Skip to Content Facebook Feature Image

Talent-rich U.S. men's Olympic basketball team still figuring out how to get the most out its roster

ENT

Talent-rich U.S. men's Olympic basketball team still figuring out how to get the most out its roster
ENT

ENT

Talent-rich U.S. men's Olympic basketball team still figuring out how to get the most out its roster

2024-07-30 15:01 Last Updated At:15:11

VILLENEUVE-D'ASCQ, France (AP) — The question was apt, but at the same time a little flabbergasting for Stephen Curry to ponder.

Could he envision a scenario in which Kevin Durant, who shined in the U.S men’s basketball team’s Olympic-opening victory over Serbia, might continue to come off the bench?

“We’re talking about Kevin Durant as a sixth man,” Curry replied. “That tells you how good this team can be."

Highlights were plentiful for the U.S. in the Serbia win. LeBron James awed with his signature one-handed dunks and celebratory flexes. Durant had a nearly perfect shooting night in his first official basketball game in two months because of a calf strain.

And everybody – who played that is – scored.

That’s because just as eye-popping was that Jayson Tatum – the newly minted highest-paid player in the NBA – and Tyrese Haliburton, who recently signed franchise record contract himself, didn’t see the court.

It illustrates the embarrassment of riches that exists for a team that says it’s still figuring out how best to utilize its talent.

“We’re still trying to build identity around who we are with this 12-man group,” Curry said. “It’s important to stay focused on not just getting a win, but how we do it.”

Coach Steve Kerr said aside from it being almost impossible to give sufficient minutes to 12 players in a 40-minute game, the idea of sitting Tatum in particular struck him as just as unfathomable.

“It seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at everything and determined these are the lineups I wanted to get to. Jayson’s first team All-NBA three years in a row. He’s one of the best players in the world.”

So good that Kerr said on Monday that Tatum will play when the team plays South Sudan on Wednesday.

Complicating Kerr’s decision-making going forward is that Durant’s contributions off the bench continued a trend that started during the exhibition portion of the leadup to the Olympics, in which the reserves have provided needed jolts for a team prone to slow starts and turnovers. The turnover total was 17 against Serbia.

And that, too, is the result of trying to find the proper rotations on a roster layered with skill.

Curry even acknowledged being nervous before making his Olympic team debut. It showed at times when he was beaten on a couple of back cuts on defense and had another turnover on an inbounds pass.

But he also thinks the answer to fixing those issues is not getting in their heads about it.

“It’s just a matter of everybody being ready to do what you’re asked to do, because every game is going to be a little different,” Curry said. “You can pick any five of us 12 and it’s a Hall of Fame lineup out there. We just have to play like it.”

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Stephen Curry, of the United States, stands on the court in a men's basketball game against Serbia at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Stephen Curry, of the United States, stands on the court in a men's basketball game against Serbia at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

United States' Steph Curry, left, Tyrese Haliburton, centre, and Bam Adebayo, arrive at St Pancras Station with teammates, to take the Eurostar train as they make their way to the Olympic Games in Paris, in London, Wednesday, July 24, 2024.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

United States' Steph Curry, left, Tyrese Haliburton, centre, and Bam Adebayo, arrive at St Pancras Station with teammates, to take the Eurostar train as they make their way to the Olympic Games in Paris, in London, Wednesday, July 24, 2024.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Tyrese Haliburton shoots a free throw as the United State's men's team practiced before the start of the basketball competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024 in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Tyrese Haliburton shoots a free throw as the United State's men's team practiced before the start of the basketball competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024 in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

United States head coach Steve Kerr gestures in a men's basketball game against Serbia at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

United States head coach Steve Kerr gestures in a men's basketball game against Serbia at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Next Article

The Gulf of Whatnow? Mapmakers grapple with Trump's geographic renaming plans

2025-01-23 15:31 Last Updated At:15:40

What's in a name change, after all?

The water bordered by the Southern United States, Mexico and Cuba will be critical to shipping lanes and vacationers whether it’s called the Gulf of Mexico, as it has been for four centuries, or the Gulf of America, as President Donald Trump ordered this week. North America’s highest mountain peak will still loom above Alaska whether it’s called Mt. Denali, as ordered by former President Barack Obama in 2015, or changed back to Mt. McKinley as Trump also decreed.

But Trump's territorial assertions, in line with his “America First” worldview, sparked a round of rethinking by mapmakers and teachers, snark on social media and sarcasm by at least one other world leader. And though Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis put the Trumpian “Gulf of America” on an official document and some other gulf-adjacent states were considering doing the same, it was not clear how many others would follow Trump's lead.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum joked that if Trump went ahead with the renaming, her country would rename North America “Mexican America.” On Tuesday, she toned it down: “For us and for the entire world it will continue to be called the Gulf of Mexico.”

Map lines are inherently political. After all, they're representations of the places that are important to human beings — and those priorities can be delicate and contentious, even more so in a globalized world.

There’s no agreed-upon scheme to name boundaries and features across the Earth.

“Denali” is the mountain's preferred name for Alaska Natives, while “McKinley" is a tribute to President William McKinley, designated in the late 19th century by a gold prospector. China sees Taiwan as its own territory, and the countries surrounding what the United States calls the South China Sea have multiple names for the same body of water.

The Persian Gulf has been widely known by that name since the 16th century, although usage of “Gulf” and “Arabian Gulf” is dominant in many countries in the Middle East. The government of Iran — formerly Persia — threatened to sue Google in 2012 over the company’s decision not to label the body of water at all on its maps. Many Arab countries don’t recognize Israel and instead call it Palestine. And in many official releases, Israel calls the occupied West Bank by its biblical name, “Judea and Samaria.”

Americans and Mexicans diverge on what to call another key body of water, the river that forms the border between Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. Americans call it the Rio Grande; Mexicans call it the Rio Bravo.

Trump's executive order — titled “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness” — concludes thusly: “It is in the national interest to promote the extraordinary heritage of our Nation and ensure future generations of American citizens celebrate the legacy of our American heroes. The naming of our national treasures, including breathtaking natural wonders and historic works of art, should honor the contributions of visionary and patriotic Americans in our Nation’s rich past.”

But what to call the gulf with the 3,700-mile coastline?

“It is, I suppose, an internationally recognized sea, but (to be honest), a situation like this has never come up before so I need to confirm the appropriate convention,” said Peter Bellerby, who said he was talking over the issue with the cartographers at his London company, Bellerby & Co. Globemakers. “If, for instance, he wanted to change the Atlantic Ocean to the American Ocean, we would probably just ignore it."

As of Wednesday night, map applications for Google and Apple still called the mountain and the gulf by their old names. Spokespersons for those platforms did not immediately respond to emailed questions.

A spokesperson for National Geographic, one of the most prominent map makers in the U.S., said this week that the company does not comment on individual cases and referred questions to a statement on its web site, which reads in part that it "strives to be apolitical, to consult multiple authoritative sources, and to make independent decisions based on extensive research.” National Geographic also has a policy of including explanatory notes for place names in dispute, citing as an example a body of water between Japan and the Korean peninsula, referred to as the Sea of Japan by the Japanese and the East Sea by Koreans.

In discussion on social media, one thread noted that the Sears Tower in Chicago was renamed the Willis Tower in 2009, though it's still commonly known by its original moniker. Pennsylvania's capital, Harrisburg, renamed its Market Street to Martin Luther King Boulevard and then switched back to Market Street several years later — with loud complaints both times. In 2017, New York's Tappan Zee Bridge was renamed for the late Gov. Mario Cuomo to great controversy. The new name appears on maps, but “no one calls it that,” noted another user.

“Are we going to start teaching this as the name of the body of water?” asked one Reddit poster on Tuesday.

“I guess you can tell students that SOME PEOPLE want to rename this body of water the Gulf of America, but everyone else in the world calls it the Gulf of Mexico,” came one answer. “Cover all your bases — they know the reality-based name, but also the wannabe name as well.”

Wrote another user: “I'll call it the Gulf of America when I'm forced to call the Tappan Zee the Mario Cuomo Bridge, which is to say never.”

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

FILE - Peter Bellerby, the founder of Bellerby & Co. Globemakers, holds a globe at a studio in London, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - Peter Bellerby, the founder of Bellerby & Co. Globemakers, holds a globe at a studio in London, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - A boat is seen on the Susitna River near Talkeetna, Alaska, on Sunday, June 13, 2021, with Denali in the background. Denali, the tallest mountain on the North American continent, is located about 60 miles northwest of Talkeetna. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

FILE - A boat is seen on the Susitna River near Talkeetna, Alaska, on Sunday, June 13, 2021, with Denali in the background. Denali, the tallest mountain on the North American continent, is located about 60 miles northwest of Talkeetna. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

FILE - The water in the Gulf of Mexico appears bluer than usual off of East Beach, Saturday, June 24, 2023, in Galveston, Texas. (Jill Karnicki/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

FILE - The water in the Gulf of Mexico appears bluer than usual off of East Beach, Saturday, June 24, 2023, in Galveston, Texas. (Jill Karnicki/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

Recommended Articles
Hot · Posts