I originally put this in another thread, but I wanted to pull it out and see what kind of ideas folks have other than the "Let's get Shaq and Tim" kind. I believe we need to rethink both how basketball is played in this country and how it is organized. Here's a starting proposal: First, I'd get a really good coach and staff that would be dedicated solely to the task and committed to several years. No more rotating "all-star" coaches. Second, I'd say that anyone who wants to enter the NBA before their Junior year (I guess I have to qualify that by saying "College") be automatically placed into the pool of potential USA team members. If selected, they get paid the equivalent of an upper first round pick and are committed to the National team for two or three years after which they become available for the draft or free agents. (Current salary rules would have to be changed to accomodate these special cases.) If you get beat out by an incoming player, you go to the draft. Players could make themselves available without losing college eligibility, which would be another safe way for folks to judge whether they should stay in school. This might also improve the college game as I could see some players waiting until after their Junior year to come out. Third, I'd drill fundamentals into these guys so that the National Team would truly be a team and this way of thinking would be carried over into the NBA after a few years. I don't know if this is THE way to go, but I think we need to change our whole approach to basketball in this country and involve the NCAA and the NBA to put better teams out on the floor during international competitions. Even if we go with Shaq and the others, that's a short term solution that does nothing to address the issues raised by the Argentina win. It's the same thing as bringing in the pros after our college guys couldn't win every game. The fact is, many countries play better basketball and we can't get by on talent forever. We need to play better basketball!
