The Official Team USA Basketball Thread: Going For The Gold

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Piff Huxtable

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Durant dominated the FIBA tournament with Lamar Odom and Andre Iguodala being 2nd and 3rd best players on Team USA :mjpls:
 

ThaBronxBully

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DeMarcus Cousins On Team USA: ‘I Can Make That Squad’


As the July 7 deadline for the final 12-man roster for Team USA approaching, the coaching staff led by Mike Krzyzewski must decide which players will make the final cut from a roster devastated by injuries.

The frontcourt will be the biggest weakness for Team USA heading into the 2012 Olympics in London, England. With Dwight Howard suffering a back injury that required surgery late in the 2011-12 NBA season, Coach K will have to move forward without his best big man and heavily lean on NBA Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler.

Along with Howard set to miss the 2012 Olympics while recovering from back surgery, Team USA will also be without another big-name in the frontcourt in LaMarcus Aldridge. The Portland Trail Blazers All-Star forward had season-ending hip surgery before the 2012 NBA playoffs and will also not be making the trip to London.

Fortunately, Team USA might have some options to back up Chandler at center with the ability to also play power forward. The current options are Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Chris Bosh and Kentucky’s Anthony Davis.

These frontcourt options for Coach K aren’t terrible and might suffice moving forward. One player on the Team USA select squad begs to differ as the Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins claims that he can make the final roster according to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee:

"I'm not going there (Las Vegas) just to practice," Cousins reiterated Monday after meeting briefly with local media. "I can make that team."

Even though Cousins has continued to improve his game over the last two seasons in the NBA, it is uncertain whether or not Coach K and company would want to deal with his attitude which has become increasingly more difficult to control in Sacramento.

Cousins will try to prove himself as a worthy candidate to be on the final 12-man Team USA roster on July 5-12 in Las Vegas, Nevada in practices against the first-team.
 

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Remember Tonight Is The Dream Team Doc

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ThaBronxBully

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Dwyane Wade May Miss Olympics

Dwyane Wade played with knee pain throughout the playoffs. He'll soon know exactly what was causing that problem, and if it could keep him out of the London Olympics.

One day after celebrating his second NBA championship, the Miami Heat guard told The Associated Press on Friday that he soon will have his ailing left knee examined, and acknowledges that surgery may be a possibility. Wade appeared in all 23 postseason games for Miami, averaging 22.8 points, and scored 20 in the title-clinching win for the Heat against Oklahoma City on Thursday night.


Wade
"I've got to make a decision on what my knee needs and what's best, because my career and finishing my career strong is what's important to me," Wade said. "And I know, yeah, the Olympics are coming up. It's something I really want to do. But at the same time, if I have to make a big decision, if something has to happen surgery-wise, that will have to be a step I have to take. My loyalty and my commitment to Miami Heat basketball is the No. 1 thing."

An MRI exam likely will take place in the next few days. Wade had the knee drained during Miami's second-round series against Indiana.

"From my small conversations with the doctor at that time, I think some kind of cleanup process might have to go on," Wade said. "And when that happens, from our previous experiences, it takes a while to recover. So I want to make sure that I want to recover strong and not like I did the last knee surgery that I had."

Wade had surgery on his left knee in May 2007. He led the Americans in scoring at the Beijing Olympics, averaging 16 points despite coming off the bench in all eight games.

USA Basketball plans to have the national team convene in Las Vegas and for training camp to start there on July 6. From there, the American team will go to Washington to begin training on July 13, with more sessions beginning July 17 in Manchester, England, and July 20 in Barcelona. The Olympics begin July 27 and the first game for the Americans in London is against France two days later.

The time demands could be daunting, especially with this NBA season ending a bit later than usual because of schedule changes necessitated by the lockout.

"This is the hand that's dealt to us," Wade said. "And I'm going to take this hand; I'm not going to complain and I'm going to move forward."

Wade said Heat doctors and trainers worked with him to find ways of ensuring that playing in the postseason would not make whatever the knee problem is any worse. He also spent time with his longtime trainer, Tim Grover.

"You know what, I was playing in a lot of pain," Wade said. "Obviously, my knee has been an issue. I sat down with the doctors a little bit during the Indiana series and talked about the possibility of what's to come. But I didn't want to think about it then. I said, 'Listen, let's just do what we have to do to make sure that I can give my all.' And they did that. I thank them for that."

He said he was sitting on his couch watching television on Friday when his thoughts turned to his hopes of being able to play in London. At that moment, he said an Olympic commercial appeared on his screen.

"Got a little emotional," Wade said. "I loved what we had and what we shared as a unit. The possibility of not being able to do that, man, it's a little different."
 

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Blake Griffin, Lamar Odom To Have Preliminary Workout For U.S. Olympic Team

Two players will get an extra audition for the U.S. Olympic team as the guard-heavy group looks to bolster its frontline.

Blake Griffin and Lamar Odom will have preliminary workouts with U.S. Olympic coach Mike Krzyzewski in Durham, N.C.

Clippers forward Blake Griffin, Mavericks forward Lamar Odom and soon-to-be No.1 pick Anthony Davis were invited to Durham, N.C. to workout for U.S. Olympic coach Mike Krzyzewski late next week at Duke, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo told Chris Tomasson of FoxSports.com.

Because of the 2012 NBA Draft, Davis will not be in attendance, but Griffin and Odom will be at the informal workout. The team partly invited Griffin and Odom to feel out there physical condition after injury (Griffin) and inactivity (Odom).

“We told them that it would behoove them to go out there (to Duke),” Colangelo told Tomasson. “On Blake Griffin, we just felt that the sooner we got a chance to look at him, the better for us. … We want to see how he looks (after his injury). … Lamar Odom, he didn’t play this year.”

The Olympic roster will be short on big men, with injuries to Dwight Howard and LaMarcus Aldridge hurting the paint contributors. Tyson Chandler, Chris Bosh and Kevin Love are the only other post players among the 18 finalists.
 
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