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Some of Mike Krzyzewski's players from USA Basketball teams share congratulatory messages as Coach K wins his 1,000th college game.
Las Vegas, Nevada -- Victor Oladipo (Orlando Magic) shut down the opening day of the USA Men’s National Team minicamp this week with a dunk off the wall, so it felt appropriate that it was another one of his highlights that brought the crowd to its feet for the biggest cheer of the night at Thursday night’s USA Basketball Showcase.
Lined up one-on-one at the top of the key against Michael Carter-Williams (Milwaukee Bucks) in a close game, Oladipo crossed over and drove hard into a powerful right-handed slam that wasn’t really finished until Oladipo’s post-slam shimmy under the basket. Oladipo and the Blue squad got the
“We had a great crowd, which is very appreciated, and I think the guys put on a nice show,” said USA Basketball chairman and National Team managing director Jerry Colangelo.
The roster of 34 that started this week’s lighter camp thinned a bit by the Showcase, but four players were added to the rosters for some extra depth. One of those was Orlando Magic guard Elfrid Payton, who was working out when he learned there was a chance he could be added and then was on a 6 a.m. flight Thursday to get to Vegas.
“It means a lot that they thought about me,” Payton said. “It’s always an honor to play for your country, whether it be overseas or at home. I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”
LeBron James, Kevin
“We didn’t have everybody for the game, but guys were at the camp,” Faried said. “We were going hard, we were competing, not against each other, but we were competing, period. And, we were having fun.”
Coach Mike Krzyzewski said even players limited by injuries had already done more than they were asked to during their time in Vegas.
“We had so many guys who could not play for a variety of reasons, but even those guys throughout the week were at practice,” Krzyzewski said.
Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons) led everyone with 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Blue
“We got the chance to come back and rekindle the fire that we had from last year, winning the (FIBA World Cup) gold medal,” Drummond said. “Being out here with the guys again, getting the chance to work out with them, get up and down, laugh and kind of celebrate the win that we had last year, it was a good time for me.”
Just like an All-Star Game, the players were generally focused more on offense than defense. But as the clock wound down in a tight contest the competitiveness started to really come out.
With a little more than three minutes left, Carter-Williams soared in for the type of dunk that hadn’t been contested all night. This time, Faried was up there to meet him for a powerful swat that was either a great block or correctly called a foul depending on which bench you asked.
DeMar DeRozan’s (Toronto Raptors) 360 dunk in the final seconds served as a final exclamation point and several fans left with mini autographed basketballs that the players tossed into the crowd while leaving the court.
USA Basketball Will Name 12-man Roster In June
Prior to the 2012 London Olympics, the USA Men’s National Team held a training camp in Las Vegas in order to pick its final 12-man roster. That meant that before the team could begin its journey, Colangelo had to sit down with several players he had invited and tell them they wouldn’t be coming along.
“That’s a killer,” Colangelo said. “It always has been and it always will be.”
Partly because of that, for the 2016 Rio Olympics the organization will return to its plan leading into the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After the NBA Draft in June, Colangelo will announce the 12-man roster instead of bringing 16 or more players in for a tryout camp.
USA Basketball’s leaders are aware of the time commitment required, so not only does the shorter schedule avoid some unnecessary conversations but it also takes a smaller bite out of the calendar. Even with that it’s more than a month from the time the team will assemble to the gold-medal game, which they fully intend to be a part of.
Krzyzewski pointed out that they could still make any changes as needed after announcing the roster. Also, putting together a USA Men’s Select Team to practice and train against the Men’s National Team will remain an important part of next summer’s camp.
“That’s the beginning of the next wave of players,” Colangelo said.
• Video: Phantom Cam: Best of Day 2
• Video: LeBron James Talks to Media
Las Vegas, Nevada -- It’s a simple truth that often gets lost amidst a decade-plus of accomplishments, and it’s this: The only way to chase history, as LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are doing, is to be immediately great and get a little lucky.
The USA Men’s National Team minicamp in Las Vegas wraps up Thursday night with the USA Basketball Showcase exhibition at the Thomas & Mack Center (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2). After this the next time USA Basketball gathers everyone together will be training camp for the 2016 Rio Olympics, and if they make that team, James and Anthony would become the first American basketball players to compete in four Olympic Games.
“I’ve been part of USAB since I was 18 years old,” Anthony said. “When you look back at all of it, I have a chance to do something special here.”
Anthony and James entered the NBA the same year, in 2003, and in the next offseason they traveled to Athens on the USA Men’s National Team that won bronze. It turned out to be a pivotal moment in USA Basketball history, because the regime that came after, led by USA Basketball Chairman and National Team Managing Director Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski, has experienced almost exclusively victories and success.
“We needed someone to bring back what it truly meant to represent your country, and that’s what Jerry and Coach K did,” James said. “Once they implemented the system, everyone fell into place.”
James and Anthony are part of a much larger group that bought in and worked to make the change happen. Because they’ve gotten better throughout their careers and been lucky with injuries, they now have a chance to create a legacy that currently only Anthony Davis, who played in the 2012 London Olympics right out of college, looks like he could match.
It’s something Colangelo is interested in following for what it says about the players and what it could say about the program he has helped to build.
“That’s what we wanted to accomplish 10 years ago when I took over,” Colangelo said. “Put in an infrastructure that’s going to last a long time.”
When asked about the highs and lows of his long relationship with the USA Men’s National Team, Anthony had an immediate response for both. The low, as expected, was the bronze medal and the feeling in the pit of his stomach walking off the medal stand.
“It changed my life and I think it changed USA Basketball’s life,” Anthony said. “The perception of us at that point in time was not good; we hit rock bottom, so for me to be able to be a part of the rebuilding process and getting it back to where it’s at right now, I’m excited.”
And the high? Well, some say you never really get over your first love, and that’s probably true for gold medals, too.
Going back to the Olympic stage with something to prove, the USA Men’s National Team went to Beijing in 2008 and won every game by double digits. Everybody bought in and did it the right way, Anthony said, and doing it again in 2012 in London set up the current situation.
James and Anthony have talked about what the accomplishment would mean. For more than a decade they’ve been two of the biggest figures in USA Basketball, and with one more run they could be alone on a new perch.
“We’re at a point in our career now where we’ve got to start holding onto these moments and enjoying these moments,” Anthony said. “… There’s some history here to be made.”
• Day 2 Quotes From Minicamp
• Video: Phantom Cam Day 2 highlights
• Photo Gallery: Day 2 Action
Las Vegas, Nevada -- The Dream Team poster hanging above his bed gave Blake Griffin a clear goal. Of the many things he wanted to accomplish as a basketball player, from an early age one of them was winning a gold medal for the USA Men’s National Team at the Olympics.
“Seeing that all the time, seeing what they represent and not just playing for the U.S. but how they represented themselves, how well they did and how polarizing they were,” Griffin said after Wednesday’s practice in Las Vegas. “That’s something I definitely dreamed about as a kid.”
Three years ago, Griffin was living that dream. The former NBA No. 1 overall pick came to Las Vegas for tryouts, made the 2012 USA team and was practicing for a week before a knee injury the day before the team’s first exhibition game ended his run.
Another No. 1 overall pick, Anthony Davis, slid into Griffin’s spot and helped the team win its second straight gold medal. At the time, Griffin was much more concerned about getting ready for the NBA season than the next Olympic cycle, but that dream has started to inch its way back to the forefront.
“Now we’re almost there,” Griffin said.
This week’s minicamp is nearing its end, with two days of practices in the books and only Thursday night’s USA Basketball Showcase still to go. The Blue squad vs. White squad exhibition, which will feature four 10-minute quarters, will start at 10:30 p.m. ET at the Thomas & Mack Center and it will air on ESPN2.
This week has been a purposefully lighter one for the players’ workloads, though that might change a bit at the Mack. Men’s National Team coach Mike Krzyzewski said he wanted everyone to make sure they’re careful but he’s not telling anyone to not play hard.
“A lot of the younger guys who haven’t been here, they’ll play their butts off,” Krzyzewski. “They want to show themselves.”
The majority of the 34 players in town for the minicamp have USA Basketball experience, but just nine have won an Olympic gold for USA Basketball. Having such a competitive and dominant group means that some players, even some great ones, are going to get left out.
Everyone wants their chance, though, something LeBron James said is obvious just by looking at the long, talented minicamp roster.
“It’s an unbelievable turnout we have,” James said. “This is a thing that people want to be around. You see how many NBA All-Stars, superstars, champions that we have here, that just shows what type of program we have.”
It’s a program Griffin very much wants to be a part of. Injuries have kept him out of camp (2009 and 2010) and competition (2012) but Griffin keeps on coming back for more.
A year from now the USA Men’s National Team will be competing in Rio. Griffin has been close before and knows nothing is guaranteed, but he sees himself being there because of a process that’s been building physically for three years and emotionally since childhood.
“Injuries happen, but to be on the cusp of going to your first Olympic Games and then to have it all taken away was tough mentally,” Griffin said. “I want another shot at it.”
Durant plenty confident in himself
It was a rough year for two-time gold medal winner Kevin Durant. First he pulled out of the USA Men’s National Team’s run to the top of the 2014 FIBA World Cup because of fatigue and then an injury wiped out the majority of his NBA season.
Injury issues have been rare for the Oklahoma City Thunder forward so a lot of eyes have been on Durant to see how he would respond. The answer at this week’s minicamp has been that Durant is more than just fine.
They’re light workouts, sure, but Durant has put in a lot of time in shooting drills and staying after practice. So far there haven’t been any signs of rust and Durant certainly isn’t lacking belief in himself.
“I feel like I’m the best player in the world. That’s how confident how I feel. No disrespect to other players here, but I’ve always got that confidence,” Durant said. “I didn’t come here hoping to do good. I knew I was going to come out here and shoot the ball well, work hard and learn.”
• VIDEO: Men's National Team arrives for minicamp
• Additional Quotes From Day 1
• Photo Gallery
Las Vegas, Nevada -- Based on the celebrations and the joy exuded with each swish, it would be difficult to differentiate the shooting competitions that capped Tuesday’s USA Men’s National Team practice from those taking in place in driveways and parks across the country.
This week’s three-day minicamp in Las Vegas has a lighter workload than most because this is a non-competition year. What hasn’t changed is that the one-on-one, or two-on-two, battles often take center stage, and that’s often because it’s obvious how much the players are enjoying themselves.
“You’ve always got to have energy, have fun,” said Russell Westbrook, who had a quizzical look when asked if he tires of USA Basketball events. “Enjoy it, embrace the time while you’re here.”
At one point, Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Kevin Durant and Chris Paul were rotating through increasingly physical one-on-one challenges from assistant coach Monty Williams while at the other end of the court Kenneth Faried and Draymond Green celebrated a shooting drill victory against LaMarcus Aldridge and Andre Drummond.
Just because the overall competitive atmosphere is down doesn’t mean it can’t be found. Really, USA Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff couldn’t stop the players from going after each other even if they wanted to; that’s just what happens when highly skilled players enter the same gym.
“Most of them are shooting anyways somewhere,” Krzyzewski said.
Bringing them all together means the best get to spend time around others on their level while the coaches get to check in with the group of 34 a year ahead of the Rio Olympics. Even guys who knew they couldn’t practice, like Kevin Love, who’s recovering from shoulder surgery, came to Vegas so they could be a part of everything and hear the message from USA Basketball Chairman and National Team Managing Director Jerry Colangelo.
“There’s nothing quite like putting the USA on your chest,” Love said. “He’s excited for us to be here and create some sort of a brotherhood so that when we have those 12 roster spots all set it will be easy to get on the floor together and win.”
At the first team meeting, Colangelo showed a video highlighting the organization’s accomplishments over the last four years. Going back even further, to when Colangelo and Krzyzewski enter the picture, the results have been almost nothing but victories.
The idea is that a minicamp like this can help ensure that doesn’t change next year or beyond.
“This is a celebration of what we’ve done the past 10 years,” said Anthony Davis. “It’s a chance for guys to get back with each other, having fun and reminiscing a little bit about USA Basketball.”
Practice schedule not completely uniqueWithout impending roster decisions and a medal to chase, there’s a little less urgency in this week’s proceedings. However, Krzyzewski said he could draw on past experience to make sure it’s still productive.
Asked if he had ever had practices this light before, Krzyzewski thought immediately to the 2012 Olympics.
“In London, after the strike-shortened season, I had a practice plan every day and never used any of it,” he said.
The players’ NBA schedules had been scrunched together so some were even more fatigued than a regular offseason. Managing that and trying to keep everyone fresh yet prepared for a run at gold required a lot of flexibility.
It also required a trust that when they were needed most, USA Basketball’s stars would step up. And that’s exactly what happened.
Rest of the weekThe Men’s National Team’s minicamp ends Thursday night with the USA Basketball Showcase, a Blue Squad vs. White Squad scrimmage at the Thomas & Mack Center. It starts at 10:30 p.m. EDT and will air on ESPN2.
Earlier on Thursday, Colangelo and Krzyzewski will join Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey for a leadership seminar at Nellis Air Force Base. The hour-long presentation, which is open to all U.S. service members, staff and their families on base, is part of USA Basketball’s Hoops for Troops and the Department of Defense’s Commitment to Service initiatives.
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