Chris Ekstrand

LAS VEGAS - The United States has dominated the FIBA Americas Tournament the past 10 days, winning by an average of more than 39 points and clinching a spot for the 2008 Beijing Olympics by beating Puerto Rico on Saturday.

Here's a player-by-player evaluation of each of the 12 team members since training camp began and a prediction of each player's chance of earning a spot on the 2008 USA Olympic squad.  

Carmelo Anthony
Performance: Anthony has been starting at power forward in this tournament, and he has arguably been the best player in red, white and blue. Not only has Anthony led the team in scoring throughout the tournament, averaging 21.1 points in only 19.1 minutes per game, he has produced an explosion of points at the beginning of nearly every game, often scoring in double figures in the first quarter (and these are 10-minute quarters). Anthony has either been relentlessly attacking the basket for ferocious dunks or he has been nailing three-point shots (16-for-30, 53.3 percent) like they were layups. The opposing teams here haven't had the type of bruising power forwards who would give Anthony any trouble with a power game. On the contrary, it's Anthony who has been overpowering.

Jae C. Hong / AP

Role: Anthony has been providing Team USA with a huge lift by scoring so many points right out of the starting gate. This has allowed Kobe Bryant and LeBron James to get into the flow and get comfortable in the game without having to score right away. Anthony has put tremendous pressure on the opposing team by attacking the basket and drawing tons of fouls. His free throw shooting (69.8 percent) has left something to be desired, similar to the way he shot the ball at the World Championships. But in this tournament, any criticism of Anthony would have to be considered nitpicking: he's been that terrific.

Chance of being on 2008 Olympic team: 100 percent chance, barring injury. Anthony has become one of the key players on the team.

Chauncey Billups

Isaac Brekken / AP

Performance: Billups has been OK as the backup point guard to Jason Kidd, but he really hasn’t been a dynamic presence on the team. The team's fast-breaking identity has been least in evidence when Billups is on the court. It may just be a case of Billups not being the best fit for the international style of play, or perhaps he just hasn't quite hit his stride with this group of players. Still, the feeling persists that Billups has slowed down a second unit that has been whipped to a fever pitch when Deron Williams has been at the controls. Billups is a physically strong defensive guard who is a better perimeter shooter than he has showed here, but it's hard to get excited about what he has brought to the team in this setting. Billups' strength will likely be needed, however, when Team USA comes up against European teams that have bigger guards, like Greece and Turkey. That's where Billups' worth will likely show itself.

Role: Backup point guard to Jason Kidd.

Chance of being on 2008 Olympic team: 80 percent. Billups remains among the upper echelon of point guards in the NBA, and with superstars like Steve Nash and Tony Parker engaged with other national teams, it's difficult to pinpoint a guard who would be better suited than he to engage the likes of Theodoros Papaloukas of Greece and Jose Calderon of Spain.

Kobe Bryant

Jae C. Hong / AP

Performance: It has been given wide attention that Bryant told Coach K that he wanted to guard the opposing team's best offensive player every night, but Bryant has backed up that request with outstanding defensive work in every single game. Against Brazil, he completely neutralized Leandro Barbosa, who came into that game leading the tournament in scoring 27 with points per game. Bryant held the Phoenix Suns' whirlwind guard to four points on 1-of-7 shooting. Bryant was so close to Barbosa that the young Brazilian also didn't record a single assist in that game. Bryant's domination of Barbosa was the most impressive defensive performance against a hyper-quick guard that I have seen in a long, long time. When Team USA began its play here, it was immediately astonishing how different Bryant's physique was from how he looked this past NBA season. The sleeker version of Bryant looks even quicker than ever and it's clear he intends to put out maximum effort on both ends of the court. Until the Thursday night game against Argentina, when Bryant asserted himself offensively at the start of the game and ended with 27 points, he has willingly moved the ball to teammates and scored only when the situation presented itself.

Role: Bryant anointed himself as the defensive stopper and he has done a splendid job. Team USA can only hope that Bryant wants to reprise this role in Beijing where the offensive stars of the European teams will be better and more experienced than someone like Barbosa. It's hard to say who the "go-to" guy on this team is, since they haven't ever been in anything that could remotely be considered a tight spot in the entire tournament. The Argentina finale aside, Bryant has been happy to defer to anyone who has a better quality shot than he does.

Chance of being on 2008 Olympic team: 100 percent chance, barring injury. It's been a long time coming to get Bryant into a USA Basketball jersey. Now he can play for Team USA as long as he wants to.