The 2004 Olympics were not kind to the USA Basketball team, a squad loaded with quality NBA-caliber talent and a coached by a guy who had recently won the NBA Finals as the head honcho of the Detroit Pistons. Despite finishing third in the overall standings and earning the bronze medal, the Americans were throughly embarassed in almost all facets of the game, especially with a team consisting of some quality players. As a result, various writers and fans across the nation wondered if the United States could ever fan a lineup of players similar to that of the 1992 Dream Team that would thrash every team that it faced instead of the pitiful one that was sent out two years ago. That wait may finally be over.

True, it is highly unlikely that a team will ever be built like that '92 squad that consisted of future or current Hall-of-Famers Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippin, David Robinson, John Stockton and Michael Jordan. They were a team tabbed before a single shot was taken to win it all and in convincing fashion and lived up to the expectations, going 8-0 en route to a top-place finish. Ruthlessly, they tore through their opponents without looking back. The largest point differential came against Angola as the USA defeated the African-based country by a score of 116-48 (no, that is not a typo). Truly, the 1992 Olympic team was probably the greatest collection of talent playing together on one team in the history of all sports. The late '90's/early '00's New York Yankees, with all of their greatness, pale in comparison.

This season's grouping of players is probably the closest any USA team has come to reaching the level the '92 team had, both in talent and in its drive to win. Leading the list of star players that make up the 2006 squad are forwards LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, foward/center Chris Bosh and guards Kirk Hinrich and the most recent NBA Finals MVP, Dwayne Wade; all draftees from the 2003 NBA Draft. Backing up those stars are forward Dwight Howard and guard Chris Paul joined the NBA in the 2004 and 2005 NBA Drafts, respectively. The rest of the roster is made up of a good blend of veterans with various levels of experience.

The leaders on the 2006 team may not have as much experience as those on the Dream Team did but already, this USA Basketball team seems set to take the top spot in the World Championship this year and for years ahead. James, Wade, Anthony, Bosh, Hinrich, Howard and Paul are all still years away from reaching their prime and for the international community, that is just plain scary. Consider that the Americans have won their four contests this year by differences of 11, 31, 19, and nine points with key players who have had less than four years of NBA experience and that spells out some more impressive blowouts in the 2008 and 2010 Championships, blowouts the 2004 team was on the wrong side of on a handful of occasations.

Part of the problem that plagued the 2004 team was an unwillingness by head coach Larry Brown to play his younger players such as James, Wade and Anthony in favor of older, fading stars like guards Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury. Although they were and still are talented players, Iverson and Marbury are not the kind of players to lead a national team - they simply are not leaders (especially with regards to Marbury, whose public spat with Larry Brown during his one-year tenure as the head coach of the New York Knicks last season smeared both his and Brown's careers). Sure, veterans bring a certain level of leadership ability to any team they play for but James, Wade and Anthony have that kind of talent and personality that is young, fresh and exciting.

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski's participation as the 2006 team's head coach had also been a key factor. Unlike Brown, Krzyzewski sees talent and puts it on the court regardless of the reputation and NBA experience. To him, talent is talent and that's how it should be. If those somewhat inexperienced players struggle, then is the time to switch out to the team's veterans, not the other way around as Brown had it. He has his team ready and excited for every game they prepare to play.

And enjoying the game they are, rolling to a 4-0 preliminary record going into tomorrow's matchup with Senegal. Their most recent win was a 94-85 victory over Italy that featured a USA World Championship record 35-point outing by Anthony. Facing their first major deficit of the tournament (trailing by 12, 48-36 early in the third quarter), the Americans rallied back behind Anthony and Wade, who shot 10-for-13 from the field to drop 26 points on the Italians. The win guaranteed the United States the top seed in Group D for the upcoming round of 16.

The previous three wins came against Slovenia, China and Puerto Rico by scores of 114-95, 121-90 and 111-100, respectively. The win over China was especially enjoyable for the Americans as they blew out the Chinese with center Yao Ming on the court instead of on the sidelines. (They defeated China in exhibition play before preliminary play but Ming was injured and did not participate in his team's blowout loss. This led many to question the authenticity of the US win with the 7-foot-6 center on the bench.)

So, what should we as fans and media take from this impressive play? Certainly these guys are not beating teams like the Dream Team did and most likely, no one ever will. What we should consider is how strong the 2008 squad could potentially be as the USA competes for the gold medal at the Olympics. All of those less-experienced players will just be or will have already entered their prime and should be even more dominant than the 2006 model has been. After 2004, the sports world was looking down upon themselves with the USA Basketball team but after this outing, things have done a complete 180 and are suddenly looking up, way up.