Post by dex on Jul 23, 2019 8:10:10 GMT -5
Kmac On Pan Am
PROVIDENCE — When Myles Powell usually sees Alpha Diallo, or Ty-Shon Alexander matches up with David Duke, smiles and hugs aren’t exchanged very often.
This week is different. The Big East basketball rivals are all wearing the same jerseys and they’re emblazoned with “USA” across the front as they compete for spots on the United States’ entry in the Pan American Games. With double-session practices and an exhibition game on Wednesday, the players say they’re learning tons about each other.
“It’s all good guys here and a lot of us are pretty much the same player,” said Powell, the high-scoring Seton Hall guard who will earn preseason All-America mention. “We know we can all put the ball in the hole, so now it’s just about trying to win a gold medal. This is the group of guys we can do it with.”
There are five Providence College players among the 15 candidates. Ed Cooley is the team’s head coach with Seton Hall’s Kevin Willard and Brown’s Mike Martin serving as assistants. The group will train through Friday in Providence and leave for Lima, Peru, over the weekend.
“We play each other all year and have scouting reports, so we kind of already knew everyone,” said PC’s Duke. “Now you see what they can really do but it’s also about bonding on and off the court, learning about each other. It’s a fun experience.”
Cooley accepted an offer from Big East leadership to coach the team. He's had experience with USA Basketball teams before, as an assistant coach. Now he’ll lead a team abroad and the task won’t be an easy one. The basketball portion of the Pan Am Games had undergone many changes over the years with the USA team no longer stacked with All-Americans who hoped to parlay a strong showing into a berth on the Olympic team.
Once NBA players were added to the Olympic mix, the Pan Am team suffered. The last gold medal won by the Americans came in 1983 by a team that featured Big East stars Chris Mullin and Ed Pinckney and a guard from North Carolina named Michael Jordan.
But in 2003 and ‘07 the United States finished fourth and fifth, respectively. USA Basketball has tried several avenues to field stronger teams with the 2015 team coached by Gonzaga’s Mark Few claiming a bronze medal with a team of seven collegians and five second-tier pros.
This time the Big East expressed an interest in sending its own “all-star” team to the Games. It’s a welcome experience for players such as Creighton’s Alexander, one of the top underclass guards in the country.
“I want to see how we come together and try to win a gold medal for the first time in like 30 years,” the junior said. “It doesn’t hurt that I played against everybody a lot. Everybody on this team is very talented, so it’s great to have everyone together and now get to see how we all can play together.”
The dynamic of seeing your rivals up close and personal for extended practice sessions opens some eyes.
Powell, for example, didn’t realized how long and athletic PC’s Duke is. “Coach (Cooley) had him do an alley-oop off the backboard yesterday and I didn’t know he could get up like that,” Powell said.
The team is catching a bit of a break in the composition of the Pan Am tournament.
Brazil (gold) and Canada (silver), the two top teams in 2015, are not sending teams to Peru. The participants include Argentina, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela and the Virgin Islands along with the United States. The USA will face Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Venezuela in pool play.
“We have to play teams that have been together two, three, four years,” Cooley said, “and we will be the youngest team over there. Our hands will be full but we’re excited.”
On a negative note, new Friar Luwane Pipkins did not participate in Monday’s workout due to a sore knee and may not be healthy enough to travel with the team.
“It’s all up to the doctor and Coach Cooley with what they decide to do with me,” Pipkins said. “I’m just trying to get healthy and stay healthy. It’s unfortunate not to play with these guys, but it is what it is.”
On Wednesday at 6 p.m. the team will play an exhibition against a collection of collegians that includes Notre Dame star John Mooney, Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim and Bryant’s Juan Cardenas and Ikenna Ndugba.
Cooley won gold medals as an assistant coach in the World Junior Championships.
He’s hoping his fourth international team can do the same.
“Anytime you have an opportunity to represent our country it’s something very unique, something special,” Cooley said. “As we’re trying to tell the guys, anytime you can hear the National Anthem on foreign soil and be a gold-medal winner, it’s priceless.”
PROVIDENCE — When Myles Powell usually sees Alpha Diallo, or Ty-Shon Alexander matches up with David Duke, smiles and hugs aren’t exchanged very often.
This week is different. The Big East basketball rivals are all wearing the same jerseys and they’re emblazoned with “USA” across the front as they compete for spots on the United States’ entry in the Pan American Games. With double-session practices and an exhibition game on Wednesday, the players say they’re learning tons about each other.
“It’s all good guys here and a lot of us are pretty much the same player,” said Powell, the high-scoring Seton Hall guard who will earn preseason All-America mention. “We know we can all put the ball in the hole, so now it’s just about trying to win a gold medal. This is the group of guys we can do it with.”
There are five Providence College players among the 15 candidates. Ed Cooley is the team’s head coach with Seton Hall’s Kevin Willard and Brown’s Mike Martin serving as assistants. The group will train through Friday in Providence and leave for Lima, Peru, over the weekend.
“We play each other all year and have scouting reports, so we kind of already knew everyone,” said PC’s Duke. “Now you see what they can really do but it’s also about bonding on and off the court, learning about each other. It’s a fun experience.”
Cooley accepted an offer from Big East leadership to coach the team. He's had experience with USA Basketball teams before, as an assistant coach. Now he’ll lead a team abroad and the task won’t be an easy one. The basketball portion of the Pan Am Games had undergone many changes over the years with the USA team no longer stacked with All-Americans who hoped to parlay a strong showing into a berth on the Olympic team.
Once NBA players were added to the Olympic mix, the Pan Am team suffered. The last gold medal won by the Americans came in 1983 by a team that featured Big East stars Chris Mullin and Ed Pinckney and a guard from North Carolina named Michael Jordan.
But in 2003 and ‘07 the United States finished fourth and fifth, respectively. USA Basketball has tried several avenues to field stronger teams with the 2015 team coached by Gonzaga’s Mark Few claiming a bronze medal with a team of seven collegians and five second-tier pros.
This time the Big East expressed an interest in sending its own “all-star” team to the Games. It’s a welcome experience for players such as Creighton’s Alexander, one of the top underclass guards in the country.
“I want to see how we come together and try to win a gold medal for the first time in like 30 years,” the junior said. “It doesn’t hurt that I played against everybody a lot. Everybody on this team is very talented, so it’s great to have everyone together and now get to see how we all can play together.”
The dynamic of seeing your rivals up close and personal for extended practice sessions opens some eyes.
Powell, for example, didn’t realized how long and athletic PC’s Duke is. “Coach (Cooley) had him do an alley-oop off the backboard yesterday and I didn’t know he could get up like that,” Powell said.
The team is catching a bit of a break in the composition of the Pan Am tournament.
Brazil (gold) and Canada (silver), the two top teams in 2015, are not sending teams to Peru. The participants include Argentina, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela and the Virgin Islands along with the United States. The USA will face Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Venezuela in pool play.
“We have to play teams that have been together two, three, four years,” Cooley said, “and we will be the youngest team over there. Our hands will be full but we’re excited.”
On a negative note, new Friar Luwane Pipkins did not participate in Monday’s workout due to a sore knee and may not be healthy enough to travel with the team.
“It’s all up to the doctor and Coach Cooley with what they decide to do with me,” Pipkins said. “I’m just trying to get healthy and stay healthy. It’s unfortunate not to play with these guys, but it is what it is.”
On Wednesday at 6 p.m. the team will play an exhibition against a collection of collegians that includes Notre Dame star John Mooney, Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim and Bryant’s Juan Cardenas and Ikenna Ndugba.
Cooley won gold medals as an assistant coach in the World Junior Championships.
He’s hoping his fourth international team can do the same.
“Anytime you have an opportunity to represent our country it’s something very unique, something special,” Cooley said. “As we’re trying to tell the guys, anytime you can hear the National Anthem on foreign soil and be a gold-medal winner, it’s priceless.”
