So, while that does it for the U.S. team, there's still one match to go in this year's tournament: the gold medal game between Greece and Spain. The early advantage has to go to the Greeks now that Pau Gasol has been ruled out for the game because of a fractured fifth metatarsal in his left foot. (Wondering what that means?)

While that's obviously bad news for the Spaniards, think what it means for the Memphis Grizzlies. It's probably too early to speculate, but foot trouble is no small matter for a big man. Right, Kevin McHale, Bill Walton, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Yao Ming? Even if Pau makes a speedy recovery -- Yao was out only four months -- it will be a sizable setback for the man who was eating up the competition here in the Worlds.

Pau's absence will leave one current NBA player, Toronto's Jose Calderon, in action in the final, although, a number of others could join him in the league, including Greece's Vasilis Spanoulis (signed with Houston) and Spain's Jorge Garbajosa (signed with Calderon's Toronto Raptors).

We'll be back in the Super Arena one last time for tomorrow's gold-medal game. Be sure to check in with us for the latest on the new World Champion.

No matter how tired he is from having played more hoops than any man on Earth in the past year, Dwyane Wade isn't about to let the U.S. leave Tokyo without some hardware. He's single-handedly taken over in the fourth quarter, scoring on a two-handed flush, two free throws, a reverse lay-in and an alley oop all in the first three and change. America's lead was as great as 13 points, but remember, there's six NBA players and Pepe Sanchez -- a former NBA guard -- on the other side of the ball who will have a thing or two to say about the outcome.

A question was just posed to me: Which dance team is better? (See below)

After hours of research, for this post of course, I give the edge to the Red Foxes. The margin is as close as this game, 59-55 currently in favor of the U.S., so I could change my mind before tomorrow night.

Maybe 'Melo should back it up six feet. He's been dangerous from three in this tournament, but has missed four free throw attempts in the opening couple minutes of the second half.

Anybody get a good look at that technical foul call on Carmelo Anthony after he rebounded a missed freebie? From where most of us media types are sitting, we couldn't get a clean view of the other end of the court.

Either way, the U.S. has a chance to tie or lead at the half, but almost let it get away by missing two-of-four free throws of its own, combined with sending Ginobili to the stripe for three tries after hitting him behind the arc.

Strike that 'Melo just drained a three with four ticks on the clock and Carlos Delfino missed at the buzzer. The U.S. leads 50-49 at the break.

In the end, politeness rules out here. A large crew of Argentina fans has been wildly cheering, chanting, jumping up and down and just generally causing a ruckus at the games in Japan. This stands in stark contrast to the reserved Japanese fans, who watch as though it's theater. Not accustomed to such spectacle, the security in the arena rushes over to tell the Argentine fans to sit down every time they stand. The rule seems to: Make all the noise you want, just don't block the view of others.

Who says LeBron doesn't play defense? In the first quarter alone, he read a drive and kick, and swatted the perimeter-bound pass out of bounds to break up a three-point try.

Moments later, I was questioning why he swatted a defensive rebound so hard out toward mid-court, where two Argentinian players were waiting, but he made up for it on the same possession by stepping in under the bucket to draw a charge.

End of one: Argentina leads 27-21.

Argentina is off to a quick start, converting on five of its first six possessions. Fabricio Oberto and Luis Scola -- both NBA players -- scored twice. The U.S. was a little slow, hitting on one of five possessions, but Dwight Howard wrapped four points around a Dwyane Wade three to keep the U.S. in the game early.

Greetings from the Saitama Super Arena, where I'll be checking in from time to time during the bronze-medal match between the U.S. and Argentina -- two teams many once thought would be playing tomorrow in a game to sort out medals of different colors.

Now that the France-Turkey match has concluded -- France wrapped up fifth place in the tourney with it's 64-56 win over Turkey -- the Argentines took the floor for final warmups, wearing their road unis, followed by the Americans, clad in white.

While the players won't be changing up their gear, the timeout entertainment, thankfully, will. Throughout the elimination round here in Saitama, FIBA has had not one but two dance squads entertaining the fans during breaks: the Red Foxes from the Ukraine and EuroDance from Lithuania. Each unit comes out dressed in different outfits performing a routine fitting for those 24 nations that began the tournament a few weeks ago.

Rumor has it that there's a little contention between the squads as each thinks it's the cat's meow. Still, the teams come out and do at least one break together.

It's just another element of competition all of us here in Japan are keeping an eye on.

By now, you've probably read much of what's been written concerning yesterday's loss to Greece. Some doomsayers will go on and on about the so-called shortcomings of NBA players. But, for the most part, those media members who are here in Tokyo and Saitama to witness it all firsthand have found that these no-name players from far away lands can really ball and that any country can fall in a single-elimination tournament. Sure, there's work to do if the U.S. wants to be top dog on the global stage, but even two years from now, when this group of Americans have played with each other for three summers, there are no guarantees of gold. That's why they play the game. So, before the USA team determines if it'll walk away with a medal or fall just short, here's the take from a few of the folks sitting in the press section at the Saitama Super Arena:

So, while any loss still stings for a team hoping to sit atop the world in the sport, there's always a silver lining ... as Ballard's co-worker at SI, Marty Burns, writes from back home in the States, at least the team doesn't play for China.

That tremblor I was telling you about in the last post, it measured 4.8 and also shook the Saitama Super Arena at halftime of the Lithuania-Turkey contest.

The U.S. team meal room was all shook up moments ago. So much so that young Dwight Howard literally jumped away from a plate of pizza on the table in front of him.

"Yeah that scared me," Howard said when we all agreed that, yes, the room had indeed moved and everybody was safe after experiencing a small earthquake here in Tokyo.

For a few of us, it was our first encounter with seismic activity, but others weren't looking forward to any after shocks.

"I'm not going up to the 12th floor now," one player's mother said.

Only an hour or so earlier, the team had wrapped up a slightly less exciting practice, where it got loose, put in a little shooting and walked through a few of the tendencies of the Greek team -- the U.S.'s semifinal opponent.

So, what can the U.S. expect to see from Greece? Here's what Coach K had to say a short while ago:

"Their biggest strong point is they play as one team -- both defensively, first of all because that's Coach (Panagiotis Yannakis)'s mentality and his heart is in the defense. On offense, they share the ball and it doesn't make any difference who shoots it. They get you to foul them a lot because they isolate you a lot. They just play their style and they play it as well as anybody can play it. If we play just that style, then they're going to have a better chance of beating us. We have to play very good defense against them."

One thing of note from practice today, as it has been the entire tournament, there's been no mention of any team other than that inked in on the schedule. No "Argentina" uttered. No mentions of "Spain." The entire practice was all about Greece.

"Our team won't look past Greece," Coach K said. "Greece hasn't lost. They're the champs in Europe. You just watch them on tape and, if you're a player or coach who knows anything about basketball, you say, 'Those guys can play and they have great spirit.' They're a team. Whenever you're playing somebody like that, you can't look past anybody."

The players are echoing that, but they're also very confident they'll win if they just execute their game plan as drawn up by the coaches.

"On any given night, any team can be beaten," Dwyane Wade said Thursday. "But we're not thinking about if we can be beaten by Greece. We're just thinking about going out there and executing our game plan and playing the way that we play. We control our destiny when we play the USA plays. We're not worried about being beaten by anybody. We're just worried about going out there and just playing together, playing hard and playing the way the USA does best."

But what if the team is missing shots as it did last night against the German team?

"Really, we played our best 40 minutes of defense yesterday. We just didn't shoot well," Krzyzewski said. "For our guys to play that level of defense when you're not shooting well means that we've developed some character on this team. Of the 40 three-point shots we took yesterday -- we looked at them -- 39 of them were really good shots. We believe our guys will hit a good percentage. It was just one of those nights last night. Overall I was really pleased with how hard and how well we played defensively."

So, as you see, whether by earthquakes or a poor shooting night against Germany, the US refuses to be shaken.

At the Saitama Super Arena before today's slate of games, I witnessed a whole new way to view hoops: 3D.

In the international broadcasting area of the arena, NHK Technical Services set up an HDTV set running highlights of recent action. The image was blurry, looking like it was repeated and shifted left or right, which was, in fact, what was happening until you slipped on the Blu-Blocker style glasses. A polarizing filter in each lens allowed only the correct image -- left or right -- into each eye.

The most impressive use of this was when players were separated enough to sense the depth of field, such as a shot from one corner with players properly spaced around the perimeter and a ball handler penetrating the lane. My favorite visual, however, was an overhead shot on lay-in and wrap-around moves as you could clearly sense the space between the player, ball and rim.

Since I'm not accustomed to such rich imagery, I had a bit of a queasy feeling after five minutes or so, but I have to believe I could adapt given the opportunity to watch enough games in 3D.

Curious how 3D differs from standard video? Here's technical info from a brochure provided with the demonstration. First, two cameras are positioned 65 millimeters apart, just as a human set of eyes. Then after a series of encoding and decoding steps, two projectors show the separate signals. It's not until you slip on the special glasses that the left camera's image is filtered out from what your right eye sees and vice versa. The spacing of the source cameras is just enough to provide that sense of depth you get in real life but that doesn't work on a television screen.

"A three-dimensional object," the brochure reads, "is achieved when foreground objects appear in the foreground and background objects appear in the background. Our sense of three dimensions, or distance, is a product of the way each eye captures an image from a different perspective, for example of a person set against a background. The brain then converts these two slightly different images into a stereoscopic image."

I'd seen one of the Jaws movies in 3D as a kid, but never anything like basketball. I suppose the best way I can describe the difference would be to drive your car down the road with one eye covered. You'll lose depth perception, something achieved only by using both eyes. And, no, don't really go trying to drive with an eye closed; I'm not responsible for any consequences if you do ...

As we've done throughout the 2006 FIBA World Championship, we're heading to the arena for the early game today to check out the U.S.'s possible opponents as well as get a look at NBA players on international clubs. Today, we have Greece and France mixing it up before the U.S. and Germany meet.

France took a big hit when point guard Tony Parker broke a finger before the tourney got underway, but the team has played with remarkable courage since dropping the opener to Argentina. The team advanced to the quarterfinals behind solid play of Parker's replacement, Aymeric Jeanneau, and the Phoenix Suns' Boris Diaw. France also boasts Golden State's Mickael Pietrus, the Lakers' Ronny Turiaf, Seattle's Johan Petro and the 48th overall selection in the 2005 NBA Draft Mickael Gelabale (Seattle).

Greece, on the other hand, has no active NBA talent on its roster, but does have Vasileios Spanoulis, who was the 50th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft by Dallas, which traded his draft rights to Houston. It also has "Baby Shaq," Sofoklis Schortsanitis, who was the 34th overall pick by the L.A. Clippers in the 2003 NBA Draft. Spanoulis leads the squad at 11.3 points per game, while Schortsanitis has seen limited action in this tournament.

Apart from them, however, the 2005 EuroLeague champ has back-to-back Euroleague top defender Dimitrios Diamantidis who has racked up 24 steals in six tournament games thus far, to lead a strong Greek squad defensively.

While both teams will pose unique challenges to the U.S. squad, the American coaches and players can't look beyond tonight's match with Germany. To sleep on Dirk and Co., would be disastrous and Coach K and his staff has worked to make sure that isn't going to happen.

"This team has prepared for every game one at a time," U.S. assistant and Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim said. "They haven’t looked a game past anybody. When we played the last game against Senegal, when we didn’t need the game, and we were in a position to win the game, we played as well as we have ever played. They play each game. Each day at practice has been important. That won’t change. This team will be ready to play every game they play. That will not be an issue. They are thinking about playing Germany. They are getting ready for that game. That’s the only thing on their minds right now."

So, while the players and coaches focus one game at a time, some of us can't help but to look ahead at possible matchups with Greece, France, Spain or Argentina -- especially after watching the undefeated Spanish and Agrentinian teams dismantle their opponents last night. NBA.com's Brad Friedman has previewed Friday's showdown between the teams.

Spain is a very impressive team with a quality backcourt that could confidently handle the U.S.'s pressure defense and limit its own number of turnovers. The team also has Pau Gasol, who, in international play, continuously plays like one of the best, if not the best, players on the globe. He would give the American front court a stiff test.

That's assuming, however, that Spain gets by Argentina again. The Spaniards have won five of the last six meetings and took two exhibitions from Argentina this summer, largely because of how the teams stack up.

"Some games, you have a good matchup against you," Argentina's Manu Ginobili said, "others you don't. I believed before the game that Turkey was a great matchup for us. But Spain is the opposite."

So, does that mean Spain could be playing for the title on Sunday, while Argentina would have to settle for a third-place finish at best? Well, that's why they play the games. There are no guarantees, just like there's nothing assuring a U.S. victory tonight vs. Germany and again Friday vs. either France or Greece. All we can do is follow the action and see how it plays out.

Another way I've been following the action is through the Daily Yomiuri that gets delivered to my hotel room each morning. I don't frequently read the paper when I'm in the States, but it's been an interesting read on the hoops action while stationed here. You can check out their coverage, and that of the other English-language, Japan-based paper, the Japan Times, by the following links:

Maybe Chris Paul just needs a little more practice. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images)

Judging by his play in only one NBA season, I'd have to say Chris Paul soon will have enough money -- once his rookie contract runs out -- to buy all the digital cameras he wants.

As today's practice came to a close, Paul shared a playful moment with LeBron James, borrowing NBA Entertainment photographer Jesse Garrabrant's Canon camera to test his skills. After firing off 10-15 shots, he handed it back over asking, "How much is that camera? I'm gonna buy one from you."

When told the whole kit -- camera, lens, flash and all -- runs about "eight grand," Paul changed his mind. "Oh no, you can keep that. I need one of your cheaper cameras."

Coach K doesn't have to worry about losing his starting point guard to the sidelines, however, as all the photos were blurry when teammate Joe Johnson scrolled through the images before heading to the bus.

Paul the cameraman was just one of many additions to the viewing media that turned out for today's practice at the Japan Institute of Sport. There is a lot of interest in the team by media members from those countries still alive in the tournament -- especially Spain and Argentina, who many believe are likely medalists.

One reporter from Spain kept asking the players and coaches about the Spaniards, but the U.S. team wasn't getting ahead of tomorrow's opponent.

"I can't focus on them right now," James responded, "I've gotta on the team we play tomorrow, which is Germany. So, I'm not even thinking about Spain."

That focus, from the top down, has the players being honest and not overlooking an opponent who might sneak up on them and hand them a defeat. It also keeps them tuned in and engaged after two blowout wins so they can handle a stiff challenge from one of the remaining teams. So the U.S. really is taking it one day at a time, practicing toward defending and executing its own offense for the upcoming game and respecting the other squads abilities.

"They're good guys," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said today. "They've shown great respect for the game, their opponents. I think you earn respect; Respect isn't given to you. They've handled things well with the media, with the fans, with the other teams. We've heard that from a lot of the other coaches and delegations. They're very impressed and I am too. I think they've handled themselves extremely well."

The extra media wasn't the only addition to Team USA's practice today. Miami Heat coach Pat Riley stopped by to check out his young star's summer work. After practice, Dwyane Wade sat with his coach for a few minutes talking about how long ago it seemed that he threw the ball into the air in the final seconds of Miami's Finals-clinching Game 6 victory in Dallas.

A little further down the sideline, Cleveland head coach Mike Brown and GM Danny Ferry watched their star pupil on the practice court.

It was off-day for everybody here in Tokyo, but an NBA TV crew caught up with Dirk, Manu and Yao to talk Worlds. Check out the video below:

Dirk Nowitzki on the Germany-USA matchup

Manu Ginobili on facing Turkey

Yao Ming on international hoops

"We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue" ... At least, that's what I'm leaning toward doing tomorrow afternoon, in hopes of scoring some bargain or cool gadgets in one of Tokyo's mega electronics stores.

The game plan for everybody else is basically up in the air. With two days off between games -- there will be no World Championship games held Monday -- the team has a free day tomorrow. No practice. No film session. No meetings. No nothing. The players are free to do as they choose.

But, it's not entirely an off-day for some of us -- and most likely is a normal work day for those teams playing Tuesday. A few co-workers and I are going to head over toward the arena and other teams' hotels to catch up with some of the NBA players on the remaining teams. Be sure to check back to see what they had to say about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel or whatever else might be on their minds.

Oh, I almost forgot ... Anybody need me to pick them up anything? Digital cameras? Flat screen TVs?

Right after the U.S. downed Australia to continue on in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the team's Director of Scouting, Rudy Tomjanovich, stopped briefly to talk about the upcoming opponent:

"We’ve got Germany up next," the longtime Houston Rockets coach and player said. "Of course, they have one of the best basketball players in the world in Dirk Nowitzki. He’s always a threat. He can do so much with the basketball – inside and out. We’re going to have to try to do a great job of keeping his opportunites down by denying him. When he does get the ball, we’ll come up with a game plan of what we’re going to do, because he’s also a great passer."

Nowitzki scored 23 points and grabbed nine boards while playing almost the entire game to help his team stave off elimination at the hands of Nigeria.

"Nigeria has been one of the surprises of this tournament," Tomjanovich commented. "Coached by Sam Vincent, who’s an ex-NBA player and a coach in the D-League. I’ve watched a lot of his games. He’s a very good coach and he did a great job of mixing up his defenses and keeping the game close. They had a shot, right at the end. They made a great drive at the basket, but didn’t execute the last play."

That miscue on the final play cost Nigeria the opportunity to continue playing beyond today. Tomajnovich and his scouting staff will now try to draw up a scouting report to ensure the U.S. doesn't suffer a similar fate.

Fresh off the U.S.'s first game in the Saitama Super Arena and I feel like I ran the hardwood for 40 minutes. I'm in desperate need of a shower after being stockpiled in what FIBA calls the "mixed zone" waiting to get a few soundbites from the Americans and Aussies. Perhaps the best way to describe the scene is what Brian Windhorst, of the Akron Beacon Journal, told me another reporter said: Too much mix and not enough zone. It's really just a corral in the tunnel that leads away from the court, separating you from the players, while facilitating a question-and-answer period.

Now don't get me wrong, I've been in plenty of cramped NBA locker rooms in my day and seen my share of small ones (The visitor's locker room in Detroit is so tight that players have retreated into the showers to change because the place was so overflowing with media). But here there was a ton of media members from around the globe all jockeying for a little piece of the railing so they could have their questions heard or catch an NBA star on camera.

I have a tip, however, for any of you journalists here looking for a LeBron James quote: Get there early and find Windhorst. Here's why. Most players from each team will talk -- either on their way to the locker room or a few minutes after they have a chance to grab a bag of ice and a dry shirt. Those players that do talk usually walk out, pick a random spot and stick around for a few minutes. But one thing I've noticed consistently since day one in Sapporo is that LeBron makes a beeline for his local sportswriter -- almost always answering every question Windhorst can throw his way.

Athlete-sportswriter relationships have become almost non-existent compared to those like the Babe had with New York scribes in the early-20th century. But stars still make sure their local writers get the information they need. Still, you might not be able to get through the throng of reporters, but it's your best shot at a quote from James given the number of print, video and still photography media members at this year's Worlds.

Got my first look at Darko Milicic in international ball tonight and I have to say he looked pretty good. He didn't shoot the ball consistently well, going 9-for-23 tonight and 1-for-7 in group play vs. Nigeria, but he showed nice footwork and passing skills in the post and was aggressive on the glass and in shot-blocking.

That said, he's still going home, despite putting up 18 points and 15 boards -- eight on the offensive end -- against what he calls the best team in the tournament.

"Argentina and America are great teams," Darko said, "but you just have to see this team and how they play. They're playing the best basketball I ever saw. Every time you make a mistake, they're going to make you pay."

Then again, Darko also believed he should get more minutes on a Pistons team fresh off a championship and featuring the Wallaces -- Ben and Rasheed -- and Antonio McDyess in its frontcourt, so you might consider taking what he says with a grain of salt.

Still, I was pleased to see him playing well and seemingly with confidence on any level of hoops. I've been pulling for a Darko breakthrough since he entered the league -- as much for his benefit as the Pistons' reputation after taking him second overall in 2003. Being a fan of the Bad Boys, I've always respected Joe Dumars decision making, whether it was passing to a wide-open teammate or passing on a wide-open draft class with names like Anthony, Bosh, Wade and Hinrich -- all playing for the U.S. Team tomorrow -- yet to be called.

But just because those other players are starring on their NBA squads and are playing for one of the favorites in this year's World Championship, you can't yet call Darko a bust. He's still only 21 years old and is sure to progress even further with the added burn he'll see now that he's off Detroit's bench. After a move to Orlando just before February's All-Star Game, Darko averaged 7.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.07 blocks in just over 20 minutes per game for the Magic.

Now, in international ball and on his country's senior team in a global setting for the first time, he ranked second on his team in scoring at 16.2 points per game to go along with a team-leading 9.3 boards and 2.8 blocks per game, earning the praise of head coach Dragan Sakota.

"I am satisfied with his game," Sakota said, "not only today. He had a low (shooting) percentage, but he had a good player (Pau Gasol) in front of him. Also, he needs more time to be much more respected by officials; that's what I believe. We consider him our best player at this point and he will help us very much in the future."

Darko, too, is pleased by his own development, even if saddened by the end of the road here in Saitama.

"Every time you think you could do better than this," he said. "I'm happy to have the opportunity to play in the World Championship, but, after you lose, you can't be happy."

At practice, USA assistant coach Mike D'Antoni and Dwyane Wade spoke about tomorrow's opponent, Australia, for whom Milwaukee Bucks second-year player Andrew Bogut stars.

"You are going to see Australia spread it out," D'Antoni told us. "They are a smaller team that really relies on three-point shooting and ball movement. They have opened the floor up and they play a ‘drive and kick’ game. They rely on the three-point shot. You might see half of their shots come from behind the three-point line."

"They are all very good shooters and drivers who are fundamentally sound. Obviously, everybody knows about Bogut, but (Brad) Newley is a young guy that can really play. Sam McKinnon is the heart and soul of their team. He’s been talked about that he might go to the NBA, but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen, because he is older now."

Wade added, "You can’t relax on the perimeter. They have some good inside players, like Bogut, but their guards are all guys who can come off pick and rolls and shoot the ball. We’ve got to be aware at all times. With them shooting the threes, there might be some long rebounds that the guards will have to help out and rebound the ball."

But, even if those threes are falling for the Aussies, the Americans aren't likely to hang their heads. They weathered a strong challenge from Italy in preliminary play and know they can claw their way back.

"It was good for our team," Wade said of the Italy game. "If we get down in a game, or if there are stretches that are going bad, we know in the back of our heads that we have done it before. It helped bring this team together."

Tomorrow's contest with Australia is the first of four the team has to play as one if it is be named champions.

"We are four games away," Wade said. "We really have to take it one game at a time, but it starts tomorrow. We are going to play with a lot of energy and we are playing together. Our focus is that much more tuned in. We know what we’ve got to do."

So, the players are focusing on one game at a time. Not me though. I'm headed over to the arena this evening to catch Spain and Serbia & Montenegro battle to see who will advance to face Lithuania on Tuesday. Neither team would meet the U.S. in the winners bracket until the championship game at the earliest, but it will be interesting to see if Darko Milicic's squad can upset the strong Spanish team led by Pau Gasol.

Well, technically, it can be considered Day 2 here in Tokyo for Team USA. But since yesterday was a travel day and today's the first day of hoops action over at the Saitama Super Arena, I'm calling it Day 1. The U.S. isn't in action at the arena, but instead practiced at the Japan Institute of Sport. So, I give you a few observations from the first day in Tokyo.

Greetings from Tokyo. After a few bus rides and a short early-morning flight, Team USA and its travelling party arrived in Tokyo to set up camp for the single elimination tournament set to take place this week.

The morning's flight came even earlier for some, as coaches and players alike spent a good amount of time after last night's game watching tape of Australia, the team's first opponent. In the lobby of our hotel in Sapporo, while waiting to board the bus, Coach K and Chris Paul talked with the boss telling his young point guard that it's a long stretch and the team has to take it one game at a time. Paul responded that he was already looking at the game footage for the upcoming squad.

The two casually discussed what they saw, with Coach K saying, "We watched a few of their games last night. They should have beaten Greece."

Yes, they should have. Australia had a three point lead with 19 seconds left, but gave up triples to Dimitris Diamantidis and Nikos Zisis to lose the contest, 72-69.

While Krzyzewski and CP didn't get much sleep, five fans standing outside the door of the hotel got even less; a sign held by one youngster read, "We are here from 10:00 pm yesterday!! We want your items. Good luck!"

So, here we are in Tokyo, with a day off and the need for an afternoon cat nap. The team isn't holding practice today, but will resume with a two-hour run tomorrow. We'll check back in periodically between now and then.

The U.S. meets Andrew Bogut and Australia in Saitama on Sunday. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images)

The US knew the top spot in Group D was a lock, but all that meant was it would play the fourth-best team in Group C. The team and coaching staff didn't learn who that would be until just before the start of tonight's meeting with Senegal.

Australia, by beating winless Qatar and Lithuania's victory over Brazil, moved into that fourth spot and earned the right to face the Americans on Sunday in Saitama, just outside of Tokyo.

So, now the coaches and scouts must begin breaking down tape and preparing for the Aussies.

"I'm going to go back (to the team hotel) and we're going to finish up the scouting report for the first game," USA Basketball Director of Scouting Rudy Tomjanovich said after the U.S. routed Senegal 103-58 Thursday, "so Coach (Krzyzewski) will be able to, on the bus ride, view it and start thinking about a game plan for those guys."

And while the U.S. doesn't want to think too far ahead, those scouts should probably get started dissecting game footage of the German national team.

Germany got 47 points and 16 rebounds from Dirk Nowitzki to outlast Angola in triple-OT, sewing up the second seed in Group B. The team's lone loss came Monday at the hands of Spain, who, led by Memphis' Pau Gasol and the solid backcourt play of Jose Calerdon and Juan Carlos Navarro, went a perfect 5-0 in prelims.

Germany's opponent in what FIBA calls the Eighth Finals is Nigeria, guided by the D-League's Fort Worth Flyers head coach Sam Vincent. After opening the tournament with a win over Serbia & Montenegro, Nigeria rattled off losses to Venezuela and France before getting whacked 98-64 by Argentina yesterday. The team recovered, however, to knock off Lebanon and advance.

With a win over Australia on Sunday, the U.S. would advance to face the winner of the Germany-Nigeria match next Wednesday.

But, before we get ahead of ourselves, let's take a look at a few of the developments in Group D and elsewhere, leading up to the round of 16.

"I don't think I've ever played a game where I didn't miss a shot -- at least not for the national team," Nocioni said.

Actually, Mr. Nocioni, you accomplished the feat with the Bulls on Jan. 7 of this year in a 111-82 win over Memphis. In that game, Andres went 4-of-4 from the field, 2-of-2 from three and 6-of-6 from the stripe for 16 points.

Well, the Japanese players certainly will be sleeping in their own beds, though it may be restlessly after the team went 1-4 and got bounced from the tourney. Note the only other teams Battier mentioned are two of the three undefeated teams other than the United States -- Greece also went 5-0.

"He's beautiful. I think he should go to Duke," Coach K joked, I think, after the U.S. beat Italy. "We have an Italian major and I have two sons-in-law who are Italian. My grandsons are (Italian). I think a Belinelli would be good. I have no more daughters, but I do have a scholarship available."

"I have no more daughters, but I do have a scholarship available." -- USA coach Mike Krzyzewski on how he could entice Italian sharpshooter Marco Belinelli to Duke University

The 20-year-old led the Azzurri in scoring at 14.4 points per game, using constant movement and running off screens to create space to get his shots, usually from behind the three-point stripe. Through the five preliminary contests, Belinelli fired 44 shots from downtown. The next closest Italian player, Gianluca Basile, put up only 20 threes.

As for the building itself, you have to see for yourself how this thing functions; Giant blocks of seats move in and out of place to create different seating configurations for different events. Click on "Facility Information" at the top of that link to see what I mean.

The Hokkaido Sports Center here in Sapporo was nice, but it sure was quiet. It's a good thing a large contingent of Slovenia fans showed up for each game and made things interesting. During today's game between the U.S. and Senegal, it was so void of noise that one young boy yelling to see Dwyane Wade could be heard clear across the gym. Whatever he was yelling in addition -- he was speaking in Japanese -- caused the entire arena to break out in a light laughter on a couple occasions.

So, that's all for now from Sapporo. The players, coaches and support staff catch a flight bound for Tokyo early Friday morning. See you in Tokyo and Saitama.

Well, the final day here in Sapporo has arrived, concluding with what should be a fairly easy win over Senegal tonight. That's not to take anything away from the silver medalists of last summer's African championships, but they're out of the running to advance and are one of only three winless teams in the tournament -- Qatar finished 0-5, while Panama is currently looking for its first win, playing New Zealand.

As such, the players were not scheduled for a shootaround, instead being given a little extra time to rest after two very grueling days of competition. In the training room yesterday, as the players were getting ready to face Italy, they had talked about how physical the game with Slovenia was. Last night's match was no ballet, as bodies were flying all over the place and things got a little chippy at points.

Dwyane Wade, who was visibly limping after the game, said, "This is how I am after games. My body is hurt, but I’ll be alright. It was a physical game. Both teams. Both teams fouled a lot. Both teams were on the ground a lot, but I feel great. We just won. I’m used to it. Everybody took a physical beating tonight, but we’ll bounce back.”

Wade and Co., will have a few days to rest up before Sunday's match with the fourth place team out of the Hamamatsu bracket. That could be Australia, if Lithuania defeats Brazil today. We'll know for sure in a couple hours.

During halftime of today's game between Puerto Rico and Slovenia, we caught up with Nate McMillan to talk strategy for tomorrow's tilt with Senegal -- the team's final matchup in Group D play.

"Their guards are very aggressive," McMillan cautioned, adding, "If you allow these guys to run their sets, they're capable of knocking down shots."

But, as it has through the first four games, the U.S. will look to make Senegal play the Americans' fast-paced brand of ball.

"We should be okay as long as we play our tempo," Nate said.

Update: Click here to watch McMillan's scouting report.

Getting ready to head over to the arena for the team's morning shootaround, but first, I thought I'd share a little info about tonight's opponent: Italy.

Yesterday, we heard almost every Team USA member tell us that Italy will be the toughest opponent the team has faced in group play. How can that be when it has no NBA players and a team like Slovenia boasted five on its roster? Let's turn to assistant coach -- and longtime Italian player and coach -- Mike D'Antoni give a quick scouting report on the Italian squad. Click here to watch the video.

Given that D'Antoni has deep ties to Italy, will he secretly be pulling for the Azzurri? Not a chance.

"It heightens the game a little bit for me, personally," D'Antoni told us, "because I know the guys so well and the coaching staff and everybody involved with the national team. But at the same time, there won't be a problem knowing who I want to win. It will be a fun game for me."

Okay, so that makes one D'Antoni in the U.S.'s corner.

"I hope my family roots for me," D'Antoni said with a laugh. "(At least) the one's in America; the one's in Italy I don't have a chance."

Occasionally, as you're wanding around the team meal room or through the hotel, you'll hear some of the players remarking on just how many days are left in the trip. It's not exactly the thought the coaching staff wants the players thinking, but who can blame them really? These guys have been on the road since early July now, with another 11 days -- if the team reaches the championship game -- to go. And to be honest, everybody is yearning for a little taste of home at this point.

For example, I can't wait to get back to the States and wrap my hands around a nice mug of fresh brewed coffee. Sure, you can stop off at a Starbucks here, but the joe you see more often than not comes in a can. Yes, about a six ounce aluminum pop-top. You can opt to pump 120 yen into a corner vending machine -- there's this weird culture of vending machines here, with them on almost every street corner -- for a cold can, or you could stop off at a 7-11 for a hot can. Think that one over for a second ... You reach into a counter-top glass cabinet and bare-hand a piping-hot piece of metal. In America, we call that, "lawsuit waiting to happen." While the canned coffee does the job and gives you a little caffeine jolt, I much prefer to just slug it down, as there's something just off about the taste.

Speaking of vending machines, in Japan you can buy cigarettes right off the street. The machine says on the front that you have to be 20 to purchase cigarettes, but really, is it going to check your ID? As such, I can't say I was shocked when one of my contacts from the NBA's Japan office told me that roughly six out of seven Japanese people smoke.

Right before tonight's game, we caught up with Shane Battier in the U.S. team's training room, or, as Battier likes to call it, the place where it all happens. You have to figure a man with as many floor burns as Shane would know his way around the training room. But he was in the mood to talk ankles today. Allow me to paraphrase: Ankles taped a little too loose will make you play loose; too tight and you're going to play too tight. He then said he was just teasing, but maybe he's onto something there.

Kirk Hinrich then joined Battier to talk about the nightlife here. Shockingly, the two say they haven't really gone out here because, get this, it gets a little boring. They said they did go out a little in Seoul and Hong Kong, but not so much here in Japan. They especially weren't fond of the extra time off the non-game day gave them yesterday, telling us they'd rather be playing.

Also making a stop in the training room was Elton Brand, who mentioned that Slovenia was going to be a real challenge for the team because it has five NBAers on its roster. Can you name them all? Hint: click here and scroll down.

I once heard an NBA scribe say, "I'm the most well travelled man who's never seen anything." And if you can imagine what it's like to follow a team around the country or world on trips like the World Championships -- with shootarounds, practices and five games in six nights before the round of 16 -- you'd understand there's very little time on the schedule for much outside your hotel or the arena.

So, after nearly a week of hoops, a short break in the schedule here in Sapporo gave me the chance to finally get out and see what Japan has to offer. First, let me say, take whatever preconceived visions of Japan you have and throw them right out. If you're like me, you probably picture a sprawling metropolis of bright lights -- say, Tokyo everywhere?

Not so when you get to Hokkaido.

Sea urchin by the basketfull come in on these boats, stacked on the shore of a small village in southwestern Hokkaido.

I took the opportunity to escape Sapporo -- a city of nearly two million residents; Japan's most populated city north of Tokyo -- and headed an hour west for an all too brief sea kayaking expedition with a few of my media friends. What you see when you get outside of the larger cities is simply majestic

Upon arrival at our launch point, in what was a tiny fishing village tucked deep into a little harbor, the boats were just coming in with the day's haul of sea urchins. We watched as the fishermen went full-speed-ahead and literally ran their boats ashore on a ramp, rushing to get their haul -- think blue laundry baskets -- to their next destination. It was all an orderly process, but upon casual observation seemed to be at a frenetic pace.

The skies here were heavily overcast, with clouds and drizzle blocking the sun, but it didn't dampen our enthusiasm for we were already firing away with our digital cameras well before our tour guide arrived.

Trevor, our guide, is a British Columbia, Canada native, who came to Japan over three years ago and hasn't left since, not even to visit his family back home. He, too, had different ideas of what Japan would be like when he arrived, but along came winter -- with a tremendous load of powder, waist deep, for back country skiing -- and Trevor was hooked.

He was a little shocked to see us when he arrived, because he had been told basketball players were coming. We, I assure you, can't really call ourselves players any longer, much less pretend to be those he hoped to lead.

Still, Trevor shared with us descriptions of the changing seasons this northern island of the country enjoys. There's cherry blossoms in the spring, followed by a warm summer -- not the stifling heat of the big cities -- and then comes a rainy period which gives way to autumn and all it's colors. Finally, cold winter temperatures help fill the small mountaintops with ample snow for skiing.

We enjoyed the summer season, the deep blue waters and the carved volcanic rock cliffs of the island's shoreline.

About 45 minutes into our hour-and-a-half excursion, we stopped at a cave of sorts to swim, jump off a low cliff and have a spot of tea -- our guide was gracious enough to bring a butane grill and some beverage.

There was a small pool formed by an outcropping of coral in which we docked. The pool was filled with white jellyfish, sea urchins and very vivid blue-and-orange starfish. Fortunately, the jellies don't sting and nobody stepped on an urchin.

But, the moment was all too fleeting; we had to get back to business -- Group D action resumes for the next three days to decide which teams advance to the elimination rounds.

Before we left, Trevor extended an invite to return for a skiing trip in the winter. Can't say I want to climb in a plane for 14 hours just to ski, but, then again, after the experience on the water, I'm reconsidering.

Lest you think it's just all U.S.A., all the time here in Japan, click on over to Charlotte Bobcats Director of International Scouting Tim Shea's blog or check in with NBA TV's Simone Sandri. Both provide a good look at other NBA players in the World Championships -- including those not here in Sapporo.

Earlier today, in the team meal room at the hotel, we bumped into Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh, who were camped around Jesse Garrabrant's laptop. (Before you continue reading, scroll down two posts, then return.)

Jesse had his Mac in slideshow mode and was going frame-by-frame through the dunks Howard threw down only an hour or so earlier.

"I look ripped in that one," Howard chuckled when he saw one windmill jam, paused with him in mid-air.

After a couple dozen shots scrolled through, Howard told Jesse he had to e-mail the photos, he was planning on putting some on his MySpace.

We asked if Dwight had any thoughts of entering the Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk contest. He said he's thinking about it, but that big guys just don't look all that impressive in the contest.

To that, I say, there haven't been a whole lot of big guys that throw 'em down like this one.

Speaking of dunking, we then headed back out to the playground mentioned earlier and found some local school children on the court. In case you were wondering, the ball does go through the goofy spiral hoop with a decided advantage when you're shooting from the right. Same goes when you're dunking on the right side of the rim, as I did. (Shhh, it's probably only about 9'6" at most.)

Update: Click here for video of Dwight Howard at practice.

Homecourt advantage?

Before practice, I tagged along with an NBA TV camera crew that was headed to a playground here in Sapporo, in search of some local youth shooting hoops. We went early in the day and found the court empty. After we got there we discovered it was the first day of school for the semester and the kids wouldn't be out until after noon -- the first day for them is only a half day.

We didn't leave entirely disappointed though, as we saw the strangest looking bucket there's ever been -- proably the oddest since Doc Naismith hung the first peach basket. The rim and net were one piece of tubing that spiraled downward from a support. In fact, the 'rim' wasn't even complete as the right side was an easy four or five inches lower than the left, making it almost impossible to hit a shot from the left -- kind of like when your Dad would park his Buick in the driveway, limiting the action to one half of the court.

Also, check out the wire backboard. How in the world could a ball come off that. To find out, we hit a local sporting goods superstore on the way to the arena to buy an outdoor ball of our own so we can shoot around before we board the team flight for Saitama later this week. Check back for the results.

The team had a day off today after attending a morning film session. After watching tape, Elton Brand, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Joe Johnson and Antawn Jamison went to the arena's practice court to get in a little extra shooting.

The three bigs spent some time at one end of the gym taking entry passes into the post from USA director of player personnel Johnny Dawkins -- Howard working from the left side with a little jump hook.

At other hoops positioned around the cavernous room, Johnson -- whose rebounder was his former coach Mike D'Antoni -- and Jamison fired away from outside.

Even Managing Director Jerry Colangelo found a little time to shoot, knocking down shots from international-three range. Certainly a man who knows his way around the hardwood, Colangelo bested one USA Basketball staffer in three contests from the free throw line and three from the arc.

The highlight of the practice, however, was when Howard put on a little dunking display. Remember, we told you yesterday this kid can flat out sky.

"I'm just working on some dunks," he reassured coaches Krzyzewski and Boeheim when he picked up a ball that had rolled to where they were seated.

A few seconds later, Howard threw a lob off the glass and elevated to power home a monster dunk. It was so impressive even Howard, himself, crouched down alongside NBAE photographer Jesse D. Garrabrant to see the photo he snapped.

"I like that one!" he said, all giddy and with an enormous grin.

Howard then went up another time, reaching waaaaaay back with his right hand wrapped around the ball before muscling it down through the net. Asking to see that photo, he got rejected.

"I didn't shoot that one," Garrabrant replied. "I was busy looking at the other one."

As practice was winding down, Howard and Bosh took a seat along one bench and discussed with trainer Casey Smith (Dallas Mavericks) how squats can help improve your jumping ability. I'd say, since entering the NBA, Howard must have done his share ... Just before the players headed back out to the bus, Howard told Jamison and Brand, who were discussing the finer points of going off one or two legs when you jump, "I got way more hops than high school."

At breakfast this morning at the team hotel, a number of us NBA staffers got into a discussion on Dwight Howard's skills and just how scary-good he can be one day.

If you watched tonight's game against China, you know just what I mean. Howard was, once again, a solid presence in the pivot for the Americans, despite giving up seven inches to Yao Ming. Wondering how Howard was able to overcome the size disadvantage to snare 11 boards -- four on the offensive glass?

The 20-year-old has an excellent mix of natural talent and athleticism to go with that chiseled physique. As we chowed on a fine spread of American morning foods prepared by Chef Robin, one crew member who has been with the men's team throughtout its training this summer regaled us with a (tall) tale about Howard's leaping ability. Seems he tried to grab the top of the backboard and told his USA teammates that he's done it before. His attempt came up just short, but that could be because he only took a few steps, as another witness added.

Don't believe it? Check out this photo of Howard kissing the rim. The top of the backboard isn't all that far away when you're up that high.

Howard even wowed the Yao faithful with a few slams in warmups, including one double-clutch reverse and another high lob from Chris Paul in which he had to duck his head under the rim.

With a those kind of springs under a frame like that, look out NBA. This kid is going to be a serious force with a couple years experience -- if not sooner.

The lights have been turned out and the players have gone back to their hotels, but the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center still might be echoing from today's action. Yesterday (below) I mentioned how shockingly quiet the arena seemed, but today couldn't be more different.

If you've ever heard or read accounts of Euroleague games, you know they can be raucous affairs. That was true of today's Slovenia-Italy tilt, just getting underway as I took my seat behind the score keeping crew.

Fans, draped in Slovenia flags, chanted early and often, pausing only occasionally to voice their thoughts on an official's bad call -- and, yes, every call against Slovenia was a bad call on this day.

Lest you think it was all in favor of the Slovenia team -- well, on the scoreboard early in the game it was; Italy was down double-digits late in the first -- the fans in the arena cheered a long three at the buzzer by the Azzurri. More cheering would come later in the game when Italy pounded its way back to take an 80-76 decision.

The noise continued by supporters of both China and the United States in the night's final matchup.

Have you visited FIBA.com lately? If not, you don't know what you're missing. Wait, don't go there right now ... all you'll see is the following message:

Dear fiba.com viewers:

Thank you for your tremendous interest in the FIBA World Championship. The traffic on the website has exceeded by hundred times the interest of comparable events such as the Olympic Basketball Tournaments in Athens. In order to provide a minimum service, we have the features which are listed below.

We are working to restore the full version of fiba.com as quickly as possible.

Stay tuned

Speaking of Lebanon, check out the account of their struggles just to get to the World Championships. Things are looking up for the team now though. Before the tournament started, head coach Paul Coughter said, "I'm a realist. If we lose our first game we'll lose all five. If we beat Venezuela in our first game we have a chance to make it out of the first round."

On tap today at 7:30 p.m. (local, 6:30 a.m. ET) is a familiar foe: China. The teams met two weeks ago in Guangzhou, China, with the U.S. rolling to a 119-73 victory. Today's affair could be more closely decided, however, because China has its superstar center, Yao Ming, back in action.

Yao sat out the exhibition game so he could be ready when the tournament began. I'd say Yao is ready after he dropped 30 and nine on Italy in China's 89-64 loss to Italy.

To prepare for China today, the U.S. squad didn't go through a morning shootaround at the arena. Instead, the plan called for a film session and walk through at the hotel after breakfast.

One adjustment the team has to make from the exhibition contest is how best to deal with the 7-6 Yao. While no player in the tournament can match his size, the U.S. can neutralize his effectiveness by applying smothering pressure on his teammates the entire length of the hardwood. In that exhibition game, the U.S. forced 34 China turnovers. If the team can cause miscues and get in passing lanes tonight, they'll get a ton of fastbreak opportunities. And while Yao is quite mobile for a big man, he's not one to get up and down the floor with this squad.

One player on the Chinese team I am eager to see in person for the first time is Yi Jianlian. He's a 7-0 athletic big man who plays with the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the China CBA. He's only 19, but has been considered China's next big NBA prospect, following Yao, for a few years already. A common NBA comparison is that his game resembles that of Pau Gasol.

After the exhibition contest vs. China, LeBron James said of Yi: "I like Yi's game. Yi is very impressive. I met him last year when I came here. I think he is very good. He has a chance to be in the NBA some day if he keeps working hard on his game. I think Yi was the most impressive guy."

Even Yao said two summers ago that Yi has a bright future: "I'm not talking nonsense, I think that Little Yi will one day be better than me." That day may be further off, but he has the tools to become a solid player.

China's future might not be so bright, however. A loss to the U.S. tonight would put them in an 0-2 hole with dim prospects of advancing to the round of 16 in Saitama, beginning later this week.

Some observations on an early Sunday morning from hotel headquarters at the FIBA World Championship preliminary round in Sapporo… again, we’ll call it “Larry King” style for the CNN generation.. but it’s “Dick Young” style for a native New Yorker.

Day 1 results are in from the 2006 World Championship. Most results held true to form. These stand out: Lebanon over Venezuela 82-72. Lebanon’s Fadi El Khatib puts up an impressive 35 points and eight rebounds in 36 minutes while Joe Vogel played the full 40 and shot 10-for-14 to record 26 points and six rebounds … The issue is whether the top players from teams like Lebanon can handle the 35+ minutes per game when they play five games in six days? …El Khatib is an interesting story in the fact that he had looks with the LA Clippers, Detroit Pistons and Sacramento Kings but has never had a valid NBA contract for the regular season. …He has been with the Sagesse club in Lebanon, once a participant in the NBA’s McDonald’s Championship. … Joe Vogel is another interesting player. To most NBA fans, he is best known for the fact he was a second round draft choice by the Seattle SuperSonics in 1996. In my mind, I can remember an NBA colleague “losing it” over the fact Seattle picked him and said colleague had decided NOT to put him in the NBA’s official draft guide because in the colleague’s view – “He just couldn’t play.” Vogel, a Colorado State guy, has never proven to be of NBA level, but he’s put together a nice 10+ year pro career and is proud to play for Lebanon. …

Slovenia defeated Senegal, by an impressive 96-79 mark. Bostjan Nachbar led the team with 17 points on 3-for-5 Three-point FG shooting. The team shot 12-22 or 55% from “downtown,” which in FIBA rules, is more like “midtown.” … Nachbar, someday when his career is through, will make an excellent coach for his national team or an NBA team smart enough to sign him up. He is a regular for the NBA’s “Basketball without Borders” program and has a way of teaching youngsters. Besides, he is just a great person.

If you had to pick an “upset of the day” it would be Nigeria 82, Serbia 75. Ime Udoka put up a nice 18-pt, 7-reb, 5 assist performance while Darko struggled on 2-for-11 shooting.

Italy’s Gianluca Basile scored 27 points in an impressive Game 1 win.

Looking ahead to today ... Game 2 … A Nigeria win would put them in a place to move on to the round of 16 while making Serbia, Lebanon and Venezuela battle it it in Sendai/Group A … Great match-ups with France vs. Serbia, Australia vs. Turkey, and Lithuania vs. Greece. … In pool D, the USA’s bracket, Slovenia vs. Italy is certainly one of the marquee matchups of the tournament.

It's game day and the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center is finally ready to see its first round of fans in its first-ever FIBA World Championships. Before the doors opened to the fans, I took a walk around the concourse to get a better feel for the place.

Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center is home to Group D prelims. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images)

While I wasn't able to find a sausage or even a good stadium dog the likes of which are standard fare at any sports arena in the States, I did stumble upon a clear glass case of cooked hot dogs that, quite frankly, didn't look too appetizing. So, I continued on. What was the standard offering? Some sushi; a little boxed lunch, the contents of which I couldn't discern; plenty of bottled teas; and even a little soft-serve ice cream cones.

Aside from the concessions themselves, the stands from which they were being sold took me a bit by surprise. In any arenas I've ever been in, the majority of the stands are built in to the arena, with a few stand-alone portable stands stationed on the concourse. Here, the majority were tables set up with boxes of stock piled behind. The only built-in stands I saw were at the corners of the arena (the concourse is shaped like a rectangle, rather than a circle).

My next stop was the souvenir stand, where a whole host of wares are for sale -- most featuring the black mascot Bad Badtz-Maru. For 1,500 yen, you could have the official program. Or, for a mere 1,000 yen you could get a lapel pin that has the flags of the countries competing today, complete with the date of the games so you have a souvenir of the specific game you came to attend. For 2,100 yen you could have a Molten ball with Bad Badtz-Maru painted on. My purchase was a small spiral-bound notebook with court diagrams on the blank sheets for the low, low price of 550 yen (about $5).

Once inside the arena itself, you hear the P.A. announcer reading a list of rules to abide by. Cell phones are on the list of banned items in the seating area, right along with cigarettes. On the video boards located at the two ends of the arena, as they're reading the message, a giant mobile phone diagram is seen in the universal circle-with-the-slash, signifying a no-no. Surprisingly, as I walked around, I didn't see anybody on their phones.

It just goes to demonstrate the politeness we've experienced everywhere since arriving in Japan. Once the game got underway, we were shocked at how quiet the arena actually was despite a large crowd filling the seats. The reason is, the fans remained seated and hushed, with only a few letting out catcalls and yelling, "Hey ref, open your eyes." In fact, they were so polite that three fans holding up signs at one end of the arena continued to sit so that their posterboard wouldn't block the view of those fans seated behind them. The result: You could only read the top half of the sign. I think I saw one that read "Chris" something something. Another was in support of 'Melo.

Okay, so I lied. The fans didn't stay seated the entire time. There was that one moment right after the national anthems of the U.S. and Puerto Rico that the players heaved small basketballs into the crowd. Then it was mayhem. Fans rushing for loose balls, people diving over seats, bigger fans stealing the balls away from small children... ah, right, more lies. It was pretty orderly and controlled, although the fans certainly were excited for their haul and shouted for the players to throw in their direction.

Maybe it was just the early start on a Saturday (the U.S. and Puerto Rico tipped at 2 p.m. local). Tomorrow's game time is 7 p.m., so we'll see if there's any difference.

France guard Tony Parker will miss the 2006 FIBA World Championship with a broken finger. Parker sustained the injury after getting his finger caught during France 's final friendly game against Brazil last Tuesday. He was initially ruled out of the opening two or three games but, coach Claude Bergeaud announced Parker would not play in Japan.

"Tony wanted to try and play with the injury but I didn't feel it was worth taking the risk." Bergeaud said. "He will not be playing in the tournament and will return to San Antonio to recover from the injury."

Parker's absence will change the entire make-up of the French team. Now, back-up point guard Aymeric Jeanneau is expected to take the starting role, with Joseph Gomis the first guard off the bench. France narrowly beat the 3pm (Japan time) deadline for submitting rosters to tournament officals and replaced the Spurs guard with Mamoutou Diarra.

The 2006 FIBA World Championships have officially begun. And the U.S. means business.

The six teams here in Hakkaido, as well as the other 18 assembled in Sendai, Hiroshima and Hamamatsu attended opening ceremonies held in the respective cities. The 12-member American squad was the first to arrive and take its seats in Hakkaido, all dressed in navy blazers, grey slacks and red ties. One couldn't help but think of school children -- maybe private school children, given the uniforms -- as the US team sat quietly, if not a little antsy, awaiting the ceremony.

One observer had a different thought, however, as he watched the only team in the room: "Think one team's ready to play?"

The other teams, upon arrival, looked as though they were ready to play at any moment. Italy, Slovenia and China all wore the team-issued warmups; Senegal was garbed in formal robes -- orange for players, a beige for coaches.

Prior to the ceremony, the U.S. club posed for team photos in their navy blazers. After a number of snaps, LeBron James asked one of the photographers, Jesse Garrabrant, "Do we get these pictures, too?"

"Absolutely," was the reply.

"Don't say absolutely," James joked, "then I look in my mail (and they're not there)."

His teammates broke out in a giggle, but you could tell LeBron really wants a copy of those photos. It's those kinds of moments that remind you this team is out to create a memory it can cherish for many years to come. Those memories will only come with a certain colored medal in these World Championships. What color probably goes without saying.

After practice, it was time for a little local flavor. Specifically, ramen from "Ramen Yokocho" or what's termed "Ramen Alley" on my map of Sapporo. There's also a "New Ramen Alley." Our destination of choice, however, is little more than a hallway with a dozen or so ramen shops lining it. The shops consisted of a small kitchen, a counter and a table or two at most. And if you're thinking ramen like you might find in any college freshman's cupboards, forget it. This was a hearty bowl of noodles, a fatty slice of pork, bean sprouts and bamboo shoots in a miso soup. Tasty. So good in fact that one well known guide book describes the alley as the one place in the city people will know and understand what you mean. If you read the last post, you'd understand what I mean, because there's very little English to be found.

How does this relate to hoops? Well, we were on our way back from practice and three of us were wearing our USA Basketball gear. The cook in the kitchen didn't understand a word we said, but knew we were with the team and wanted to strike up a conversation on sports. Somehow we ended up talking about the Yomiuri Giants, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. Well, it wasn't exactly talking or World Championships related, but it was the best we could do given we don't know Japanese.

After that, the NBA TV camera crew I was with jetted out to get some shots of the city sights. We visited a Shinto shrine -- Hokkaido Jingu -- where Emperor Meiji selected three dieties for the reclamation of Hokkaido and brought them to the shrine in 1869. At least, that's what the tourist brochure said. Shinto is one of the two major religions in Japan, along with Buddhism. The shrine was truly a delight, built of what seemed a type of cedar for the scent was quite pleasant.

Okay, so now we're ready for the World Championships to get underway. Within the hour, the team will take part in the opening ceremonies and we'll be ready for the games to begin.

Well, after a long flight and a long overdue slumber we're live in Japan. More about the trip in a bit, but first a little about today's happenings.

The team practiced at the Hakkaido Prefectural Sports Center today. The practice was broken into two parts: first was a walk through of some sets on an adjacent practice court for an hour, followed by a second hour on the actual playing floor in the arena.

Speaking of the arena, I was startled by it's size. In a word: cozy. The arena is somewhat football shaped and can't hold more than a few thousand fans, although we've heard some saying it holds upwards of 8,000. You get the sense the building is going to be loud if that many fans pour in. Well, that and because the court is alive; you can literally feel the players' movements vibrating the floor beneath you a good number of rows off the court.

The practice court down the hall is almost the same size and outfitted with two courts. At the end of one court is a rock climbing wall, but worry not, the structure was shielded by green padding to prevent any players from crashing.

All in all, the building is remarkably impressive, built sturdy while still being quite a sight to look at. The solid concrete and metal structure incorporates many glass and wooden elements, much different than what you find back in the States.

As for what actually took place in practice, Coach K highlighted some ways they got beaten by Puerto Rico in an exhibition as well as how the team can find success versus the the bigger Puerto Ricans, Chinese, and Slovenians -- the team's first three opponents

Coach K also reminded the team that this is the youngest World Championship team since 1990, when Krzyzewski was head coach of a team of college players. This year's squad has eight members under 25, which includes five under 22.

What the players lack in age, they make up for in big league experience and basketball is still basketball. So, it seems the US is ready for the preliminary round to get underway tomorrow afternoon. As for us NBA types, we're still battling the 13 hour time change to get ready for the tournament's start. The flight over here wrecked us and by the time we got to Tokyo, we realized we had far too many people to fit into our small hired van. I ended up hitching a ride with ESPN Insider Chris Sheridan and William Wesley, who were headed to the same hotel. Thanks, gents, for the lift.

When we arrived at the hotel last night, we found the hallway ceilings to be rather short, perhaps not even seven feet high. That, as you can imagine, poses problems for basketball players like Brad Miller or Chris Bosh, who are staying on our floor. One floor down, I saw Daniel Santiago -- the Puerto Rican team is stationed here too -- ducking the entire distance of the hall.

Finally, we've had our share of 'lost in translation' moments since arriving in Japan. Today we were provided with a driver and attache-turned-translater to help navigate Sapporo. Her English, while better than most here, was still difficult. Fortunately both she and one of the NBA TV producers in our party both spoke Italian. So, everything went English-Italian-Japanese and back again. It really turned interesting when she got mixed up and started speaking Italian to Japanese speakers. But alas, we made do. We'll have more from our short sightseeing trip around Sapporo in a short bit. Be sure to check back.

A quick report from the Team USA and the headquarters at the Sapporo branch of the 2006 FIBA World Championship:

Team USA, along with China, Italy, Puerto Rico, Senegal and Slovenia, is sharing hotel headquarters in Sapporo. All clubs checked in on August 17th and each team had a one-hour time slot for a practice or shoot-around at the venue, a very cozy and well lit arena that lists capacity at 10,000 but seemed to be more of an 8,000 seat college arena type facility to one and all.

Bumped into Yao Ming and a few of his teammates last night at the hotel front desk. He looked great and was his usual classy self as he arranged a time with a Houston-based columnist on assignment in Japan to do an interview on the opening of the '06 World Championship - a basketball tournament that many are touting as the best tournament the sport has ever imagined.

The United States team had a very light shoot-around - much to the joy of about 25 or 30 international photographers who snapped away as Team USA shook off the long day and early wake-up & bus call in Seoul- 6:30am.

Today, the 18th, the team will conduct a full practice from 11am to 1pm (Japan time) and then participate in the official opening ceremony reception for the tournament which takes place this evening at 6:30pm (Japan time). The practice will be the final tune-up before the tournament officially begins on Saturday, Aug 19th.

Besides the USA vs. Puerto Rico match, many eyes will be trained on the Sendai bracket and the Argentina vs. France tilt. For some others, the opening day schedule in Hamamatsu and the Turkey vs. Lithuania matchup might be as interesting.

Official rosters for each of the 24 teams will be submitted to FIBA at a 3pm (Japan time) technical meeting that all teams must attend. Many of the basic tournament rules and all logistics will be explained and reviewed at that meeting, a tradition at all world tournaments.

To that end, the United States faced one of the more difficult aspects of the preparations for this great competition and that was to get the USA team roster down to 12 players. San Antonio's Bruce Bowen flew back to the States yesterday. He is such a class act and - very importantly - he is still very much a part of the USA effort to win gold - here in Japan - and at future international tournaments. Bruce Bowen will be a HUGE part of USA Basketball for many years to come.