MACAU — The last time the United States played Turkey in a pre-Olympic men’s basketball game was just a week short of four years ago. That’s when Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James began excavation work on a tunnel that eventually bored so deep into coach Larry Brown’s doghouse that the Army Corps of Engineers threw up its hands and said there was nothing it could do to retrieve them.
On Thursday night, here in a place where fortunes are won and lost on the turn of a card, the duo came up aces. They led the Americans to a 114-82 rout in which the score didn’t matter nearly as much as the way it was compiled.
Indeed, Anthony and James are inhabiting the same frames as four years ago, but as the U.S. team continues its preparations for the Beijing Games, it’s obvious that they aren’t the same people they were back then.
“This time, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony weren’t sitting on the bench,” Turkish coach Bogdan Tanjevic said, comparing then and now. “This time, they were on the court, and they are the best players in the game.”
Anthony played just 17 minutes but scored 17 points. James, meanwhile, was simply breathtaking. It is hard to figure out what is the most striking aspect of his game; it could be the powerful 6-foot-8, 250- pound frame that swallows up the court like a massive tremor. On Thursday he scored 20 points, making 8-of-9 shots, with six rebounds, five steals and four assists.
Or perhaps it’s James’ presence. In one second-half sequence, James was called for a foul and afterward jostled a Turkish player, giving him a stern eye. Moments later, at the other end of the court, wedged between two opponents along the free-throw lane, James turned away from the shooter, toward the stands, but pumping his torso up and down intensely, as if preparing to explode.
For a moment, an international incident along the lines of Charles Barkley steamrolling some poor Angolan hoopster seemed to be in the offing. But when the subsequent foul shot was taken and the two Turkish bodies ardently crashed the boards, James merely stepped toward the U.S. bench, leaving his teammates to literally fall to the floor in laughter.
The dual display may give a glimpse of James’ true value to this team. Even when he wasn’t on the court, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ star was in control of the action, not only yelling encouragement but also shouting out directions to teammates — who happen to be named Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd — and are far more experienced than James, 23.
“I’ve accepted the challenge to become a better leader. I haven’t been afraid to lead these guys,” James said. “A lot of people would be afraid to walk into an arena with guys like Kobe Bryant or Jason Kidd or Dwyane Wade and tell them that they’re wrong about something, to lead them.
“But that’s kind of my nature. I think it’s more important to lead guys who are great than the guys who are on my team.”
In reality, that was something the U.S. desperately needed four years ago. This time around, virtually anyone is capable of directing — or going with — the flow, to the point where coach Mike Krzyzewski has said that he doesn’t expect to name a captain.
Before the 2004 Games, the U.S. players were together for just 20 days — a situation that Anthony likened to “being thrown to the wolves.”
The next year, USA Basketball changed its approach to international competition, naming longtime NBA executive Jerry Colangelo as managing partner. Part of the change was not only getting players to commit to play early in the Olympic cycle, but keeping them together in the years leading up to the Games.
That’s one reason, said Tanjevic, the Turkish coach, there really is no comparison with any aspect of the U.S. team that struggled against his country four years ago.
“I certainly prefer this team,” he said. “They’re better than four years ago. They’re better than the team that played in the World Championships two years ago. Their defense is better, they’re in better shape. Now they share the ball. They’ve forgotten about selfish play and the star system.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
