Relative unknowns represent Team USA

By the time they arrive in Istanbul for the start of the World Championships, Team USA will probably still be fighting an identity crisis.

This isn't the "Redeem Team" that featured Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and a host of other All-NBA performers who won the gold medal in Beijing in 2008.

As Team USA set up camp in New York for a week of practice in early August, James, Anthony, Wade and Bosh made it to the Big Apple. Only it wasn't to suit up and practice for Mike Krzyzewski, but to participate in negotiations with NBA owners for a new collective bargaining agreement.

The red, white and blue of '08 has given way to the red, white and who -- even if this Team USA does boast a Finals MVP performer, a player who finished second in the 2010 MVP balloting and the 2009 Rookie of the Year.

"There's no doubt that continuity is important when you're in these competitions," said Jerry Colangelo, Team USA's chairman. "We don't have that core group on this team that we had with our Olympic team. And to be successful, you need that infrastructure. So this is a whole 'nother group. We're starting from scratch."

With all the marquee players and the rest of the Redeem Team taking this competition off, after most gave three summers to the team leading up to an undefeated run through the FIBA Americas and a 13-0 mark in pre-Olympic and Olympic games, the baton has been handed off to NBA players who might not be known to the casual sports fan.

"Obviously, most people are going to talk about who is not here, instead of who is here," said Denver's Chauncey Billups, who was the 2004 Finals MVP when the Pistons shocked the Lakers. "But we've got a chance to do something special, and kind of do it under the radar. So we're not trying to fill the Olympic team's shoes. We're trying to do something that they didn't even do"

You probably don't remember -- let's face it, who in America follows the World Championships, anyway? -- but two years before they became the darlings of America with their performances in China, the Redeem Team finished third in the World Championships. That's right, third.

Together for their first international competition, LeBron and Co. -- minus Bryant, who was out recovering from a knee injury -- lost to Greece, which didn't even capture the gold medal in Japan. That marked Team USA's third straight failure in the World Championships, dating to 1994. Since then, the U.S. has captured the bronze in '98, finished sixth in '02 and then placed third with the Redeemers.

As far as the upcoming competition in Istanbul, if this Team USA takes the court on Sept. 12, the date of the gold-medal game, that will be considered a major victory of sorts.

"I look at this team and I see a lot of guys who don't shave," Krzyzewski joked. "We've got five guys who are 21 and two who are 22. Aside from our youth, we also don't have that continuity of having played together. Teams like Spain and Greece and Argentina are seasoned, veteran teams that have been together for years."

No, Team USA isn't the favorite to win the gold. Spain won't have the Lakers' Pau Gasol, but it still has such proven NBA performers as the Grizzlies' Marc Gasol and the Blazers' Rudy Fernandez. Spain also boasts the young, dynamic point guard, Ricky Rubio, who one day is expected to join the Timberwolves, who made him their top pick in 2009. Argentina won't have the Spurs' Manu Ginobili, but still will feature Andres Nocioni of the Sixers; Carlos Delfino of the Bucks and the Rockets' Luis Scola. Then there is Brazil, with the Cavaliers' Anderson Varejao, the Raptors' Leandro Barbosa and Tiago Splitter, the Spurs' newest 7-footer.

Kevin Durant is one of five 21-year-olds on Team USA.

Nathaniel S. Butler

It's not just the competition that presents problems for Krzyzewski's crew. As Americans, we might not take the World Championships as seriously as the Olympics, but we're in the minority.

"As I learned when I played overseas years ago, the World Championships are bigger than the Olympics for most teams, and even the European Championships are a bigger deal," said Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, Krzyzewski's lead assistant who didn't travel with the team due to back problems. "Coach K addressed it the first day of camp. He told the guys, "Hey, the world champions aren't really the Los Angeles Lakers. It's whoever wins this tournament.' He's impressed on the players that half the world thinks we're pretty arrogant calling our NBA champions the world champions, when we haven't won it in so long."

Besides this being Team USA's first competition, this group is short on big men who can dominate the glass. Like their Redeem Team teammates, Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer and Bosh are taking this competition off. So Team USA's bigs are the Mavs' Tyson Chandler, the Lakers' Lamar Odom and Minnesota's Kevin Love. You might have noticed, there's not an All-Star among 'em.

But it's not as if Team USA will lack for firepower. Kevin Durant had his breakout year for the Thunder last season, finishing behind LeBron James in the MVP voting. The Bulls' Derrick Rose was the Rookie of the Year two years ago. Both are penciled in to play for Team USA in the Summer Games of 2012, when James, Wade, Bosh and Anthony are expected to return.

But for now, the Redeem Team has been replaced by a team just looking to make a name for itself.

Read more of Mitch Lawrence's columns at the New York Daily News.