By Fitzgerald Cecilio

Las Vegas, NV

USA Basketball has announced the official 12-man "athletic and versatile" roster that will defend the title in the London Olympics

Named to the Olympic squad were Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Tyson Chandler, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, James Harden, Andre Iguodala, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams.

The US hoops roster is pending final approval by the US Olympic Committee.

"We projected we would have difficulty getting down to a roster of 12, regardless of the number of injuries that have taken place, because they are such an outstanding group of people and athletes," USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said.

"The final selections keep us in concert with our game plan to have athleticism, versatility and strong depth on our roster. I think our final roster epitomizes all of that," he added.

"We have benefited so much from having a pool of outstanding players who are committed, and as a result the selection is difficult. But it's the best challenge that you could have because everyone has been so committed," added coach Mike Krzyzewski, who steered the team to gold medal finishes at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The USA roster features five members of the 2008 gold medalist U.S. Olympic Team (Anthony, Bryant, James, Paul and Williams), five members of the gold medalist 2010 World Championship team (Chandler, Durant, Iguodala, Love and Westbrook), and two newcomers (Griffin and Harden).

The team has suffered a setback in size after injuries to LaMarcus Aldridge (labral tear in hip), Chris Bosh (strained abdominal muscle) and Dwight Howard (herniated disk). It has Chandler as the only natural center in the line-up. This will force Love to play center instead of his usual power forward position.

But the team is rich in speedy and high-quality guards in Westbrook, Harden, Williams and Paul and scorers in Bryant, Durant, James and Anthony.

"I think our versatility is something that is beyond believable, now with Russell Westbrook, and all of the athleticism that we have. One through12, no question, we are deeper than we were in 2008," Paul said.

Bryant expressed confidence that the team will bring home the bacon, despite strong opposition from several countries.

"I'm confident, but the opposition is going to be a heck of a battle. It's going to be a really good fight. I'm sincerely looking forward to that challenge and representing our country the right way," he said.

 

 

United States Announces Final Basketball Roster for London Games