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U.S. Olympic basketball team head coach Mike Krzyzewski talks to his teammate during a training session in Macao, Monday July 28, 2008. US team will play the friendly match against Turkey and Lithuania in Macao. [Agencies]
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The growth in international talent means the US men's basketball team face a "tough challenge" to win Olympic gold, head coach Mike Krzyzewski said on Monday.
"Basketball around the world has exploded. Thirty percent of the NBA are international players, and many of the teams we face ... will have a starting five of five NBA players," Krzyzewski said in Macau, where the gold medal favorites will play exhibition games against Lithuania and Turkey before travelling to Beijing.
"It will be a tough challenge for us."
The US have won 12 Olympic men's titles but their supremacy has slipped in recent years.
Team US finished with bronze four years ago and were third at the 2006 worlds.
Previous US teams have been all-star squads tossed together just weeks before the Games and Jerry Colangelo, managing director of the US team, said "that was good enough, but that's not the case anymore."
The players "wanted to see this thing turned around because there is pride in representing our country and the commitment that was made three years ago means that the core players have been together for the past three years, and that's a big difference," he said.
NBA top scorer LeBron James, who was wearing a US basketball shirt printed with the words "Together we rise", said confidence would be the key.
"Every time we step onto the court we know we have the talent and we know we have the strength to go out and be the best team out on the court. So, we have to be confident to go out there and play the way we want to play," he said.
Krzyzewski later clarified that "we're trying to be very confident. That doesn't mean over-confident.
"We don't have anything to be complacent about."
James will play in Beijing despite an earlier right ankle injury that he described as "healthy".
Basketball is extremely popular in China and will be one of the hottest tickets at the Beijing Games.
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(Agencies)
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美國“夢之隊”主教練邁克?克爾澤維斯基于本周一稱，由于各國籃球人才的迅速成長，美國男籃奧運奪金將面臨“嚴峻挑戰”。
克爾澤維斯基日前在澳門稱：“目前世界各地的籃球運動發展迅猛。NBA現役球員中有30%是國際球員，而我們要面對的很多球隊的全部五名首發球員竟然都來自NBA”。“夢八”在抵京前將與立陶宛和土耳其打兩場熱身賽。
克爾澤維斯基說：“我們將面臨嚴峻挑戰。”
美國男籃曾奪得12屆奧運會冠軍，但最近幾年戰績下滑。
“夢之隊”在四年前的雅典奧運會上獲得銅牌，在2006年的世錦賽上奪得第三名。
以前的“夢之隊”是賽前幾個星期東拼西湊的全明星陣容。美國男籃主管杰里?科蘭杰洛說：“在那個時候還算不錯，但現在不一樣了。”
他說：“隊員們也希望這種狀況能有所改變，因為能代表整個國家出征奧運是一種榮耀。我們三年前就制定了奧運計劃，這意味著核心隊員已經在一起為這屆奧運會準備了三年。這與以往大不一樣。”
NBA得分王勒布朗?詹姆斯身穿一件印有“一起戰斗，我們能贏”的美國隊戰袍。他說，自信是取勝的關鍵。
“每次我們步入球場，我們知道自己有這個能力，能打得很漂亮，能成為球場上最耀眼的球隊。所以我們必須滿懷信心地打比賽，打出我們的風格。”
克爾澤維斯基之后補充說道：“十分自信并不意味著自負。”
“我們沒有什么可得意的。”
盡管詹姆斯此前右腳踝受傷，但他表示“傷勢已好”，并將出征北京奧運會。
籃球運動在中國十分盛行，而籃球比賽的門票也成為北京奧運會中最緊俏的門票之一。
（實習生屈上 英語點津姍姍編輯）
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