The Tokyo Olympics are a month away from beginning after COVID-19 postponed the event last year.
We are excited for Team USA basketball and their quest for the gold medal.
The roster filled with the best NBA talent has officially been put together.
⭐️ TEAM USA ⭐️
USA Basketball has finalized its roster for the Tokyo Olympics, Jerry Colangelo and players' agents told @WindhorstESPN. pic.twitter.com/5RNUaeD8jb
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 24, 2021
Now it is time to get prepared to watch them take on the best international players across the globe.
Olympic basketball is always a treat for the fans.
Teams gather the collective best players of their respective country, which is a delight for everyone in the world.
Yes, sometimes the games can be very lopsided.
However, the competitiveness has increased over the last couple of years.
Team USA has to put their best foot forward and achieve what they deem as their goals.
Here are two simple ones that Team USA wants to reach at the Tokyo Olympics.
2. Help Players Get Better
Winning is obviously important.
Being able to obtain a gold medal is a great accomplishment for any athlete.
However, it is also important for players to get better at the Olympics.
The USA basketball team usually will use a select team to help scrimmage against the primary team.
In reality, it is helping those players on the select team become better players in the league by going up against the best players all on one team.
Erik Spoelstra has accepted the offer to coach the USA Basketball select team that will help Team USA prepare for the Olympics. 👊 pic.twitter.com/Fv80VASLqn
— Heat Nation (@HeatNationCP) June 23, 2021
Furthermore, the players on the primary roster are also getting better.
Kevin Durant might not need the confidence boost by playing for Team USA.
Someone like Jerami Grant might take a lot from this experience after having his best year in the league.
On the 2016 roster, Jimmy Butler was on that team and learned a lot.
Butler became a better player and better leader.
It is all about planting the seeds for a player to become even better than what they are currently.
1. Just Win Baby
The number one goal for sure is to win.
In most years, the USA basketball team wins rather easily.
However, things have changed.
Team USA finished in seventh place at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
They didn’t have the usual names, such as a Durant or LeBron James, but they still had great players on the roster.
The country tends to just put teams together and use their talent to win.
Perhaps that is finally catching up to them.
Other countries have players that have grown up playing with one another on the international stage.
Spain is still one of the best teams outside of USA.
Argentina refuses to go away.
Australia and Canada have a good group of NBA players on their roster.
Greece has Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The talent pool around the globe is very broad now.
There could be games where the second or third-best player on the court is someone on the other team.
That was not the case for decades.
Winning is the ultimate goal and Team USA should still be favored.
However, they need to try their best and beat the other countries who are not going to lie down to them.
