biba
09-03-2007, 02:41 PM
When all is said ...
Sam Smith
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Pro Basketball
Stars earn stripes
Unselfish U.S. team goes unbeaten in Vegas to claim Olympic bid, restore some pride
September 3, 2007
LAS VEGAS -- And now Kobe Bryant goes back to throwing passes to Kwame Brown. Or not.
"Everybody was in the locker room after the game," Chauncey Billups was saying with a laugh, "and it was like, 'Oh man, it's back to reality.' Though I think I'm better off than a lot of these guys. My reality is a [good] one."
Yes, it's over for USA Basketball until next summer with Sunday's 118-81 victory over Argentina for the gold medal in the Tournament of the Americas Olympic qualifier. Argentina earned the other Olympic bid Saturday. These two likely will be competing again for the gold medal, which Argentina took in the 2004 Olympics.
Argentina's Luis Scola, headed for the Houston Rockets, had 23 points and was named tournament MVP. Carmelo Anthony was runner-up.
The U.S. was led Sunday by LeBron James, who hit eight three-pointers and scored 31 points. Argentina is ranked second in the world by FIBA but was without five of its top seven players.
Still, it was finally a successful summer of international basketball for the U.S. team, which went 10-0 at this tournament with an average winning margin of almost 40 points and drew comparisons, albeit premature, to the great U.S. Olympic teams of the past.
"The last few international competitions, teams beat us. Now we're taking baby steps to try to get back to the top," Billups said.
"We feel we've got the best players, but a lot of times we didn't play the best way. We feel we've got the right group of guys now, the right coaching, to make that step, get our swagger back."
The addition of Bryant, Jason Kidd, Amare Stoudemire and Billups seemed to energize and stabilize the team, which shared the ball effectively and defended with élan and purpose.
So it's on to Beijing next August and in a few weeks it's back to their teams for these players, not necessarily a happy prospect for some:
Bryant: He was quiet here on his demands to be traded, though privately is said not to have changed his mind. It seems unlikely the Lakers will make a move now, or even this season.
With coach Phil Jackson entering the final year of his contract, transition appears to be in the Lakers' future. The betting is the Knicks will make a major run at Bryant with the Bulls, Bryant's personal choice, still a possibility.
James: He was terrific Sunday with U.S. records for points and three-pointers. But his Cavaliers have been stagnant in the off-season and failed to address their backcourt needs.
Many around the NBA believe the Celtics, with the acquisition of Kevin Garnett, and the Nets, with a return to health, will pass the Cavs and leave them fighting for a first-round home-court playoff berth—and perhaps fighting internally.
Anthony: He was the leading U.S. scorer again and is proving to be an unstoppable international player. He'll get Allen Iverson for a full season with the Nuggets, but center Nene came up lame again as Brazil lost out for a medal. The Nuggets didn't address their point guard needs and Anthony will miss passes from Kidd, Billups, James and Bryant.
"Everyone felt whoever you passed the ball to would get the job done," Michael Redd said.
Deron Williams: Despite a wonderful revival season, things ended on a sour note with Williams publicly turning on his Jazz teammates, without naming names. It remains to be seen how the team responds.
Mike Miller: A new coach, a new general manager, an owner trying to sell, a community tuning out and you never know when Pau Gasol might get fed up again.
You can be sure the Bulls haven't given up on Gasol, who is happy for now, thanks to the Grizzlies' acquisition of his buddy, Juan Carlos Navarro. Had Memphis not acquired Navarro, it was believed Gasol was ready to push for a deal to the Bulls.
"I have to completely flip what I do for this [U.S.] team," Miller said. "You try not to do too much. It's fun to play in this kind of system where you see how easy it is to get shots. But I think we'll (Grizzlies) be good."
Dwyane Wade: The injured Miami star is almost certain to get a call for next year's Olympic team. Miller, Williams and Tyson Chandler are the most vulnerable because they got the least playing time. The U.S. team also is looking at another big man and likely will pick between Carlos Boozer and Chris Bosh. Though the scoring and margin of victory was impressive for the U.S. and itachieved the goal of getting back to the Olympics, the field was generally weak and the U.S. was never truly challenged.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski didn't get the chance to respond under pressure, which he did poorly last year in the loss to Greece.
But he proved the best of the recent college coaches at dealing with U.S. players by allowing them some freedom within a limited system and inspiring them to play unselfishly and with spirit on defense.
Training camps open in a month.
"We all wish we could bottle up each other and take us back to training camp," Redd said. "But I guess we'll all have no tolerance for slacking at training camp. The difference is I'll see two or three hands [whenever I shoot]. We are all the main guys for our team.
"But the way we played here, we'll try to bring that back to our teams, moving the basketball, being unselfish. Look at the Spurs. That's how we won."
[email protected]
Sam Smith
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Pro Basketball
Stars earn stripes
Unselfish U.S. team goes unbeaten in Vegas to claim Olympic bid, restore some pride
September 3, 2007
LAS VEGAS -- And now Kobe Bryant goes back to throwing passes to Kwame Brown. Or not.
"Everybody was in the locker room after the game," Chauncey Billups was saying with a laugh, "and it was like, 'Oh man, it's back to reality.' Though I think I'm better off than a lot of these guys. My reality is a [good] one."
Yes, it's over for USA Basketball until next summer with Sunday's 118-81 victory over Argentina for the gold medal in the Tournament of the Americas Olympic qualifier. Argentina earned the other Olympic bid Saturday. These two likely will be competing again for the gold medal, which Argentina took in the 2004 Olympics.
Argentina's Luis Scola, headed for the Houston Rockets, had 23 points and was named tournament MVP. Carmelo Anthony was runner-up.
The U.S. was led Sunday by LeBron James, who hit eight three-pointers and scored 31 points. Argentina is ranked second in the world by FIBA but was without five of its top seven players.
Still, it was finally a successful summer of international basketball for the U.S. team, which went 10-0 at this tournament with an average winning margin of almost 40 points and drew comparisons, albeit premature, to the great U.S. Olympic teams of the past.
"The last few international competitions, teams beat us. Now we're taking baby steps to try to get back to the top," Billups said.
"We feel we've got the best players, but a lot of times we didn't play the best way. We feel we've got the right group of guys now, the right coaching, to make that step, get our swagger back."
The addition of Bryant, Jason Kidd, Amare Stoudemire and Billups seemed to energize and stabilize the team, which shared the ball effectively and defended with élan and purpose.
So it's on to Beijing next August and in a few weeks it's back to their teams for these players, not necessarily a happy prospect for some:
Bryant: He was quiet here on his demands to be traded, though privately is said not to have changed his mind. It seems unlikely the Lakers will make a move now, or even this season.
With coach Phil Jackson entering the final year of his contract, transition appears to be in the Lakers' future. The betting is the Knicks will make a major run at Bryant with the Bulls, Bryant's personal choice, still a possibility.
James: He was terrific Sunday with U.S. records for points and three-pointers. But his Cavaliers have been stagnant in the off-season and failed to address their backcourt needs.
Many around the NBA believe the Celtics, with the acquisition of Kevin Garnett, and the Nets, with a return to health, will pass the Cavs and leave them fighting for a first-round home-court playoff berth—and perhaps fighting internally.
Anthony: He was the leading U.S. scorer again and is proving to be an unstoppable international player. He'll get Allen Iverson for a full season with the Nuggets, but center Nene came up lame again as Brazil lost out for a medal. The Nuggets didn't address their point guard needs and Anthony will miss passes from Kidd, Billups, James and Bryant.
"Everyone felt whoever you passed the ball to would get the job done," Michael Redd said.
Deron Williams: Despite a wonderful revival season, things ended on a sour note with Williams publicly turning on his Jazz teammates, without naming names. It remains to be seen how the team responds.
Mike Miller: A new coach, a new general manager, an owner trying to sell, a community tuning out and you never know when Pau Gasol might get fed up again.
You can be sure the Bulls haven't given up on Gasol, who is happy for now, thanks to the Grizzlies' acquisition of his buddy, Juan Carlos Navarro. Had Memphis not acquired Navarro, it was believed Gasol was ready to push for a deal to the Bulls.
"I have to completely flip what I do for this [U.S.] team," Miller said. "You try not to do too much. It's fun to play in this kind of system where you see how easy it is to get shots. But I think we'll (Grizzlies) be good."
Dwyane Wade: The injured Miami star is almost certain to get a call for next year's Olympic team. Miller, Williams and Tyson Chandler are the most vulnerable because they got the least playing time. The U.S. team also is looking at another big man and likely will pick between Carlos Boozer and Chris Bosh. Though the scoring and margin of victory was impressive for the U.S. and itachieved the goal of getting back to the Olympics, the field was generally weak and the U.S. was never truly challenged.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski didn't get the chance to respond under pressure, which he did poorly last year in the loss to Greece.
But he proved the best of the recent college coaches at dealing with U.S. players by allowing them some freedom within a limited system and inspiring them to play unselfishly and with spirit on defense.
Training camps open in a month.
"We all wish we could bottle up each other and take us back to training camp," Redd said. "But I guess we'll all have no tolerance for slacking at training camp. The difference is I'll see two or three hands [whenever I shoot]. We are all the main guys for our team.
"But the way we played here, we'll try to bring that back to our teams, moving the basketball, being unselfish. Look at the Spurs. That's how we won."
[email protected]