Final Thought on World Basketball Championship

Is it me or is International Basketball starting to feel like International soccer? Perhaps the period between the first couple Dream Teams and now, when the stars stopped playing for USA, will be an historical anomaly because it seems like the intensity of the competition for world bragging rights might be a big enough draw for the Americans. It just feels like, in the wake of the slightly disappointing bronze, that everyone around the team is - and always had been - thinking in terms of 2008. There was even some bitterness from some guys who didn't make the team.

I'm going to be so bold as to say the USA is the Brazil of Olympic basketball. But if that's the case (and I'm just playing devil's advocate here) shouldn't the USA formulate a strategy around the American style of play instead of trying to adjust to the International game? Brazil goes into every World Cup as the favorite. If they gel as a team, they win. If they don't, like this past World Cup, they lose. But either way, they look cool doing it and always intimadate their opposition.

I'm happy with the way the US is setting up for 2008, but if it all goes bad, perhaps the Americans will look to Brazil for some ideas.