Hoops team wants to be like Mike

BEIJING — Even the gold-favorite United States men's basketball team can be upstaged at times when keeping company with guys in the fast line.

With newfound friend in Michael Phelps both in the stands for the game and visiting the locker room afterward, the U.S. hoopsters — who do a little bit of freestyle themselves on the court — crushed exiting Germany 106-57 Monday night.

In postgame interviews, the American players wanted to talk less about the game and more about the U.S. swimming sensation and his Olympic-record eight gold medals.

"I got a chance to meet Michael Phelps, and that's why I have the swimming goggles on," said center Dwight Howard, who led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. "He was in the locker room before I came out, and I told him I was going to swim the 100-meter medley next year."

U.S. forward Carlos Boozer said he and Phelps joked about making the latter an honorary member of the basketball team and help him gain a ninth gold.

"We told him that we are going to take care of it, and we'll try to get him a copy of it."

As if Phelps needs another one.

The U.S. wrapped up Group B preliminary play in perfect fashion, with the Germany win giving the Americans a 5-0 record and a top berth in Wednesday's quarterfinals. On tap for that round: the Andrew Bogut-led Australia team that has won three consecutive games.

"We know we are just six days away from holding a gold medal," said Boozer, "and our excitement levels are on the rise."

LeBron James added 18 points and Kobe Bryant 13 as the U.S. had five players in double figures and shot 55 percent from the floor while allowing Germany to shoot just 30 percent.

Boozer contributed six points and as many boards, while Deron Williams finished with nine points, a team-high five assists, four rebounds and a steal.

Dirk Nowitzki led Germany with 14 points and eight rebounds.

In other games:

ARGENTINA 91, RUSSIA 79: Andrei Kirilenko and Russia had high expectations for the Olympics after winning the 2007 European Championships title. Instead, the Russians were sent packing from Beijing with just one victory — against Iran, a team that hadn't played Olympic basketball in 60 years.