This isn't specifically related to UCLA, but I think it is of interest. Phoenix Suns chairman and CEO Jerry Colangelo is the new head of the US Olympic basketball program, and he's planning to make some dramatic changes in how the team is put together and operates. He wants a coach with knowledge of the international game, plus players who have to go through tryouts and commit to two years with the team. All of these appear to be good ideas, but none of them change perhaps the biggest issue facing the US Olympic team: multi-millionaire American athletes will never be motivated to beat the rest of the world as much as the rest of the world is motivated to beat multi-millionaire American athletes. Most established American NBA players are not going to sacrifice their bodies (and potential future earnings) simply to represent their country in an attempt to win a gold medal. On top of this, if there is one thing I have learned from doing this blog, it is that the rest of the world is playing basketball. We've seen Bruins participating in leagues in Greece, Italy, the Czech Republic, Japan, China, and Lebanon. The talent abroad is improving so quickly that there are several other countries with players comparable to those in the US - you combine the talent and motivation held by the rest of the world, and the result is that there is no way our Olympic team will ever dominate like it once did, no matter what types of tweaks we add to the team selection process.

One quick sidenote regarding my comment about most NBA players: last year, I definitely noticed that Allen Iverson is an exception. I am not AI's biggest fan by any stretch of the imagination, but if there is one player who deserves a break more than any other during the off-season, it's him. Though generously listed at 6 ft, 165 pounds, he accepts the physical and emotional burden of being his team's primary scoring option. He gets dinged up plenty during the season, yet he was willing to show up for the Olympics and give whatever he had, while others stars declined invitations, including Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter, Elton Brand, and Ben Wallace. Iverson gets plenty of negative publicity (sometimes deservedly so), but you can't fault his effort on the court - well, at least during games, I'm not sure about practice :).

***Update: According to this Atlanta Journal Consititution article, Coach John Wooden believes the US still has the best talent, and college players would make viable team members.