It's Steph, in Knick of time

Takes command with U.S.-best 31

By FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

ATHENS - Stephon Marbury was hoping for a sympathetic ear when he called his boss, Isiah Thomas, on Monday to talk about his struggles at the Olympics.

What Marbury received instead was a heavy dose of reality.


"Man, I feel like I'm playing like ---," Marbury told the Knicks' president.


"No, you are playing like ---," Thomas fired back. "You're not playing like Stephon Marbury. Don't forget who you are. You're a 20-point, nine assists guy."


For five games, Marbury had been humbled by Carlos Arroyo, Shane Heal and Sarunas Jasikevicius and admitted he was having trouble adjusting to Larry Brown's ways. But after Marbury used the team's off day on Monday to refine his shooting and followed it up with a stern consultation with Thomas, the Coney Island point guard responded with the most prolific-scoring game in U.S. Olympic basketball history. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal included.


Marbury erupted for 31 points yesterday as the United States overwhelmed previously unbeaten Spain, 102-94, to advance to today's semifinals (1 p.m., Ch. 4) against Argentina, a 69-64 winner over Greece. Argentina beat the U.S. in the 2002 World Championships.


Marbury broke the scoring record of 30 points held previously by Adrian Dantley (1976) and Charles Barkley (1992). His six 3-pointers also set a U.S. Olympic record, breaking Reggie Miller's mark of five set in 1996.


It was a stunning reversal for a player who entered the quarterfinals having scored a total of 21 points with two 3-pointers in five games. In the preliminary round, Marbury shot 6-for-30 and misfired on 14-of-16 three-pointers. Yesterday, he made 10-of-15 shots, including six-of-nine three-pointers.


"This is the biggest stage," Marbury said. "I'm just playing to win the gold medal. I don't care about any of those things. Tonight, I just came to win. I want to wrap a gold medal around my neck and then win an NBA championship. Then, everything will be complete."


"Even the Yankees go through a slump," said Lamar Odom, the Queens forward who has known Marbury for 20 years. "He was going to break out of it."


Marbury's reign over Spain was not without controversy, however. After the U.S. dominated the game, Spain's coach Mario Pesquera attempted to create an international incident by accusing the referees of playing by NBA rules and criticizing Brown for an ill-advised but harmless timeout in the waning seconds.


"I must stress that we played under NBA rules and not FIBA rules," said Pesquera, referring to the sport's governing body, "with all the traveling not being called."


That probably would not have helped Spain's cause. Tim Duncan, the best player on the floor, played only 21 minutes, including four in the first half because of foul trouble. Despite Duncan's limited action, the U.S. led, 44-43, at halftime and was up, 74-67, after three quarters. Odom, who was assigned to guard Pau Gasol, fouled out in 22 minutes.


Gasol, the Memphis Grizzlies' power forward, played all 40 minutes, scoring 29 points and going to the foul line 11 times. Pesquera's team, however, ignored Gasol in the fourth quarter and he scored only four points in the final 10 minutes.


The deciding factor was Marbury's ability to exploit the same zone defense the U.S. had seen all tournament. Brown's club shot 24-for-49 from the floor and 12-of-22 on threes. Coming in, it had made 21 of 89 from behind the line. Spain made seven of 23 three-pointers and its star point guard, Juan Carlos Navarro, shot just 5-of-18 overall.


Pesquera, however, declined to state the obvious: that his team had been outplayed and that Brown had outcoached him. Incredibly, Pesquera stood around for 20 seconds complaining about Brown calling a timeout with 23 seconds left and the U.S. leading by eight.


Pesquera began screaming at Brown and the Spain supporters starting cursing at the U.S. bench.


Brown may have been guilty of over-coaching, not trying to embarrass Spain.


Pesquera's team began fouling in the final minute to stop the clock and get the ball back. In the span of 28 seconds, it committed four fouls, sending the U.S. to the line each time, including Marbury with 23 seconds to go. Spain was acting as if it still had a fighting chance and yet Pesquera was upset that the U.S., up eight at the time, was rubbing it in the Spaniards' faces.


"I tried to apologize and explain to the Spanish coach but he didn't want to listen," Brown said. "He kept saying something about the NBA to me."


When Pesquera was asked about the crowd cheering for his team to beat the despised Americans, he corrected the reporter.


"They did not cheer for the weakest, but for the strongest team, and that was us," he said. "It's time we told the truth."

When Pesquera was asked about the crowd cheering for his team to beat the despised Americans, he corrected the reporter.


"They did not cheer for the weakest, but for the strongest team, and that was us," he said. "It's time we told the truth."

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