Rock stars here, Team USA not partying like them

[August 05, 2008]  SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- The swarm of photographers quickly reached more than a dozen, all for a can't-miss chance to witness a real superstar in action.

Only Dwight Howard wasn't doing anything super at all. No dunks, no shot blocks, nothing requiring even a hint of athletic ability.

After all, any couch potato can order a hamburger at a fast-food joint.

But Howard's lunch with Chris Bosh in Macau was good enough for Chinese fans starving for a glimpse of the U.S. Olympic basketball team, because they aren't getting many chances. The Americans say they took it easy in that gambling town, and they're not exactly living it up since arriving here, content to stay fresh before the Olympics.

"We really didn't do much," Dwyane Wade said. "We're trying to adjust a lot to the time difference and so a lot of us are resting, trying to get our bodies right, getting a lot of massages. We went out on the town to check it out, but besides that we didn't do much."

That might change Monday night. Coach Mike Krzyzewski canceled practice and gave the team the day off, perhaps its last until the Olympics are over. There's plenty of nightlife in Shanghai, quite a bit catering to Americans, and some players said they might check it out.

Or they could opt to relax. The U.S. team just completed the difficult portion of its exhibition schedule, playing consecutive nights in Macau, hopping a commercial flight to Shanghai the following day, then facing Russia the next night. That could have partly explained an occasionally sluggish performance in an 89-68 victory over the Russians, easily the Americans' closest game yet.

"I feel like an NBA season," Carmelo Anthony said. "Three games in four nights."

The U.S. players are like rock stars in China, where the NBA estimates 300 million people play basketball. Young fans, some dressed in Kobe Bryant jerseys, have surrounded the front of the hotel where the Americans are staying for the last few days, hoping to spot anybody on the Dream Team.

(And, yes, they are still called that here. That "Redeem Team" moniker may stick in the States, but they still carry the same nickname here that they had in 1992, when they deserved it, and 2004, when they didn't.)

But they're rock stars sort of like the guys from Aerosmith after they got old and had kids. Their idea of fun isn't what most would expect from them.

Asked what he planned to do on his day off, Michael Redd said: "Sleep, talk to my wife, talk to my son, and just probably play dominoes with Tayshaun Prince."

If these guys sounded any blander, they'd have to be re-nicknamed the San Antonio Spurs.

Some lucky fans got their wish Monday afternoon, when Chris Paul exited the hotel to jump in a shuttle bus waiting outside. A group of girls shrieked as if they were watching the leader of a boy band, one of them getting shoulder-blocked by an overzealous security guard after coming too close.

Part of the reason the Americans haven't gone out much is because they have all they need right where they are.

The resort in Macau, where they stayed and played, was basically an extension of Las Vegas, where they trained before coming to China. A large selection of restaurants guaranteed the players wouldn't have to eat any food they weren't used to. The team dined one night at Morton's steakhouse, and the Fatburger (where Howard and Bosh dined) in the food court was a hit with members of the U.S. delegation.

The hotel's plaza in Shanghai features a full day's worth of menu choices from back home: California Pizza Kitchen, where Wade, Paul, and LeBron James were part of a dinner party after arriving Saturday; Tony Roma's; Starbucks and Haagen-Dazs. This is all part of USA Basketball's plan to keep the players as comfortable as possible. Even Bryant, an experienced world traveler who's lived in Europe and made multiple visits to Asia, said before this trip he wanted to stick with what he knew.

"I had a bad experience in the United States with some damn cheesecake," he said, recalling a bout with food poisoning after ordering room service from a Sacramento hotel in the 2002 playoffs. "So if I'm scared of cheesecake, the night before a game I'll probably just stay with the chicken and the steak."

The Americans had one final exhibition Tuesday against Australia, then it was off to Beijing. So if they were planning to find some fun among their fans, time was running out.

"We're going to try to get out a little bit," Wade said. "We try to enjoy the experience wherever we go and hopefully we can do that -- and it not be too crazy."

[Associated Press; By BRIAN MAHONEY]

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