Krzyzewski must form embarrassment of USA riches into unit

Many would say that Mike Krzyzewski has an embarrassment of riches as head coach of the United States team looking forward to the 2012 Olympics. But Coach K actually has a series of very tough decisions as the overwhelming favorites to defend their gold from Beijing.

In 2008, the Americans had arguably their strongest team since the Dream Team in 1992 or the 1996 squad in Atlanta. And save for a tough fight from Spain in the Final, Team USA eased to gold with the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Chris Bosh.

Then the entire 2008 team turned down invitations to play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey and Krzyzewski luckily had the benefit of a deep talent pool in selecting his 2010 side. And the Americans - led by Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Lamar Odom, Chauncey Billups, Eric Gordon and Andre Igoudala - were rarely tested in re-claiming the world champion title for the first time since 1994.

That crown in Turkey not only gave the Americans an automatic berth for the 2012 Olympics. It also sprouted at least a mild sense of entitlement in the group of players that came to Europe that they deserved to fight for Olympic gold next summer in London.

Now, that embarrassment of riches can be called a juggling act as Krzyzewski needs to find the right mix of über-talented superstars and how to form them into a unit - something he already did in 2008 and 2010. But now there are two full teams' worth of players looking for London glory.
 

With a team expected to include superstars like James, Bryant, Wade, Durant, Anthony and Westbrook, who will take over the reins? Who will have the ball late in games? How will the superstars outside of Krzyzewski's rotation accept sitting on the bench? What kind of system will he install for his group of individualistic stars and how will they take to it?

Will all that being said, Krzyzewski and Team USA are clearly the favorites to have gold hanging around their necks after the games are over.

The combination of superstars like James, Bryant, Howard, Wade and Durant along with the depth that Krzyzewski can call upon will likely be too much for most teams to deal with. Bench guys will be hungry to earn playing time while those on the court will be fighting to stay on the court.

The USA team will most likely feature an unmatched defensive intensity - probably over the entire length of the court - while on offense Krzyzewski will try to get his points before the opposing teams can set their defenses. And when that does happen, the Americans will probably be a slashing team constantly attacking the rim and passing out to open shooters.

As very often with American teams, Krzyzewski must find a couple of shooters who can wait out on the wings for the driving player to dish out to them and hit those open shots.

Another issue could be health. With the abbreviated but more compact NBA schedule, some of the NBA's best could be dealing with injury knocks or tired legs - with back-to-back-to-back nights on the schedule as well as stretches of four games in five nights.

Again, also with that, Team USA is the overwhelming favorite to capture the gold medal - thanks to Krzyzewski's embarrassment of riches.