Agree with AX, players like Shaq, Garnett, T-mac should be chastised for not playing, no matter what reason they come up with. And yeah, Oys, I think we should call Manang-Marshyangdi or Police Club, the world champions too, for the heck of it. US team is going to face problems because: 1. International teams have a lot to prove. They might even be making plays focusing US team. 2. lot of international players (Dirk, Yao, that Argentine) are getting valuable experience from NBA. 3. US team is not assembled properly. There was an article on ESPN about how poor the lineup is, teamwise. In contrary, teams from Italy, Yugoslavia, Germany seem like they are prefectly made. Remember, team power: Detroit won the NBA not, star loaded Lakers. Having said that, hope US defends the title.