Kevin Durant (right) scored 14 points in Team USA's 106-78 victory over Croatia in the opener. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

When training camp started a month ago, Eric Gordon was a longshot to make the United States national team. But with each passing scrimmage and exhibition game, it became more and more evident that the L.A. Clippers guard had the perfect game to play against international competition.

Gordon made it extremely difficult for team officials to cut him, and he has rewarded head coach Mike Krzyzewski and USA Basketball president Jerry Colangelo with some really games the last couple of weeks. Gordon led the Americans with 16 points off the bench and made four 3-point shots in Team USA’s 106-78 victory over Croatia in Saturday’s opener at the FIBA World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey.

After a slow start in the first quarter when Croatia trailed by only two at 22-20, the Americans began to pull away, using a 12-0 run that was spearheaded by Gordon and Kevin Durant. Durant, who finished with 14 points, buried a 3-pointer to start the quarter and then Gordon’s back-to-back 3-pointers gave the U.S. a 14-point cushion.

The U.S. outscored Croatia, 26-6, in the second quarter.

Gordon was 4-for-6 from behind the 3-point line, which is 3 feet shorter than the NBA line. The U.S. shot 55% from the field and converted 12 of 30 3-pointers. Chauncey Billups, who started the game along with Derrick Rose, Durant, Andre Iguodala and Lamar Odom, finished with 12 points. Russell Westbrook and Rudy Gay each had 10 points off the bench. Kevin Love led the U.S. in rebounds with 10 in just 13 minutes.

Even though the U.S. fields a team with only one legitimate center (Tyson Chandler), the lack of size didn’t affect them too much against the Croatians, who were led by Bojan Bogdanovic (17 points), Marko Popovic (16) and Ante Tomic (12).

Tomic, who stands 7 feet 1, showed some decent low-post moves and could be a decent center in the NBA. The 23-year-old currently plays for Real Madrid in the Euroleague.

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Kevin Durant blocks Rudy Fernandez's shot as time expired to help the U.S. defeat Spain, 86-85, in Madrid. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

In a possible semifinal preview at the 2010 World Championship in Turkey, the United States and Spain – arguably two of the best teams in the world – went toe to toe in an exhibition game on Sunday in Madrid and the Americans barely won, 86-85, thanks to two free throws by Derrick Rose.

Kevin Durant led the U.S. with 25 points – 16 coming in the second half – and was named the player of the game. As good as Durant was offensively, it was Rose who iced the game. His layup over Spanish center Marc Gasol put the Americans ahead by two at 84-82 and, after the home team took a one-point lead, the Bulls’ All-Star guard drew a foul on Gasol and sank two clutch free throws with 16 seconds left to give the U.S. team a one-point lead.

Spain had a chance to win on its last possession, but give Team USA’s coaching staff a lot of credit for switching to a zone defense that threw off the defending world champions. Durant blocked Rudy Fernandez’s off-balance 3-point shot as time expired.

“It was one of those games that was a learning experience for us and I think we made key plays down the stretch,” Durant told the Associated Press. “We also played as a team and stuck through tough times.”

The “friendly” game was the featured matchup of the Global Community Cup, and even though the exhibition contest didn’t count in the FIBA standings it didn’t stop both teams from putting on a very heated battle inside the arena called The Magic Box.

Rose, who had 13 points in the game, was paired with Chauncey Billups (who had 10 points) in the backcourt to start the game and the two point guards pushed the U.S to a quick start, outscoring Spain 16-3 in the first six minutes and leading 23-16 in the first quarter.

The Spaniards, who trailed by 12 at halftime, rallied behind Euroleague stars Ricky Rubio and Juan Carlos Navarro. Rubio had only seven points, but he impacted the game in other ways. He bothered the U.S. point guards with his length (four steals) and he created offense for his teammates. Navarro led the Spaniards with 20 points, and his 3-point play with 27 seconds left in the fourth quarter put Spain ahead, 85-84.

Rubio – who was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2009 – came off the bench in the first half, but started in the third quarter and he immediately jump-started Spain’s offense and fired up the home-town crowd with his fancy passes off perfectly executed pick-and-rolls. Felipe Reyes was the beneficiary of some of Rubio’s passes as he finished with 16 points. His layup near the seven-minute mark in the third quarter cut the U.S. lead to 50-45.

Spain made it 55-53 with 5:18 left in the third when Rubio poked the ball away from Rose and Navarro ended up scoring on the other end. Navarro (6-2) was guarded by a bigger and longer Andre Iguodala (6-8) for much of the game, but he was still able to get his points, using his signature runners in the lane.

Spain also took advantage of more opportunities at the free throw line, as it made 17-for-21 in the third quarter. The U.S. only had 10 free throw attempts in the third.

Marc Gasol, the brother of two-time NBA champion Pau Gasol, started at center for Spain and he finished with 17 points. Whenever the Memphis Grizzlies center worked his way down the low block, the U.S. big men had a real difficult time containing him. Tyson Chandler, the only legitimate center for Team USA, ran into some foul problems for much of the game and was not a big factor.

Lamar Odom started the game and played well for the U.S., scoring 12 points and helping the U.S. win the rebounding battle. Odom could very well be the U.S. team’s best option at center when it starts the World Championships on Aug. 28.

It appears that U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski will stick with Durant at power forward and Iguodala at small forward, and Rose and Billups will complete Team USA’s best five.

Russell Westbrook may have earned a spot on the 12-man roster with his superb play against Lithuania the other night, although he missed a wide-open breakaway dunk against Spain on Sunday. Rudy Gay is another small forward who will play some big forward. Stephen Curry, who had been nursing an injured ankle, made some nice plays against Spain and his outside shooting will be needed against zones.

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Team USA got a little taste of what the 2010 World Championship will be like when Kevin Durant and Co. struggled against a rugged Lithuanian squad in Saturday’s exhibition game in Madrid, Spain.

The U.S. managed to pull out a 77-61 despite a very slow start. Playing in their first international game outside of the United States, the Americans got off to horrendous start as they missed 24 of their first 26 shots from the field and trailed Lithuania, ranked No. 6 by FIBA, 14-17 in the first quarter.

Durant, the team’s go-to player, struggled with the way he was being played as Lithuanian defenders bodied up against him and didn’t allow him to get comfortable from the get-go. Durant finished with 14 points, but he needs to find a way to overcome the rough tactics of the European teams.

But Durant wasn’t the only American player who got mistreated. Rudy Gay went down hard from a body block in the second half, Derrick Rose got poked in the eye and Kevin Love slammed the back of his on the floor after he took a charge.

After trailing by a point at halftime, the U.S. – aided by some great on-ball pressure from Rondo, Russell Westbrook and Eric Gordon – used a 17-0 run in the fourth quarter to break the game open.

These are the type of difficult games the U.S. team will have to get accustomed to in order to survive and advance in the World Championship in Turkey, which starts on Aug. 28.

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The 12 members of the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team from left to right: Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Tayshaun Prince, Carlos Boozer, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Michael Redd, Jason Kidd, Dwyane Wade, Deron Williams and Chris Paul. CREDIT/NIKE

Jerry Colangelo and USA Basketball is painting this wonderful picture of how the 12-man U.S. men’s national team was constructed but take a closer because the picture is revealing something else.

In a team photo, Dwight Howard – the Orlando Magic center who wears the adidas brand – is placed at the far left craddling a ball with his left hand conveniently covering the Nike logo on his shorts. Coach Mike Krzyzewski, the only one seated, has his left foot covering Howard’s sneakers, which probably does not say Brand Jordan or Air Zoom.

It’s not the first time an NBA player tried to hide a sponsor’s logo in the Olympics.

Remember the 1992 Dream Team. To avoid being seen wearing anything but his beloved Nike gear, Michael Jordan draped himself with the American flag. Charles Barkley did the same thing.

Colangelo, USA Basketball’s managing director who called the selection process for the 2008 Olympic team extremely difficult, said the team has good chemistry and balance.

Really?

Must be just coincidence that 11 of the 12 players on the squad are affiliated with Nike, which just happens to be the main sponsor for Team USA. Also, must be coincidence that the team has one pure shooter (Michael Redd), one true center (Howard) and a truck-load of one-on-one players.

Where’s the balance?

Chauncey Billups and Mike Miller, two of the NBA’s best snipers, should have earned spots on the Olympic team. One problem though. They both wear adidas.

Miller is easily a better fit for international ball than Carmelo Anthony or Dwyane Wade.

Anthony is the Dustin Diamond of USA Basketball. He gets a lot of air time despite having very little credential. Sure he puts up nice numbers on offense but he also brings a ton of heavy baggage. He’s an erratic shooter, can’t play defense and is not a good enough rebounder to play in the post where he’ll end up most of the time since Team USA has one power forward on the roster (Carlos Boozer).

Reports say Wade, who is coming off shoulder and knee surgeries and looked overweight during the NBA season, is healthy enough to play. That’s the good news. The bad news is where do you play Wade? Chris Paul needs the ball to be effective. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James need to ball to create offense. Jason Kidd needs the ball to run the break. So, where does that leave D-Wade, who also needs the ball to be effective.

When you don’t have long-range shooters in the game, guys like Paul, Kobe and LeBron will have a difficult time probing the middle of the defense because teams will pack the paint.

Good luck to Coach Mike Krzyzewski in figuring out how to fit all his square pegs into the round slots.

At least Phil Knight gave his stamp of approval on Team USA…or should we say Team Nike.

Swoosh!

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Kobe Bryant was built for this.

The reigning MVP of the NBA takes center stage at the Beijing Olympics. Now, all he has to do is play like the best basketball player in the world and lead Team USA to the gold-medal stand.

Kobe would probably say, “no problem.”

The U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team looked impressive in last year’s Tournament of the Americas. They have looked unbeatable in five Olympic exhibition games. Dwyane Wade looks like the old D-Wade. LeBron James is in midseason form. And the three-headed monster at point guard in Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Deron Williams seems to be working.

The Americans claim it is fully committed to team play and no one is above the team.

But somewhere down the road in Beijing, when pool competition ends and single-elimination medal round begins, there will come a time when Team USA will find itself leaning on Bryant to win a ballgame. It may come against Greece. It may happen against Argentina. It will definitely be needed against defending world champion Spain, which boasts a starting lineup of five NBA players.

In order for the United States to beat the best in the world, Kobe Bryant needs to play like an MVP. He knows it and he understands it. Remember, Kobe spent much of his childhood in Italy so he knows the European game and the passion of international competition. He’s probably more European than American. He plays with a cut-throat Euroleague mentality with a blacktop game to complement it.

No matter how much Team USA claims it has 12 go-to guys all playing as one, in reality, it has one true go-to guy when the stakes are at its highest. When Coach Mike Krzyzewski goes to his ace card, he will call upon the man wearing jersey No. 10 to deliver in crunch time.

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