http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/09/sports/olympics/09hoops.html

A Net and a Knick Lead the U.S. to Victory
By LIZ ROBBINS

Published: August 9, 2004


STANBUL, Aug. 8 - The shrieking whistles and booming chants of the fans were building to a frenzy, and it was not only the stifling air inside Abdi Ipecki Arena that made the United States Olympic men's basketball team sweat.

With the LeBron James-led second unit showing its inexperience, a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter dwindled to an uncomfortable 3 with less than four minutes left against host Turkey.

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Coach Larry Brown reinserted the starters, and two Hudson River rivals, who had been struggling to find their roles, emerged.

One summer ago in Puerto Rico, the Nets' Richard Jefferson was a bench rider, a late addition to a team of veterans qualifying for the Olympics. On Sunday night, Jefferson, once a poor free-throw shooter, sank two free throws and hit a baseline jumper to hush the crowd and lift a shaky American team to a 7-point lead.

One play later, the Knicks' Stephon Marbury bounced a crisp pass on the break to Jefferson, who whipped it back to Tim Duncan, and the United States was headed to a 79-67 victory over a team that is not going to the Olympics.

Perhaps no two players better symbolize the team's uneven development than Jefferson and Marbury, who will participate in their first Olympics.

(...)

Marbury does not enjoy the same comfort level. Brown has embarked on a familiar challenge - trying to transform Marbury into the true point guard this unsettled Olympic team desperately needs.

"I've been harder on him than anybody," Brown said before the game. "I see progress, but it's going to be a work in progress as well."

In a telling development, Marbury, who scored 20.2 points a game for the Knicks last season, took no shots Sunday night.

He finished with three assists and one technical foul after angering a referee.

"We need him to sacrifice more than anybody," Brown said. "There's more responsibility on his shoulders than anyone on this team. The hardest thing for him is that we don't have a lot of time. I got to make him understand that this is the only way we can win."

Marbury, 27, who has played for seven coaches and four teams in his eight years, said he appreciated Brown's teaching.

"He just wants the best, he wants me to be perfect," Marbury said. "At first, it was kind of like, 'Wow, this guy is really on my back.' ''

He and Brown placed calls back to their mutual confidant, the Knicks' president, Isiah Thomas, so they could figure each other out. "I spoke to Isiah, so I understood," Marbury said.

(...)

>>>> I like reading that kind of things. If he could become a true pg? He would then be able to help us reach a new level.

[Edited by - raven on 08/09/2004 03:37:18]