When the list of NBA players trying out for Team USA was made public many USA basketball fans were a bit nervous, as were a number of basketball analysts. Many of the foreign players who compete in the NBA were anxious to get to their native homeland to compete for their country, in hopes of winning an FIBA World Basketball Championship. Many of the foreign players thought a team without Kobe Bryant and LeBron James was an easy target to get knocked off the world stage. Message to the world stage: think again.

Truth be told, when Kobe, LeBron, Dwaye Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Dwight Howard and other top NBA players weren’t available to be a part the Team USA process, many thought the gold medal appearance was in jeopardy. And when the cast of tryouts was mentioned it didn’t make anyone breathe any easier.

Now with the 12-man roster intact and three games out of the way, Team USA is the clear-cut favorite to win their pool and a strong favorite for the gold. No matter how much of a favorite they are picked to be, the road to redemption in this particular event is not going to be easy. Team Brazil proved that recently.

The USA team featuring Kobe and company, known as The Redeem Team, put the USA back on the top of the world basketball stage by winning the gold medal in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The USA is in the midst of a 16-year drought at the World Championships, and this group of young men is in a great position to end the drought and win gold at the World Championships.

When NBA players first competed in international competition, the megastar team known as The Dream Team consisted of Michael Jordan, Ervin Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone. And with solid role players in the fold like NBA all-time assist leader John Stockton, along with David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin and Christian Laettner. The Dream Team easily won every game by a margin of 47 points. At that time the USA was so dominant compared to the rest the world, the opposing teams were more fans than opponents, often times posing for pictures and seeking autographs from the members of The Dream Team.

The average age of The Dream Team in 1992 was 30 years old. With the exception of Christian Laettner, the rest of the team were seasoned veterans. And even though they made the most of their Olympic experience they took a no nonsense approach come game time, and despite the fact they won every game by a more than comfortable margin they didn’t take any team for granted. That can’t be said for many of the following USA basketball teams.

After the 1996 USA Olympic team won the gold in Barcelona, the following teams proved to be poor representative of NBA basketball and USA basketball until recently. After the 1996 gold medal run it took the USA 12 years and three Olympics games to re-establish themselves as the best basketball players in the world. Although the team’s average continued to get younger the 2008 group was led by Kobe Bryant, who is by far the most focused no nonsense player in the league.

The 2008 Olympic team that took the gold was known as the ReDeem Team, because they were on a mission to redeem the USA’s good basketball name and restore order. This USA basketball team featured only three prep to pro athletes, but with seasoned vet Jason Kidd on the team the average of the team was 25 years old, but it was a very mature and focused 25. The ReDeem Team quickly shot to superstar status once they reached Beijing and the Olympic Village. At one point the team had to be escorted from the plane to the bus and use a motorcade to get to their hotel because of their popularity. The ReDeem Team went undefeated throughout the entire Olympics and pool play, winning their games by an average of 25 points. However, in the gold medal game against the margin of victory was only 10.

Along with mega star players like Kobe, LeBron, D Wade, Bosh, Howard and Carmelo Anthony, this USA team featured role players who were stars on their NBA teams including Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Michael Redd, Tayshaun Prince, Carlos Boozer and Kidd. So when the new young guns of the NBA were the only featured players, people got a little nervous.

The average age of Team USA in the World competition is just above 24 years old because of players like 33-year-old Chauncey Billups and 30-year-old Lamar Odom. The rest of the team is mostly made of one and done college athletes, which are players who entered the draft after their freshman year in college. A couple of players left after their sophomore year, and 7’1” Tyson Chandler entered the league straight from high school.

This USA team is led by Kevin Durant, who is the youngest NBA scoring leader in league history. Durant has accepted the challenge as team leader as he is doing a phenomenal job in pressure situations. Along with Durant, his NBA teammate Russell Westbrook, Rookie of Year Derrick Rose, Billups, Odom and Chandler, this young squad also features perimeter players like Stephen Curry and Eric Gordon along with other solid players like Andre Iguodala, Kevin Love, Rudy Gay and Danny Granger.

This international experience has helped the players mature and will also make them more competitive during the regular NBA season. After The ReDeem Team’s Olympic experience, players like Wade, Anthony, Boozer, Bosh, Kidd and Paul all returned to the NBA more confident, more mature and more focused. With this current USA team you can see the players go through a maturation process with each game. Their most recent outing against Brazil showed the maturity level of the young USA team.

With the average age being 24, they are by far the youngest team in international play. Three of the players on Team USA would just be seniors in college had they gone all four years, and two others would be rookies this season had they gone to college all four years. However, the way this young team has been ripping through opponents there is no question that order has been restored.

USA has a perfect 3-0 record in pool play, and are sure to win the pool B title after playing Iran in the pool finals. The results of the game were not available by press time, but Iran is one of the weaker teams in pool B, so the smart bet would be on Team USA.

In pool play Team USA beat Croatia 106-78, then Slovenia 99-77 and they held on to beat Brazil 70-68.

Defending World Champions Argentina are on course to meet Team USA in the gold medal game on September 12; they are currently 3-0 in pool A, Greece is 2-0 in pool C and Lithuania is 2-0 in pool D.

All of those fans who were nervous when they first announced the Team USA roster can now breathe a sigh of relief. The young guns of the NBA proved they can handle international pressure and compete abroad. With players like Kobe, Shaq, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce nearing retirement, they too can rest easy knowing that in a few years they will be leaving the NBA in very capable hands.