ESPN Men's Basketball

The night before USA Basketball made its final cuts for this summer's junior national team, the coaching staff had a few questions for the players to answer.

They wanted to know how important it was for them to make the team, what would they do to help win the gold medal in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and how would they handle reduced minutes or no playing time at all.

The answers helped not only with the decisions on cuts but gave the staff a better understanding of its roster.

Ultimately, the U.S. won the gold at the World Championship for Young Men qualifying tournament.

Should the U.S. Olympic team have done the same thing with the last few spots on its squad? Could they have done a tryout like they used to or even in the same manner that the collegiate team did last month in New Jersey?

No.

It wouldn't happen, according to Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, an influential member of the junior national team selection committee, and the team's coaches, including head coach Kelvin Sampson of Oklahoma and assistant Tom Crean of Marquette.

But the college coaches and the selection committee got it right in selecting their own team last month.

They found out who wanted to be there and ensured that they chose the best team, not just the most talented players.

That's why no one was upset when Memphis freshman Sean Banks, ESPN.com's national freshman of the year last season, pulled a no-show for the tryouts even though they were 10 minutes from his house in New Jersey. Banks showed that he didn't really care about the trials so, in the end, he didn't waste anyone else's time and gave a clear picture of what his attitude was toward the event.

But Rashad McCants was an even better example. McCants was clearly one of the most talented players during the tryouts. He might have been the most talented player. But McCants' attitude went south during the week, and his teammates expressed their displeasure with his behavior to the staff. The staff was already convinced that McCants wasn't worth messing with the chemistry on a two-week trip. So, they cut the North Carolina guard.

Once again, USA Basketball was able to make the right moves before leaving the country, knowing full well what kind of roster they had and who was willing to make sacrifices before they left for Canada.

"When we met with the team July 15, we made sure everyone understood that we were going to pick the 12 best players for a team, not just the 12 best players,'' Sampson said. "We must have interviewed seven or eight guys the night before the last cuts. We asked them all questions, especially the players we thought would be the ninth or 10th or 11th players. Those are the players who can break you."

About the U.S. Olympic team, Sampson said, "I'm not sure Amare Stoudemire or Emeka Okafor are the best 11th or 12th guys since it might be better to go with the one-trick ponies like a Steve Kerr-type, Fred Hoiberg or Kyle Korver with your 10th or 11th or 12th players."

Sampson said making Louisville transfer forward David Padgett one of the last players was a perfect move. While Padgett may not be one of the team's best players, the thought was that Padgett's length, at nearly 7 feet tall, would help. And it did when the U.S. played Puerto Rico and big man Peter Ramos in the championship game.

"The bench is key and they all have to remember that this is for three weeks, not forever,'' Sampson said. "They've got to buy into it and realize that nothing that happens here will affect their draft status. This isn't about me; this is about USA.''

	“	They've got to buy into it and realize that nothing that happens here will affect their draft status. This isn't about me; this is about USA. ”
		— Head coach Kelvin Sampson

Sampson said making the final cuts ensured that the coaching staff had some leverage with the players.

According to Crean, asking the questions of the players allowed them and the staff to understand how important winning the gold was to everyone.

"You can hear how they're going to accept their role and (it) allows them to internalize everything,'' Crean said. "If they said they accepted being a cheerleader and their role to help us win, then that's what we would expect. It was stroke of genius on Kelvin's part to ask the questions.''

That's why the staff had no complaints from Villanova's Curtis Sumpter, Padgett or Arizona's Mustafa Shakur, three of the last players on the roster.

Sampson said getting a true read on a player's attitude could help in all facets of a foreign trip. Knowing that the players are OK with the usual hiccups in delays, food and other logistical issues could translate well on the court and in the locker room.

He said that the team was much like a high school squad, chanting "defense" from the bench and always jumping up to greet a teammate coming off the court.

No one seems to be questioning the Olympic team's chemistry or bench decorum yet. The biggest issues seem to be their poor shooting and defensive fundamentals. That's why picking the right players, not the best players, for this squad is the difference between the two national teams this summer.

"The only criticism I have is that I'm not sure how current the committee members are with the state of international basketball,'' said Boeheim, who coached the junior national team to a gold medal in Japan three years ago. "You have to take shooters. Once Mike Bibby turned down an invitation, they had to go to Michael Redd and players like that. This team would be fine if it had a couple of shooters -- guards and shooters who could shoot. They could use another big guy when (Tim) Duncan gets in foul trouble.

"They have to have the right players,'' Boeheim said. "A lot of guys turned it down but these pro guys are used to being stars and the toughest thing is that they're not used to not getting as many shots. Against a zone, someone has to make 3s.''

Boeheim was quick to point out that the junior tournament was easier to win this summer because the competition was in the Americas not the world. Next season it will get tougher in Argentina. And he's not questioning the Olympic teams chemistry, but rather the attitude and spirit of the team when shots don't fall.

"If you can't make shots, you get frustrated,'' Boeheim said.

Somehow Sampson and staff were able to get a shooter like Bracey Wright of Indiana to grasp that if he wasn't making 3s (1 of 12) then he should defend and not be so one-dimensional. It worked, and Wright was considered one of the team's key members.

"It doesn't matter how old these guys are as to who would help,'' Sampson said. "I even think that Chris Paul (a rising sophomore at Wake Forest) would be a great point guard on that team. Some guys get it and he's got it. Not sure what 'it' is, but he's got it. And he had it for us.''

Sampson said USA Basketball should analyze what it needs for the next two years. The World Championships come up again in 2006, and the committee should break down the players for each position and zero in on them to pick the "right team.'' He understands that USA Basketball could still do that, but getting the players to go is still an issue.

Crean was so organized for last month's event that he had his staff break down 8-12 minute tape segments on each player who would be attending the trials. He sent these tapes to the staff so they would be prepared. Months in advance, he also prepared scouting reports on each team that would be competing in Halifax. The only team that altered its roster dramatically before the competition was Brazil.

The junior national team could have some issues getting the right players to attend next summer when the competition shifts to Argentina. If some declare for the 2005 NBA draft, like Paul or Hassan Adams of Arizona, or Sean May of North Carolina, then finding the optimum players could be an issue.

But Crean isn't worried if USA Basketball gives the nod to Sampson. Like Sampson said of Paul, Crean said Sampson gets "it" when the topic is international basketball and how to prepare a team for a competition.

Sampson said the major obstacle when coaching USA Basketball is getting kids to accept and embrace their roles. It's debatable if that's the issue facing the struggling U.S. in Athens. But clearly doing that wasn't a problem for the U.S. in Nova Scotia last month.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.