NBA provides lots to see, but not much of a game
BEIJING - This time, there was no Puerto Rico-style opening-night debacle.
But then, this was more of a social and cultural event than it was a basketball game. The United States men's basketball team will play more challenging opponents, but it will not be playing in anything that resembles the memorable occasion that was the 101-70 triumph over China at the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium last night.
USA vs. China on the first day of men's basketball competition was no accident tumbling out of a blind draw. It was a matchup designed to titillate the Chinese public, geared to produce the largest domestic audience to witness a Chinese sporting event.
Argentina may be the defending Olympic basketball titlist, and Spain may be the reigning world champion, but, in the eyes of the Chinese, the USA/NBA is basketball, and therefore was the appropriate opponent to inaugurate the home-court hoop competition for the great Yao Ming and his mates.
"It was an honor for us to be in this game," said US coach Mike Krzyzewski, who is well-known back home in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the smoothness with which he strokes vanquished foes. "I think the Chinese team and our team both played extremely hard. No one has ever been in a game like this. Unless people turned off their televisions before the game started, it was supposed to be the most-watched game ever."
And for nigh onto 15 minutes it really was a game. Yao delighted the ultracapacity crowd (they've never heard of fire laws at sporting venues in this country, I can tell you that) by opening the scoring with a straightaway 3-pointer, and that set the tone for the first quarter and then some. The US team struggled to secure a 20-16 one-period lead, and it was tied as late as 29-29 as the Chinese came out firing and hitting from the 'burbs.
It was still a respectable 49-37 at the half, the simple reason China's 8-for-16 shooting from behind the arc, as opposed to Team USA's embarrassing 1 for 12.
But who needs 3-pointers when you can get out on the open floor as often as the Americans did? OK, the US team couldn't shoot, but it sure could dunk. There is no point in even addressing the concept of "shooting percentage" when 14 of your first 19 baskets are dunks - and that's not counting the layups. Team USA put up those 49 halftime points while making two jump shots, a Kobe Bryant three and a Dwyane Wade mid-ranger. That was it.
With superior athletes at his disposal, Coach K was able to apply the requisite defensive pressure and get the preferred American tempo. China's guards aren't as hopeless as they used to be, but they still aren't up to the caliber of the better international players, and the Americans exploited them, coming up with 14 steals while turning the first three quarters into a certified Dunkorama.
Meanwhile, the Chinese were firing blanks. They were able to stay in the game as long as the threes were dropping, but when they stopped doing so, it turned ugly in a hurry.
"Psychologically, this was a difficult game for us," said Chinese coach Jonas Kazlauskas, a Lithuanian import. "As you saw, we started off well in the beginning. But maybe our biggest mistake was we thought for a moment this would continue, you know?"
This led to a query. Given that China had the backing of the crowd and a nation of 1.3 billion people, and given that his team was never expected to win, why was it so difficult psychologically? "We do not see the European players often in this country," he said. "But we see everything in the NBA. In China, these guys are heroes to many of my players. That makes it difficult."
They may be heroes to the Chinese, but they are flawed ones. It is easy to gloss over the continued American shooting woes in the international arena when you play a team that can be rattled defensively and that allows you to get out on the open floor and do your thing, but there will be other games here in which the US team will need a respectable set offense.
The Team USA team on display last night looked very much like the incomplete teams of Athens and Tokyo, even if we are assured their hearts and heads are now in the right place. The United States was deep into the third quarter before a second 3-pointer materialized, and it was already ahead by 28 when Deron Williams and Michael Redd hit their first back-to-back threes to make it 84-50.
Contrast the final US total of 7 for 24 on threes to such teams as Germany (11 for 20), Lithuania (10 for 25), and - check this out - Croatia, which got successful 3-pointers from seven players en route to a 12-for-16 3-point performance during its 97-82 conquest of Australia. By the way, Iran was able to match the US 3-point haul, doing so with eight fewer attempts. Coach K might mention that to his guys.
But the US team at least got its needed W.
Argentina, which shot similarly poorly from the outside (5 for 22 on threes), began its defense of the gold by dropping a 79-75 decision to Lithuania. Argentina, with its four NBA players, was uninspired until it found itself trailing by 12 with just over four minutes remaining. It managed to tie the game at 75 before Linas Kleiza, Lithuania's only current NBA player (Denver), hit a three with 2.4 seconds remaining to give the always-solid, always tough-minded Lithuanians the upset.
World champion Spain, meanwhile, put the wood to Greece, 81-66. Team USA won't spend the whole night dunking on the Spaniards. That's a guarantee.
Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at ryan@globe.com. 