NBA Insider: Joe Johnson fits USA mold By SEKOU SMITH The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 07/14/06 Salt Lake City — When USA Basketball czar Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski were evaluating talent for the national team roster that will convene Wednesday in Las Vegas, they had a simple vision. They wanted the prototypical player that could excel in international competition. So they went in search of the versatile players, guys who could play multiple positions, possessed a wealth of fundamental skills, were unselfish and would be willing to compete at the highest level for one of the coveted 12 spots on the team charged with helping restore American basketball to its rightful place on the world stage. They were looking for guys like Hawks captain Joe Johnson, one of the 24 players who'll be in Sin City over the course of the next two weeks sweating through boot camp in preparation for next month's World Championships that will be played in Japan. "Joe can play anything from the so-called one [point guard] to the four [power forward] in the international game," Krzyzewski said last week when asked for a description of the prototype and how close Johnson came to meeting that criteria. "[Team USA assistant and Phoenix Suns coach] Mike D'Antoni coached him, and he knows that Joe could sometimes be a big point [guard], he can shoot, play defense and handle the ball. "He does everything. Other than that, he didn't have any qualifications." Colangelo was equally effusive in his praise of Johnson. "Everything we were looking for came in one package in Joe Johnson," he said. "And that's a compliment to his abilities." Johnson will join a star-studded group in Vegas that includes Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and plenty of the NBA's other brightest stars. What they won't be doing is "trying out" for the team, because there are no tryouts. "I'd rather not call it a tryout," Krzyzewski said. "No one is going to be cut. All these guys are on the team and we'll just decide on a team that is best-suited for competition right now based on conditioning and the competition we'll face." Following the lead of those international competitors that have humbled the U.S. contingent in global competitions the past decade is what led Colangelo to his groundbreaking system for the national team. The roster will be "fluid," and requires players to make a three-year commitment to the USA Basketball program. "I think once we took inventory of what happened in the past and the infrastructure in place, what seemed to make an awful lot of sense was to develop a new infrastructure," Colangelo said. "For the first time in our history, we have a national team. And in doing so with a commitment of three years, we have taken care of a cycle. "That's the basic difference, and the autonomy given to me to select the coaches and in conjunction with Coach K to select the players. So there have been some sea changes, hopefully for the right reasons and in the right way." That means there will be some NBA superstars who have to embrace reduced roles on the national team, much the way many of the members of the original Dream Team did during the 1992 Olympics. "I think it would be good for every guy on the team to look at himself as a role player," Krzyzewski said. "We're not the Lakers, the Cavs or the Heat. This is the United States basketball team. Guys have to share the ball and responsibilities with everybody else on the basketball team. ... And that type of attitude should not just be coming from guys like [Shane] Battier, [Luke] Ridnour, [Antawn] Jamison and [Bruce] Bowen. It should be everybody. "Originally, when USA Basketball went to NBA players, the signature characteristic of that squad — and sure, you had Michael [Jordan] in his prime and there were other great players — was that they all played great defense and they all played unselfish." The player pool this time around is of a different generation. When the original Dream Team was put together, Kevin Garnett was still three years away from altering the basketball landscape forever by jumping from the high school ranks directly to the NBA. The 1992 equivalent to James knew he was heading to college and not a seven-figure pro basketball payday. Greg Oden, the consensus high school player of the year this past season, has been invited to attend the national team camp and has already been pegged as the anchor for future national teams. But both Colangelo and Krzyzewski hope this new structure ushers in a cultural change in the game all the way down to the grassroots level. "The great thing is we have two collegiate players and a high school player selected," Krzyzewski said. "We hope building from the top will influence the bottom. We're all a part of the same team. And there was a disconnect there, starting in the 1990s. Hopefully, in the future, USA Basketball can take an active role and return to the festivals and things like that instead of just shoe company camps. There's a lot that can help in the future. "But we're not ready for that. We have to take care of this process first. This has never been done before. This is a part of a program, not just having a team. That's the thing everyone has to get accustomed to. It keeps going. Fluid is a good word because [the process] doesn't stop." 資料來源 http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0716nbainsider.html --

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