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Jerry Colangelo promised Team USA Basketball would be different. He talked about a national 'program' -- no more of this glorified All-Star squad crap. It sounded very good to us connoisseurs of year-round hoops, not to mention proud fans sick of losing in international competition.

So, um, how's that going? Steve Perrin from Clips Nation has the answer.

With the losses of (Kirk) Hinrich and (Shane) Battier, at most four players from the 2006 team will be competing in 2007. By way of comparison, there were three repeats from 2004 in Athens (before the vaunted 'three year plan') to 2006 in Japan. Wow. Impressive results from that new approach.

Steve explains his theory as to why Battier and Hinrich pulled out: They were major threats to be cut. Antawn Jamison and Brad Miller are assumedly absent due to a lack of playing time. Bruce Bowen isn't back because he got cut, and I don't think anyone would expect Gilbert Arenas in Vegas even if he were healthy. This solution -- the auditions and three-year commitment -- has opened a new set of issues for the national team, issues which have negated any benefits.

Nonetheless, I think adding Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd to the existing bunch (LeBron, Melo, Amare, Bosh) is good enough for gold next summer. That likely vindicates the system for pundits, while leaving the program highly susceptible to the same old problems for the 2010 Worlds and beyond.