The Usual Suspects

The twelve survivors of the Pan-Am Trials played together last night for the first time without the Grim Reaper of roster cuts hanging over their heads. The operative word here is together. When the right amalgam of players were on the floor at the same time, Team USA torched the visiting Philly area pro’s and former college stars. The combination of PG Eric Maynor, PG Drew Neitzel, SG Wayne Ellington, PF D.J. White and PF Joey Dorsey obliterated the opposition 26-5 on one particular run. Though this lineup seems small with both Neitzel and Maynor in at the same time, size was not a question. Joey Dorsey’s Evander Holyfield-esque shoulders could compensate for a perceived lack of size anyway.

Neitzel is the key to this puzzle as the ultimate combo guard. He can bring the ball up the floor without getting his pocket picked. Some Team USA guards struggled to get the ball over half-court with the smothering defense of the LA Clipper guard Dawan Robinson and even worse, former Bonnie Marques Green. Green, a 5’5’’ pigeon-toed ball hawk, might have ten steals in two days – just from taking the cookies of ball handlers in the backcourt. However, Neitzel blew by him on a number of occasions. “The key is not to dance with the ball, just make a quick move and try to get by him – keep him on his heels.” Neitzel has the verve to handle both the physical pressure of someone like Green and the mental pressure of a big stage. “Going up in the Big Ten you see those kind of guys night in and night out,” said Neitzel. “There are some great defenders in that league. My own teammates, I go up against Travis Walton another point guard who is one of the best defenders if not the best in our conference.”

(Neitzel, #6, staying with the incredibly quick Marques Green)

While he and Maynor assisted each other in breaking the press, Neitzel moved to the two and Maynor to the point when Team USA ran their half-court set. “I think they’re gonna have me play both – you know, combo guard. When I’m out there with Eric [Maynor] or somebody, I play the two a bit – kinda look for my shot more,” said Neitzel. “But I’m still a combo guard even at the point. I’m gonna distribute but still do some scoring,” he added. It's no surprise that he looked incredibly comfortable pulling the trigger - coming into the Trials he was the second leading scorer only to Tennessee's Chris Lofton. Let’s not forget Neitzel's sophomore season though: when MSU had some legit scorers to bode, he averaged nearly six assists per outing. Within a four minute span he found Ellington for two of three triples, hit G/F Shan Foster for another three and put the exclamation point on with one of his own. “It’s fun when you play with such talented guys as these guys who can knock down the open shot and make plays,” said Neitzel.

(Neitzel, #6, drilling a leaner from the elbow)

The question we asked yesterday after G/F Bryce Taylor and SG Josh Carter were cut was whether Team USA could defend at a level suitable to Coach Wright's demands when giving up size to bigger guards. The answer is simply yes. Save for C Roy Hibbert, everyone on the floor takes Coach Wright’s “chesting the dribble” technique to heart. Both Ellington and SG Derrick Low forced bigger opponents into taking off-balanced leaners even when they had the edge in transition.

Another tenet of Team USA defense is switching on screens. As one would imagine, it’s not advantageous for D.J. White to try to stop Dawan Robinson on the perimeter. It’s even worse when Neitzel is caught in the paint on Jason Fraser. Neitzel threw his body in front of the 6’9’’ big-man and drove his legs back to box out even though no shot had been taken. We love this about Neitzel – he embodies Wright’s “don’t give them a darn thing” mentality. “Just fight – fight for your life,” said the MSU guard about his approach to stopping players who are almost a foot taller. “You gotta do whatever it takes – bite, scratch, claw, do whatever it takes to get him outta there. If you gotta push him, whatever it takes, worst case you get a foul – it’s not the end of the world. You just don’t wanna give up an offensive rebound or let him catch the ball in there – just make him work for it.” He is a winner.

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Some notes: NBA 50 Great Billy Cunningham sat courtside last night, watching Wayne Ellington dismantle the opposition as the Kangaroo Kid’s former 76ers standout Andrew Toney routinely did against the Celtics. Cunningham shook hands with Memphis head coach John Calipari before exiting. Calipari presumably attended to support his starting center and our pick as the next human-highlight reel, Joey Dorsey. Also in attendance was ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla.

SG Derrick Low’s pump fake is so good he could deke you out of your chair right now. He sent Jason Fraser flying from the corner of the court to the laps of NBA scouts on the sideline. He finished that possession by taking two dribbles and kissing a leaner in off the glass. His Washington State teammate G/F Kyle Weaver excels on the other side of the floor. He is the consensus best perimeter defender on the team. However, his game falters with the ball. He stuffed a much bigger opponent within feet of the basket, only to rush the ball up the floor and throw an errant pass to D.J. White in the lane – it was a microcosm for his game. Check out this article the real Andy Katz wrote about these two Cougars.

ESPN Deportes will carry 160 hours of coverage of the Pan-Am Games. Some websites note that ESPN or ESPN2 will air the semi-finals and finals of the basketball event even though ESPN’s TV listings do not indicate that they will televise the Games anywhere but Deportes.

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