Will USA Trip Again in Olympic Basketball?

The United States had to settle for bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics for online basketball betting faithful, compiling a 3-2 record overall. The Americans lost to Argentina in the semi-final game and then beat Lithuania to capture third-place honors.

Here are the number as they shape up for this year's Olympiad in Beijing:

BetUS Olympic Odds

To Win Men's Basketball
USA                  -325
Spain                +350
Argentina          +700
Russia              +1000
Greece              +1500
Lithuania           +1500
China                +6500
Brazil                +10000
Slovenia            +10000
Angola              +20000
Puerto Rico       +20000
Australia           +25000
Germany           +25000
Canada             +50000
New Zealand     +75000
Iran                   +100000
Cameroon         +250000
Lebanon            +250000
South Korea     +250000
Cape Verde Islands  +250000

Sure, of course the Americans are favored by sportsbook handicappers and sports betting enthusiasts. We consistently put the best talent in the world, on a man-for-man basis, out on the court. Here's our roster:

Carmelo Anthony
Carlos Boozer
Chris Bosh
Kobe Bryant
Dwight Howard
LeBron James
Jason Kidd
Chris Paul
Tayshaun Prince
Michael Redd
Dwyane Wade
Deron Williams

The coach is Mike Krzyzewski, who piloted the losing U.S. team last time, and we even have a "managing director" (Jerry Colangelo) and a "director of scouting" (Rudy Tomjanovich). Everything seems to be in place. But it's been a long time since the Americans were able to just throw the basketball on the court and walk over teams. part of it - a big part in fact - is the development of basketball in other countries; by this time, I think anyone would be forced to admit that you could put a team of non-U.S. players onto the court and have an even chance of winning against any collection of Americans. Just look at some of the guys we've given MVP awards to - Steve Nash (a Canadian) and Dirk Nowitzki (a German) have won it three of the last four seasons.

I think there are different factors than that as well which have taken effect since we had the "Dream Team." When you look at those players, they were coming in at the end of an era, when SportsCenter highlights were perhaps not as important. Basketball is, and always has been, a team game, and it is evident that the game the Europeans learn is based on more fundamentals and more teamwork than that which experienced in the U.S.

I've wondered, since the U.S. has had less and less success on the international level, whether it might not be a better idea to actually send a TEAM to the Olympics rather than a bunch of "all-star" players. Let's be honest - if the Boston Celtics were making the trip to represent USA Basketball, or a Celtic team that was enhanced with a couple of great players, who you could sprinkle in there, would they not be a bigger favorite in the BetUS Olympic Basketball odds? I would think so.

And Coach-K is, in my opinion, not the right guy for this job. Sure, he has excelled at Duke, but I have often seen him as an underachiever; someone who has always done well when he's had a crew full of Top 5 recruits, but not much otherwise. Don't get me started with him. Suffice it to say that if the Celtics were going over there, the coaching and organizational problem would already be taken care of.

So, if you’re asking me whether the U.S. presents any value in this thing, the answer is, absolutely not. I wouldn't lay a price with a team that is not really a team.

(Charles Jay of http://www.ebookies.com is a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room - and a team player)