Rapper's Delight

If the U.S. does not succeed in capturing gold despite an incredibly talented roster to select from in 2007, know that all is not lost. Since the 1983 Pan Am games, Brazil (’87, ’99, ’03), Argentina (’95) and Puerto Rico (1991) hung 24 karats around their necks. But the Americans can boast that at least one college delegate from each team since the ’83 gold has hit it bigger in the rare valuables market. No need for an Ace Ventura search – just look to the ring finger on the NCAA champions from 1988, 1992 and 2004, as one or more of their key contributors gained invaluable experience on an international stage at the Pan-Am games during the summer before winning it all. (1995 and 1999 must be excluded because both of those teams were filled with professionals from the Continental Basketball Association.)

F Danny Manning, the leading scorer on the ’87 silver medal team at 14.6 ppg, won the Most Outstanding Player award when his Jayhawks defeated Oklahoma for the 1988 ’chip. After the ’91 Pan-Am bronze, three Dukies from that roster were on the court for the Sports Illustrated “greatest college basketball game of all time”[1] when the Blue Devils defeated Kentucky 104-103, and then in the afterthought twenty-point win over Michigan in the finals. After two silver medals in ’95 and ’99 with CBA players, USA Basketball returned to college players in 2003. Both C Emeka Okafor and G Ben Gordon played on Tom Izzo’s Pan-Am team before heading back to Storrs-Mansfield, CT to win Jim Calhoun’s second title.

(Danny Manning couldn't capture gold at Pan-Am Games X, but won it all with KU the next year)

(Christian Laettner, after hitting the game winner over Kentucky in OT)

(Okafor won MOP honors with UConn in '04 after failing to place during the '03 Pan-Am games)

If this year’s delegation can’t overcome the favored Brazilians, for whom will the stars align and lead his school to “one shining moment”? The original Andy Katz (of ESPN.com) reported that Bruce Pearl’s Tennessee Volunteers added another key piece to their nauseatingly yellow puzzle.[2] F Tyler Smith, a transfer from Iowa, will be allowed to play this year despite the NCAA regulations which call for a player to sit out for a full year when he/she transfers within his/her division (D-I in this case). SG Chris Lofton, the odds-on favorite to succeed Vandy’s F Derrick Byars as the SEC POY, will benefit from Smith’s low-post presence. Even so, Lofton remains the unlikely candidate to fulfill the gemstone requirement for this class.

We spotlighted the KU backcourt of PG Mario Chalmers and G Sherron Collins last week. Along with F Brandon Rush’s team leading 13.8 points per game, the Jayhawks will be a tough team in ’07-’08 – especially at the Phog Allen Fieldhouse. The most pressing question is whether Bill Self can seamlessly replace F Julian Wright’s (6’8’’ 218 lbs.) transition offense and defensive presence in the lane with the younger F Darell Arthur (6’9’’ 230 lbs). If Arthur cannot be that game-changing forward, KU will rely on hulking big man C Sasha Kaun, (6’11’’ 245 lbs.) which will significantly slow down their running game. Despite serious talent, too many questions for KU to cut down the nets for the first time since Danny Manning’s ’88 team.

John Thompson III will have to continue waiting for his first championship, even if the 2007-2008 Georgetown team might be good enough to win the Big East. It’s also too soon for Roy Williams to return to the Promised Land, as the loss of F Brandan Wright’s freakish athleticism and G Reyshawn Terry’s leadership restricts Williams’ use of his best asset: a deep bench. Able-bodied replacements F Deon Thompson and F Alex Stephenson will move into prominent positions, and thus change the role of the Tar Heel primary replacement from crafty scorers (Wright and Terry) into less-skilled rebounders (Thompson and Stephenson).

So who’s left as the insurance policy for this ’07 Pan-Am squad? I’m usually not a Conference USA believer, but the return of virtually everyone to John Calipari’s Memphis team and the addition of the nation’s third most coveted prospect has everyone’s attention. C Joey Dorsey is the Tigers’ rep at the Trials, and one of only three centers in attendance (along with C Brian Butch and C Roy Hibbert). But he’s not even the third option in Calipari’s system. G Chris Douglas-Roberts (our second option in hyphenated last names next to RB Maurice Jones-Drew), G Jeremy Hunt and the incoming freshman, G Derrick Rose, are a triumvirate of scorers who will be far too much for any opposing defense to handle at once. No surprise that the Tigers rattled off twenty-five straight wins last year before falling to Ohio State in the Elite Eight.

A return trip from Brazil with twelve gold medals would be preferable to a single diamond ring, but the selection committee might as well keep Dorsey around just in case. Excluding the CBA teams of ’95 and ’99, the only other squad to finish without intra-American gold or at least one NCAA champ is the 1971 team. But let’s stay on the bright side – the ’71 group has champions too: Paul Westphal won an NBA crown with Boston in ’74 and Bob McAdoo won two with the Lakers.

Two quick non-basketball Pan-Am notes:

-- Two Dominican athletes were expelled from participating because of performance-enhancing drugs. Former St. Louis Cardinal Jose Jimenez, once threw a no-hitter in 1999, will have to watch along with a boxer from the Dominican because of steroid use.

-- On a news media center whiteboard, a U.S.O.C. (American) official wrote: “Welcome to the Congo.” The Brazilian O Globo paper published a picture of the message, criticizing it as being “full of prejudice.” The employee who wrote the comment has been sent home and the U.S. committee apologized.

[1] http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/sioncampus/03/10/greatest_games0311/

[2] http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2929620&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos2