Demo Sports Daily

Lob City will not make its way to London.

Blake Griffin suffered a torn meniscus and will undergo surgery.  This is disheartening, especially considering that Griffin has already lost an entire season due to his knees.  For Team USA, a team desperate for big men lost another.

His replacement has yet to play in an NBA game.  Still, he is tall, talented and hungry.

Meet Anthony Davis.

The man with the uni-brow will represent the United States.  He will join Tyson Chandler as the only natural centers on the roster (Davis played forward as well).  Despite coming off the bench, Davis may see significant minutes.

Chandler is the better defender, but not by much.  He has a slight edge in size and a definite edge in experience.  What Davis offers is energy, offense, potential and an outside shot.  He will block shots and can knock down threes, a rare combination.

Team USA usually doesn’t select players without NBA experience, and why should they?  They have the deepest talent pool, and failure is not an option.  We have all witnessed the Dream Team live through a nightmare (2004).  The US basketball team has perhaps the highest expectations of anyone in London.  Anything else than gold will be deemed as failure.

This is a lot of pressure for a 19-year old, but if anyone can handle it, it’s Davis.  He dominated for Kentucky on the way to a national championship.  Team USA has a NCAA coach in Mike Krzyzewski.  Add in assistant Jim Boeheim and they will have the knowledge and capability to get the most out of a college athlete.

The team is already warming up in exhibitions.  Yesterday, they beat the Dominican Republic by over 50.  By the time the Olympics roll around, expect them to be on fire.