Team USA might get a little makeover. (Getty Images) |
The door was pretty much shut on Team USA's roster player pool. Jerry Colangelo had said just last week that there would be no new additions to the team.
"We're not going to add anyone," Colangelo said. "Even with the losses, we still feel like we're pretty well covered."
Well, that all changed Sunday afternoon with about a minute left in Chicago's Game 1 against the 76ers. When Derrick Rose went down with a season-ending knee injury, it not only greatly affected the Bulls' championship aspirations, but it was a big hit to Team USA's London hopes as well.
So as a result, Colangelo said he's reconsidering last week's statement. Via SI.com:
This is of course after Dwight Howard recently had back surgery, knocking him out of the 2012 games. But that's not it. Chauncey Billups, LaMarcus Aldridge and Lamar Odom are all out as well.Just three days after saying the roster of Olympic team finalists would not be expanded after the recent rash of injuries to key players, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo told SI.com that he is reconsidering his stance after the Bulls point guard tore his ACL in Game 1 of their series against the Sixers.
“What I said [previously] was that we didn’t plan to do any additions, but we had to continue to monitor the injury situation,” Colangelo said. “Obviously this is a big loss. [Point guard] seems to be, at this point, still a pretty strong position. But at this stage, quite honestly, I think all bets are off.”
Team USA is pretty thin up front. And if you're saying Andrew Bynum, forget it. He said he's not interested.
The players in the pool currently are Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Eric Gordon, Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodala, Chris Bosh, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love and Tyson Chandler.
You'll notice only one true center on that list. And with Spain having the powerful interior unit of Marc and Pau Gasol along with Serge Ibaka, Team USA might need some more size. Roy Hibbert maybe? Anthony Davis? Or just bring in an extra versatile power forward and plan on playing small. Something Mike Krzyzewski likes to do and was successful with in the 2010 World Championships in Turkey.
Without Rose, Russell Westbrook has become a mortal lock to go with Chris Paul. Deron Williams is likely with Rajon Rondo, Ty Lawson, Kyle Lowry and maybe even Jeremy Lin getting new looks. Again, Coach K likes his guards, so he'll probably prefer carrying at least three point guards, with maybe a fourth combo style guy.
Team USA is going to be the favorite regardless and while Rose's injury is obviously impactful, it happened at a position of strength for the U.S. team. With Paul, Westbrook and Williams, Team USA should be able to survive fine. The bigger worry is inside against Spain and those Gasol brothers.