Basketball is more than just a sport in America; it is a deep rooted passion. So, when America experienced a draught of eight years to get home an Olympic medal, Americans basketball enthusiasts were a frustrated lot. That was when Jerry Colangelo took over as the Chairman of the American Basketball, took the reins into his hands and vowed to get home the medal, a feat that he accomplished by bringing back the Olympic gold in 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The London Olympic Gold - Will America bring back the basketball gold?
After four years, its Olympic time again and there is a lot of eager anticipation among Americans. Will America retain the gold? Is the team this time strong enough to beat the other biggies in the world? One thing against American national Olympic squad is that its star player of the previous Olympics, Jason Kidd is out with an injury. On the good side, the team has a perfect balance of new young blood and experience. So, the basketball betting camps will surely dare to put their bets on this new team.
The final 20 this time consist of a lot of players who were part of Beijing Olympics and the World Championship. The players who have been part of the Olympic gold medal winning team are LeBron James, Kobe Byant, Deron Williams, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Antholy, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. The World Champoinship 2010 winning team players who also feature in this year’s Olympic squad are Russell Westbrook, Chauncey Billups, Tyson Chandler, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Eric Gordon, Lamar Odom, Andre Iguodala and Kevin Love.
While these are the final 18 who will go to the Olympics, the Chairman Jerry Colangelo, the visionary that he is, has increased the squad size to 20. The two extra slots are selected from NCAA 2012 March Madness tournament. This year, the lucky ones are Anthony Davis from Kentucky Wildcats and James Harden from Oklahoma City. So, that is the final 20. The training camp is to begin in June and then, the team sets off to London on its quest to retain the Olympic gold. Davis and Harden have barged their way in by phenomenal play in the recently conducted March Madness tournament. Anthony Davis is a freshman, while Harden has been around for three years.
Another great move which Jerry Colangelo made was to appoint Mike Krzyzewski as the coach in 2005, who was the coach of Duke before joining the national squad. He is going to coach this Olympic team as well. Considering the changes that Colangelo has made, it is pretty certain that the chairman is leaving no stone unturned to bring back the Olympic medal. He has left nothing to chance.
Coach Krzyzewski seems to be pretty happy about this mix of players. He even went on to say that this mix of players is the best team he has had the chance to coach. He said that the team is older, experienced, players at the prime of their career and much better than before. The oldest player in the squad is Bryant, at 33 with a solid 16 years of experience and the youngest is Anthony Davis, a University of Kentucky freshman.
The good thing about the present team is that it is in great spirits and what can be garnered through sources, the mood is upbeat and positive with confidence. While the team is being touted to be the best ever, is it good enough to score back-to-back Olympic basketball golds? America is praying for the medal to come back. So is the coach, as he revealed with a chuckle in the recent press conference. But he knows and so does the rest of America that if there is a team that can defend the medal, it has to be this one.
