How to Construct the Perfect USA Basketball Team

If I were to recruit a group of NBA players to play against the best basketball teams of the world, I would get NBA players who can shoot the basketball. I've seen what opponents have done to the US basketball team in past years and to beat the Americans at basketball, you have to expose their lack of perimeter shooting. Not everyone on the US basketball team has a great shooting touch, which is why you'll need everyone on the roster to be able to make perimeter shots. The Americans have beaten their opponents in two areas of basketball: quickness and athleticism. They're not so hot in perimeter shooting.

Here's who I would pick to play against the best of basketball teams in the world. I like Baron Davis to be the point guard of the team. He can shoot the basketball, especially from three-point land. He can handle the ball as well as distribute. Davis is a skilled player who can also play defense as well. I would pick Ray Allen, the sharpshooter of the Boston Celtics to be my shooting guard. His shooting skills are superb and I wouldn't count on him missing shots without a tight defense around him. At the small forward spot, I would choose Paul Pierce. He can really shoot, that's one quality I have seen in him. He can find his spots and shoot the lights out of the gym with the basketball. At power forward, I would pick Lamar Odom. His shooting skills are great for someone his size, and he is quick too and he is someone who can run on the break. His passing skills and ability to handle the basketball are rare traits of someone as athletic for someone of Odom's size. Amare Stoudemire is my center. He is agile and quick and he has the athletic ability of a big man to get his own shot.

For the bench, I would pick Phoenix Suns center Channing Frye who has the three-point touch of a big man, Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls who can rebound and block shots, Imeka Udoka who is known for his defense and professionalism, Ronnie Brewer and CJ Miles, two perimeter-oriented players who can shoot and play defense, Rodney Stuckey who can play defense and create his own shot and shoot the basketball and be the playmaker of the team, and Matt Barnes, whose fiery passion and competitiveness as well as defense and three-point shooting ability will be the heart and soul of the team.

These players I chose will have the skills, talent, poise, and determination to match the efforts of the world competition who have caught up with the US talent pool of basketball. The players I chose will be able to work together. They have reputations of having no egos and are team-oriented players. The kind of coach they need is someone who will let them be themselves and let them run their basketball skill sets. That coach is current Phoenix Suns coach Alvin Gentry.