In the afternoon of July 10th, 2008 the last three names of the USA’s Olympic Basketball team was announced.  They are Tamika Catchings F, Kara Lawson G, and Delisha Milton-Jones F.  The full roster now reads:  4 Cappie Pondexter G, 5 Seimone Augustus F, 6 Sue Bird G, 7 Kara Lawson G, 8 Delisha Milton-Jones F, 9 Lisa Leslie C, 10 Tamika Catchings F, 11 Tina Thompson F, 12 Diana Taurasi G/F, 13 Sylvia Fowles C, 14 Katie Smith G, and 15 Candace Parker F/C/G.

On paper that is quite the line up.

I wanted to walk away from the teleconference feeling good about USA’s chances to avenge their loss at the World Championship against Australia. I wanted to feel like once again the USA was going to control its own destiny and continue its Gold Medal streak.  I wanted to apply all my logic and reasoning to be able to write a column that spelled out why USA was going to win Gold and why everyone should watch the team as they continued their traditions of respecting others, cheering other teams to better play, and stepping their personal game up to remain at the top of the heap.

I really really really wanted all of that and the bag of chips.

I will refrain from comments about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny to talk about the biggest concern that was raised for me.

Since the addition of Women’s Basketball into the 1976 Olympic games, the Big Four have dominated the sport; USA, Australia, Brazil and Russia/Soviet Union.  For obvious reasons Russia has slipped in the past decade.  Brazil has had an internal melt down as seen in the recent Olympic Qualifier.  But Australia has made it their mission to climb to the top of the medal stand.

This past year Australian Head Coach Jan Stiriling made it clear to the Australian players that they had to commit to the team to make the team. So all but a few who were guaranteed a spot (think Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor and Tully Bevilaqua) on the team remained in Australia by passing the WNBA season.  On the other hand USA Basketball struggled to put together a consistent team for any of its warm up tours.  With some USA potential players going down with injuries or focusing on personal lives, USA was forced at times to bring in players to finish a tour whose chance of making the USA were right up there with snowballs and hot places.

Australia made its final selections based on the health of their players.  Jenny Whittle retired so Suzy Batkovic was added to the team.  Emily McInerny out, Rohanee Cox in because according to the rumor mill, Cox was healthier than long time team member and defensive specialist McInerny.

USA has seven players dealing with minor to major injuries.  Cappie Pondexter (G) recently missed five WNBA games with what was called a minor leg injury and fatigue.  

Seimone Augustus (F) has an injured toe, Tina Thompson (F) broken finger, Tamika Catchings (F) ankle plus last year’s Achilles tendon, Sylvia Fowles (C) with her knee and Delisha Milton-Jones (F) with chronic ACL issues and last but not least Candace Parker (F/C/G) with her shoulder.

Which leaves a healthy Katie Smith (G), Diana Taurasi (G), Kara Lawson (G), Sue Bird (G) and Lisa Leslie (C).  Now that is not a bad healthy core five.  A little short on the height but still a group that can hurt you.  

I can argue my way into moving Parker from the injured list to the healthy list cause you can not drop 40 points in a WNBA game while injured.  I also think that I could be persuaded to move Thompson to the healthy list because it is the Olympics and the broken finger is her pinkie.

I am all for miracles and I have to love Milton-Jones’s attitude.  On the call she said, ”This is a four year commitment that you have no idea is going to pay off.  You have to practice and train at a different level then the team you are on so when you join the National Team so you will not be the weak link.”

I like that.  And with this team if you can get 10 really good minutes of DeLisha banging the boards for rebounds you got a win.  And the same with Catchings.  Fifteen minutes of her playing defense at the right fifteen minutes is also worth a win.

So in the end I think that injuries' impact on the USA’s performance maybe are not going to be as bad as I fear they could be.  Some players are clearly going to spend more time on the bench learning then contributing to the teams performance (ie Sylvia Fowles and her knee) while others are going to be receiving lessons about international play at the Olympic level.  And I am left with this final thought...

... when it comes to the Olympics and international play, never ever bet against Lisa Leslie.  If she is breathing air and can walk then the USA will take home a gold medal.  But watching them get there is going to be a lot of fun this year.