Ruff, that was an article... notice how at the end it said: "Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press"
This American team worries me a little... they don't really seem to be playing as well as they could be. Sure, they beat Puerto Rico... but they still allowed them to score 100 points. They almost lost to Brazil and the best player they have is Barbosa... Come on.
Team USA takes momentum overseas
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ruffriders23
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Oh, I thought you meant my statement. My bad.
My http://www.ronmexico.com disguise name is Franc Martinique.
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Buffmaster
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U.S. runs past China, improves to 2-0 at worlds
SAPPORO, Japan -- Yao Ming is back, and the United States was ready for him.
Shane Battier was a proud man Sunday night after standing in the way of Yao Ming, taking a charge and living to tell about it, writes Chris Sheridan. Story
Using a swarming defense and their huge advantage in depth to make life miserable for China and its All-Star center, the Americans rolled to a 121-90 victory Sunday night to remain unbeaten at the world championships.
"We knew that they wanted Yao to be a big factor, so we wanted to take him out and make them take difficult shots," U.S. forward Antawn Jamison said.
Dwyane Wade scored 26 points for the Americans, who needed less than four minutes to build their first double-digit lead and led by as many as 36. Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard had 16 points each and Chris Paul 13.
LeBron James, Joe Johnson and Elton Brand all had 11 points while Paul added eight assists and Howard 11 rebounds.
"We were trying to share the basketball, share the defensive rotation and just be a team," Brand said. "There are a lot of individuals out there, especially on their respective NBA teams. We're trying to be a team out here, get assists and do the extra things."
The Americans, averaging 116 points through two games, next play Slovenia on Tuesday. They headed into Group D's off day tied with Italy at 2-0 for first place. China (0-2) is tied with Senegal at the bottom. The top four teams in the six-team pool advance.
Yao led China with 21 points, but the Americans made him work for all of them. He had only one field goal in the first half, when the game was decided, and finished 5-of-8 from the field before fouling out with 6:08 remaining.
"We worked very hard to defend Yao," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He's a terrific player."
Yao didn't play in the Americans' 119-73 victory in this month's exhibition game at Guangzhou, China, because he was recovering from a broken left foot. His return in time for this tournament gave plenty of hope to the Chinese, who had a large contingent of fans at the game waving flags and holding large pictures of Yao.
The 7-foot-5 center predicted China would advance out of pool play -- he was quoted in a story in the China Daily before the tournament as saying, "China will enter the last 16, I promise." Then he scored 30 points in China's opening loss to Italy.
But the U.S. never let him be a factor when the game was still in doubt, delivering a couple of hard fouls when he had a clear path to the basket and even playing two centers together at times. Still not fully fit, Yao didn't even make it across midcourt at times after Chinese turnovers.
"It is a little bit different from playing Yao in international ball than NBA ball," Howard said. "Yao is the main focus for the Chinese team. Playing with him in America he has Tracy McGrady on his team, so Yao kind of gets some rest."
After coming off the bench in the Americans' victory over Puerto Rico in the opener, Howard drew the starting assignment Sunday and responded underneath.
"Dwight would take any center from any team," Krzyzewski said. "The guy who's been our best center has been him."
Meanwhile, the Americans displayed the balance that makes them one of the tournament favorites, with Krzyzewski using all 12 players in the first half.
Leading by 14 points midway through the second quarter, the Americans used a 12-0 run to break open the game and build a 54-28 lead.
Wade then scored the Americans' final 11 points of the half, including a drive just before the buzzer that gave the U.S. a 63-38 lead. China had more turnovers (12) than baskets (11) in the first 20 minutes.
China coach Jonas Kazlauskas said all teams facing the United States have the same problem: "Turnovers, transition and rebounds -- and we had the same problems today."
The Chinese finished with 25 turnovers -- an improvement from their 34 in the exhibition game -- which helped the Americans to a 29-8 cushion in fast-break points. The U.S. outscored China 20-3 on turnovers.
Yao hit a jumper to open the third period and Wang Shipeng scored the next eight points as the Chinese pulled within 63-48. But James scored seven points during a 10-3 surge that pushed the lead back to 22, and the Americans were never threatened again.
The United States improved to 5-0 in world championships play against China, the Asian champion. Wang added 17 points for China, which next plays Puerto Rico.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
Shane Battier was a proud man Sunday night after standing in the way of Yao Ming, taking a charge and living to tell about it, writes Chris Sheridan. Story
Using a swarming defense and their huge advantage in depth to make life miserable for China and its All-Star center, the Americans rolled to a 121-90 victory Sunday night to remain unbeaten at the world championships.
"We knew that they wanted Yao to be a big factor, so we wanted to take him out and make them take difficult shots," U.S. forward Antawn Jamison said.
Dwyane Wade scored 26 points for the Americans, who needed less than four minutes to build their first double-digit lead and led by as many as 36. Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard had 16 points each and Chris Paul 13.
LeBron James, Joe Johnson and Elton Brand all had 11 points while Paul added eight assists and Howard 11 rebounds.
"We were trying to share the basketball, share the defensive rotation and just be a team," Brand said. "There are a lot of individuals out there, especially on their respective NBA teams. We're trying to be a team out here, get assists and do the extra things."
The Americans, averaging 116 points through two games, next play Slovenia on Tuesday. They headed into Group D's off day tied with Italy at 2-0 for first place. China (0-2) is tied with Senegal at the bottom. The top four teams in the six-team pool advance.
Yao led China with 21 points, but the Americans made him work for all of them. He had only one field goal in the first half, when the game was decided, and finished 5-of-8 from the field before fouling out with 6:08 remaining.
"We worked very hard to defend Yao," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He's a terrific player."
Yao didn't play in the Americans' 119-73 victory in this month's exhibition game at Guangzhou, China, because he was recovering from a broken left foot. His return in time for this tournament gave plenty of hope to the Chinese, who had a large contingent of fans at the game waving flags and holding large pictures of Yao.
The 7-foot-5 center predicted China would advance out of pool play -- he was quoted in a story in the China Daily before the tournament as saying, "China will enter the last 16, I promise." Then he scored 30 points in China's opening loss to Italy.
But the U.S. never let him be a factor when the game was still in doubt, delivering a couple of hard fouls when he had a clear path to the basket and even playing two centers together at times. Still not fully fit, Yao didn't even make it across midcourt at times after Chinese turnovers.
"It is a little bit different from playing Yao in international ball than NBA ball," Howard said. "Yao is the main focus for the Chinese team. Playing with him in America he has Tracy McGrady on his team, so Yao kind of gets some rest."
After coming off the bench in the Americans' victory over Puerto Rico in the opener, Howard drew the starting assignment Sunday and responded underneath.
"Dwight would take any center from any team," Krzyzewski said. "The guy who's been our best center has been him."
Meanwhile, the Americans displayed the balance that makes them one of the tournament favorites, with Krzyzewski using all 12 players in the first half.
Leading by 14 points midway through the second quarter, the Americans used a 12-0 run to break open the game and build a 54-28 lead.
Wade then scored the Americans' final 11 points of the half, including a drive just before the buzzer that gave the U.S. a 63-38 lead. China had more turnovers (12) than baskets (11) in the first 20 minutes.
China coach Jonas Kazlauskas said all teams facing the United States have the same problem: "Turnovers, transition and rebounds -- and we had the same problems today."
The Chinese finished with 25 turnovers -- an improvement from their 34 in the exhibition game -- which helped the Americans to a 29-8 cushion in fast-break points. The U.S. outscored China 20-3 on turnovers.
Yao hit a jumper to open the third period and Wang Shipeng scored the next eight points as the Chinese pulled within 63-48. But James scored seven points during a 10-3 surge that pushed the lead back to 22, and the Americans were never threatened again.
The United States improved to 5-0 in world championships play against China, the Asian champion. Wang added 17 points for China, which next plays Puerto Rico.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
Big Red died 23 NOV 2001
You owe your success to your first wife. You owe your second wife to your success---Sean Connery
You owe your success to your first wife. You owe your second wife to your success---Sean Connery
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trashtalkr
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I watched this game and they looked so much better than they did against PR. In this game you saw the American team that will win the Gold
"If there were no eternal consciousness in a man, if at the bottom of everything there were only a wild ferment, a power that twisting in dark passions produced everything great or inconsequential; if an unfathomable insatiable emptiness lay hid beneath everything, what would life be but despair?"
Soren Kierkegaard
Soren Kierkegaard
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Buffmaster
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U.S. cruises past Slovenia, improves to 3-0
SAPPORO, Japan -- After the United States whipped Slovenia 114-95 Tuesday night, LeBron James was asked if he would guarantee a world championship.Chris Sheridan:
Looking ahead to Italy
Wednesday's game against Italy will pit the Americans against the best 3-point shooting team they will have seen to date, but they're not going into this match blindly as they did two years ago. Italy surprised Team USA in a tuneup match in Cologne, Germany, before the Athens Olympics when Italy's shooters drained 17 3s and embarrassed the Americans in a precursor of what was to come.
This time against Italy, defending the 3-point will be a primary focus. Also, though, since Italy does not have the caliber of guards that Slovenia has, we may see a return to more of the fullcourt trapping and gambling for steals than we saw against Puerto Rico and China.
"No way," James said with a chuckle. "It's too far away."
But after three double-digit victories, the idea of the U.S. winning its first FIBA World Championship since 1994 isn't far-fetched.
The U.S. has won its first three Group D games -- against Puerto Rico, China and Slovenia -- by an average of 20.3 points. It hasn't trailed after halftime.
The Americans face their sternest test in group play Wednesday night against Italy, which improved to 3-0 with a comeback victory over Senegal on Tuesday.
"We're improving every game," forward Shane Battier said. "If we can continue to play the defense we've shown in stretches for longer stretches, we're going to be in very good shape for this championship."
The victory over Slovenia clinched a trip to the second round, which was seen as a foregone conclusion.
Captain Dwyane Wade had 20 points to lead the U.S. in scoring for the second game in a row. Wade is the team's top scorer, averaging 19.7 points per game.
LeBron James added 19 points, Elton Brand 16 and Carmelo Anthony 14 for the Americans, who shot 56 percent from the floor.
Point guard Chris Paul had nine assists and two turnovers. Kirk Hinrich led the U.S. with seven rebounds.
Sani Becirovic scored 18 points to lead Slovenia, which had five players in double figures.
The U.S. used a potent combination of defense and 3-point shooting to blow the game open.
Dwyane Wade scored 20 points as Team USA punched its ticket to the second round.
Three-point shooting had been one of Team USA's few flaws in the first two games. The Americans shot 33 percent from beyond the arc against Puerto Rico and 30 percent against China.
On Tuesday night, their long-range shots finally started to fall. The U.S. went 7-for-11 on 3-point shots (64 percent) in the first half and finished 10-for-20 (50 percent).
Battier went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and James and Antawn Jamison each hit two of four.
"It's a totally different thing when they're hitting 3-point shots," Slovenian swingman Bostjan Nachbar said. "When they make 3s, you can't pull the defenders in and hope for rebounds. That opens the lane, and then they're really tough to stop."
At the defensive end, the U.S. struggled to stop the Slovenians in the early going but quickly adjusted. Slovenia had its biggest lead -- 21-16 -- with 2:45 to play in the first quarter when the Americans went on an 11-0 run. During the spurt, the U.S. forced three turnovers in less than two minutes.
With four NBA players, the Slovenians weren't awed by Team USA. But they needed to take better care of the ball to have any hopes for a massive upset. They also needed to hit 3-point shots to stretch the American defense.
Slovenia made only two of six 3-point shots in the first half and finished 6-for-15 (40 percent).
"Tonight in the first half, our defense was the best it's been," U.S. assistant coach Jim Boeheim said. "We held them to two 3-point shots in the first half. That's a big statistic, I think, for us. That and forcing turnovers. Those two things are why we were ahead at halftime. And when you force turnovers you get easier shots at the other end."
The U.S. harried Slovenia into 16 first-half turnovers, which led to 22 points, many of them on dunks. Slovenia finished with 25 turnovers.
In the first three games here, the Americans have forced 64 turnovers.
The Americans led Slovenia by 29 points in the second half before falling asleep and letting the Slovenians pull within 105-94 with 2:15 to go. Wade's putback ended the run.
"They didn't go away," Battier said. "There's something to be said for that."
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
Looking ahead to Italy
Wednesday's game against Italy will pit the Americans against the best 3-point shooting team they will have seen to date, but they're not going into this match blindly as they did two years ago. Italy surprised Team USA in a tuneup match in Cologne, Germany, before the Athens Olympics when Italy's shooters drained 17 3s and embarrassed the Americans in a precursor of what was to come.
This time against Italy, defending the 3-point will be a primary focus. Also, though, since Italy does not have the caliber of guards that Slovenia has, we may see a return to more of the fullcourt trapping and gambling for steals than we saw against Puerto Rico and China.
"No way," James said with a chuckle. "It's too far away."
But after three double-digit victories, the idea of the U.S. winning its first FIBA World Championship since 1994 isn't far-fetched.
The U.S. has won its first three Group D games -- against Puerto Rico, China and Slovenia -- by an average of 20.3 points. It hasn't trailed after halftime.
The Americans face their sternest test in group play Wednesday night against Italy, which improved to 3-0 with a comeback victory over Senegal on Tuesday.
"We're improving every game," forward Shane Battier said. "If we can continue to play the defense we've shown in stretches for longer stretches, we're going to be in very good shape for this championship."
The victory over Slovenia clinched a trip to the second round, which was seen as a foregone conclusion.
Captain Dwyane Wade had 20 points to lead the U.S. in scoring for the second game in a row. Wade is the team's top scorer, averaging 19.7 points per game.
LeBron James added 19 points, Elton Brand 16 and Carmelo Anthony 14 for the Americans, who shot 56 percent from the floor.
Point guard Chris Paul had nine assists and two turnovers. Kirk Hinrich led the U.S. with seven rebounds.
Sani Becirovic scored 18 points to lead Slovenia, which had five players in double figures.
The U.S. used a potent combination of defense and 3-point shooting to blow the game open.
Dwyane Wade scored 20 points as Team USA punched its ticket to the second round.
Three-point shooting had been one of Team USA's few flaws in the first two games. The Americans shot 33 percent from beyond the arc against Puerto Rico and 30 percent against China.
On Tuesday night, their long-range shots finally started to fall. The U.S. went 7-for-11 on 3-point shots (64 percent) in the first half and finished 10-for-20 (50 percent).
Battier went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and James and Antawn Jamison each hit two of four.
"It's a totally different thing when they're hitting 3-point shots," Slovenian swingman Bostjan Nachbar said. "When they make 3s, you can't pull the defenders in and hope for rebounds. That opens the lane, and then they're really tough to stop."
At the defensive end, the U.S. struggled to stop the Slovenians in the early going but quickly adjusted. Slovenia had its biggest lead -- 21-16 -- with 2:45 to play in the first quarter when the Americans went on an 11-0 run. During the spurt, the U.S. forced three turnovers in less than two minutes.
With four NBA players, the Slovenians weren't awed by Team USA. But they needed to take better care of the ball to have any hopes for a massive upset. They also needed to hit 3-point shots to stretch the American defense.
Slovenia made only two of six 3-point shots in the first half and finished 6-for-15 (40 percent).
"Tonight in the first half, our defense was the best it's been," U.S. assistant coach Jim Boeheim said. "We held them to two 3-point shots in the first half. That's a big statistic, I think, for us. That and forcing turnovers. Those two things are why we were ahead at halftime. And when you force turnovers you get easier shots at the other end."
The U.S. harried Slovenia into 16 first-half turnovers, which led to 22 points, many of them on dunks. Slovenia finished with 25 turnovers.
In the first three games here, the Americans have forced 64 turnovers.
The Americans led Slovenia by 29 points in the second half before falling asleep and letting the Slovenians pull within 105-94 with 2:15 to go. Wade's putback ended the run.
"They didn't go away," Battier said. "There's something to be said for that."
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
Big Red died 23 NOV 2001
You owe your success to your first wife. You owe your second wife to your success---Sean Connery
You owe your success to your first wife. You owe your second wife to your success---Sean Connery
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Buffmaster
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Carmelo's 35 help U.S. crawl back vs. Italy, win pool
SAPPORO, Japan -- First place didn't come easily for the United States.
The Americans survived their toughest test yet in the FIBA World Championship, overcoming a 12-point deficit in the second half to beat Italy 94-85 Wednesday night.
Carmelo Anthony sliced up the Italian defense in the second half.
Carmelo Anthony scored 19 of his U.S.-record 35 points in the third quarter, when he played extensive minutes with fellow captains Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski was forced to scrap his two-unit rotation after an anemic offense in the second quarter.
Wade added 26 points, helping the Americans (4-0) finally seize control for good midway through the fourth quarter with six points and an assist during a 10-2 spurt that gave the U.S. a 13-point lead.
Anthony broke the previous scoring record set by Kenny Anderson, who scored 34 points in a 1990 worlds game -- a team also coached by Krzyzewski.
The U.S. clinched the top seed in Group D and will face the fourth-place team from Group C on Sunday in Saitama in the round of 16.
The Italians (3-1), done in by a five-minute stretch without a field goal in the third quarter, can still earn Group D's No. 2 seed by beating Puerto Rico on Thursday.
But they were thinking big after controlling the first half to the delight of a group of fans chanting "Italia! Italia!"
Marco Belinelli scored 25 points for Italy, the 2004 Olympic silver medalists. They defeated the U.S. 95-78 in an exhibition game prior to those games, and clapped as they walked off the floor Wednesday even though they fell short.
The Italians were expected to take a step down from that level after turning to a younger team following a ninth-place finish in the 2005 European championships that forced them to need a wild card from FIBA to qualify for the worlds.
But they hit 30 3-pointers in their first three games, and the Americans tried to negate that by extending their defensive pressure further away from the basket. But the Italians took advantage with dribble penetration while working their offense expertly in the first half, when they shot 58 percent.
Elton Brand scored the last five points of the first quarter as the U.S. took a 25-19 lead, but the Americans then made only two field goals in the second -- and made matters worse by missing five of 12 free throws -- during a dismal 11-point period.
The Italians capitalized with a 12-4 spurt to close the half, with Matteo Soragna scoring the final five points of the half to give Italy a 45-36 lead at the break.
The Americans, who came in averaging 115.3 points, shot only 39 percent in the first half.
What's the best way to use LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony?
Divided in two balanced groups
Playing together in ''uber'' five
U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski scrapped his two teams and put James, Wade and Anthony together to start the second half with Brand and Chris Paul.
A three-point play by Belinelli 15 seconds into the half gave Italy a 12-point cushion. The Americans finally started running, battling back to seize a 53-52 lead when James found Wade down the floor for a basket to cap a 17-4 surge.
The U.S. increased the lead to eight later in the period during Italy's drought and were up 71-64 after Anthony drilled a 3-pointer in the closing seconds.
The U.S. gets a breather Thursday, facing winless Senegal (0-4) in its final game of pool play. They'll be paying attention to Hamamatsu, where Lithuania, Australia and Brazil after still battling for the last two spots. The Lithuanians and Brazilians play Thursday.
Brand finished with 16 points. Fabio Di Bella and Stefano Mancinelli each had 12 for Italy.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
The Americans survived their toughest test yet in the FIBA World Championship, overcoming a 12-point deficit in the second half to beat Italy 94-85 Wednesday night.
Carmelo Anthony sliced up the Italian defense in the second half.
Carmelo Anthony scored 19 of his U.S.-record 35 points in the third quarter, when he played extensive minutes with fellow captains Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski was forced to scrap his two-unit rotation after an anemic offense in the second quarter.
Wade added 26 points, helping the Americans (4-0) finally seize control for good midway through the fourth quarter with six points and an assist during a 10-2 spurt that gave the U.S. a 13-point lead.
Anthony broke the previous scoring record set by Kenny Anderson, who scored 34 points in a 1990 worlds game -- a team also coached by Krzyzewski.
The U.S. clinched the top seed in Group D and will face the fourth-place team from Group C on Sunday in Saitama in the round of 16.
The Italians (3-1), done in by a five-minute stretch without a field goal in the third quarter, can still earn Group D's No. 2 seed by beating Puerto Rico on Thursday.
But they were thinking big after controlling the first half to the delight of a group of fans chanting "Italia! Italia!"
Marco Belinelli scored 25 points for Italy, the 2004 Olympic silver medalists. They defeated the U.S. 95-78 in an exhibition game prior to those games, and clapped as they walked off the floor Wednesday even though they fell short.
The Italians were expected to take a step down from that level after turning to a younger team following a ninth-place finish in the 2005 European championships that forced them to need a wild card from FIBA to qualify for the worlds.
But they hit 30 3-pointers in their first three games, and the Americans tried to negate that by extending their defensive pressure further away from the basket. But the Italians took advantage with dribble penetration while working their offense expertly in the first half, when they shot 58 percent.
Elton Brand scored the last five points of the first quarter as the U.S. took a 25-19 lead, but the Americans then made only two field goals in the second -- and made matters worse by missing five of 12 free throws -- during a dismal 11-point period.
The Italians capitalized with a 12-4 spurt to close the half, with Matteo Soragna scoring the final five points of the half to give Italy a 45-36 lead at the break.
The Americans, who came in averaging 115.3 points, shot only 39 percent in the first half.
What's the best way to use LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony?
Divided in two balanced groups
Playing together in ''uber'' five
U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski scrapped his two teams and put James, Wade and Anthony together to start the second half with Brand and Chris Paul.
A three-point play by Belinelli 15 seconds into the half gave Italy a 12-point cushion. The Americans finally started running, battling back to seize a 53-52 lead when James found Wade down the floor for a basket to cap a 17-4 surge.
The U.S. increased the lead to eight later in the period during Italy's drought and were up 71-64 after Anthony drilled a 3-pointer in the closing seconds.
The U.S. gets a breather Thursday, facing winless Senegal (0-4) in its final game of pool play. They'll be paying attention to Hamamatsu, where Lithuania, Australia and Brazil after still battling for the last two spots. The Lithuanians and Brazilians play Thursday.
Brand finished with 16 points. Fabio Di Bella and Stefano Mancinelli each had 12 for Italy.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
Big Red died 23 NOV 2001
You owe your success to your first wife. You owe your second wife to your success---Sean Connery
You owe your success to your first wife. You owe your second wife to your success---Sean Connery
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USA finding its form at Worlds
SAPPORO, Japan -- Much has been made both here in the Far East and back home in the United Sates about Team USA's lax halfcourt defense, and those criticisms were looking increasingly valid in the early moments of Tuesday's game against Slovenia.
Layup after layup came easily to the players from the small nation of two million before Team USA's coaching staff figured out a way to do something about it.
"Mainly, we didn't trap, we went to a different way of defending the ball screen, and also with the dribble-handoff, we let the guard go through," coach Mike Krzyzewski told Insider, "and that seemed to not give them momentum into the lane. We did that well until the fourth quarter when we let up defensively."
"I don't think there will ever be dominance. The world is too good at basketball. For us to think we're going to dominate is very arrogant, and it's not what we believe."
USA coach Mike KrzyzewskiBy then, however, this one was well in hand ... even after an 11-0 run by Slovenia cut the deficit down to 11 points with just over two minutes left. On Team USA's next possession, Dwyane Wade made a key decision, opting to go right back up with an offensive rebound rather than bringing the ball back outside to run off some clock. Wade hit the shot and was fouled, and Slovenia's last-ditch run was over. The 114-95 victory improved the American's record to 3-0 heading into Wednesday's game against Italy, which sports an identical record.
Take away the first quarter and about a five-minute stretch of the fourth quarter, and this was the absolute best the U.S. team had played since first getting together more than a month ago in Las Vegas.
Teams that win these tournaments are the teams that continually get better as the tournament rolls on, and Tuesday's game was an indication the Americans are heading in the right direction at the right time. We've yet to see any fatigue, either mental or physical, and we've seen Coach K figure out that the best way to have this team playing its best is to essentially divide it into two teams †™‚¢‚¢¢¢¬…¡‚¬¢‚¬Å¡‚¦ a first unit of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Shane Battier and Chris Paul, and a second unit of Wade, Kirk Hinrich, Joe Johnson, Elton Brand and Antawn Jamison.
When he made his first substitutions midway through the first quarter Tuesday night, Krzyzewski sent in the entire second unit.
"We don't have to do it that way, that's just the way we've done it thus far," Coach K said. "As we continue to learn about them we may make some more changes."
Another big defensive change Tuesday was a de-emphasis on full-court pressure out of respect for the ballhandling abilities of Slovenian guards Beno Udrih, Jaka Lakovic and Sani Bacirovic. The Americans applied token man pressure in the backcourt to take an extra second or two off the shot clock, but there was a noticeable difference in the number of risks they took on defense to try to create transition baskets. This time, many of the 25 turnovers they forced were a result of a second defender helping out in halfcourt sets.
There also was improvement in the 3-point shooting, with Battier going 3-for-3 from behind the arc to lead a 10-for-20 showing. The Americans shot 56 percent overall to help overcome a fairly sizeable deficiency on the boards, where they were outrebounded 40-29 including 14-8 on the offensive glass.
"They were executing real well, but once we stepped up our intensity and adjusted, we played much better," Brand said.
Wednesday's game against Italy will pit the Americans against the best 3-point shooting team they will have seen to date. But they're not going into this match blindly as they did two years ago against Italy. In a tuneup match in Cologne, Germany, prior to the Athens Olympics, Italy's shooters drained 17 3s and embarrassed the Americans in a precursor of what was to come.
Italy has a younger squad than it had two years ago and returns only four players from the 2004 team that won the silver medal in Athens, one of whom, shooting guard Gianluca Basile, is 5-for-12 on 3-pointers in this tournament.
FIBA, the sport's international governing body, ranks Italy just sixth in the world after a disappointing ninth-place finish at last summer's Eurobasket tournament that expedited the national federation's transition to a younger roster, although it does not include forward Andrea Bargnani, the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft.
Against Italy, defending the 3-point shot will be a primary focus. Italy is averaging 10 3s per game thus far, while attempting a little over 27 per game. Also, since Italy does not have the caliber of guards that Slovenia has, we might see a return to more of the fullcourt trapping and gambling for steals that we saw against Puerto Rico and China.
This tournament will become more and more about making the right adjustments from game to game and quarter to quarter. Everyone on Team USA realizes that now, and we're not hearing any of the misplaced bravado we heard back on Day One in Vegas.
"I don't think there will ever be dominance. The world is too good at basketball. For us to think we're going to dominate is very arrogant, and it's not what we believe," Coach K said. "That's not even our goal. Our goal is to be the best we can be, and hopefully be good enough to compete for the World Championship."
Just goes to show that adjustments, both in strategy and mentality, are turning this team into a unit that might just bring back the gold. There's still a lot of basketball left, however, so let's not get too carried away after this one.
Layup after layup came easily to the players from the small nation of two million before Team USA's coaching staff figured out a way to do something about it.
"Mainly, we didn't trap, we went to a different way of defending the ball screen, and also with the dribble-handoff, we let the guard go through," coach Mike Krzyzewski told Insider, "and that seemed to not give them momentum into the lane. We did that well until the fourth quarter when we let up defensively."
"I don't think there will ever be dominance. The world is too good at basketball. For us to think we're going to dominate is very arrogant, and it's not what we believe."
USA coach Mike KrzyzewskiBy then, however, this one was well in hand ... even after an 11-0 run by Slovenia cut the deficit down to 11 points with just over two minutes left. On Team USA's next possession, Dwyane Wade made a key decision, opting to go right back up with an offensive rebound rather than bringing the ball back outside to run off some clock. Wade hit the shot and was fouled, and Slovenia's last-ditch run was over. The 114-95 victory improved the American's record to 3-0 heading into Wednesday's game against Italy, which sports an identical record.
Take away the first quarter and about a five-minute stretch of the fourth quarter, and this was the absolute best the U.S. team had played since first getting together more than a month ago in Las Vegas.
Teams that win these tournaments are the teams that continually get better as the tournament rolls on, and Tuesday's game was an indication the Americans are heading in the right direction at the right time. We've yet to see any fatigue, either mental or physical, and we've seen Coach K figure out that the best way to have this team playing its best is to essentially divide it into two teams †™‚¢‚¢¢¢¬…¡‚¬¢‚¬Å¡‚¦ a first unit of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Shane Battier and Chris Paul, and a second unit of Wade, Kirk Hinrich, Joe Johnson, Elton Brand and Antawn Jamison.
When he made his first substitutions midway through the first quarter Tuesday night, Krzyzewski sent in the entire second unit.
"We don't have to do it that way, that's just the way we've done it thus far," Coach K said. "As we continue to learn about them we may make some more changes."
Another big defensive change Tuesday was a de-emphasis on full-court pressure out of respect for the ballhandling abilities of Slovenian guards Beno Udrih, Jaka Lakovic and Sani Bacirovic. The Americans applied token man pressure in the backcourt to take an extra second or two off the shot clock, but there was a noticeable difference in the number of risks they took on defense to try to create transition baskets. This time, many of the 25 turnovers they forced were a result of a second defender helping out in halfcourt sets.
There also was improvement in the 3-point shooting, with Battier going 3-for-3 from behind the arc to lead a 10-for-20 showing. The Americans shot 56 percent overall to help overcome a fairly sizeable deficiency on the boards, where they were outrebounded 40-29 including 14-8 on the offensive glass.
"They were executing real well, but once we stepped up our intensity and adjusted, we played much better," Brand said.
Wednesday's game against Italy will pit the Americans against the best 3-point shooting team they will have seen to date. But they're not going into this match blindly as they did two years ago against Italy. In a tuneup match in Cologne, Germany, prior to the Athens Olympics, Italy's shooters drained 17 3s and embarrassed the Americans in a precursor of what was to come.
Italy has a younger squad than it had two years ago and returns only four players from the 2004 team that won the silver medal in Athens, one of whom, shooting guard Gianluca Basile, is 5-for-12 on 3-pointers in this tournament.
FIBA, the sport's international governing body, ranks Italy just sixth in the world after a disappointing ninth-place finish at last summer's Eurobasket tournament that expedited the national federation's transition to a younger roster, although it does not include forward Andrea Bargnani, the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft.
Against Italy, defending the 3-point shot will be a primary focus. Italy is averaging 10 3s per game thus far, while attempting a little over 27 per game. Also, since Italy does not have the caliber of guards that Slovenia has, we might see a return to more of the fullcourt trapping and gambling for steals that we saw against Puerto Rico and China.
This tournament will become more and more about making the right adjustments from game to game and quarter to quarter. Everyone on Team USA realizes that now, and we're not hearing any of the misplaced bravado we heard back on Day One in Vegas.
"I don't think there will ever be dominance. The world is too good at basketball. For us to think we're going to dominate is very arrogant, and it's not what we believe," Coach K said. "That's not even our goal. Our goal is to be the best we can be, and hopefully be good enough to compete for the World Championship."
Just goes to show that adjustments, both in strategy and mentality, are turning this team into a unit that might just bring back the gold. There's still a lot of basketball left, however, so let's not get too carried away after this one.
Big Red died 23 NOV 2001
You owe your success to your first wife. You owe your second wife to your success---Sean Connery
You owe your success to your first wife. You owe your second wife to your success---Sean Connery
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ruffriders23
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Dwyane Wade had 20 points in the 114-95 win over Slovenia. Team USA blew a 20-point lead when Slovenia made a late run with four minutes to go when Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James left the game. But Wade stepped up, logging a couple steals, getting to the line and grabbing rebounds as the U.S. put the game away. They looked great today with the exception of the last four minutes and improved to 3-0. They still are not the Dream Team of yester-years.
My http://www.ronmexico.com disguise name is Franc Martinique.
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Buffmaster
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U.S. finishes unbeaten in pool, will play Australia
Big Red died 23 NOV 2001
You owe your success to your first wife. You owe your second wife to your success---Sean Connery
You owe your success to your first wife. You owe your second wife to your success---Sean Connery
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ruffriders23
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D-Wade is making all the teams that passed him over cry big giant tears. He could be a geat player for 10 more years. However, he could just do it for another season or so and make the G.O.A.T. list! /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />
My http://www.ronmexico.com disguise name is Franc Martinique.
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