Team USA takes momentum overseas

#1

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14190300/

#2

SEOUL, South Korea -- With Carmelo Anthony back at full strength, the United States had little trouble with Lithuania.
Anthony, who hyperextended his knee and left in the second quarter of a win over Brazil last week, scored 19 points Sunday as the United States cruised to a 111-88 win over Lithuania in a tuneup for the world championships.
Anthony set the tone early with a slam dunk in the opening minutes that drew a huge ovation from the crowd, and LeBron James closed out the first half with a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give the U.S. a 56-32 lead at the break.
Dwyane Wade added 14 points as the United States improved to 4-0 in exhibition games leading up to the 2006 World Championships. The Americans took a 28-point lead after the third quarter.

"Our game plan was to just keep the ball moving," said Anthony, who leads the U.S. in scoring in the four exhibition games. "We know we can score from just about anywhere, so we don't have to wait for a fantastic shot."

Early in the final quarter, James brought the crowd to its feet with a one-handed dunk that made it 87-55. The Cleveland Cavaliers star gave the Americans a 108-78 advantage with another massive jam with 2 minutes left.
Seven players scored 10 points or more. James had 13 and the United States also got double-digit contributions from Joe Johnson (12), Kirk Hinrich (10), Antawn Jamison (13) and Chris Paul (10).
After one more exhibition game against South Korea, the U.S. team will head to Sapporo, Japan, for its opening game of the championships Saturday against Puerto Rico.
"I thought we played very good defense," said U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski. "Lithuania is a strong team and we were able to take them out defensively. I think we got better today by playing an outstanding team."
Wade, who had 10 points in the first quarter, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the U.S. a 25-9 lead midway through the first period.
Anthony, Shane Battier, Elton Brand, Hinrich and Wade started for the U.S. team.
Kristov Lavrinovic led Lithuania with 26 points. But Lithuania, fourth in the world rankings, didn't look like the medal contender many expect them to be in Japan.
It was an impressive performance for an American team that is quickly adjusting to the wider lanes of international play. The United States finished sixth at the worlds in 2002 and third in 1998. The last time the Americans won the tournament was 1994.

The U.S. team brought 14 players to Asia. The roster must be reduced to 12 before the start of the world championships.
In another game at the World Basketball Challenge, Stefano Mancinelli had 16 points and Italy won 96-61 over South Korea. Stefano Belinelli was 3-for-5 from the 3-point line and scored 14 points, while Fabio Di Bella added 12 for Italy.
Lee Kyu-sup led the hosts with 16 points, including five 3-pointers. South Korea fell to 0-3 and faces the United States on Tuesday.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press

#3

I like how they have tried to mix in more role player types than just taking the big names trying to replicate the 1992 dream team...Those guys played a different game of basketball, making it possible for them to exist on the court at the same time...Its amazing that the game has changed so much so fast...

#4

Yea, I'm surprised at how well they have meshed this year. It's great to see. Hopefully they will be able to rebound to the embarrasment last time...

#5

SAPPORO, Japan -- The U.S. basketball team arrived in Asia two weeks before the world championships tipped off so the players could adjust to a different time zone.

The United States wanted to make a statement as it opened the World Championships against Puerto Rico. However, it took the Americans most of the first half Saturday to get it going.

However, early in their opener against Puerto Rico Saturday, the Americans looked as if they had just stepped off a flight from the United States. FIBA's top-ranked team trailed No. 11 Puerto Rico 36-32 midway through the second period.

The Americans eventually woke up and rolled to a 111-100 victory. Afterward, they acknowledged they'll have to improve if they hope to bring home the U.S.' first world championship since 1994.

"We didn't get off to the start we wanted to," guard Kirk Hinrich said. "We played in stretches. A lot of that is a credit to Puerto Rico and the way they played and the effort they gave. Moving forward, I think we're just going to have to play a lot more consistent and play better for longer periods of time."

Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points, and LeBron James and Hinrich each added 15. Chris Paul had 11 points, nine assists and five steals for the U.S., which outrebounded Puerto Rico 36-27.

Carlos Arroyo scored 23 points to lead Puerto Rico, and Elias Ayuso added 14.

The U.S. improved to 8-1 against Puerto Rico in world championship play, but the opponents weren't intimidated. Puerto Rico led 24-23 after one quarter and cut a 22-point deficit to 12 in the final 4 minutes.

However, the Puerto Ricans couldn't overcome the Americans' physical superiority.

"We crashed against a genetic wall in every sense of the word," Puerto Rican coach Julio Toro said through a translator.

The Americans' talent carried them through lengthy bouts of listlessness.

"We didn't have the energy," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We were ready to play, because we respect them. But we needed to create energy."

LeBron, left, and Carmelo got what they came for: a win.
Krzyzewski has stressed defense during training camp. And defense helped create a spark in the first quarter. Trailing 12-9 with 6 minutes to go in the opening period, the Americans came up with steals on three consecutive possessions.

First, Paul stole a pass and fed James, who dunked. Then, Dwyane Wade snagged a pass and went the length of the court for another jam. After Josh Howard made it three steals in a row, he blocked Ayuso's shot, setting up Shane Battier's 3-pointer.

The sequence led to a 9-0 run that put the U.S. ahead 17-12 with 3:49 to play in the first quarter.

"That's the way to get in the passing lanes," Krzyzewski told his players during a timeout.

The U.S. finished with 14 steals, but struggled to contain Puerto Rico's scorers -- allowing them to shoot 54 percent from the floor and 63 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.

"I think we played defense in spurts," Krzyzewski said.

Toro said the U.S. defenders "have to keep growing and getting better in their man-to-man matchups, the matchup zones, closing lanes."

The U.S. closed out the first half with a 15-7 run capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Joe Johnson to take a 57-51 lead into intermission.

The Americans were never threatened after halftime, opening the third quarter with a 12-2 run on their way to an 87-74 lead heading into the fourth. They snuffed Puerto Rico's hopes for an upset by scoring the first seven points of the final quarter.

"They did a tremendous job of moving the ball," said Arroyo, who plays for the Orlando Magic. "Playing as a team, that's what basketball is all about."

The U.S. faces China Sunday in the second of its five Group D games. The Chinese are ranked 14th by FIBA, but that doesn't mean the Americans can take them for granted.

"We're aware we're going to have problems with anybody," Krzyzewski said. "We respect everybody."

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press

#6

SAPPORO, Japan -- Jerry Colangelo graded it a "B." Nobody on the team gave it anything worse than a C-plus. LeBron James was the most generous, saying it might have been as good as a B-plus.

Dwyane Wade and Team USA agreed it wasn't an A-plus performance.
Team USA's first game of the World Championship wasn't really as close as the final score would seem to indicate. Yes, it stayed tight through almost the entire first half, but the U.S. team seized control early in the third quarter and put it on cruise control the rest of the way to defeat Puerto Rico 111-100 Saturday afternoon.

"I don't give grades. The final score is what we're graded on," coach Mike Krzyzewski told me as he stepped into an elevator following his postgame press conference. He didn't appear to be in the greatest of moods, but he was certainly much happier than he was midway through the first quarter when he cursed and screamed at his team, "Let's quit [messing] around! Let's go!"

Coach K's curse was audible throughout the nearly silent arena, coming after Team USA drew a technical foul when Carmelo Anthony -- who wasn't even in the game at the time but was standing next to the U.S. bench -- inbounded the ball. The technical foul allowed Puerto Rico to tie the game at 17, but the U.S. dodged a bullet when the officials ruled it a team technical. Had they charged it to Anthony, it would have counted as his third personal. Instead, he was able to play in the second quarter, when Team USA actually trailed for a short time before opening a 57-51 halftime lead.

Anthony finished with a team-high 21 points for the U.S., which plays China on Sunday and will have to contend with a serious height difference. China has three 7-footers in Yao Ming, Wang Zhi-Zhi and Yi Jianglian, whereas Team USA has only one, Brad Miller, who did not even get off the bench Saturday.

Team USA was at its best when its defense forced turnovers and allowed it to get out into the open court, but the team looked tentative against the zone until figuring out in the second half that it could create open 3-point looks from the corners with proper ball movement.

"It was kind of a feeling-out game," Colangelo said. "Even the crowd, or lack of noise in the building, when we had some runs it was kind of hard to build on that because there just wasn't any energy. You have to be able to create your own energy. So I just kind of look at it as we played OK, could have played a lot better, but it was enough to win and that's really all that matters right now. It wasn't our best."

The U.S. players were upset with their defense, which was intense at times but porous at others. Carlos Arroyo was able to create open shots for himself off his dribble penetration, but Puerto Rico was never able to put together any kind of a sustained run.

And when Team USA needed to make plays, it did.

Joe Johnson came off the bench (the starters in the first half were Anthony, Elton Brand, Chris Paul, Antawn Jamison and LeBron James, but in the second half Dwight Howard and Dwyane Wade replaced Jamison and Brand) late in the first half to hit two 3-pointers that finally gave the U.S. team some breathing room, then hit another midway through the third quarter for an 11-point lead after Puerto Rico had pulled to 71-63.

A blocked shot by Shane Battier led to a wide-open 3 from Kirk Hinrich in the corner to make it 103-88 after Puerto Rico again pulled within 12, and Battier's tip-in and Hinrich's two foul shots with 2:12 left helped Team USA maintain a comfortable margin.

Battier, who said the game had the feel of an opening-round NCAA tournament game, chose "incomplete" as his grade.

"We have to adjust," he said. "This whole trip is about doing things outside your comfort zone. We're not in NBA arenas, we don't have NBA officials, we're not eating American food, not sleeping in American beds. You know what? Deal with it. We're here. Let's do the best we can with our surroundings."

"Grade? I'd give it a B-minus or C-plus. We didn't play defense very well," Brand told Insider.

"I'd give us a B-minus. I don't think we came out in the first five minutes with a lot of energy," Howard said.

"A 'B,' a B-plus maybe," James said. "We gave up too many points, which is not what we want to do. We can't win ballgames every night like that, because there may be a night when we might not be able to score 100 points, and then it's a problem."

"About a C-plus," Wade said. "I think we went for too many steals, and they capitalized on a lot of our missed opportunities, but we didn't let any early lead by them go the wrong way."

So we still await Team USA's "A" game, which they'll need later on in the tournament. Their "B" game was good enough against Puerto Rico, though it probably didn't strike any fear into the opposing teams spread around Japan who tuned in to take a peek at the latest version of Team USA.

Chris Sheridan covers the NBA and international basketball for ESPN Insider. To e-mail Chris, click here.

#7

Team USA got off to a solid start at the world championships with a 111-100 victory over Puerto Rico on Saturday morning. They shot 67% from the field and racked up 14 steals in the win.

Carmelo Anthony had 21 points to lead the U.S. and Joe Johnson hit three 3-pointers in the win. The U.S. was up by 22 at one point in the fourth quarter, but their defense suffered a lapse and allowed Puerto Rico back into the game. Kirk Hinrich and Johnson were the only real outside threats for the U.S., and while Hinrich had a tough time getting shots to fall, he still had 15 points. Chris Paul added 11 points and nine assists and they'll face China at 6:30 a.m. EST on Sunday morning in Game 2.

#8

An article was already posted above about it....read before you post.

I watched the game and I would give it a C effort. I don't even think it was a B effort like LeBron said. They looked good in spurts but nothing spectaular. I hope they can step it up...

#9

That wasn't an article.

Anyway, there will never be a team USA like the original 1992 Dream Team. Now days the players go over for the money and for publicity. It was once about showing how dominant USA basketball really was. We have too many players now that want to ball and can't even spell pass, let alone perform one. I'm just glad Mr Ball Hog himself, Allen Iverson, isn't on the team this go around.

Lost Ghost · #10

Why are you hating?

The game has changed...the best of the best can't coexsist like they used to because today's age is more of a one-on-one era as opposed to being more focused on a team effort.

LeBron has to score 30...otherwise the Cavs dont have a chance....

it's not that the players can't spell pass....or that they don't want to pass...the game has just changed.

ADN

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