tinysands
2006-09-01, 02:35 PM
Wednesday Aug 30, 2006
Team USA adjusts to physical play in FIBA world championships
SAITAMA, Japan (AP) -Early in the FIBA world championships, U.S. captain Carmelo Anthony let his younger teammates in on a secret of international basketball.
"They were kind of looking for the foul and we were like, 'Look, ain't no fouls over here,''' Anthony said. "'You gotta play through it and if you get a foul, you get a foul. If not then you keep playing.'''
Through its first six games in the tournament, Team USA has had to adjust to the officials as much as the opposition. International basketball is far more physical than the NBA, which has taken strides to streamline the game by cracking down on handchecks and illegal screens. Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo helped lead the cleanup effort when he owned the Phoenix Suns.
"The NBA game has changed some and in the NBA it's not as physical,'' U.S. captain Dwyane Wade said.
"Physical'' is a nice way of describing FIBA basketball. "Brutal'' might be more accurate.
In Argentina's second-round game against New Zealand, Argentina's Andres Nocioni was felled by a forearm to the throat on a halfcourt pick. Everyone in Saitama Super Arena saw the blow - except for the officials, who allowed play to continue while Nocioni writhed on the floor.
In Spain's quarterfinal victory over Lithuania on Tuesday, Spanish center Pau Gasol shoved an opponent over the baseline as they battled for a rebound. As Gasol snared the ball and laid it into the basket, the Lithuanian bench erupted.
The call? Two points for Spain.
"When you get over here the refs let a lot of things go on both sides, when we get physical and also when our opposing team gets physical,'' Wade said. "We had to get used to it, but now we kind of understand how the game goes a little bit better and we're able to be physical and be able to take some of the hits that come.''
With an average victory margin of 26 points in its first six games, the U.S. hasn't had much reason to gripe about the officials. The statistics indicate that the U.S. has adapted to the different style of play. The Americans have made more free throws (136) than their opponents have attempted (117) and have been called for 44 fewer personal fouls.
Still, players have had to figure out what's a foul and what's not.
Moving screens, for example, are typically allowed here.
"It's just a different kind of physical,'' center Brad Miller said. "There are certain things that are automatic fouls here that aren't in the NBA and vice versa. Here you can push off almost at any given time, create space for your shot, where in the NBA you can't do that. You can handcheck and face guard internationally, you can't back home. Some of what is allowed here is just a 180 (degree difference) from the NBA.''
The Americans say they can take the physical style, even if it hurts at times. After Team USA worked out in Tokyo this week, trainers packed captain LeBron James in so much ice that he resembled one of the local fish delicacies.
Asked if he was tired of being banged on, James replied, "It don't matter. I played football my whole life. Basketball contact is nothing compared to football. I rarely feel it, to tell you the truth.''
The U.S.' biggest adjustment has been to the officials. Unlike in the NBA, where players know what to expect from each official, it's difficult to predict how a FIBA crew will call a game.
"There's always physical play,'' Kirk Hinrich said. "But coming into each game, you just don't know what's going to happen. It's not like each game gets called a certain way the whole game. The first quarter they can just be calling crazy stuff, and the second quarter they can be calling nothing.
"It is a lot more physical and they get away with a lot more stuff,'' Hinrich said. "It's definitely a wilder game. That's one of the challenges we face is just adjusting to how the game's going.''
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/basketball/nba/wires/08/30/2030.ap.bko.worlds.us.0687/
Team USA adjusts to physical play in FIBA world championships
SAITAMA, Japan (AP) -Early in the FIBA world championships, U.S. captain Carmelo Anthony let his younger teammates in on a secret of international basketball.
"They were kind of looking for the foul and we were like, 'Look, ain't no fouls over here,''' Anthony said. "'You gotta play through it and if you get a foul, you get a foul. If not then you keep playing.'''
Through its first six games in the tournament, Team USA has had to adjust to the officials as much as the opposition. International basketball is far more physical than the NBA, which has taken strides to streamline the game by cracking down on handchecks and illegal screens. Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo helped lead the cleanup effort when he owned the Phoenix Suns.
"The NBA game has changed some and in the NBA it's not as physical,'' U.S. captain Dwyane Wade said.
"Physical'' is a nice way of describing FIBA basketball. "Brutal'' might be more accurate.
In Argentina's second-round game against New Zealand, Argentina's Andres Nocioni was felled by a forearm to the throat on a halfcourt pick. Everyone in Saitama Super Arena saw the blow - except for the officials, who allowed play to continue while Nocioni writhed on the floor.
In Spain's quarterfinal victory over Lithuania on Tuesday, Spanish center Pau Gasol shoved an opponent over the baseline as they battled for a rebound. As Gasol snared the ball and laid it into the basket, the Lithuanian bench erupted.
The call? Two points for Spain.
"When you get over here the refs let a lot of things go on both sides, when we get physical and also when our opposing team gets physical,'' Wade said. "We had to get used to it, but now we kind of understand how the game goes a little bit better and we're able to be physical and be able to take some of the hits that come.''
With an average victory margin of 26 points in its first six games, the U.S. hasn't had much reason to gripe about the officials. The statistics indicate that the U.S. has adapted to the different style of play. The Americans have made more free throws (136) than their opponents have attempted (117) and have been called for 44 fewer personal fouls.
Still, players have had to figure out what's a foul and what's not.
Moving screens, for example, are typically allowed here.
"It's just a different kind of physical,'' center Brad Miller said. "There are certain things that are automatic fouls here that aren't in the NBA and vice versa. Here you can push off almost at any given time, create space for your shot, where in the NBA you can't do that. You can handcheck and face guard internationally, you can't back home. Some of what is allowed here is just a 180 (degree difference) from the NBA.''
The Americans say they can take the physical style, even if it hurts at times. After Team USA worked out in Tokyo this week, trainers packed captain LeBron James in so much ice that he resembled one of the local fish delicacies.
Asked if he was tired of being banged on, James replied, "It don't matter. I played football my whole life. Basketball contact is nothing compared to football. I rarely feel it, to tell you the truth.''
The U.S.' biggest adjustment has been to the officials. Unlike in the NBA, where players know what to expect from each official, it's difficult to predict how a FIBA crew will call a game.
"There's always physical play,'' Kirk Hinrich said. "But coming into each game, you just don't know what's going to happen. It's not like each game gets called a certain way the whole game. The first quarter they can just be calling crazy stuff, and the second quarter they can be calling nothing.
"It is a lot more physical and they get away with a lot more stuff,'' Hinrich said. "It's definitely a wilder game. That's one of the challenges we face is just adjusting to how the game's going.''
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/basketball/nba/wires/08/30/2030.ap.bko.worlds.us.0687/