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 Instead, a group of sharp-shooting NBA regulars were unbeaten in
Spain and produced a 129-92 victory over Serbia in the final to
underline the depth the U.S. have at their disposal.
Stalwarts LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul
were missing from the initial training camp, with Kevin Durant,
Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love and Blake Griffin bowing out late in
the process before Indiana forward George broke his leg in training
and could now miss the NBA season.
Instead, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson and Kenneth
Faried, who along with dynamic guards Steph Curry and Kyrie Irving,
were blended into a band of brothers by coach Mike Krzyzewski and
his staff.
Krzyzewski, however, did not see it as an onerous task to customise
and then build a team for the competition.
"There's always a different team," he said of USA Basketball's
strategic plan to pick from an enlarged roster for international
competitions.
"We had a different team in Beijing. We had 12 different players in
Istanbul, we had five guys from the Olympics and five from the world
championships in London.
"Here we have four guys who have been at least on one of the teams
and the rest are new. That's just what's going to happen in our
program."
UNSELFISH NATURE
Bereft of iconic scorers, the team had to share the ball with
Harden, the top U.S. scorer with an average of 14.2 points, the 18th
best in the competition.
Thompson averaged 12.7, Faried 12.4 and Davis 12.3, while the
backcourt of Irving and Curry contributed 12.1 and 10.7,
respectively, for a well balanced, unselfish team that also shared
minutes to stay fresh and aggressive.
The U.S. still averaged more than 104 points in an unbeaten 9-0 run
to gold, topping the team scoring by more than 21 points per game.
Krzyzewski said they needed to be team focused given how competitive
their opposition was - pointing to Olympic silver medallists Spain,
who boasted NBA players Pau and Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Ricky
Rubio yet did not make the semi-finals - to illustrate the point.
"We know how good everyone is," he said after the final.
"I don't think any gap has been widened. I don't think there's a
gap.
"Spain is a magnificent team and it just takes one bad day, so what
we're trying to do is make sure we don't have bad days."
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TUMULTUOUS RUN-UP
The team could have experienced bad days given their tumultuous
run-up to the tournament, which had observers questioning the
commitment of U.S. players to the World Cup, while even NBA
Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that to Americans, the
Olympics were far more important.
"There's no question that the Olympics has been historically a
bigger event," Silver told reporters before an exhibition game at
Madison Square Garden before they left for Spain.
After the sickening injury to George, which led to Durant dropping
out, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban railed about risks taken by
NBA teams in supplying players for events where the proceeds are
pocketed by international organizations.
Silver acknowledged the debate would be renewed at the next NBA
owners' meetings.
"I do anticipate that it'll be a hot topic at the competition
meeting and at the Board of Governors meeting, just because it
always has been," said Silver.
Silver said that while stakes were high for the league, so were the
benefits to players and to growing the game globally.
Silver stressed it was a personal decision for players, who under
the current agreement can choose to play so long as there is not an
injury concern by his NBA team.
"They come out better young men as a result of having participated
in these events," asserted Silver.
(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
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