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■ 3C SPORTS/$^e Charlotte ^o« Thursday, August 10, 2006 1 2004 Olympians vow to handle world tonmament Continued from page 1C have lingering knee injuries, and Odom pulled out follow ing the recent death of his infant son. All remain eligible for spots on the 2008 Olympic team. By the time the Americans left Athens following tliree losses, their medal was bronze, and their reputations weren’t too shiny, either. Booed overseas, imappreciat- ed at home, and frequently criticized by coach Larry Brown, some vowed they wouldn’t play international basketball again. But along the way, Wade changed his mind. So did his current teammates who were there with him. “I think before the last game ... everyone was proba bly sayit^, I’m not coming back,’” Wade said. “But once we played and won the bronze medal game and saw how fun it was to play togeth er and win, I know us yormg guys said we’ll be back. “If one comes back, we all come back and that’s what we did. Myself, LeBron, Carmelo, Amare, we all came back together.” None of those four was orig inally supposed to be in Athens. Wade, James and Anthony had just completed their rookie seasons, Stoudemire his second year, and none was older than 22. But when USA Basketball had to scramble to fill out a roster after a number of with drawals, it turned to a few players who ultimately weren’t ready yet. “First of all, they were replacement players,” USA Basketball managing direc tor Jerry Colangelo said. “And they were too yoimg and inexperiaiced, and they were thrown into an experi ence where it was just too much. These were young kids thrown into that circum stance.” Accustomed to playing major minutes and winning far more than they lost — Anthony and Wade had played in the U.S. college Final Four and James won a high school championship a httie more than a year earlier - they became fhistrated when neither happened with the usual frequency in Athens. It didn’t help that they were playing for a coach who has always preferred veterans. Since they joined the team so late - Wade and Anthony were added a month before the Games ■ Brown never fully grew comfortable with them, and the players had only minirnal impact. But if the quartet had any reservations about siuting up for the team again, they were erased after discussions with Colangelo, who said of their time in Athens: “The bottom fine is it was not a positive experience. “Basically they shared with me their experiences and I took the initiative to reassure them that it was going to be anything but that,” Colangelo said. “And so I think they bought into what I was tilling them.” There are early signs that the U.S. has a real chance to reclaim its old spot on top of the basketball world. In their lone exhibition game on home sod, the Americans over whelmed Puerto Rico 114-69 on Thursday in Las Vegas, using a sensational defensive effort to overcome a slow start. No player seems to have undergone more of a transfor mation than Anthony, who led the Americans with 18 points on Thursday Only 20 at the Athens Games and barely a year after leading University of Syracuse to a national cham pionship, he stewed and sulked while lar^uishing on the U.S. bench - and didn’t even get off it in one game. “I don’t really know what was going through every body’s minds at that point in time,” he said ‘But me, the reason why I was so emotion al, I didn’t want to lose. I’m so competitive. I want to win.” His inclusion on this roster came as a mild surprise to people who thought USA Basketball, concerned with players’ past actions, would n’t consider going back to him again so soon. But Anthony has emerged as a leader on this team, with coach Mike Krzyzewski say ing that no player has worked harder. Anthony said he also heard encouraging words from his Denver Nuggets coach, Geoige Karl - who is often demanding of his super- stars - after he watched prac tice one night this week. “He said he was jirst proud,” Anthony said. “Proud of me . being out here, being a leader, working hard, making every one else work hard.” Now along with his two star classmates from the 2003 draft, Anthony should have a major role as the players try Standing pat no factor in Cardinals’ losing streak By R.B. Fallstrom THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Cardinals manager Tbny La Russa beheves his team’s second eight-game losing streak, which ended Saturday had notiiing to do with the team’s failme to land an impact player by the trade deadline La Russa dismissed the notion that players might have been unhappy that they didn’t get more help. The Cardinals, who ended the slump with a 4-3 victory over Milwaukee, got second baseman Ronnie BeDiard and strug gling pitcher Jorge Sosa for the stretch run. The manager said anybody who criticizes the team for not improving more is just trying to “stir up some fiiction and trying to point fin gers.” La Russa and general manager Walt Jocketty said the team made every effort to make a major deal, with a comer outfielder at the top of their wish list, but the price tag was always too high. “There wasn’t anything that was even close to reasonable,” La Russa said. “The Yankees got (Bobby) Abreu, they took on the $30 million like it’s another day at the beach. Who else took that?” La Russa believes that he has to do the best he can with what he’s got. The Cardinals led the NL Central by 2 1-2 games entering Sunday’s game against the Brewers but with a 59-50 record after consecutive 100-win sea- Ford GT has more get up than 1960s predecessor Winfred B. Cross Test Drive Fold’s 2007 Shelby GT500 won’t bring the automaker’s sales out of the doldrums but it will certainly give it a more approachable halo car. The current star is the GT, the Ferrari fighter that has automotive journalists sali vating. Its future is in ques tion just as the most powerful Mustang hits the street. This is an update to Carol Shelby’s 1968 500KR Fastback, which cost $4,473, a huge sum at the time. The 2007 version costs at least 10 times that sum, has 140 more horsepower and wUl easily out handle its predecessor. That fact brings a big grin onto Shelby’s face. At 83, he was directly involved in every planning stage of this beast - even driving the product on Ford’s proving grounds. That’s quite impressive con sidering Shelby is the oldest surviving double organ trans plant patient. Shelby has every reason to grin. Ford is taking the GT500 on a barnstorming tour to get joximalists a bit of seat time - and I mean a bit. Fifteen minutes was about the arnoimt of time I spent behind the wheel in mid-July That was enough to teU me all that Ford claims about the car maybe true. The 5.4-liter V8 is supercharged and pro duces a stout 500 hp. A light tap on the gas presses you deep into the seat. If this is what 500 horses feel Mke, I like. to make up for one of the few bad basketball experiences they’ve had to endure. “Since 2003, that’s the only thing that really went bad so far in my life, was losit^ in the Olympics,” Wade said. ‘But with that experience it made me stronger, it made me really realize the things that I had here and set goals. Now I want to add that to my resume, winning a gold medal.” There’s one more thing the young returners need to fix. While American fans recog nize James as one of the NBA’s biggest superstars, there are plenty overseas who mi^t know of him only as the guy who averaged a measly 5.4 points for a team that went just 5-3 in the Olympics. He plans to leave a more lasting impression this time. “I don’t like to lose,” James said. ‘T’ve got a lot to prove to a lot of people, the world.” It’s been much more challenging this season, with another ei^t-game skid in June and a season-loi^ search for a fifth starter, inconsis tency fiom three of the other four starters, and a make-do look in left field and second base before the BeDiard trade. ‘You can do anything you want to as a fan to compare, but this is our season,” La Russa said. “We’ve just got to gut it out and compete and get our numbers and see where we stack up.” Jocketty said there are unreasonable expec tations for the trade deadline, saying that Abreu was the only major player on the wish fist to change teams. Another prominent play er to switch teams was the Brewers’ Carlos Lee, who went to the Rangei-s. Multiyear contracts and the wDd card have made it tougher to trade, with virtually the entire NL in the running for a postseason spot. ‘T blame the national media for starting rumors about guys who aren’t even avafiable, so people start wondering ‘How come our team can’t get this guy?” Jocketty said. “That just doesn’t happen. “We made every effort and exhausted every avenue to help this club down the stretch, and there ready weren’t that many guys who moved that I think would be so-caDed differ ence-makers on the club.” Jocketty is happy with the pickup of Bdhard, a 2004 AU-Star, for Hector Luna, althou^ he’s not happy with remarks by Indians general manager Mark Shapiro that he’d hke BeDiard back next year. Steering and braking felt good and acceleration is astounding The direct-feel ing six-speed transmission seemed just right. The interi or is tweaked a bit. The seats are more sports-articulated and the gauges look more fit ting of a sports car. The tach and speedometer have swapped places and the dash fighting comes factory set in a red, white and blue color scheme. It wiD take a much lor^r evaluation to see if these quick impressions hold, but that’s not going to happen for a whfie. Nearly all of the 2007 production is spoken for and the press ain’t getting one. StiU, my brief stint in the GT500 was enough to con vince me that spectators will want one, collectors will buy one and Ford will happDy seD to anyone. Save on gas! Vacation “at home” in N^th Carolina J From Manteo to Murphy, from Calabash to High Hampton, scores of fascinating piaces to go, things to study, do an^- see...aii within an easy one-day drive, or iess. For free inspiration about specific resorts, attraclions or destinatirnisimtact the N.C. Department of Tourism 4 - .5,.. 1-800-VISIT NC tf.visitnc.com Why read ihePostP Its essential ‘The Post covers the African American community in a way that no other publication does. That’s an important segment of our community. As a businessman in Charlotte, I feel I need to know what’s going on. The Post is real good at covering the politics of the city as they pertain to the African American community.” Ken Allen president, The Allen Agency Coummnications Inc. Call (704) 376-0496 to link with news that’s important to you. ®l)e Ctjarlotte $o«t
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Aug. 10, 2006, edition 1
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