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US getting used to physical play at the world championships

Early on in the basketball world championship, US captain Carmelo Anthony let his younger teammates in on a secret of international basketball.

"They were kind of looking for the foul and we were like, `Look, ain't no fouls over here,'" Anthony said. "You gotta play through it and if you get a foul, you get a foul. If not then you keep playing."

Through its first six games in the tournament, Team USA has had to adjust to the officials as much as the opposition. International basketball is far more physical than the NBA, which has taken strides to streamline the game by cracking down on handchecks and illegal screens.

US managing director Jerry Colangelo helped lead the cleanup effort when he owned the Phoenix Suns.

"The NBA game has changed some and in the NBA it's not as physical," US captain Dwyane Wade said.

"Physical" is a nice way of describing international basketball. "Brutal" might be more accurate.

In Argentina's second-round game against New Zealand, Argentina's Andres Nocioni was felled by a forearm to the throat on a halfcourt pick. Everyone in Saitama Super Arena saw the blow -- except for the officials, who allowed play to continue while Nocioni writhed on the floor.

In Spain's quarterfinal victory over Lithuania on Tuesday, Spanish center Pau Gasol shoved an opponent over the baseline as they battled for a rebound. As Gasol snared the ball and laid it into the basket, the Lithuanian bench erupted.

The call? Two points for Spain.

"When you get over here the refs let a lot of things go on both sides, when we get physical and also when our opposing team gets physical," Wade said. "We had to get used to it, but now we kind of understand how the game goes a little bit better and we're able to be physical and be able to take some of the hits that come."

With an average victory margin of 26 points in its first six games, the US hasn't had much reason to gripe about the officials. The statistics indicate that the US has adapted to the different style of play. The Americans have made more free throws (136) than their opponents have attempted (117) and have been called for 44 fewer personal fouls.

Still, players have had to figure out what's a foul and what's not.
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