Team USA's path is clear: 10-0 or bust by Sporting News

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Team USA's path is clear: 10-0 or bust
August 21, 2007

There must be some hesitation when you say this, because recent history has not been promising. But take a deep breath, because here it comes: This version of the senior men's team for USA Basketball very well could go 10-0 in the FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifier, which begins today.

Make that, it should go 10-0. No, no -- these guys darn well better go 10-0.

Team USA is coming off a World Championship last year that wasn't as bad as its bronze medal would indicate. That team went 8-1, and took its hit in the medal round from an underrated Greek team that just couldn't miss a 3-pointer.

Still, most fans in this country saw "bronze medal" and chalked up yet another USA Basketball failure -- too many star players, too much street ball, not enough shooting or role players. Criticism of that team wasn't entirely fair, because it actually played well.

A loss this time around, though, would set back any progress the USA program has made.

And I mean any loss.

It should help that this tournament is being played on home soil (though folks who witnessed the failure at the 2002 championships in Indianapolis might point out that having the thing in Las Vegas could actually be a negative for the Americans). But that's not the reason why Team USA should dominate. Nor is the team's wealth of talent.

The primary reason the U.S. should run the table in the coming weeks is the fact that there are no teams that present even a remote threat.

Argentina jumps to mind as the top competitor, but this team is a shell of its usual self. That's because Manu Ginobili won't be playing. Nor will Andres Nocioni. Nor Fabricio Oberto, Pepe Sanchez, Ruben Wolkowyski and Walter Hermann. That's six NBA players, guys who pretty much formed the core of the Argentine team, wiped off the roster. Carlos Delfino, too, is likely to be out with a knee injury.

FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifier
When, where: Aug. 22-Sept. 2, Las Vegas
What: 10-team field playing for two berths in the 2008 Games
That's not to say that Argentina won't be competitive, but the guys who helped build this team's international reputation (with the exception of Luis Scola) are sitting out. Suddenly, it's a very inexperienced group.

Brazil, which will be in Team USA's opening bracket, is the biggest threat. It will have a healthy Nene inside and Leandro Barbosa outside, but it won't have Anderson Varejao or Rafael Araujo to provide some in-the-paint advantage. A hot hand from Barbosa could be trouble in a 40-minute game. But the U.S. defense should be able to gear up to stop Barbosa when needed, and the presence of Nene inside probably isn't enough to offset that.

Other than those two squads, there isn't much to speak about. Puerto Rico has a win against Team USA, but the Americans won the most recent game and Puerto Rico will be without starting center Daniel Santiago. Canada has no Steve Nash. Mexico has new coach Nolan Richardson, but does not have Eduardo Najera. And if the Americans lose to Panama, Uruguay, the Virgin Islands or Venezuela (the opponent in tonight's opener), then something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

If Team USA does not go 10-0 against a relatively weak field of challengers, that leaves it in pretty poor shape heading into the 2008 Olympics. Specifically, it would be a crushing blow to the revamped system USA Basketball developed when it hired Jerry Colangelo as the director in 2005.

Remember, Colangelo's expressed goal at the time was to break USA Basketball of its "Dream Team" habit, by building a team of players who want to represent their country, while accepting jobs as role players and understanding the nuances of the international game. At his opening press conference, Colangelo praised the commitment and continuity other teams have from tournament to tournament.

"Stars do not necessarily make great teams," he said. "And so, the goal here is to pull a number of players into a process, that we start developing as a national team, a reservoir of players to select from who get indoctrinated into a system, into a program, and they're going to play together, stay together. That's how you win. That's how teams win."

It doesn't seem that we've been getting that. Of the 12 players who were on last year's World Championship team, only three -- LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard -- are on this year's team. Of course, no team for any country is going to be the same from year to year. Injuries and coach's choices ensure that.

But, three players? Almost all of the guys who gained experience playing together last year in Japan are going to be home watching this one on TV. Where is the continuity in that?

Team USA invested a lot in revamping its organization. Colangelo has taken important steps -- a consistent coaching staff, a logical selection process, scouting, emphasizing rule differences -- that have brought order to a chaotic team. Next year's Olympics will have a difficult, deep field that will truly test the impact of Colangelo.

But, until Beijing, the Americans simply must win this tournament.

And do it handily.

 

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Old Dream, New Team
Star-Studded U.S. Wants to Reassert Its Place in the World

By Michael Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 22, 2007; Page E01

LAS VEGAS, Aug. 21 -- Act II of the U.S. Men's Basketball Gold Medal Reclamation Project gets underway on Wednesday, with a practically new cast, headlined by a new leading man and an old vet hoping to keep his flawless international record intact.

The first act of this three-part pursuit of an Olympic gold medal in Beijing didn't go the way Jerry Colangelo, managing director for USA Basketball's senior national team, had scripted last summer, as the Dream Team's last incarnation succumbed to a big fat Greek pick-and-roll party and had to settle for a bronze medal at the FIBA World Championships in Japan. Before that bump, Colangelo had intended on coming to Las Vegas this summer for a small training camp, but now it has to earn a ticket to Beijing by finishing either first or second in the 10-team FIBA Americas Championship.

"The fact that we're here and have to qualify for the Olympics is a big disappointment," Colangelo said as Team USA prepares for its first preliminary round game against Venezuela. "We had planned to have a short camp this summer, but not to go through what we're doing. But I think we have to put that behind us and we have to take care of our business now -- to qualify this summer and be ready for next summer."

The United States has never lost in the FIBA Americas qualifying, going 26-0 from 1992 to 2003. But the nation that invented the game is still shaken from a sixth-place finish in the 2002 World Championships, and third in the 2004 Olympics and 2006 FIBA World Championships.

The bronze medal finish in Athens forced the United States to rip up the old philosophy on how to build a team for international play. No longer would players be thrown together and expected to produce gold; Colangelo decided to abandon alchemy and assembled a group of about three dozen NBA players who would be willing to sacrifice and commit three summers in an effort to build a true national team with an eye toward Beijing.

USA Coach Mike Kzryzewski said the third-place finish last summer was merely part of the process toward building continuity. "Our team played great last year. We lost one game," he said about his team, which went 8-1 last summer. "So it's not about anything else, the last Olympics. It's about developing this team. The motivation is making this team as good as it can be. It's going to be better because we know each other better. Once you develop a relationship like that, things become better. The potential for us is a lot greater this year than it was last year."

Only three holdovers remain from that team -- LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard -- as the remaining participants, including the Washington Wizards' Antawn Jamison, backed out because of injury or personal reasons. Reinforcements came in the form of Kobe Bryant, a three-time NBA champion and the centerpiece of Colangelo's and Kzryzewski's plan to restore American dominance in basketball, and Jason Kidd, the 34-year-old point guard from the New Jersey Nets who has a 34-0 record in senior team competitions.

Kidd, a veteran of two Olympic qualifying tournaments, is the only player on the roster with a gold medal and he has already warned his teammates not to blemish his record. "I didn't volunteer to come this summer to lose," said Kidd, a member of 2000 Olympic team in Sydney.

USA Basketball also brought in Michael Redd and Mike Miller to provide more consistent perimeter shooting against zone defenses. It added experience with Bryant, Kidd and Detroit Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups. Kidd and Billups also solved the problems of point guard play, which was a major limitation in the 2004 Olympics and last summer's world championships. "This team is just as talented as any team that's been put together and we look forward to the challenge," Kidd said.

After a three-day minicamp in July and another week of practice this month, Colangelo said the chemistry is already there. "Right now, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'm going to give it a 10 before we start our tournament," Colangelo said. "There is great camaraderie among this group. We asked our players to check their egos before camp started and they really have. We have to be pleased with where we are right now."

Each year, there are constant reminders about how much the game has grown internationally, and how other nations have caught up. The most valuable player of the NBA regular season (Dirk Nowitzki) and the NBA Finals (Tony Parker) both hail from foreign nations.

Brazil, which features NBA Sixth Man of the Year Leandro Barbosa of the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets forward Nene, is considered the United States' stiffest competition. Olympic champion Argentina, led by Houston Rockets forward Luis Scola, is also expected to pose a threat despite the absence of four of its regular starters, Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto and Pepe Sanchez. Three of the remaining seven teams in the tournaments don't have any NBA representatives -- but neither did Greece, which made it to last year's world championship final.

This won't be the last chance for the United States to qualify -- teams that finish third to fifth in this tournament can compete at the 12-team FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament next July, when the final three Olympic berths will be decided. But the United States doesn't want to make the journey any harder than it already is. No need to rewrite Act III.

"You've gotta come out there and really put it on them and try to reestablish our dominance in basketball," Bryant said.