Grant Hill confident in Team USA roster, touts defensive talent - ESPN

Grant Hill, the managing director of the United States men's basketball team, said the decision to release the team's roster happened to coincide with the United States Olympic Committee's weeklong event in New York City commemorating the Paris Olympics being 100 days away.

But, Hill said, the decision also stemmed from another, more important reason: He and the rest of Team USA's leadership already had the group of 12 players they wanted for this year's team in place.

«We knew,» Hill said on a conference call Wednesday morning. «We didn't necessarily plan it that way, but we knew this was the team that we wanted and we also know that there'll be a lot of interest and a lot of people who will want to be along for this incredible journey we're about to be on.

»So if we know, why wait?"

It's hard to blame Hill and coach Steve Kerr for being excited about this team. The roster features four NBA MVPs (LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and reigning MVP Joel Embiid) and NBA Finals MVPs (James, Curry, Durant and Kawhi Leonard). All 12 players are former All-Stars — including 11 from this season — and eight have been named to at least one All-NBA team, a number likely to grow to 10 this year when Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton are expected to join that list.

It's also, perhaps most importantly, a physically imposing team, including the three best available centers in Embiid, Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo. Team USA was taken advantage of on the interior in last year's FIBA World Cup en route to finishing fourth — an experience Hill said he learned from in putting together this roster. He specifically talked multiple times about defense and rebounding being key components he focused on while building this team.

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