The US was also hurt by the different rules played internationally. It was the team's fault for not learning the nuances of the international game - they fully expected talent to win out. It seems like they put a team together this year that should win internationally - a sharpshooter like Redd will be big to beat the zones. Hopefully, with LeBron taking more of a leadership role (vs. in 2004 when he was just a rookie), he can lead this team.
Don't forget that LeBron was asking Larry Brown to play (LeBron had finished his 2nd NBA season by the 2004 Olympics), but Brown refused, insisting to play veterans. LeBron and Kobe alone
should be enough to win it easily, but not if they and rest of the team treat it like the NBA All-Star game (i.e. all offense and no defense).
Going back to Klydon's point of sending the Celts as a team, I said the same thing in 2004: the Pistons were won their title by being one of the ultimate
team champions of the past 15 years in the NBA and could have probably won instead of the team we fielded.
