As linked to in Wednesday's Notes, Henry Abbott wrote a terrific piece about the future of Team USA. If you think it's too early to consider such things, well, it's quite simply not. The 2010 World Championships are just around the corner, and building a team, as we've learned, takes time.

The thought, competition, and scrutiny that goes into creating national soccer teams is incredible. Basketball is following that path.

There are plentiful questions, like whether the LeBron/Kobe/Wade troika will sign on again. James already said he'll only play if Kidd does, and Kidd should not and will not. Kobe, while not old, might want to save energy to win the NBA title without Shaq he wants so badly. Wade's all-out style also might not agree with four more years of intense summer ball.

Plus, they already accomplished the mission of restoring order in the basketball world with the gold in Beijing. There is a lot to lose in the next two tournaments, and only a little to gain.

That said, here are my roster thoughts going forward.

Return, pretty please

LeBron James: Some are holding off on anointing him the greatest player in the world. Not I. In 2010 and 2012, he'll absolutely be the most dominant basketball force, and the most important player to Team USA success.

Kobe Bryant: Recruited to save USA Basketball, and did just that against Spain in the fourth quarter of the gold medal match.

Chris Paul: Best point guard on the planet will be 25 and 27 years old in the next two major competitions.

Dwyane Wade: Leaped back into the forefront of stardom. Wade played pressure defense and ignited transition offense, the places where Team USA differentiated itself in Biejing.

Deron Williams: Formed a dynamite two-headed point guard attack off the bench with Paul, and showed nice chemistry on the court with CP3 as well. Only will improve in next four years.

Chris Bosh: A relative unknown among superstars, Bosh established himself as the team's best post player on both ends of the court in Beijing. His 77.4 % field goal percentage was absurd, but his 86.2 % free-throw percentage was perhaps even more comforting.

Dwight Howard: Mobility makes him a nice fit on team that plays at breakneck speed. Strength separates him from competition.

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Redd, with a golden tint. (FIBA.com)

Team USA is golden again after toppling Spain 118-107 (recap/quotes) in the early hours this morning.

Five thoughts after the win:

• Despite the up-and-down performance, Team USA won each quarter, if ever so narrowly. It went 38-31, 31-30, 22-21, and 27-25 for the Americans, who never could create a commanding lead against the same team they knocked around by 37 points the week prior. Spain played wonderfully in the gold medal match, but let's not suddenly delude ourselves and pretend Team USA didn't thoroughly dominate this tournament. They finished 8-0, and won every game by double-digits. Against the top contenders? A 23-point win over Greece, 20-point victory over Argentina, and two wins against Spain by an average of 24 points. Not at all bad showings against the last team to beat Team USA, the defending Olympic champs, and the defending World champs.
• Kobe's four-point play and ensuing "shhh" easily overtook Wade's falling-out-of-bounds lob to Bryant as the signature play of the tournament. The entire game was classic Bryant, who just wrote another thick chapter in his legacy, and went a long way to redeeming (redeeming!) himself following the NBA Finals disaster.
• Speaking of memorable moments, Rudy Fernandez, oh my. The dunk on Howard, the showy step-back three-pointers, everything he touched turned into shiny gold silver. Dude was on, he just couldn't stay on the court. He fouled out (on Kobe's four-pointer) in 18 minutes, but packed 22 points and a lot of highlights in his brief time on court.
  
• If Dwyane Wade was the perfect sixth man (and he most certainly was) then Tayshaun Prince was also the ideal tenth man, something missing from previous versions of Team USA. You just felt at ease whenever Prince was on the court throughout the tournament. And his 3-3 effort in eight minutes against Spain sure didn't hurt in the 11-point win, right? Let's just say I wouldn't mind seeing him, at 32, in London in 2012.
• Michael Redd didn't play in the final game, marking his first DNP of the Olympics. only got the final minute on the floor against Spain, his briefest appearance in the Olympics. That's fine with me, and it's cool with the birthday boy too, apparently. Happy 29th, Mike, and congrats. From the quotes:

  You want to cry, you want to laugh, you want to smile. It was amazing to see our flag raised and to know that you are the best team in the world.

Mystery Man: Anthony Randolph really does exist.

Up until now, LSU freshman Anthony Randolph has been the sasquatch of the 2008 lottery: rumored to be many things, but mostly mysterious and unseen.  Playing for a non-tournament team and without a lot of fanfare coming into his freshman season, Randolph toiled in relative anonymity for much of the season before his impressive numbers (15.6 ppg/8.5 rpg/2.3 bpg) and unique combination of length and athleticism started earning the lottery cred that has most experts projecting him as a top ten pick. Still, many of us are still somewhat in the dark (myself included) as we try to get a handle on Randolph's abilities before the draft.

Of course, while he didn't get the same hype as names like Rose, Beasley and Mayo, it's not like Randolph was playing against scrubs either. He had some of his best performances against SEC foes Florida, Kentucky and Alabama, all of whom feature quality big men. Which also raises perhaps the biggest question about Randolph: is he actually going to be a big man in the NBA? At 6'10" and just 197 pounds with a surprisingly good handle, Randolph certainly looks more like a small forward right now.

Still, coming up with a good comparison for Randolph is difficult. While his Orlando measurements are similar to Brandan Wright's last year, their styles seem somewhat divergent. Randolph is reputed to be a better ball-handler with some semblance of a mid-range game, while Wright makes up for his lack of PF size with superior touch around the hoop and a better awareness of his limitations--as evidenced by his stunning .646 fg% as a freshman at UNC, compared to Randolph's poor .464 mark last year. Similarly, the Chris Bosh/Randolph comparison also has plenty of holes, since Bosh was both notably bigger (225 pounds at the pre-draft camp in 2003) and showed far better touch as a freshman at Georgia Tech.

So what's to prevent Randolph from being a long small forward in the mold of Tayshaun Prince or Lamar Odom?  For one, his outside shot (just 2/19 from the college three point line last year) will need to improve drastically to provide the type of spacing you'd like from a 3.  While Prince isn't a great ballhandler, his shooting ability allows him to be effective spotting up from three and his defensive chops are almost without peer (something that John Hammond probably has quite an appreciation for). Odom meanwhile played most of this year as a smallish PF, and at 230 pounds isn't a small guy to begin with.  He's also a fantastic passer for his size, while Randolph clearly needs work in the decision-making department (1.2 apg vs. 3.0 to). It's also still open for debate if Randolph has the lateral quickness to defend small forwards, though his athleticism and exceptional length (7'3" wingspan) should be a big help as both a man/help defender. Still, the downside of Randolph is that he could turn out to be a classic tweener: without adding 20-30 pounds he won't be strong enough to defend PFs, and if he doesn't improve his perimeter game he'll struggle to keep defenses honest as an SF. Fortunately, Randolph is the youngest player in the draft and won't turn 19 until July, so he still has time to smooth our his numerous rough edges.

While I find his potential as a hybrid forward intriguing to say the least, I'll also freely admit to lacking conviction when it comes to predicting whether Randolph will live up to his potential. The extensive video package above provides glimpses of Randolph's explosive athleticism, ball-handling and passing skills, all of  which would be crucial to making it as a 3 in the NBA. Still, it's impossible to know a player from highlights alone, and questions about his motor, decision-making and physical potential won't be answered before the draft anyway. My guess is that If he's a smart player then he should have the physical tools to be a very good player at one of the forward spots. But he's so young that his mental development is also not an easy thing to project.

When he was asked on Friday where he sees himself playing in the NBA, Randolph was not surprisingly vague, saying he was prepared to play wherever needed--the sort of pandering non-answer that every prospect seems to give in order to appear as versatile as possible. It might be more telling that the Bucks brought Randolph in on Friday with Joe Alexander and Donte Greene, two guys who are pretty clearly slotted for the small forward position. UAB big man Walter Sharpe (6'9" / 245) and UCLA's defensive-minded SF Luc Richard Mbah a Moute were also there, so the Bucks had an opportunity to test Randolph against both stronger and smaller opponents.

Especially given the Bucks' needs at the small forward spot , it stands to reason their interest would be heightened if they saw Randolph as a potential long-term SF complement to Andrew Bogut and Yi Jianlian. Needless to say, Randolph doesn't have nearly the same appeal as a skinny PF project who would be stuck battling Yi for minutes. So if he is the Bucks' pick, you can bet that Hammond and company think he can play the small forward spot.

All told, I'm still wary of rolling the dice on Randolph ahead of a more proven commodity like Kevin Love or a brainy two-way player like Russell Westbrook. But that's also a byproduct of risk averseness and not having seen Randolph play more first-hand. Fortunately the Bucks' front office has a lot more information to go on. And if Randolph is the pick, at least we now have some nice YouTube clips to stoke our optimism for the rest of the summer.