(15 Jul 14, 01:01PM)Nightmare Wrote: Yeah they chose not to play, but oh well. :( Better to have guys who work hard to make their country's roster than guys who are too lazy to play for their country.
I'm not sure they refused to play, but I actually think the USA team staff decided not to pick them. They already did that in 2010 when it World Championship was held in Turkey, they chose second tier players (Rudy Gay, Iguodala, Granger, Billups,Odom, Eric Gordon...) instead of the classical Kobe, LeBron, Dwight, Melo, CP3. Because they wanted to test out some players.
I feel like they're doing the same sort of scouting this year with younger talents. I think Team USA only brings out the "big squad" for the Olympics, and even during the preparation phase, they test out young players (remember Irving, Curry, Faried, Cousins) by making them play against the team A.
I like how they do it, since USA has enough players, they prefer bringing and giving a chance to newcomers rather than keep the old, confirmed players. Good philosophy ^^