisely asked players for a three-year commitment in order to build cohesion. He also brought in a coach, Mike Krzyzewski, who is as well-known for building teams and relationships as he is for X's and O's (his card is American Express).

Colangelo breathed life into a dying basketball program and is in the process of bringing USA basketball back to the level that it should have never left in the fist place. After defeating Venezuela by 43 points in the first game of the Tournament of the Americas, the team seems poised to easily reclaim the gold. Here are a few reasons to watch as the USA tries to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Games:

1. A Well-Constructed Team

At a glance, the 1992 team looks like a collection of the greatest individuals ever assembled. Take a closer look. Jordan, Magic, David Robinson, Stockton, Bird. This list goes on and on. Those are some of the greatest team players to ever play.

Team USA strayed from the team concept in recent years, but Colangelo has changed that. Role players like Tyson Chandler, Mike Miller, and Tayshaun Prince have been added to the roster to make the team more complete as a unit as opposed to playing with 12 individuals.

It will be interesting to see if Kobe, LeBron, and company can continue the all for one attitude all throughout the Tournament of the Americas and beyond. It may be tough for some of these guys to remember that they don't have to do all the scoring, rebounding, passing, ball handling, etc. There are actually 11 other guys on the team who are worthwhile.

2. The Coaching Staff

Colangelo has put together an interesting mix. He has the leader (Coach K), the zone guru (Jim Boeheim), the International Basketball expert (Mike D'Antoni), and Nate McMillan. (I'm not really sure what his area of expertise is.)

3. The Team Actually Cares

That one surprised me, too. The whole team was up off the bench in the first quarter building momentum for the starters as they breezed out to an early lead. The team kept the intensity up the entire first half, and led by 30 at half-time. It's actually seems like this is a business trip for these guys. That's too bad, too. The already baron desert area surrounding Vegas could have really used some of these guys and their rainmaking ability.

4. Kobe Bryant

If watching Kobe Bryant play basketball doesn't get you excited, I don't know what to tell you. Say what you want about him, but he is by far the greatest basketball player on the planet. No one else is even close. I'm not saying he doesn't make some ;questionable" comments from time to time, but there is no denying that he loves basketball and he loves to win.

The way he hawked the ball in the Venezuela game makes you realize that his scoring binges get all the highlights and recognition, but there is a reason he has been First Team All-Defense five times and Second Team twice. He has asked to guard the best player on the opposing team every game based on the effort he gave Wednesday, there is a good chance that player will go scoreless for several minutes at a time.

5. Bill Walton

The ESPN family of networks is carrying the games of the Tournament of the Americas, and that means two straight weeks of Bill Walton. Apparently, Bill didn't have time to watch film or research the opposing team. He did, however, seemingly spend hours researching valuable information that he was able to work into the broadcast.

According to Professor Walton, Venezuela abolished slavery 10 years before the United States. Fascinating. I wasn't wondering at all about whether Venezuela was going to be playing a similar style as the team's that had given USA trouble in the past, or who their key players were. What I really wanted to know, and thank goodness Walton told me, was what their chief export is. (It's oil. I know this know because Walton brought this up no less than three times.)

Sure, the talent doesn't compare to that of a NBA game, and the rules are a little different and it takes some getting used to, but if you are a diehard basketball fan like I am, you don't want to have to wait until November to see great players play meaningful games. The Tournament of the Americas isn't going to provide the drama of the NBA playoffs, but it is a chance to see some great players makes great plays and it is a chance to see team USA try to rebuild its program back to where it should be.

And if basketball at a level that isn't as high as you're used to doesn't interest you, just listen to Bill Walton. Worst case scenario, you might learn something.