LAS VEGAS — “I’m right here! I’m right here!” Carmelo Anthony barked from his defensive stance in the low post, his eyes shifting side to side like a nervous poker player.
It was Saturday afternoon in Vegas, and while the groupies worked on their poolside tans, Anthony and his Olympic teammates worked on their help-side defense.
The Nuggets’ Anthony, of course, is an offensive workhorse. Defensively, he’s a work in progress. But for Team USA, No. 15 in red, white and blue knows he must improve in order to return to Denver from the Beijing Games in August with a new gold necklace.
Asked if he can afford to slack off on defense while playing for Team USA, Anthony said: “Not at all.”
“Maybe in February,” he continued with a laugh, “but not right now. They aren’t going to let you slack off.
“But defending these guys day in and day out, you’re only going to get better. You’re playing against the best guys in the world. If you don’t improve your defense by that, I don’t know how else you’re going to improve.”
Saturday was the first time this summer that Team USA united for practice. It was an all-star event. Kobe. LeBron. D-Wade. Melo. At Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus, the coaching staff, whose brainpower rivals the team’s star power, worked the players through painstaking and painful defensive drills, teammates embodying teamwork.
The Nuggets’ 6-foot-8 small forward is expected to be an Olympic starter for his country at power forward, where he thrived the past couple of years during international play.
After one day of practice, Anthony said his coaches stressed “staying on your toes, always being alert, keep your eyes on the ball” and — as epitomized by Anthony’s defensive barking — verbal communication.
It was a fitting scene five days earlier, when Anthony sat next to Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke at a news conference in Chicago, and Krzyzewski proclaimed: “This (Olympic tournament) is going to be won by team defense.”
It was clear during the Nuggets’ past season, when they won 50 games but lost again in the first round, that Anthony and the Nuggets could have won more games by playing team defense.
Asked on Saturday how he could make Anthony improve defensively, Krzyzewski said: “By making him play defense. By putting him in an environment where everyone is doing it. And we need it. He doesn’t have to pace because of the number of minutes or offensive requirements he might have. He can throw himself completely into it. We’ll have subs for him. And there’s nothing that takes away from that. All our guys can get better — and have gotten better — by playing in this environment.”
For Anthony, this trip to Vegas was a nice getaway following the turmoil of recent weeks. On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty in court to driving while ability impaired, a lesser offense than driving while under the influence of alcohol, the charge he faced stemming from an April arrest.
And after being unhappy with trade rumors, Anthony finally got assurance from Nuggets management that the team wouldn’t trade the 24-year-old all-star.
“Denver is my city,” Anthony said. “And I think I did a good job of showing my loyalty to them, and they’re doing a good job as a city showing their loyalty to me. Right now, I don’t think I’m going anywhere.”
Anthony was candid Saturday, discussing numerous topics.
• As for his “we quit” comment after a playoff loss to the Los Angeles Lakers: “I didn’t think there was anything wrong with me saying that. I didn’t call anybody out. I said we all quit. Myself quit also. As a team, as an organization, we quit. (Being politically correct), that’s not always right, either.”
• On the Boston Celtics’ NBA championship: “They had to come together and get theirs as a group. I don’t think I can win one by myself. There’s no way I can win one by myself. They came together as a group. I’ve only got five years in the NBA and I’m only 24 years old. Hopefully, I have at least 11 more years. People act like I’m 30, and I just turned 24.”
• On his offensive success for Team USA: “It ain’t easy! It looks easy. But when I’m on the court with Jason Kidd, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, somebody’s got to be open.”
Indeed, Anthony has played brilliant basketball for his country, leading Team USA in scoring last summer, showcasing, as James said, “his size, quickness, power and his athleticism, making it hard for guys to guard him at the power forward.”
Now, on the world’s grandest hardwood stage, it will take similar defensive intensity for Anthony and his teammates to be a true world power.
Before practice Saturday, Krzyzewski showed the Olympians a video of Marvin Gaye famously crooning the national anthem at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, a year before Anthony was born.
“I like that soulful version. I had never heard his version before,” Anthony said. “That motivates us, showing the national anthem with Marvin Gaye, having it in our heads and hoping we can hear the national anthem on the medal stand.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
