Ready To Take On The Worlds

Take heart, Americans: For the first time in six years, the world's most talented players are actually going to win an international tournament. When the FIBA World Championship opens on Aug. 19 in Japan, the NBA millionaires dressed in U.S. colors will be focused as never before on representing their country. They may not dominate every opponent, but at least their attitude won't be arrogant and their tactics self-defeating. And get this--you may even grow to like them. � In fact, likability will be the truest test of this team. Even when the U.S. was throttling all comers in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, fans were losing interest in the Dream Team concept because it had more to do with sponsorships and the players' celebrity than with doing the nation proud. The misplaced priorities led to a sixth-place finish at the 2002 worlds in Indianapolis and a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, which in turn forced USA Basketball to spend the last year overhauling its senior men's program. To build cohesion, Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo demanded that his players make a three-year commitment rather than just serve a short tour of duty. "The biggest change is that [ USA Basketball has] hired a staff and a group of players who will work for a few years instead of a few weeks," says Ettore Messina, an Italian coach who is seen as a candidate to lead an NBA team. "No more is the attitude that [the U.S.] can pull together a group of players and with a little preparation win anywhere against anybody."

Another sign of newfound humility: The 24 who took Colangelo up on his invitation were even willing to accept that they might not make the cut. On July 25, after a week of training camp in Las Vegas, coach Mike Krzyzewski sent home Charlotte Bobcats rookie Adam Morrison, Seattle SuperSonics point guard Luke Ridnour and Phoenix Suns forward Shawn Marion, who has a minor left knee injury. (They'll remain in the pool for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing along with six other players, including Kobe Bryant, who were excused from attending camp for personal reasons.) Three more must be pared before the U.S.'s tournament opener against Puerto Rico.

What remains is an American roster that is more promising--because the players are hungrier and better balanced--than any since the original Dream Team of '92. None of the final 15 choices has ever won a major international title; seven have never even made an All-Star team. Marquee players Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were largely afterthoughts in the last Olympics. Role players like swingmen Shane Battier and Bruce Bowen would never have been considered for previous Dream Teams, but Colangelo believes that name recognition is less important than having a pair of stoppers to clamp down on Argentina's Manu Ginobili or France's Boris Diaw. Even Duke's Krzyzewski has something to prove: Having never led NBA players, he has chosen one hell of a time to dispel the notion that college coaches can't get through to well-heeled pros.

The lack of a dominant center such as Shaquille O'Neal or Tim Duncan may make the road more difficult--"With Shaq they could have killed everybody," says a top G.M. from a Euroleague team who asked not to be named--but British bookmaker William Hill has still made the U.S. a prohibitive 1--2 favorite to win the tournament (followed by Argentina at 13--2 and Spain at 8--1). Here are five reasons why the U.S. will wind up on top of the worlds:

More man-to-man Messina applauds Coach K's decision to dispense with the double teams and traps that were shredded by Argentina's read-and-react backdoor offense in the last two tournaments. "In Europe and Argentina we are not as good athletically as you, but we have much better passers and shooters, and when you double-team and trap, we are able to swing the ball quickly and find the open man," says Messina. "But if you are playing one-on-one defense and switching, that means you are forcing us to beat you one-on-one--and we don't have the aggressiveness and quickness to do it."

Sweeter-shooting big men Gone are bruising bricklayers Antonio Davis and Ben Wallace, whose defenders enticed them to fire away by sagging into the paint. In their place are Chris Bosh and Brad Miller, capable shooters who will pull big defenders away from the basket and create driving lanes for Wade and Gilbert Arenas.

LeBron James's versatility Messina expressed sympathy for the absence of Marion--"That's a big loss," he said--until he heard that Krzyzewski plans to use small forward James (as well as Anthony) at the power forward slot. "That's a great idea," says Messina. " LeBron James is quick and strong, and he can rebound against any four in Europe or Argentina."

Better bird-dogging Longtime NBA coach Rudy Tomjanovich heads a team of scouts who have spent the last two months overseas charting the tendencies of the best players. They will follow Team USA to Japan to continue breaking down the opposition. "The coaching staff used to have to do all of this advance work at three in the morning, and it wore us out," says Tomjanovich, who guided the U.S. at the '98 worlds and the 2000 Olympics. "Our opponents have had an advantage because they know our guys from seeing them in the NBA." Consider that advantage erased.

A team in full His predecessors felt the need to find minutes for everybody, but Krzyzewski has made it clear that some players may not get minutes against certain opponents. He vows that there will be no consistent starting lineup and that no one will be stuck at the end of the bench. "I don't want them thinking that they're the 12th man," he says. "I want them thinking that they have usa on the front [of their jerseys, and therefore] I want to play my butt off."