U.S. team makes adjustments

LAS VEGAS — Chris Paul already has a handle on the slick-surfaced, extra-bouncy, two-tone basketball he'll use in the world championships next month.

"It looks different and it feels a little different, but I don't really have a problem with it," the New Orleans Hornets guard says, holding the Japanese-made, orange-and-tan ball in his left hand after practice with the U.S. national team. "There's a lot of different things about this tournament."

Indeed. Elsewhere on UNLV's practice courts on Saturday, Elton Brand was getting reacquainted with the international game's trapezoidal key during a scrimmage officiated by FIBA referees, while Carmelo Anthony waited for the chance to steal an opponent's rebound off the rim — something that's illegal at his day job.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski is immersing his roster of NBA players in the international game during this training camp. Those differences largely eluded the last two U.S. teams in world competition, and they're a big reason why the Americans came home without championships despite a wealth of individual talent.

"We know we've got to pay attention to the little things," said Brand, who led the Los Angeles Clippers to the second round of the playoffs. "Sometimes you start thinking we can do the same things we do in the NBA, but it's a totally different game. That's how the world evens it up with us. We've got so much talent, but the differences can level it off."

This plan was hatched by U.S. managing director Jerry Colangelo and the coaching staff, who restructured the U.S. national program with an eye toward the international game after a sixth-place finish in the 2002 world championships, followed by Olympic bronze two years ago in Athens.

Primarily, Colangelo and Krzyzewski knew the U.S. had to rethink its approach to offense — a step that seems obvious after watching any international game dominated by perimeter scorers and slashing penetrators. Previous American teams sometimes tried to play a low post-dominated game, and paid for it.

"That was the key in the selection process, too," Krzyzewski said. "We had to have versatility. The international game is played more on the 3-point line than in the low post. . . . It seems like a simple thing, but they didn't make the most of it in the past."

So Krzyzewski enlisted Mike D'Antoni, whose uptempo, sharpshooting offense with the Phoenix Suns has wowed the NBA for two seasons. D'Antoni, a veteran of 21 seasons in the Italian League as a player and coach, already has installed large parts of his offense during the U.S. team's first four days of practice.