• In the audience at the Texas-Memphis game in Houston: Former President George H.W. Bush. It made me wonder, if you assembled all the presidents, dead and living, and had to pick a starting five, whom would you pick? Obviously Lincoln is a no-brainer, he was tall and nimble. Plus, I mean, he’s Lincoln. I wouldn’t put him at center, though. I imagine Lincoln could run the floor and shoot the three, like an uglier Dirk Nowitzki. You’d also have to include Teddy Roosevelt, arguably our most athletic president (he broke his jaw boxing in the White House). Kennedy seems like a no-brainer, since he is eternally youthful in our eyes, but the guy had a bad back and probably would have been the one to get busted with hookers and coke at a club in Miami. James Madison was only 5’4”, but could he have been like a presidential Spud Webb? And for the center position, would you go for height (George H.W. Bush), or girth (William Howard Taft)? Would the indefatigable Nixon have been an asset because of his fight, or a liability because of his propensity for dirty tricks? Well, I’ve answered your question, by assembling the Oval Office Dream Team:

G – Teddy Roosevelt. Charged up San Juan Hill. Boxed while President. Went on safari in Africa. Survived assassination attempt. Obviously, TR would not be afraid to drive the lane and get clobbered, and I’m pretty sure he’d be a 90 percent free throw shooter. Great nickname potential in “The Bull Moose.”

G - Harry S Truman. Last-second comeback over Dewey translates easily into last-second, game winning three pointers. An intimidating trash talker who never passes the buck (though seldom passes the ball).

F – George H. W. Bush. Bush was a standout athlete at Yale, a first baseman and captain on a team that lost the first two College World Series. He also was captain of the basketball and soccer teams at Phillips Academy in Andover, MD. Although Bush was intimidated into raising taxes, he gets courage points for enlisting in the Navy while underage during WWII. Probably more of a rebounder than a scorer.

F – Abraham Lincoln. Preserved the Union, so is a real team player. Great sense of humor and never takes the game too seriously. Great vision as a wartime president as well as the guy who purchased oil-rich Alaska when no one though it was a good idea. Like I said, can pound it in the paint, or take it outside.

C – Thomas Jefferson. I thought about Taft here, but the guy got stuck in his bathtub. I don’t think he’d be well-conditioned for a full-court game. Clinton seemed like a potential forward-center, but he was in only slightly better shape than Taft, and probably would get into more trouble than Kennedy off the court. Plus, his wife would meddle in his professional life more than Doug Christie’s. What you really need on a team full of all-stars is a thinking man’s center, a Bill Russell-type. Jefferson could easily take over a game if he needed too, but I bet he’d be happy playing the decoy and setting monster picks as long as it resulted in a “W.” I’m not saying the author of the Declaration of Independence would be a simple roll player, just that if anyone would could play the 5 spot and master all of its necessary skills, it’s TJ. Now, I know he was only 6’2”, but that was tall for the 18th and 19th centuries, so we’re adjusting all heights for inflation. He just wouldn’t be allowed to have slaves.

Head Coach – Franklin D. Roosevelt. Since FDR had the smarts to navigate this country through the Great Depression and World War II, the good sense to team up with the hated Soviets to win the war, and the audacity to try (and fail) to pack the Supreme Court with 15 justices, he has the right combination of brains and balls to coach this team. Plus, his team would always be rallying around him to win, you know because of the polio.

There you have it. The All-Presidents Team. Enjoy the Final Four.