The Stankoniforous Files

Stank-0 is not referring to the possible end of mankind, but to the composition to the USA National Basketball team.  Let's start with a few key pieces of information.

• Jason Kidd will likely be too old to get a spot on the team.  He was on them old man legs in 2008.  It's possible he might have even retired by 2012.
• Kobe will be at the edge of his prime by 2012 but will likely be the "Jason Kidd" of the 2012 team.  As of right now, Kobe is almost 33 this year and will likely be 35 before they tip up in the London Olympics.  This is assuming that Kobe's deteriorating body continues to hold up. 
• There will be a logjam at the point.  Chris Paul and Deron Williams got spots on lock, but there's Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Tyreke Evans, Stephen Curry, and John Wall waiting in the wings.  As it stands today, the only player we can safely leave off is Wall, because he's a rook.  If he progresses in the next 2 years, that will be a hard decision.  It's not who do you take, but who do you leave off the team? The top of the food chain are: Paul, Rondo, and Deron.
• In the paint, there's Lee, Love, the Lopez brothers, Al Jefferson, D12, Bosh, and Amar'e.
• Kevin Durant will be on the 2012 team. Fact. See you're nodding your head.  Stank-0 doesn't even have to defend this point.  Can you imagine KD in the Olympics?! He'll be able to get his shot off against any defender outside of the paint. The kid got a ridiculous wingspan. Either he or Melo will be coming off the bench to lead the 2nd unit.

Most of the Redeem Team will be given invitations to try out and most will likely make it.  2012 tryouts will be fierce.  Here's a quick rundown of potential players: David Lee, Chauncey Billups, Rudy Gay, Danny Granger, Brook Lopez, Andre Iguodala, Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo, Tyreke Evans, Stephen Curry, LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez, Eric Gordon, O.J. Mayo, Jeff Green, Kevin Love, Gerald Wallace and Al Jefferson.

Let's be all the way real here.  With the collection of players mentioned and the Redeem Team core, how does the USA Team not repeat as gold medal winner?  We saw in 2008 that the USA team's main weapon was the fast break, Stank-0 don't see that going anywhere anytime in the foreseeable future.


It's only 2 years away, excited yet?