---

Everybody is trying to find a quick fix for Team USA to get the gold medal in these Olympics and to cruise to it in the next. But there is no simple solution. So after reading every sportswriter in the country's solution, I thought that it was my turn.

For the next Olympics, USA Basketball should first and foremost try to get the best players in the game on the team, that should be a given. The original team that won the Olympic Qualifying Tournament last summer would be undefeated and would win the gold medal in these games. It wouldn't be a blowout or anything of that sort, but they would find ways to win, that's why they are considered the best. And they would make themselves fit into a team concept because that's what good players do. But if the same problem arises in the next Olympics with the best players turning down requests to play, the Selection Committee needs to focus on creating a real team, not an second-tier all-star team, or in this Olympiad, a Rookie-Sophomore game starting lineup.

It would be very simple to create a smooth, functioning team around Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson. The spurs have a team centered around Tim Duncan, and he does not have a second scoring option as good as Allen Iverson. Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are both very talented players, but part of the reason they are so good is because Tim Duncan lifts a lot of pressure off of them. But the Achilles heal of Tim Duncan, besides free-throw shooting and his Mona Lisa smile, is that he needs a shooter on the perimeter to help stretch the defenses. That is why the Spurs obtain guys like Steve smith, Stephen Jackson, Hedo Turkoglu, and in this summer's case, Brent Barry. If this year's Olympic team had one consistent perimeter (notice how I didn't say three-point, that shot is starting to ruin American basketball) shooter, Tim Duncan would probably average around 25 points per game, and if he didn't, that shooter would.

But in addition to adding a shooter or four to the lineup, the team needs to role-players. Not scrubs who do what they're told because that is the only way that they can make a roster, but guys who are very talented players and who otherwise might be one of the best players on their teams. Guys who can find ways to help the team and whose game is a complement to the superstar. I believe that Carlos Boozer was a good selection for Team USA. As Doug Collins pointed out, Carlos Boozer probably hasn't been the best player on his team since high school. He played at Duke behind Shane Battier, Jay Williams, and Mike Dunleavy Jr., and this past season, LeBron James.

Two players who belong on Team USA are Ron Artest and Brad Miller. The squad needs to be based on a great defense. The best offense you can have is a great defense. Ron Artest is no worse than the second best perimeter defender in the game and is a rapidly developing offensive threat. Although everyone remembers Brad Miller with his back turned to a less-than-threatening Shaq haymaker, his physical play and beast mentality frustrated Shaq the entire night. He has a very underrated passing game (a must in international basketball) and a fifteen-foot jumpshot that can draw a defender away from the paint. Also, both Artest and Miller have an attitude and a killer instinct. A player like Artest would make the team play hard and hustle; there would be no loafing on Team USA. Brad Miller's defense would make easy baskets hard to come by. Team USA needs players like these.

What Team USA doesn't need is a year-round national team made up of minor league stars. It needs an NBA star-filled lineup team that is overwhelming not only athletically, but physically and mentally. Players who aren't merely strong, but also actually play strong. The selection committee needs to build a team based on the players' skills and not their sales ranking. They need to study tape of players much like coaches and GM's do and get players that will thrive in the international game. And finally, although David Stern is great at marketing the game, making it popular and making it profitable, he should not be a consultant in this matter. Team USA basketball is in desperate need of an overhaul, and somebody needs to step up and make it happen.