Collison ready for challenge

By Staff And Wire Reports     Sep 2, 2000

Can a team of collegiate all-stars give the United States men’s basketball team The “Dream Team” a competitive game?

The answer will come today when Nick Collison and the U.S. Select Team meet the Olympians in an exhibition contest in Honolulu.

USA Basketball lists official game time as 5 p.m., Central, with a live telecast on channels 27 and 41. The local stations, however, indicate the game will start closer to 6 p.m., immediately following a U.S.-Brazil women’s game, to start at 4 p.m. on 27 and 41.

“I think we can do some positive things against them,” said Collison, KU’s 6-foot-9, 240-pound sophomore forward. “We will probably try a lot of zone and trap a little. We’ll try to get them out of their sets with traps and maybe some zone.

“I think the key will be stopping them in transition. If we do that, we’ll be OK. They are so athletic they can get out and run and dunk all day. We have to make sure to get back.”

Collison has spent the week taking part in practices and scrimmages versus the Dream Team. He’s mainly been matched against Kevin Garnett (6-11, 220, Minnesota Timberwolves) and Alonzo Mourning (6-10, 260, Miami Heat).

“They are definitely a lot bigger than college guys, but not as big in person as they seem on TV. They’ve got more pounds and are definitely big and strong.”

The Select Team is made up of Collison, Duke’s Shane Battier, Illinois’ Cory Bradford, North Carolina’s Joseph Forte, Stanford’s Casey Jacobsen, Ohio State’s Ken Johnson, Maryland’s Terence Morris, Notre Dame’s Troy Murphy, Michigan State’s Jason Richardson, Iowa State’s Jamal Tinsley, Arizona’s Michael Wright and the Blue Devils’ Jason Williams.

The 2000 Dream Team roster includes: Ray Allen, Milwaukee; Vin Baker, Seattle; Vince Carter, Toronto; Tim Duncan, San Antonio; Kevin Garnett, Minnesota; Tim Hardaway, Miami; Grant Hill, Detroit; Allan Houston, New York; Jason Kidd, Phoenix; Alonzo Mourning, Miami; Gary Payton, Seattle; and Steve Smith, Portland.

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