The Cross Over Movement Blog

Team USA added a couple shooters and Kobe Bryant and suddenly all the problems are gone, right? How can anyone criticize the American game after Team USA beat Brazil by fifty?

All the bandwagoners who jumped off Team USA’s bandwagon in 2004 and 2006 can jump back on and celebrate Team USA’s destruction of the Western Hemisphere. However, my point has never centered on the Senior National Team. The Senior National Team’s losses in Indianapolis, Athens and Japan made it possible for people to fathom that my points might be correct. Without those losses, people would think my book was crazy-talk.

However, my argument is about much more than an International Tournament every two years. I wrote earlier this year that Team USA should win in Beijing without making any changes to the way it conducts business. While everyone is busy celebrating the importance of the three-year commitment and the work of Colangelo and Coach K, let’s not forget the addition of Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant. I’d argue the new starting back court is the most important change thus far, in terms of winning games.

But, my argument is about the development of players: all players, not just the top 10 players. I have aknowledged that LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony developed just fine in the current system. While the academy arguments and the media talk centers on the top 10 players every year, my argument is about every one else. How do we create the best possible development system for all players, at all ages, not just the elite seniors in high school or those gifted enough to play for Team USA.

And, this tournament has done little to discourage my thinking. While the problems may be solved at the Senior National Team level, all the talk and the summits and the discussions have led to no changes at the true grassroots levels because their is a vacuum of leadership that nobody is willing to fill.