Bosh, USA ready to return to the top

Chris Bosh eyes Olympic success (Photo credit: FIBA)Photo Gallery>>Toronto Raptors big man Chris Bosh firmly believes this is the year he and Team USA will restore the country's standing as the best team in international basketball.

Speaking after being named in the American squad that will play at the Beijing Games, Bosh warned all of the sides that will challenge the United States that he and his teammates, which include the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul, mean business.

"The thing I like about this team is that everyone checks their egos at the door," Bosh said. "We know what it takes.

"That first World Championship (2006), we were really trying to learn the international game and how to play as a team.

"But now, everyone is ready to play basketball and play together because we know if we don't play together, we know things aren't going to happen the way we want them to."

At the 2002 FIBA World Championship, the United States lost to Yugoslavia in the quarter-finals.

Two years later at the Athens Olympics, the United States lost to Puerto Rico and Lithuania in the preliminary round.

After upsetting previously unbeaten Spain in the quarter-finals, Larry Brown's USA suffered a hammering at the hands of eventual champions Argentina.

At the 2006 FIBA World Championship, new national team coach Mike Krzyzewski had his team unbeaten and leading Greece by double digits in their semi-final but watched the European giants hit back for a 101-95 triumph.

Bosh and Co had to settle for a bronze-medal win over Argentina.

All of the American players have spoken about how important being included in the team is for each, including Bosh.

"First and foremost, when I think about the Olympics, I think about when I was a kid and watching the '92 Dream Team win it all (at the Barcelona Games), winning the gold medal," Bosh said on Toronto radio.

"It's the prestige of the gold medal, the prestige of the Olympics that is so big to me. It's about that before anything else, just competing with the USA on my chest, that's like a dream come true for me."

(Credit: FIBA. Click here for further information.)