Salt Lake City and the Delta Center play host to the most potent, most-likely-to-succeed-and-succeed-big basketball squad tonight when the United States men's Olympic basketball team faces Australia in its third exhibition against foreign competition this week.
Tipoff time at the Delta Center is 6 p.m., with the game telecast nationally by TNT.For Utahns, this is the ultimate hoops heaven - the local pass-and-crash Jazz duo of John Stockton and Karl Malone being joined on their homecourt by the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Anfernee Hardaway, Reggie Miller, Grant Hill, Mitch Richmond and Gary Payton. All this, with Utah head coach Jerry Sloan on the sidelines - albeit as an assistant to USA head coach Lenny Wilkens.
This time, the locals don't have to divide their allegiance between East and West, like during the 1993 NBA All-Star Game at the Delta Center. The stars are all on one team - the same side, with plenty of patriotism to go around. Can you say U-S-A?
And for a night, Salt Lake City can call the Dream Team its own. The home team. The mega-favorite for next month's Summer Games in Atlanta.
"We're guaranteed the gold," admits Hardaway.
If previous exhibition games are any indication, the Dream Team could sleepwalk its way past the foreign legions. Earlier this week, USA clobbered Brazil by 40-plus points. Wednesday night in Phoenix against up-and-coming China, the Dream Team registered a 119-58 rout.
Says Wilkens: "We're working to build a rhythm as a team."
So while the U.S. gets the rhythm, the rest of the world gets the blues.
"We've showed signs of how good we can be - but we still haven't put together a perfect game," says Hill. "But my chances of a perfect game are a whole lot better with this team."
The second-year Detroit Pistons star points to the smorgasbord of varied talent on Dream Team - the shooters, the scorers, the rebounders, the defenders, the youth, the veterans with international experience. "It's a balance of old and new - we really have a little bit of everything on this team."
Make that a lot of everything on this team - as well as a lot of balance.
After three exhibitions, Pippen leads the team in scoring - with just a 14-point average. Richmond, Olajuwon, Robinson, Hill and Miller are also averaging in double-digit scoring, with another trio - Malone, Barkley and O'Neal - less than a point away form a double-digit average.
And yet Wilkens expects more and better from his Dream Team. "I think the thing that we do is keep pushing them to excel. As I tell them, don't get bored or lackadaisical and play the game, not the score. We're not playground players, we're professionals. You are great players and you should do the things great players do."
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Aussies still hunting first Olympic hoop medal
When the 1996 Olympics start later this month in Atlanta, Australia is will be looking to move out from Down Under when it comes to men's basketball medals.
Australia has never won an Olympic medal, finishing fourth in the '88 Seoul Games and sixth in '92 in Barcelona. And two years ago in Toronto, Australia claimed fifth at the 1994 World Championship.
The team is paced by one of the sport's most prolific scorers, Andrew Gaze, who played one season at Seton Hall and helped the Pirates make the NCAA championship game. He averaged nearly 24 points a game in the '88 Games and the '94 World Championships and nearly 21 a game in Barcelona four years ago. During Australia's three games at the Oceania Olympic Qualifying Championship, he averaged 35.3 points a game and shot 70 percent from 3-point range.
Other key players on the Australian team include guard Shane Heal; former Stanford standout forward Andrew Vlahov and frontliners Mark Bradtke, Mark Davis and John Dorge.
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FIBA and the NBA: Rules differences
Rule FIBA NBA
Duration of game Two 20-minute halves Four 12-minute periods
Court length 91'10" x 49'2.5" 94'x50'
Size of lane 19'8.2" x 19'0.3" 16'x19'
Three-point FG distance
20'6.1" 23'9"
Shot clock 30 seconds 24 seconds
Shot clock reset FG attempt released FG attempt hits rim
Game clock stops after successful FG
No Last 2 minutes of 4th period and overtime
Player foul limit 5 6
Bonus free throw 8th per half (two FTs) 5th team foul per period
Time allowed to shoot FT
5 seconds 10 seconds
Time outs 2 each half 7 per game
Time outs called by
Coach Player in game
Touch ball on/above cylinder
Yes No
Closely guarded for 5 seconds
Yes (while holding ball) No
Substituting Following a violation,
if the offensive team substitutes,
then so can the defensive team
Either team can substitute
at any dead ball
Number of referees
Two Three
Legal jersey numbers
4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15 All numbers