Team profile: Youngsters ready to get USA back on top

MANILA (Philippines) – After a tough run in 2019, USA will be looking for a different kind of campaign in the Philippines.

USA will be searching for their sixth title, which would put them alone at the top of the medal table. Right now, they are still sharing the first spot with five World Cups, the same amount as former Yugoslavia.

The Roster

Everybody loves talking about youth when it comes to modern-day basketball, and USA’s roster reflects that perfectly. Out of the 12 names on the list, Bobby Portis and Josh Hart are the most senior, and both of them are still 28.

How young is that? Back in 2019, Spain as the last World Cup winner, had just three players younger than Portis and Hart are now, and eight of the 12 Spaniards were in their 30s as they lifted the cup.

Paolo Banchero is one of the new young guns on the team

USA opted for youth, so expect a lot of these guys to be in the national team for a long time.

In Malaga for the Torneo del Centenario FEB in Spain this weekend, Steve Kerr’s squad looked really good with convincing wins against european powerhouses Slovenia and Spain.

The Question

Did they learn from the lessons from 2019? Back then, they were stunned by France in the Quarter-Finals and then lost to Serbia in the Classification Games 5-8. Everybody loves to talk about “the gap” when USA show up as the undeniable number one favorite in every major event, but that gap is near non-existent nowadays.

Bobby Portis and USA in Malaga, Spain

They need to stay prepared from tip-off of Game 1, all the way until September 10 and the closing day of the event – just one slip-up in these games, and the rest of the world will be ready to shoot their shot and grab the opportunity to pull a 2019 France.

The Hope

The hunger. One generation of LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and all the other superstars is slowly going to the latter part of their careers, and for guys like Anthony Edwards, Paolo Banchero, or Brandon Ingram, this could be the next step to propel them to elite level.

Remember, special kinds of bonds are built in the national team setting over the summer. LeBron James won his first MVP award after spending the 2008 summer with the national team. Derrick Rose played the 2010 World Cup then won the MVP award in 2011. Steph Curry played in 2014 then became MVP in 2015.

Rest assured, all the Edwardses and Bancheros, and Ingrams will have that hunger in them to follow in the same footsteps.

The Fear

The different rules to this level of basketball. Does it really matter if you’re super-athletic and have a 40-inch vertical if the opponents have a man mountain waiting for you in the paint at almost all times? Does it matter if you’re an elite 1v1 player if the opponent is just playing zone for 40 minutes straight? Does it matter if you’re a sharpshooter when the three-point line is not where it was for most of your career?

In the friendly games so far, Anthony Edwards showed he can lead the offense for USA

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