LASLAS VEGAS -- LeBron James threads a low bounce pass to Kobe Bryant cutting baseline. Bryant goes up and under for a reverse layup. The Thomas and Mack Center crowd goes wild.
Dwight Howard blocks a Team Canada baseline jump shot attempt. Jason Kidd scoops up the ball and flicks it fifty feet to a sprinting Carmelo Anthony for an emphatic dunk. The fans roar.
Anthony underhands a ball, like a bowler, to Bryant. Another big dunk and another giddy huzzah from the stands. There are sweet, sublime moments aplenty when Team USA takes the floor for a FIBA Americas Championship game. The highlight reel is full of them.
But if the all-star team's offensive exploits are a given, they aren't definitive, they aren't what characterizes this team in action.
If Saturday's 113-63 win over Team Canada is any indication, the heart of Team USA 's game, the essence of their identity, is an unrelenting collective will, a nasty killer instinct.
They're not just beating teams in this tournament, they're driving them into the ground, pounding Venezuala by 43 points, Virgin Islands by 64, and now Canada by 50.
You can chalk up some of the massive differentials to the gap in talent between the squads, but after watching Team USA systematically overwhelm Team Canada it becomes clear talent is only half the equation.
James gets down in a mano-a-mano, Rucker Park-style crouch, arms spread wide, and barks at Team Canada guard Olumuyiwa Famutimi: "Come on! Come on!," daring the shorter man to put the ball on the floor.
Half a second after a Team USA bucket, while his teammates hustle back on defense, Jason Kidd spins and gets in the face of Team Canada point Denham Brown, waiting for a play on the inbounds pass, ready to hassle and chase and dog the overmatched guard length of the floor.
Amare Stoudemire is at the line after an and-one put-back deep under the bucket puts Team USA up 17 points, and Bryant is at the top of the key, shouting at his teammates, "Right here! Let's turn this up right here. Let's turn this up right now!"
Up 40-plus with just seconds remaining in the third quarter, and Michael Redd scrambles baseline to get free for a corner three (one of 30 taken and fifteen made by Team USA on the night). Bang.
They bring it, start to finish. Every pick is a switch. Every ball handler and shooter gets chased and harassed. Every defensive rebound is a quick-turn opportunity for a fastbreak. And every time James gets the ball near midcourt, no matter what the score is, he's going to dunk all over your sorry butt.
By Eric Neel
ESPN.COM
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