LAS VEGAS — This summer’s USA team does not yet have a nickname or a real identity, so I decided after talking to several staff members I would call them “The Unknowns.”
Team USA history is replete with nicknamed versions, from the Dream Team to the Redeem Team to the Nightmare Team to the B-Deem Team that won the Worlds four years ago.
Why “The Unknowns” for this group? There is a fear of the unknown for the staff in trying to pick and guide this year’s team when Kevin Durant is the only true proven star who has already shined in international competition. Yes, all the players may have big names, and some have Team USA experience – from the end of the bench.
For someone like Paul George, this is his first experience with Team USA, and the question remains: Can he step in and be a LeBron James type scorer for this team?
And what about James Harden, who was on the U.S. Olympic team in 2012 but was not counted on? Can he now step up and be that Kobe Bryant/Carmelo Anthony prime time scorer for this team when the going gets tough? Because this team with need these two guys and others to step in and carry a large part of the load if they are to win the gold medal.
I like that: “The Unknowns will have to carry the load if they are to win the gold.”
You have young, exciting big man Anthony Davis, who also was a member of the 2012 Olympic team but again was only used sparingly and now will have to be an extremely important key to this team’s success.
The role players will now have to be starters, and the coaches will be selecting many new guys in the absence of Team USA veterans James, Anthony, Bryant, Dwight Howard, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and others.
The biggest unknown and challenge of all, in my opinion, won’t just be the unproven nature of the team or the question of the maturity, mental toughness and fortitude it will take to fight through all the obstacles of the grueling, physical style of the international competition. There will be real pressure to extend the long winning streak dating to 2006.
In the last Olympics, the U.S. pretty much cruised through unscathed other than an early-round tough game against Lithuania (which again is in the Americans’ bracket for the knockout round). Ever since its epic loss to Greece in the 2006 semifinals, Team USA has not really had to play from behind – and my No. 1 question with all the unknowns is whether they panic and get in a deeper hole if they fall behind or are having a tough shooting night or are getting a tough whistle.
I have coached for Team USA before, and I can assure you those moments will come.
I’m not saying this team with maybe my most favorite player in the world in Durant will have to pull off any miracles. The Americans will face Finland, Turkey, the Dominican Republic, New Zealand and Ukraine, none of whom appear to have the caliber of team that can keep things tight for 40 minutes.
But again, those are just the prelim games. When it gets to the knockout round, not only does host Spain await as the likely gold medal opponent, but Australia and Slovenia are a notch above the level of the teams the Americans will see in the opening round.
The FIBA game is just 40 minutes, and there is a big difference when you lop off he extra eight minutes that you would have in an NBA game.
As far as experience goes, will some of the newer members of the team remember that they are not allowed to call timeout? (Only the coaches can). Will they be able to deal with the five-foul limit as opposed to the NBA’s six (Memo to DeMarcus Cousins: Technical fouls count as personal fouls in FIBA).
Derrick Rose has proven himself worthy of being a starter for Team USA in the past, but the truth is that he struggled four years ago in Turkey and was often watching from the bench at the finish as Westbrook was taking over.
Great young guards like Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving will give the Americans a superior perimeter game. I also believe the quickness factor and overall skill level of the guards will be what carries this team to the gold in Spain.
As I have said in the past, this team will need a few bigs to handle the rebounding and banging in the paint. But in the end, you win with great guards. This team may have a ton of unknowns, but I would rather know that I’m bringing a group of the best guards in the world even without some of the past star power.
It is also comforting to know that the current coaching staff, with Hall of Famers Mike Krzyzewski and assistant Jim Boeheim, have been there and done that. They will know how to bring this team along with both the strategy it will take on both ends, the mental toughness it takes and the adjustments that will have to be made along the way.
Having been with current Select Team coach and longtime Coach K confidant Jeff Capel when we were roommates for over 30 days in Turkey for the 2005 World University Games, we were challenged and were pushed and felt some of the pressure — albeit on a much smaller stage than this USA team.
I can remember what it’s like when you represent your country, which is why when you do build that lifelong USA bond and friendship and bring home the gold medal, there is really nothing like it.
To this day, every time I see Capel and Villanova coach Jay Wright, we bring up stories about that World University Games team and what it took to win the gold.
This year’s “Unknowns” will get that chance in the end to experience that exhilarating honor. But we shall learn a lot about them individually along the way.
Here’s five thoughts from practice Wednesday:
1. I was very excited to see my friend coach John Calipari at practice today. If you want to get a grasp on the truly exceptional job Coach Cal has done building his empire at Kentucky – which is almost unrivaled in recent years – ponder this: No other coach in the country boasts four players among the 19 vying for Team USA spots. Cal’s alumni include Rose, Davis, Cousins and John Wall.
2. I have always liked Select Team member Dion Waiters because I once recruited and signed his cousin, who was another tough Philly kid like Dion. I know recently Waiters has come out and said he really believes he should be a starter in Cleveland. But I hope you read this, Dion. You could be a starter, in Cleveland or somewhere else. I hope you realize that you have found a great niche as a perfect sixth man coming off the bench providing instant offense.
3. Another great experience for me today was seeing my great friend Troy Weaver, the assistant GM of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Weaver invited me to some private workouts with some of their guys like Westbrook, who looked like Adonis doing basketball drills.
4. Today I felt like I was at the Final Four head coaches meetings all over again. Along with the Team USA practices, the national federation also has a fantasy camp going on. It was awesome to see coaches Wright, Sean Miller of Arizona, John Thompson III of Georgetown, Mark Few of Gonzaga, Lorenzo Romar of Washington and even old Seton Hall coaches-turned- media members P.J. Carlesimo and Bill Raftery.
5. I also saw Mike Malone, one of my former assistants from back in the day at Manhattan College. Now the coach of the Sacramento Kings, Malone is the son of longtime NBA coach Brendan Malone.
Bobby Gonzalez is a former Division I coach at Manhattan College and Seton Hall University. He has been writing columns for SheridanHoops since March, 2014.
MORE FROM BOBBY GONZALEZ:
TEAM USA DAY ONE: Derrick Rose looks great for Team USA, But there is a PG Glut.
TEAM USA DAY TWO: DeMarcus Cousins Finding a Different Groove for Team USA
