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Wednesdav. Aug. 19. 1987/University Daily Kansan
Seoul survival Amateur basketball officials doubt Pan Am games prepare Olympians
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — It's not that the United State's amateur basketball officials don't appreciate the ambiance or the ability to get a hot dog or hamburger just about anytime they want. Hoosier hospitality couldn't be better.
They do wonder, however, if playing the Pan American Games in a comfortable setting is the best way to prepare for the rigors of Olympic competition in a foreign land, in this case South Korea.
"This is utopia," said Bill Wall, executive director of the Amateur Basketball Association of the United States. "Seoul will be different. It takes time to adjust to a difficult travel schedule and living conditions. Preparation-wise, this would be better for us if it were in Cali or Caras."
Previous Pan Am Games have been held in both of those cities. Indianapolis certainly is more conveniently located in the U.S.'s heartland, but Wall worries whether it can sufficiently toughen a talented, young United State's men's team for next year's Olympics.
Unlike the U.S. women, who have nine players back from last year's national team, which won the world championship at the Goodwill Games in Moscow, the men came together for the first time this summer. It's a brand new squad with only David Robinson back from last year's world championship unit.
"The women are accustomed to the differences in international settings," Wall said. "They know to bring along peanut butter and granola bars. They understand layovers in unusual facilities. The men must adjust to that. In the summer, the Pan Am crew is usually out of the country. It's a true education these kids can't get."
Don't waste any sympathy on coach Denny Crum, though. Not when he can rotate four big men like Robinson, Pervis Ellison, Dean Garrett and Danny Manning. Not when he has quicksilver guards like Pooh Richardson,
Keith Smart, Jeff Lebo and Rex Chapman. The squad oozes talent and has run over early Pan Am opponents.
Are we watching the Olympic team in training?
"In large measure, yes, we are," Wall said. "We took seven off the last Pan Am team in Caracas for the Olympics. There might be some changes. Olympic coach John Thompson's style is different than Denny Crum's. He pick kids comfortable with the he'll he wants to play, with pressure defense abilities. There could be adjustments with players like J.R. Reid, Terry Mills and others."
Thompson and a number of other college coaches helped Crum with the selection of the Pan Am squad. They produced a deep wall that Sault says is a beautiful team to watch. The stockpiling of talent for the Pan Am event may, however, have impacted on the World University Games team. Equipped with fewer marquee names, that U.S. team settled for a silver medal last month in Yugoslavia.
As good as the U.S.'s Pan Am squad is, though, it is not invincible.
"I've seen two teams as good as we," are crummed. "Puerto Rico and Brazil are both outstanding, with depth, rebounding, shooting and good defense. It's not that somebody else can't beat us, or upset them, but we could win, and both of them could beat us."
Part of that comes from incentive. "I told this team right from the beginning that everybody we play will play as good or better than normal because they get jacked up to play us." Crum said.
That certainly seemed the case against Mexico, loser of its first two Pan Am games. With less than five minutes left in the first half, the game was tied. Then U.S. depth broke down the opposition. By halftime, Crum's team led by 15. At game end, the margin was more than double that, 105-73.
The victory was the 31st straight in the Pan Am Games for the United States, which going into
this tournament had lost only twice in 58 games since competition began in 1951. The defeats were by one point to Argentina in 1955 and by four to Cuba in 1971. It was the only year the U.S. failed to win the Pan Am basketball gold medal.
Because it can harvest the class of college basketball in assembling its team, the U.S. usually dominates this competition. How much, then, can a player improve against teams that are almost always much less skilled? Plenty, if you believe Ed Manning, assistant coach at the University of Kansas and father of one of Crum's top stars.
"This is great for them," Manning said. "They need to play in this kind of setting. All this is very positive, even though the competition is not what it could be."
Because the Seoul Olympics are scheduled for late September, it would delay Manning's NBA career and cost him and other draft choices training camp time. Even if they sign pro contracts, as long as they do not play for pro teams, the players would remain eligible for the Olympics because of the wording of amateur regulations.
The pros have been happy to cooperate with the Olympics, and say they will continue to do so. Thompson, however, was not exactly delighted by NBA dealings with the U.S.'s main Olympic competition.
Last month, the Soviet coach and six of his players came to the United States for a week of practice with the Atlanta Hawks and Coach Mike Fratello. The Soviet Nationals will return in October along with Tracer Milan of Italy, the European Cup champion, for a round-robin tournament with the Milwaukee Bucks.
The pros also played three exhibitions with the U.S. Pan Am team, though. And, in 1984, a team of NBA All-Stars played the U.S. Olympians in a game that sold out the Hoosier Dome. That's just a few blocks from Market Square Arena where Crum is molding the next Olympic unit.
File photo
Kansas guard Kevin Pritchard, who won a spot on the U.S. Junior World Team, prepares to pass to a potential teammate during the tryouts.
'Hawks compete on select teams
By BRIAN KABERLINE Sports editor
It's almost as if practice has never stopped for half of the KU men's basketball team this summer. On top of the individual weight training and traditional pick-up games, this summer roughly half the Jayhawk squad participated in select or all-star basketball teams.
val, in which athletes from different regions of the country compete against each other. Next, Larry Brown coached and Kevin Fritchard played on the U.S. Junior World Team.
Newcomers Lincoln Minor and Mike Maddox started things off by playing in the National Sports Festi-
Danny Manning has reaffirmed that he can play with the best in the world these past two weeks at the Pan American Games in Indianapolis. And finally, Archie Marshall and Mark Randall are currently in Beijing, China, as members of the Big
Eight Select Team.
Kansas assistant basketball coach Alvin Gentry said the teams were a great opportunity for the players to hone their basketball skills as well as do a little sightseeing.
Gentry said competition against foreign teams was especially helpful for the players because it involved a different style of play. Players from other countries play a much rougher, up-tempo brand of basketball.
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