The Gold Medal Game against Spain lived up to the hype expected, but Team USA had their hands full once again. But behind 30 points from Kevin Durant and some late fourth quarter clutch play from Chris Paul and LeBron James, Team USA captured the gold by defeating Spain 107-100.

The battle for the gold was back-and-forth the entire contest as Team USA had problems pulling away from Spain the entire game.

In addition to the 30 from Durant, LeBron had 19 and Kobe Bryant chipped in 17 for Team USA, who led Spain by only one after three quarters.

However as good as Durant, James and Bryant were, it was point guard Chris Paul who was the ultimate difference.

Paul took the game over in the second half and played as well as he has possibly ever played. His stats say he scored only 11 points and dished out a pair of assists, but Paul was so much better than that would suggest. He controlled the pace of the game and knocked down a few huge shots to give Team USA some breathing room and as usual, Paul was outstanding on the defensive end of the floor.

The Los Angeles Clippers guard knocked down a three at the beginning of the fourth quarter and followed that up with a drive to the basket and a layup. Those five points put Team USA up by six and they never looked back.

While Paul was outstanding, it was Durant ho carried Team USA through three quarters. With his 30 points, he became the all-time American Olympic scorer in one Olympics.

Pau Gasol scored 24 and Juan-Carlos Navarro had 21 for Spain, which had to settle for silver in the second straight Olympics. That may not have been the case if Gasol’s brother Marc didn’t pick up four fouls in the first half as the younger Gasol was having his way down low with the Americans. He finished with 17 points, but only played 17 minutes for Spain due to the foul trouble.

This win was the swan song for Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who coached in his final international game, finishing with an amazing 61-1 record.

As for the New York Knicks involved, Carmelo Anthony scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists in 21 minutes, and Tyson Chandler finished with two points in nine minutes of playing time.

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It’s not like Argentina has a bunch of nobody’s on their team like Nigeria and Tunisia (is that really a country?) did. This team is loaded with NBA talent and can seriously ball. With scoring machine Manu Ginobili as their star, he showed he could take over any game at any time throughout his NBA and international career. Along with Manu, Argentina sends out double threat Luis Scola, sharp shooter Carlos Delfino, Andres Nocioni, and Knicks prospect Pablo Prigioni. I mean these aren’t the superstar names that don the USA jerseys, but they can hang with the big dogs.

Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James are two of the best and hottest scorers in the world right now. I don’t see anyone stopping them for a full game. Coach K will have to be creative on how he plays LeBron, Melo, and Kevin Durant. Scola is leading all scorers with 22.5 a game and is your typical European big man: finesse post game, can hit that outside shot when you give him space, draws fouls, and is a passing wizard. Scola’s presence will force Tyson Chandler outside the paint, where Manu will thrive with his cutting and slashing abilities.

Prigioni is a nice point guard, but he has been hurt with kidney stones the last 2 games (ouch), and he is no Chris Paul, Deron Williams, or Russell Westbrook. These three should pressure Pablo and any other ball handler hard and force them into turnovers. USA should play their brand of basketball: run and gun. Don’t let Argentina play you in a half court game that is what they want you to do. They are sharp shooters and play excellent in a half court set. CP3, LeBron, Kobe, and Durant should have a track meet session on the court and run Argentina out of the gym.

USA couldn’t do anything wrong vs. Nigeria, but had a bump in the road against Lithuania. I expect Argentina to hang in there for a while; they are the 3rd ranked team in the world, but not for long. USA has to play a full game hard for all 4 quarters and tire down Argentina, especially when they have their 2nd unit in. When Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony are running your 2nd unit, that shouldn’t be a problem. USA should win this one without the scare this time.

Prediction: USA 93 Argentina 78.

In fact, before closing on a 17-6 run that was powered by LeBron James; the Americans found themselves trailing with five minutes left in the game.

James finished with 20 points, finally deciding to take the game over late.

Carmelo Anthony didn’t explode for 37 points in 14 minutes like he did on Thursday against Nigeria, but he did finish tied with LeBron with a team-high 20 points.

Of course that number could have been much higher if he would have gotten the ball more. Anthony did make 7-of-13 shots from the floor, but Lithuania had no answer for him in the post, yet the Americans didn’t feed him the ball regularly, instead elected to continue to throw up bricks from behind the arc, something they have done during three of the four Olympic games.

Linas Kleiza led Lithuania with 25 points and kept them in the game but it wasn’t until a Chris Paul 3-pointer with 5:38 remaining that Team USA took the lead for good.

Then LeBron took over late, scoring eight of his 20 points in the final four minutes to help the Americans remain unbeaten and avoid their first loss in the Olympics since falling to Argentina in the 2004 semifinals. In addition to Anthony’s 20, Kevin Durant also had 16.

The U.S. could never gain control of the game, leading just 55-51 at halftime after a poor defensive effort and allowed Lithuania to shoot 58 percent from the floor in the game.

What nearly killed Team USA is that they chucked up 33 shots from behind the arc, only making 10. In three of their four games, the Americans are only 28-for 83 (33.7 percent) from behind the arc.

Anthony played 25 minutes but fellow New York Knick Tyson Chandler started and played only eight minutes, scoring two points, grabbing one rebound and blocking a shot.

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Had I written this yesterday, it would have been a one word article that simply read- WOW!

For those that missed it, Anthony set a U.S. men’s Olympic team record of 37 points in a 156-73 Team USA win over Nigeria.

But that wasn’t the impressive part. Anthony going 13-for-16 from the floor was impressive, but that wasn’t even the most impressive part of Melo’s performance.

The impressive part is that he scored those 37 points in 14 minutes.

That’s not a misprint or a typo. Melo nearly dropped 40 on Nigeria in a little over a quarter, leaving me to only once again say- WOW! If you are scoring at home, Melo has scored  53 points in his last two games in only 26 minutes of playing time, which means he went over 50 in slightly over a half.

But what do we make of his performance?

It is exactly what it is and that’s two good games against the likes of Tunisia and Nigeria. I certainly won’t downgrade what Melo has done the past two times he’s stepped on the floor, missing a total of three shots in two games, but don’t read too much into it.

I wrote yesterday that the Olympics are perfect for Melo and that’s proving to be true.

He can shoot the ball as much as he wants and doesn’t have to worry about being a complete player or leader for Team USA. Melo’s as good as a scorer as there is in basketball and international play allows him to show off that skill and he’s done so in a big way.

However, don’t read too much into it and think that Melo’s recent scoring binge will translate into a great 2013 season in the Big Apple.

It would be nice, but the reality is that Tunisia and Nigeria are far from being the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder. The NBA game is much tougher for Melo as his flaws can be and often are exposed.

It’s great to see Melo doing so well at the London games, but what he’s doing there won’t have any impact on how he performs in a Knicks uniform in 2013 and beyond. It would be nice to see him go nuts like that in a Knicks uniform and he certainly will have his moments during the season, however it’s more important to see him do the little things necessary to lead this team where they are capable of going.

But you certainly can’t take away from the way he’s performed in the Olympics.

Even great Olympians and NBA legends of the past have to look at Melo’s performance the past two games and simply say one word- WOW!

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July 16, 2012; Washington, DC, USA; United States forward Carmelo Anthony (15) holds the ball against Brazil in the first half at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

Right now, Anthony isn’t hearing a peep from the critics as he has been fantastic coming off the bench for Team USA.

Could that be because international basketball hides Anthony’s flaws as a player? If you ask Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski, that answer is yes. In a recent column he wrote, Wojnarowski breaks down why Melo is a much better Olympic player than an NBA player.

Wojnarowski writes:

The United States Olympic basketball program has always been the perfect refuge for Carmelo Anthony, liberating him of leadership and leaving him to shoot the basketball. These summers in the red, white and blue have cleansed him of missteps and embarrassments in his NBA career, but he’s never used proximity to the world’s most driven and complete players to finish a transformation into a full-service franchise star.

For everything that Anthony has given USA Basketball as a talent, he hasn’t always been able to sustain the world-class conditioning, deference on offense and determination on defense. And all these leaders surrounding him … well, they never made him one, too. His flaws have shown themselves within the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks, but Team USA is constructed to take all of ‘Melo’s good, and never been burdened with the bad.

While that assessment of Melo may seem a bit harsh and I only agree with it a little bit, Wojnarowski hits on some points that are major concerns among Knicks fans.

First, the conditioning shouldn’t be an issue as Melo should be coming to camp in shape after competing in the 2012 London Games. He had his best year as a pro after the last Olympics, so I expect something similar this year.

I do agree with some of Wojnarowski’s other points, but maybe not as strongly as he does.

Melo hasn’t been a good leader in the NBA and his failures have been well documented. In international play, he doesn’t have to worry about leading as there are plenty of legitimate and proven leaders around him.

He’s also a matchup nightmare at either forward spot against any opponent Team USA will play. He can shoot as much as he wants and not worry about having to play defense a great deal of the time.  The main knocks on Melo as an NBA player are the fact that he doesn’t defer on offense and isn’t willing to commit to playing defense.

Quite frankly, that’s a fair criticism by Wojnarowski or anyone else. While Knicks fans may have seen tiny glimpses of an unselfish Melo and a player committed at the defensive end, those are things he hasn’t proven that he can sustain for lengths of times as an NBA player. Until he does, those criticisms will follow Melo around.

The problem is that despite all of his extraordinary talents, you honestly don’t know what you will get from Anthony, not only year to year, but sometimes game to game. That’s a shame for someone who has been in the NBA for a decade now.

In the Olympics for Team USA, they don’t need Melo to be a leader or a complete player, but the Knicks do, especially come playoff time.

His best year in Denver in 2008, Melo had Chauncey Billups to lean on as a leader. He may have something similar in Jason Kidd this season in New York, but now is the time for Melo to step up and become the complete player his skill set suggests he should be.

He’s proven he can score points in bunches but the Knicks need a leader and a complete basketball player out of Melo and those are things he’s never proven he can do.

For his sake, hopefully Melo realizes the Knicks window to win a championship is a small one and will close quickly. Hopefully he comes to training camp in shape and is willing to do the things necessary to take not only himself, but his team to the next level.

I for one, sometimes think the critics are sometimes a bit harsh on Anthony, but I won’t call the critics wrong.

If Anthony wants to be called a superstar and be paid like one, those are things that he simply has to do as a player.

I also think you will see much more out of Melo this season and beyond and he will begin to silence his critics. At least I hope so, but I have been wrong about him before.

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The 35-year old veteran was forced out of the Argentina lineup thanks to kidney stones, in what could be a big game for Argentina. After an opening win vs. Lithuania, Argentina followed things up with a loss to the Tony Parker-led French team.

Early on in the Olympics, Prigioni showed the ability to be a pass first and very unselfish point guard, something Knicks fans haven’t seen in a long time. Now suddenly with both Jason Kidd and Prigioni to likely back up Raymond Felton, the Knicks haven’t just added a wealth of experience, but two guys that play a traditional pass first-type of point guard.

In comparing his game to what Knicks fans saw in Jeremy Lin, Prigioni’s game is night-and-day from Lin as he recently told Marc Berman of the New York Post.

“Jeremy is more a scorer. He likes to shoot more. I saw him play 10 games. I’m not this kind of player. I like the team to play good, pass the ball, find open shots. I like to play smart — if someone’s hot, pass the ball to him.’’

So far in the Olympics, Prigioni has shown the ability to quarterback an offense. In two games so far he has scored 16 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out 14 assists and recorded five steals on the defensive end.

He was much better against Lithuania as he showed the ability to knock down the open three and only turned the ball over once. against the much more talented French team, Prigioni didn’t make either of his two attempts from behind the arc and turned the ball over four times. However overall, you have to be impressed with the command he has of the Argentina offense and what he will bring to the Knicks lineup in 2013.

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Looking at the 110-63 final score, you would guess that Team USA owned Tunisia from the start, but that wasn’t the case at all, at least not until Coach K went to the bench.

After a surprisingly close first half that saw the Americans enter the locker room with only a 13-point lead, Coach K started his second unit to begin the second half. With the likes of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant on the bench, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love and Andre Iguodala opened the third quarter with a 21-3 run that all but ended the game.

Anthony in particular was impressive, leading Team USA with 16 points, not missing a shot on the day. Melo went 6-for-6 from the floor, including knocking down both of his shots from behind the arc and both of his attempts from the charity stripe.

Led by Anthony and Love, who scored 16 apiece, Team USA’s bench outscored the starters 80-30.

Kevin Durant was the only American starter to reach double figures (13), while Anthony, Love, Westbrook, Anthony Davis (12), Westbrook (11) and James Harden (10), all reached double figures in scoring.

Team USA led by only five late in the first half, thanks to some awful perimeter shooting. The Americans missed all eight 3-pointers in the first, even worse than their 0-for-6 start Sunday, before Anthony drained one to open the second quarter. The Americans were 17 of 22 (77 percent) on 2-pointers in the first half, but missed 10 of their 12 3-point shots. They didn’t need to worry about 3s much in the second half as after the second unit opened the game up, it turned into the dunk-fest that many expected.

The Knicks were well represented in this one as in addition to Melo’s perfect day from the floor, Tyson Chandler made all three of his attempts from the floor and finished with six points and six rebounds.

Team USA will be back at it on Thursday when they face Nigeria.

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Aug 24, 2008; Beijing, CHINA; Argentina guard Pablo Prigioni (8) passes around Lithuania guard Sarunas Jasikevicius (13) during the mens basketball bronze medal game at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

That comes in the form of Argentina point guard Pablo Prigioni.

Prigioni signed with the Knicks and at 35 will be the oldest rookie in NBA history, but simply by judging him off one Olympic performance, Prigioni has the looks of a guy who will be able to help the Knicks during the 2012-13 season.

Playing in a veteran lineup that also features NBA players in Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino and Andres Nocioni, Prigioni was able to show what type of playmaking skills he has in Agentina’s 102-79 victory over Lithuania to open up the 2012 London Games for both countries.

Prigioni showed the ability to be a nice steady point guard for Argentina, which is something we heard about him as he signed with the Knicks.

He scored only nine points on the night, but I liked the fact that he was able to knock down the open three with consistency as Prigioni hit 3-of-4 shots from behind the arc.

Otherwise he did exactly what you want a veteran guard to do, taking care of the ball and putting teammates in positions to have success. Prigioni finished with six assists and only one turnover. That alone would be a blessing to Knicks fans.

He also seemed pretty solid on the defensive end of the floor. Prigioni always seemed to be in the proper position and recorded a pair of steals in the Argentina win.

I highly suggest, if you get the opportunity to check out Argentina’s next game, which will be Tuesday at 3.p.m EST against France. We will get a much better look at Prigioni as he will be matched up against the San Antonio Spurs Tony Parker.

One game is a small sample size, but I came away impressed with Prigioni and feel he can help the 2013 Knicks a great deal coming off the bench.

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Team USA led France only 22-21 after the first quarter, but for the final three quarters it was all team USA as they outscored the Frenchmen 76-50 the rest of the way, en route to a 98-71 win.

Three-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant took over and led the Americans with 22 points and nine rebounds and LeBron played the role of facilitator, dishing out nine assists as his unselfish play really got Team USA rolling.

The French featured several NBA-stars including Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw and Ronny Turiaf, but the overall talent level of the Americans eventually won out.

It started sloppy for Team USA and they didn’t shoot well early on, which if they were to lose, would be their downfall, but after missing their first six three-point attempts, they made eight of their next 19.

It wasn’t a great performance overall and Team USA showed there is room for much improvement, but they showed the potential for dominance once they started clicking.

The balance on this team is scary as only Durant, Kevin Love (14) and Kobe Bryant (10) finished the game in double figures.

Ali Traore led the French team in scoring with 12 points and Parker was the only other player to reach double-figures with 10.

As for the two New York Knicks playing for Team USA, both Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler, each grabbed nine rebounds as Team USA outrebounded the French 56-40.

Melo played 17 minutes and scored nine points but struggled from the floor, making only three of 10 attempts from the floor, also missing both of his attempts from behind the arc.

Chandler played only 11 minutes, scoring eight points, dishing out three assists, and making 2-of-5 shots from the floor.

Up next for Team USA is a matchup with Tunisia on Tuesday, July 31

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It makes you scream on top of your lungs and sometimes you can legitimately hate your best friend because you disagree with him. The current debate that it taking place at most bars and basements is the 1992 Dream Team against the current 2012 USA basketball team. Instead of your typical “who’s better” debate; let’s make an All-Time Dream Team combining the two.

The 1992 squad is one of a kind and will possibly go down as the greatest team ever in the history of sports. With 11 Hall of Famers with some of them entering their prime, we might never see such a team assembled again. They won their six Olympic games by an average of 51.5 points. The word dominance gives that accomplishment a slap in the face.

This current team representing our country has a majority of its players just entering their prime. You have LeBron, say what you want about him but there is no arguing how great he is as a player. Kevin Durant is on the cusp of his prime and is right under LeBron as the best player in the world, if not the best scorer. Chris Paul and Deron Williams are unselfish point guards who make playing point guard in the NBA easy. Carmelo Anthony is showing he is the best scorer on this Olympic team early in their scrimmages.

The one clear advantage the 1992 team has over the 2012 team is the big men. Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, and Karl Malone are in the top 10 big men of all time conversation. Team USA this year has solid big men in Tyson Chandler and Kevin Love, but they have a raw and unproven player in Anthony Davis who hasn’t even played a minute in a NBA training camp.

So who makes the all-time USA Dream Team?

Starting Five:
Point Guard: Magic Johnson – Magic is probably the best point guard ever, but he was 33 and coming off his absence of the league due to his HIV announcement. You can’t go wrong with Chris Paul here, but have to give Magic the advantage here.

December 13, 2011; Charlotte, NC, USA; Charlotte Bobcats principal owner Michael Jordan during training camp at Time Warner Cable Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-US PRESSWIRE

Shooting Guard: Michael Jordan – The debate you have been having for years, Kobe or Jordan. Michael Jordan was entering his prime that made him the best basketball player the world has ever seen. Kobe out of his prime is still scoring close to 30 points a game in the NBA. Jordan is the best ever, playing the best ball of his life, so Jordan gets the slight nod here.

Small Forward: LeBron James – The 1992 team had legends here with Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, and Chris Mullin. All four of these hall of famers can score from anywhere on the court and will make any defender look silly. The 2012 team aren’t any scrubs either, with 3 strong candidates for the Hall of Fame when their careers are over in LeBron, Durant, and Carmelo. There is no wrong answer here, but you have to give it to LeBron. The guy does everything right on the court. Just imagine right now Magic, Jordan, and LeBron on the court at the same time.

Power Forward: Charles Barkley – The weak spot in the 2012 team is the strength of the 1992 team. The only natural PF the 2012 team has is Kevin Love and even though he is an awesome NBA player and puts up big numbers, he can’t be in this conversation. Coach K has been mixing his Forwards up so far, starting 2 out of the 3 in Durant, LeBron, and Melo at the 3 and 4. With that, Charles Barkley is the overwhelming choice here. He led the 1992 team with 18 points per game and was the heart and soul of the team. Charles is tough and will back up his team no matter what the price.

Center: Patrick Ewing – The 2012 team has Tyson Chandler coming off his best defensive season and playing the best ball of his career. The 2012 team had top 5 centers of all time in Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. Tyson is great, but can’t compare to these two at both their current stages in their careers. With almost identical stats, I’m giving the edge to Knick legend Patrick Ewing. He and Barkley would be a terror in the paint in any era.

Bench:

With seven spots left on the All-Time Dream Team, you really can’t go wrong with anyone. The next seven I will pick are hall of famers are probable Hall of Famers.

Chris Paul would be a perfect compliment to Magic Johnson off the bench. He is intelligent and could play with anyone and make them even better than they are. The next player off the bench has to be Kobe Bryant. He is a pure scorer and him coming in for Jordan just sounds right. My next 5 spots can go any way you want. I will start off by giving Carmelo Anthony one of the spots. He has been carving up the international style of play and can play both power forward and small forward.

I will give another spot to David Robinson; he is a center who gives this Team USA no disadvantage when you put him in for either Ewing or Barkley. My 5h spot in the bench goes to Scottie Pippen. One of the 50 best players ever, he can defend anyone in the world had gives team USA balance on both sides of the court off the bench. My second to last spot goes to Kevin Durant, who can go in the game at any time and put points on the board at anytime and anywhere. My last spot goes to Larry Bird, the ultimate professional. Even though at his point of his career he wasn’t the Larry Bird we all know and fear, I dare you to leave him open.

So the Ultimate Team USA squad looks like:

PG – Magic Johnson & Chris Paul
SG – Michael Jordan & Kobe Bryant
SF – LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Scottie Pippen, & Larry Bird
PF – Charles Barkley
C – Patrick Ewing & David Robinson

These 12 can easily beat anyone in the world with their left hand tied behind their back. You can put up any kind of starting five you want. How bout a starting five of: LeBron, Kobe, Jordan, Carmelo, and Ewing? Or Chris Paul, Durant, Magic, Pippen, and Barkley? You can mix and match any type of rotation you want and this team will embarrass any team ever. Period.

Sports are about debate and preference. If you like the veterans games of 92 over this year’s team I’m sure you would make a couple switches, but hey that’s what debate and opinion is about. I had a lot of fun writing this can look forward to hearing your all time squad. Bring it up with your friends; I’m sure the debate can go on for hours.

Lin’s selection is significant for a few reasons:

Mar 21, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin (17) brings the ball up court during the second quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center. The Knicks defeated the Sixers 82-79. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

One: his knee must be feeling better. Yay!

Two: Playing for extended periods of time with some of the best players in the NBA can be a valuable learning experience. Although training only lasts about one week, it could be beneficial to Lin’s development as a player. While one week of training doesn’t compare to a full summer, the 2012 FIBA World Championships proved to be a valuable experience to players like Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, and Kevin Love, who all has breakout seasons following the tournament. For Lin, playing with fellow up-and-comers will be good, but spending a week competing against the Olympic squad, with the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony (!), etc. will be great to teach him a thing or two or seven, hopefully.

Three: For Knicks fans fretting over Lin’s value heading into free agency, his selection could be a nice sense of relief. Though his 26-game breakout still remains somewhat undefined, an anomaly, apparently Jerry Colangelo and the U.S.A Olympic folks think it warranted a Selection Team invite. I’m sure that during training there will be updates as to who is playing well, and it will be very interesting to see the remarks regarding Lin’s play.

Of course, as Marc Berman noted yesterday, Lin’ selection to the team stands as an invitation, not a guarantee. In the past, agents have prevented players from joining the Select Team, especially heading into free agency, as Lin is. As we saw yesterday, Lin’s agent did a bit of posturing and is clearly thinking about his client’s value going forward. It would be a shame in every sense if Lin were to get hurt during this camp.

The Selection Team will gather in Las Vegas on July 5 – by then, free agents will likely have signed or began negotiations with teams; keep that in mind – and then will train and compete against the Olympic squad July 6 – 11.

With a few of them likely to sit out this summer so they don’t injure themselves before they get a new contract (in other words the guys the Knicks would chase after: LeBron, Wade, Bosh, plus A’mare Stoudamire who made the pool too), it does provide some openings.  Not to mention that say a banged up Kobe might need to take the summer off to get his body healthy again.  Of course, included in those free agents-to-be are none other than David Lee, so he himself might have to bow out.  Oh, and another thing in Lee’s favor is that once again the Knicks’ coach Mike D’Antoni will be one of the assistant coaches on the USA team.  It’s always nice having someone on the inside to help plead your case.

Anyway, the remaining invitees include the Denver Nuggets’ Chauncey Billups, LA Lakers’ Lamar Odom, plus a who’s-who of all the young and upcoming players in the NBA according to ESPN: the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant (pretty much a lock to make the final roster since he almost made it last time and he’s only gotten better), Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose,

Minnesota‘s Al Jefferson and Kevin Love; Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo of Memphis; Philadelphia‘s Andre Iguodala; Boston‘s Kendrick Perkins; Indiana‘s Danny Granger; New York‘s David Lee; New Jersey center Brook Lopez; Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook; Portland‘s LaMarcus Aldridge; Charlotte‘s Gerald Wallace; and Clippers guard Eric Gordon.

The Americans will choose a group from the roster to take part in their minicamp in Las Vegas in July. They are expected to play an exhibition game in New York before heading to Turkey for the world championships, which they haven’t won since 1994.