Earlier this week the training camp roster for the 2006 USA National Basketball Team was released. The second most important story revolving around the team is the exclusion of Allen Iverson and Lamar Odom from the roster. The most important story; does anyone care?

During the past three weeks, there has been more apathy shot at the U.S. Olympic Team than there were pucks at U.S. Ice Hockey goalie Rick DiPietro. Sure, Americans love basketball more than curling, the biathlon and ski jumping, but does international competition really interest us? Outside of the NBA, don’t the names on the back of the jerseys truly mean more than the success of the team?

We’ll pretend for a moment that “team” takes precedence.

Leading the men into the land of the rising sun will be Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, with a supporting cast of Rudy Tomjanovich, Jim Boeheim and Mike D’Antoni. Between July 14th (when training camp starts) and August, Coach K will be fine tuning the ego’s of All-Stars such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chauncey Billups into a cohesive, well oiled machine.

This will show to be quite a task. Getting this team to play as one unit may be one of the most difficult challenges Coach K will face in his professional career, unacquainted with the ego-driven drama that drips through the NBA. Lucky for him, his name is Krzyzewski and his team will be wearing blue; a recipe for success since 1981.

Now, since we still care, we can talk about why Allen Iverson and Lamar Odom, both prominent contributors to the 2004 bronze medal Olympic Team, were left out. 
 

Allen Iverson is one of the most talented players in the NBA, with or without the ball. Sure, he gives Sports Center its share of highlights, but its what AI does passing the ball and on defense that makes him a phenom. He creates opportunities for everyone around him to shine. On the 2002 Olympic team  Iverson led the team in 3-pointers. He was second in assists, steals and field-goals made. So how was this guy not a lock for Coach K’s roster?

During the 2004 Olympic breakdown, Team USA was not a team. It was a conglomeration of individual All-Stars, the best the NBA had to offer. Where did that lead the stars of the greatest basketball league in the world? To a disappointing three-loss bronze medal. This year, as opposed to being picked by committee, Team USA was picked through a series of interviews conducted by the Phoenix Suns Jerry Colangelo. After sitting down with Coach K, they formulated what hopes to be a better team without AI than with him. There is no real need for another guard anyway. Granted, injuries can happen. But with guards like Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade and Chauncey Billups occupying spots in training camp, the omitence of AI seems minimal.

 As far as Lamar Odom being left off the team, I think the reasoning is simple. He chooses when he wants to play. He doesn’t give 100 percent all the time. Hell, he doesn’t even give 70 percent all the time. Lucky for him, he has the most talented player with the ball in the league for a teammate who can put up 81 when he decides to not show. Coach K strives on work-ethic, making yourself a better player than you were yesterday. I just don’t see that desire in Odom. His numbers were OK on the 2004 team, averaging 9 points a game and just under 6 rebounds. But just like AI, there was no real room for him on the roster (assuming that Shaq decides to play, which he has not decided yet) anyway. Even if Shaq doesn’t decide to play, Amare Stoudamire and Chris Bosh will be there to pick up the slack (again, assuming Stoudamire stays healthy).

 All-in-all, the training camp roster looks like a much more solid attempt at creating a dominating world-force of a team for Japan than it did in 2004. As far as a key player that will not make the team after training camp, I will go out on a limb and say Kobe for two reasons. The first is simple, he can’t play team basketball. He has a me-first attitude which Coach K will not stand for. Second, if Colangelo has any hopes of bringing in Shaq , Kobe can not be on the roster. These guys are done playing in the same locker room, period. And with the roster potential, a healthy big-man inside will be of much greater benefit than a selfish shooting guard.

Send Craig an email at craig.joseph@atomicsportsmedia.com