BEIJING — Superman spent the day with Clark Kent.
It was Team USA media day here, and reporters lobbed questions like alley-oops to 7-footer Dwight Howard, he of the cape and “S” on his chest at the NBA slam-dunk contest.
With his feathery voice and Carmelo-esque smile, Howard was delightful, accidentally butchering Chinese phrases to Beijing-based writers, and declaring that if he has a breakaway opportunity during Olympic competition, the dunk king would undoubtedly unleash a . . . textbook layup.
Howard playfully smacked the softballs. But across the way, his bosses faced the hardball questions about Howard. Notably, can Team USA win gold with just one true center, even if that man is, if you will, super?
“I couldn’t be happier with our team,” said Jerry Colangelo, managing director of Team USA. “I’m confident that we have the wherewithal to get it done.”
Still, there are debates in basketball circles about whether Team USA should have added one more big man to the 12-man roster, instead of, say, Tayshaun Prince, who will likely get as much playing time as Ed Prince of Aurora.
Besides Howard, the U.S. has NBA power forwards Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer, and Colangelo said it’s likely that 6-8 small forward LeBron James could play some center, depending on the opponent. And Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets’ small forward, is on the tall-order short list.
In the international game, a center’s role is key, but not in the way U.S. fans are accustomed to seeing. With the wide trapezoid lane and the leniency in touch fouls, the center often roams on the outside.
“They’re used to being out on the perimeter a lot, where they can make 3s, so they open up the floor a lot,” said U.S. assistant coach Mike D’Antoni, who played and coached in Italy and now coaches the Knicks. “And they also use the ball to go through the low post, not necessarily to score, but to set up everybody on the outside. (It is) a little bit more of a finesse game.
“It’s very hard to have a dominant low-post player. I think Tim Duncan kind of figured that out.”
The Spurs’ Duncan struggled in the 2004 Games and said he was done with international ball. But current Spurs teammate Fabricio Oberto, a role player in the NBA, is a key cog on medal-contending Argentina, the ’04 gold-medal winner.
That said, Dwight Howard is Dwight Howard, a superior big man in the best league in the world. Colangelo said Team USA is focusing on controlling the tempo of a game, and if it does that, it shouldn’t matter who’s checking him.
However, Team USA is very wary of the referees’ whistles.
“All it takes is a couple of quick calls and somebody’s in foul trouble,” Colangelo said. “We’re trying to impress upon him — that’s what you have to look out for.”
America will likely face China’s Yao Ming, Spain’s Pau Gasol and Oberto and friends en route to the podium.
“We’ll be able to adjust and prepare for whatever we see in the post,” Boozer said.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
