Congratulations to Team USA!

I know I haven't been covering any of the Team USA games, though I have watched a handful of them and have been keeping up with stories online when I haven't had the chance to view the game live, but I felt it was only right to take a moment and post about their recent victory.

Sadly, as I was at work (I'm an intern, but "at my internship" seems a lot less natural to say), though the game was on (I'm interning at CSN), I had to cover the Chicago Cubs game, and thus couldn't exactly watch everything go down. However, I did get to hear people scream out the score from time to time, as well as have had a chance to review stats and special plays, and it goes without saying that I'm impressed.

Starting with Kevin Durant, who may I remind everyone Kenny Smith predicted would one day, and soon, surpass both Kobe and Lebron, having already broke the record for most points scored in a tournament by a U.S. player, his 28 points led his team to victory. However, it was (and I'm talking throughout the whole tournament) much more than just points that KD brought to the table. He is a natural born leader, and since the beginning of last season, has started to grow into him self more than ever. He is now assertive, though still modest, and no longer seems to allow the fact that hes not on a "name brand team", get to him. He is talented beyond belief and its about time that he recognized that. Would Team USA have had the results they did without him? Maybe. But it sure would have been a much more bumpy road.

Lamar Odom also seemed to shine in the final game, with 15 points and 11 rebounds, something that although I personally am not surprised by, many may be as he had started to gain the rep of inconsistent with the Lakers over the past two seasons or so. Odom really seemed to have taken advantage of being a vet among newcomers though, and personally I thought he really shined throughout his time with Team USA this summer.

I will admit I was a little terrified of what such a young and loosely assembled team would be able to accomplish when I first found out that superstars like D. Wade and Lebron and Kobe would not be participating in any of the games this summer, but after watching one or two games, I knew my worries were without reason. KD was as good of a "leader" as any of those guys and with combined talent from players such as Derrick Rose, Andres Iguodala, Chauncey Billups and so on...well really, its a no brainer. Young or not, these ballers have it down.

So congratulations Team USA. Not only for actually winning the gold, but also for proving all the haters and skeptics wrong. Man oh man I can't wait until the Olympics.