Team USA going big for 2014 FIBA World Cup

Team USA appears to be heading in a different direction with their 2014 FIBA World Cup squad, emphasizing size rather than speed and athleticism, as they had in previous competitions.

Andre Drummond was the final player selected to fill the 12-man roster that also includes DeMarcus Cousins, Mason Plumlee, Anthony Davis and Kenneth Faried. The abundance of size will allow coach Mike Krzyzewski to try lineups that include three - maybe four - bigs, according to chairman Jerry Colangelo.

"This gives us an opportunity to do some things we haven't had a chance to do in the past," Colangelo told ESPN.

It's true that the preferred style of play [in recent years] has been going small, but you have to ask: Was that by choice or by necessity? Early on [this summer], we said it would be hard to carry four bigs, but that was kind of put on the shelf. Certainly there won't be any discussion going forward about, 'What are going to do about bigs, what are you going to do about playing teams with size?' If Coach wishes to show a big front line, he now has the capacity to do so.

Early roster expectations were similar to the teams that competed at the 2010 FIBA World Cup and 2012 Olympics, which featured more small-ball specialists and perimeter shooters.

The lack of star players like Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge only bolstered this assumption, but a bigger roster will allow Team USA to better compete with fearsome frontcourts like Spain's, which includes Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol and Serge Ibaka.

Colangelo called Drummond "a blossoming center" with a bright future in the NBA.

"Maybe it kind of catches people by surprise," he said about the Detroit Pistons star. "Yes he's young, but a 7-foot, 280-pound guy who can run the floor the way Drummond runs and who protects the rim ... when you describe all the physical attributes, that's a hard call to leave a guy at home."