to be part of the national team is being part of the elite group of players, would it be a great if you see kobe bryant leading the lakers with fisher, odom, bynum or to see a team of kobe, chris paul, amare and chris bosh?
to argue with the same Arguments, if you see Dirk Nowitzky at Dallas with Terry, kidd, Howard and him with the nationalteam with players like Hamann, Greene, garret, Femerling - i would say he competition is harder in their league ;) Even Damp would be better then our Centers.
But i like the Xp boost too, because i believe the NT are more intense, you will get in a "new" Rooster and need to learn to play with them without many pratice, you travel around the world etc.