Players learn a higher game

LAS VEGAS — Adam Morrison's mustache practically stood on end when LeBron James loped through the lane, drew contact and muscled in an underhanded bank shot while flying out of bounds.

Morrison gasped and began to rise from his chair in excitement — until he looked down the unimpressed bench at the U.S. national team's training camp.

Nobody rose. James' scrimmage teammates clapped absent-mindedly. Somebody muttered, "Nice move."

"Now I know you see something like that almost every practice," Morrison said Sunday after the team's fifth day of workouts. "I'd never seen a lot of these guys in person before. It's amazing to see how fast the game is played, and how these guys prepare."

Morrison, a college star at Gonzaga just five months ago, seems unlikely to make the 15-man roster that will head to Asia next month for four exhibitions and the world championships in Japan. But this experience — and the experience to come during his three-year commitment to the national team — will pay off in his rookie NBA season with the Charlotte Bobcats and beyond.

Though James' artistry might not impress his summertime teammates, every player is soaking up a basketball boot camp of experience. Joe Johnson, the Atlanta Hawks star, said the week was a chance to play "in the best pickup game in the world."

"They're getting instruction and chances here that you wouldn't get in a regular NBA summer offseason," assistant coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It's a valuable opportunity, even for the guys who don't go with us (to Asia). They're all good players, and they get even better by playing against each other."

For instance, Dwight Howard's low-post defense improves with a week of workouts against Chris Bosh. Gilbert Arenas and Chris Paul engage each other in entertaining duels at point guard with their markedly different styles.

And everybody gets a whole new outlook on conditioning from assistant coach Nate McMillan's drills, including an exhausting full-court fast-break exercise that closed Sunday's practice.

"At first, we didn't have a lot of contact in drills, and (the coaches) told us to not be afraid to put a body on," Arenas said. "Every day counts in this. We're going to be ready."

Coach Mike Krzyzewski and managing director Jerry Colangelo must drop three players on Tuesday, when the club breaks its first week of camp. There were 19 players in workouts Sunday, but Chauncey Billups has ruled himself out to stay home with his pregnant wife.