July 27, 2010

Showcase Showoff

Injuries and ailments to a number of Team USA big men created an opening for Tyson Chandler as a center for USA Basketball.

In Saturday's showcase scrimmage, Tyson burst through that opening and filled a gaping hole.

TC was a force on both ends of the floor, scoring 13 points, corralling nine rebounds and swatting four shots in a 114-96 victory for his team, USA White, over USA Blue in the 2010 USA Basketball Showcase at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday night.

The scrimmage capped a fantastic week in Las Vegas for Tyson as he made his case to be one of the 12 Team USA players remaining when final cuts are made prior to the World Championships in late August.

"I thought during the week everyone came in focused and playing hard," Ty said. "We were really aggressive the first couple of days, I thought after everything settled, we kind of calmed down and started to come together as a team. As the week went along we got better, we got our legs up under us and got in better shape and you started to see the progress over the course of the week. I think we did a good job finishing the week with a good game tonight."

TC was particularly pristine in the showcase sinking all six of the shots he took in 20 minutes of play.

"I was really pleased with Tyson tonight because he hasn’t played for a while and the last couple of days he’s started," USA Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He was on our team in 2007 when we earned the qualifier to the Olympics…to see him respond in a short period of time like that, that was very, very encouraging for me."

Earl K. Sneed of Pegasus News, a subsidiary of Mavericks.com, was impressed with what he saw of Dallas' new center and provided some description of the action:

"After getting on the board with a two-hand dunk plus the foul in the opening quarter, the big man turned his attention to the defensive end by showing the shot-blocking and rebounding ability that figures to bolster the Dallas frontcourt when the season rolls around.

The lean, athletic center showed that he is a perfect fit for the uptempo play of international basketball, running the full length of the court and patrolling the paint when needed."

IMPROVING AND ADAPTING
Ty said he's been using his previous experience in USA camp, as well as the experience of being cut prior to the 2008 Olympics to guide and motivate him.

TC and his teammate on Team USA 2010, Kevin Durant, were the final two cuts when the olympic squad was sliced down to 12.

"Because I wasn't on that Olympic team, I do want to be able to represent my country and possibly win (a gold medal)," he said. "Any time you play (for Team USA) it's a great experience and it's an incredible feeling."

Tyson was also pleased with his own ability to round into basketball shape over the course of the week, though he saw room for improvement in his performance from the free throw line.

 

"All summer I’ve been in the gym. Like coach said I haven’t been able to condition like I have wanted but I have been working on my game, my shots and my free throws. I’ve been knocking them down, knocking them down all summer. I’ve been knocking them down in practice.

"For whatever reason, I missed the first couple but coach said that we have to come back in better condition because when you run as hard as we do and get out there and get that aggressive, sometimes you come to the line and you don’t slow down. My job is to push myself the next couple of weeks and be in the type of condition that when I step to the line, it makes it a lot easier for myself."

Tyson also noticed the importance of every minute of every game in international play where there are two minutes trimmed off of each quarter. TC said Coach K preached to the team that there's no room to conserve energy in international play and to give their all on each play.

"I think Coach made a huge point earlier in the week, saying that the 10 minute quarters, we got to try to win each quarter," TC said. "When you’re out there, there is no pacing yourself because it’s only 10 minutes. When it’s a longer game, the talent kind of rises but when it’s a shorter game you got to finish those quarters so that you know you win each one…That was the thing that stuck out in my mind out of this week…play hard every second you’re out there because the game is shortened."

LAST MEN STANDING
One of the biggest ails to Team USA from the outset of camp has been their dwindling number of centers.

Newly minted Knicks big man Amar'e Stoudemire was the first to pull out because of issues with the insurance on his new contract. Suns center Robin Lopez also pulled out with an insurance issue and just days into camp, Golden State Warriors big David Lee went down with a finger injury. The varying circumstances will keep all three players out of the FIBA World Championships in Turkey.

Their absences have left Tyson, Nets center Brook Lopez and Washington Wizards center Javele McGee, who two weeks ago was playing for the Washington team in the Las Vegas Summer League, as the only true center options in camp. Circumstances as they were, Lakers swingman Lamar Odom, a power forward by name and a point forward by trade, started at center for one of the squads in the showcase.

"The bigs that are here, we need to hold it down," Ty told Yahoo! Sports last week.

But the case of the disappearing bigs has certainly helped Tyson's chances of making the team. TC already had a strong chance because of his previous training experience with the National Team. Add in his athleticism and the presence he brings on the defensive end and Royce Young of CBSSports.com calls Ty Slamma Jamma a virtual lock at this point.

"Coming in, Chandler was a total bubble guy. Now he's not only almost a guarantee, but probably the US's starting center. He's been more aggressive in the paint than anyone else and with Team USA lacking size, Chandler is a perfect piece to set up in the middle to defend the rim. Plus, with FIBA rules allowing players to knock the ball off the rim, Chandler could be an absolute force."

Ty knows, if he is lucky enough to make the team, exactly what his role will be, as he told John Schuhmann of NBA.com:

"I'm getting the ball in positions where I can succeed," Chandler said of his offensive role. "But my job is not going to be to get the ball on the block and make post moves. My job is to free up shooters, run the pick-and-roll, cut, slash and offensive rebound. And if I get the ball that way, my job is to finish."

Coach K confirmed that he won't expect the offensive load to be carried by his bigs, as quoted by Schuhmann:

"We don't need our big guys to be scorers," the coach said. "We need our big guys to be shot-blockers, rebounders and screeners."

BIG BROTHER TY
While preparing for the World Championships, Team USA has also spent the week training with a select group of college standouts, all members of the U.S. Select Team.

One of the college standouts, Marcus Morris, was profiled on his experience by Gary Bedore of the Lawrence Journal-World. Morris spoke highly of his experience bonding with Tyson:

"I talked to him a lot about everything," Morris said of Chandler. "He was telling me how the NBA was, how long he was in there and what’s the key to getting in and staying in."

What is Chandler’s secret formula?

"To work hard," Morris said. "You get to the NBA, and a lot of guys can’t shoot. Be a consistent shooter and I could stay there a long time. (He said) to be a consistent shooter and rebounder."

RELATED STORIES
USA Basketball Additional Quotes: USA White 114, USA Blue 96 (USABasketball, July 24, 2010)
http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/national/usa_white_114_usa_blue_96___2...
Dallas Mavericks' new center Tyson Chandler plays scrimmage game (Pegasus News, July 25, 2010)
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2010/jul/25/dallas-mavericks-new-center-...
Team USA's roster shrinks (Yahoo! Sports, July 21, 2010)
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AoPa1eEzl3MD31a_A7evnFA5nYcB?slug=...
Team USA Notebook (FanHouse, July 21, 2010)
http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/07/21/team-usa-notebook-lamar-odom-says-hes...
Breaking down the Team USA roster situation (CBSSports.com, July 26, 2010)
http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/23434099
Big man picture for Team USA remains cloudy (NBA.com, July 23, 2010)
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/john_schuhmann/07/23/usa.centers/?...
KU's Marcus Morris a happy camper (Lawrence Journal-World, July 27, 2010)
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/jul/27/kus-marcus-morris-happy-camper/...