There’s Too Much Joy in U.S. Victory

Vince Carter plays for the Toronto Raptors, so he knows the words to “O Canada.”

He knew that wasn’t the Canadian anthem he was hearing Thursday before the U.S. Olympic team’s opening exhibition when the public address system mistakenly played Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”

“I didn’t know what was going on,” Carter said. “I sat back, like, ‘Maybe this is the version I don’t know.’ ”

The crowd of 7,376 for the U.S. team’s 99-70 victory over Canada in the Stan Sheriff Center saw a version of Carter they might not know, either.

The Raptors’ dunk artist scored 29 points in 19 minutes off the bench--and he did it by making four of six three-pointers and 11 of 12 free throws, with only two dunks.

“That was luck,” Carter said of one alley-oop. “I’m a shooter.”

Despite Carter’s performance Thursday, there is no single dominating figure on this version of the Dream Team--one that might be capable of adding moments of suspense to Olympic basketball.

The lead was 22 at halftime and dwindled to as little as 16 in the second half, but the Americans won easily by shooting 64% in the second half and making 10 of 21 three-pointers in the game.

Outside shooting could be one concern, although the U.S. got it Thursday, with Ray Allen adding four of six three-pointers and finishing with 18 points.

Canada was led by Rowan Barrett, a former St. John’s player who scored 22 points and bantered competitively with Carter. The two know each other from a tryout Barrett had with the Raptors.

Without a 7-footer on the U.S. roster and no true center but Alonzo Mourning, Coach Rudy Tomjanovich’s plan is to run and try to take advantage of a high-flying cadre of forwards.

The U.S. will even be without Mourning for two games during the Olympics, when he departs Sept. 22 to return to the U.S. for the birth of a daughter, arriving back in Sydney on Sept. 26.

However, the opponents in the games Mourning will skip are New Zealand, participating in its first Olympic basketball tournament, and France, which hasn’t been in the Olympics since finishing eighth in 1984.

As for the style of this U.S. team, look for the players, concerned about zone defenses and its lack of height, to press and run.

“It’s going to be a part of our game plan with all the great athletes and great players we have,” Tomjanovich said. “I think the strategy of some teams is going to be to slow the tempo. We’ve got to force the issue.”

The U.S. will play a USA Select team of college players that includes Duke’s Jason Williams and Shane Battier and Stanford’s Casey Jacobsen on Saturday in Honolulu.

After that, the U.S. leaves for Japan, where it will play exhibitions against Spain and Japan before continuing to Australia to face the Australian team Sept. 9 in Melbourne in their final warmup.

That should be the most intriguing matchup of the pre-Olympic schedule.

The Australians--who finished fourth in Atlanta--will be keyed up about playing on their own soil, and they have 7-footer Luc Longley of the Phoenix Suns and aging scorer Andrew Gaze, 35, the former Seton Hall star.

“I was very satisfied with the way we played today,” Tomjanovich said. “We’ve only been together for five days.

“I think it’s the beginning of the process of becoming a team that works together.”