Young guns offer challenge

They had been dunked on and stripped of the ball, missed shots and were made to look like the Washington Generals. And to LeBron James, that wasn't acceptable.

"No (expletive) around now," James said. "Stop (expletive). C'mon!"

James' anger wasn't directed at the Cleveland Cavaliers. This was aimed at Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Jason Kidd, four of the best basketball players in the world. A bunch of young NBA guys were whipping them, and it wasn't sitting well with King James.

It might have been a controlled scrimmage Saturday at Valley High School, but the NBA youngsters were in control.

After the USA Basketball superstars thumped them early, the NBA youngsters won the third quarter from the starters. Then the youngsters overcame an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter after coach Mike Krzyzewski put James and Co. back on the floor, with the NBA kids eventually prevailing in a three-minute overtime.

That Team USA struggled in a couple of quarters in a scrimmage wasn't the point. As Krzyzewski noted, he wasn't substituting as if it were a real game. But what was important to him was the fact his players were being pushed to perform, that just because they were wearing the red, white and blue didn't automatically mean the gym was theirs to do as they pleased.

In fact, the intensity level inside Valley was pretty high Saturday as the nine NBA youngsters who are being coached by P.J. Carlesimo are having an important hand in getting the national team ready for the FIBA Americas Championship, which begins Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Selects, as they are being called, are taking their responsibility very seriously.

"We want them to be successful," David Lee, a 6-foot-9-inch New York Knicks forward, said of the national team. "This is a chance to help them prepare for what's ahead."

Said 6-8 Toronto Raptors forward Jason Kapono: "We're trying to familiarize them with the things they're going to see. We want to push them and get them ready."

Orlando Magic guard J.J. Redick, who is on the national team roster but is playing for the Selects this week, said he didn't see it as a demotion.

"Not at all," he said. "I'm doing my part to help them get ready. I still feel very much a part of the team. I just have a different role."

Krzyzewski was concerned his guys would get stale going against each other every day in practice. So along with managing director Jerry Colangelo, they decided to invite some rookie, second- and third-year NBA players to work against.

"It's been a very positive experience," Krzyzewski said of having the Selects in camp. "They've done a great job of putting in things that we're going to face in the tournament, and they incorporate that in their offense.

"They've been giving us some different looks on defense, too, which helps us. Their intensity has been great, and so has ours. Our guys have been working really hard."

At first, the young guys understandably were intimidated. But with each passing day, they have lost whatever fear they had of the national team, and it was evident Saturday that the Selects were not going to back down.

"The first day, the intensity level wasn't the same. The second day, they really took it to us," said Carlesimo, the new coach of the Seattle SuperSonics. "Finally, our guys responded.

"The thing that's important is that we're making them work. We've been trying to push them. Today (Saturday), we did push them. The whole idea is to help them. Clearly, the better we play, the more we'll help them."

For the Selects, who will work out with Team USA one last time Monday, the experience figures to benefit them when they return to their NBA teams in October to prepare for the 2007-08 season.

"For me, it's great," said Lee, who missed 23 games with the Knicks last year because of a stress reaction in his right leg. "This will have me ready for training camp, definitely.

"It's also an audition for the future. If we play well here in Vegas, maybe we'll get invited back to play for the national team."

Said Kapono: "You play against great players like this every day and show that you can compete with them, that helps your confidence. I feel like I'm getting a lot out of this, both personally and for the (national team).

"Hopefully, our being here will help them win the tournament and the gold next year (at the Olympics). Maybe they'll send me a medal after they win it."