Retro Olympics Team

Imagine that we still sent our best collegiate basketball players to the Olympics (and expected to win.) This is the squad Coach Rizzo sends this year. It is not based on extensive tape or astrology.

RED unit [halfcourt tempo]:

1 Derrick Rose (captain)

2 Russell Westbrook

3 Bill Walker

4 Michael Beasley

5 Roy Hibbert

BLUE unit [uptempo]:

6 Ty Lawson

7 Stephen Curry

8 Tyler Smith

9 Josh Duncan

10 Brook Lopez

Utility players

11 Mario Chalmers
12 Kevin Love

Last men cut:

CDR

Shan Foster

OJ Mayo

Hansbrough

First cuts were pretty simple: Bye-bye DJ Augustin, Darren Collison, and Eric Gordon. Just a bad year to be a point guard. Rose is doing it all for Memphis, and Lawson at full strength has transformed UNC. Rose's leadership and maturity are well noted so he captains this young squad.

Augustin lost his head to head matchup with Rose, Collison is ungainly at times, and Gordon peaked in the winter. Also packing their bags were Chris Lofton, Luke Harangody, and DJ White. Lofton is one-dimensional (though he would have taken Curry's spot in the 2007 version of this team), and Harangody and White lack the athleticism for the international game.

The 3 was the hardest position to fill. There were four players for two spots: Walker, Smith, CDR, and Foster. Walker gets in because I asked myself whose hands I'd want the ball in with 10 ticks to go. He and Smith are also the best defenders in the group. Smith gets in because of how well his speed and ability to force turnovers complement the Blue unit. We don't need Shan Foster's shooting if we already have Curry and Duncan. CDR was tough to leave out but his esoteric driving and finishing style was just too weird to fit onto an Olympic team; he might be a "system" All-American.

I needed a combo guard for one of my utility spots, Chalmers or Mayo. Chalmers is just too polished and well-rounded to leave out, and he might get crunch time work as a defensive specialist. Though Mayo has better vision, if a point guard gets hurt, Westbrook would handle it and Chalmers would take the 2.

The utility big man was a tough choice between Love or Hansbrough. At the end of the day Love's ability to step out and hit 3's along with his supreme outlet pass made him too valuable to exclude. When it comes to the international game, superb fundamentals trump Jordanesque effort.

Think this team makes Ginobili and Tonic Parker out of the world's best?