SHANGHAI (AP) After a month of practice and years of planning, the U.S. mens basketball team has arrived at the World Cup.
An all-night flight from Sydney to Shanghai that landed early Thursday brought the two-time defending World Cup champion Americans to Chinas most-populous city, where theyll play three first round games starting Sunday. It took more than 10 hours of flying time, then another two-plus hours for the team to clear customs and finally reach its hotel.
From there, a few hours of relaxing awaited before an afternoon practice.
The challenges begin, U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said.
A handful of fans waited outside the team hotel on a rainy morning, getting there a couple hours before the buses from the airport pulled in just with the hope of grabbing a few autographs. Some players obliged, as did Popovich who used a gold marker to carefully sign his name on an array of photos, sneakers and basketballs.
Players said finally getting to China brought a different feel.
Its kicked in, U.S. guard Kemba Walker of the Boston Celtics said after practice. The next game we play, its the real thing. Were focused, were locked in and were ready to play.
Its not like there hasnt been challenges already. Just consider the travel itineraries for the U.S. to this point.
The flights from Los Angeles to Melbourne, then Melbourne to Sydney and now Sydney to Shanghai add up to nearly 30 hours and 14,000 miles in the air. If the U.S. makes the medal round, therell be about another 2,500 miles of travel within China. Add the return flight to the U.S. after the tournament, and the trips total will easily exceed 22,000 miles more than half a regular seasons worth of travel for most NBA teams.
All that flying comes in the span of basically a month.
And that doesnt even count what it took for players to individually reach Las Vegas and Los Angeles, the site of the two training camp weeks, or the promotional trip to China that Donovan Mitchell made earlier this summer.
I think were good, said Mitchell, the Utah Jazz standout who has seen quite a following in China on his past trips to the basketball-crazed nation. I think were doing well. We got here and guys energy in practice was great, guys were sharp. When you start to worry about how much weve been traveling, thats when it starts to become a mental thing.
The Americans went 3-1 on their pre-World Cup tour, beating Spain in Anaheim, California, then splitting two games against Australia in Melbourne the loss snapping a 78-game winning streak for the senior national team against major competition, dating back to 2006 before topping Canada in the final tune-up.
Up next on Sunday is the Czech Republic, an opponent that caught Popovichs eye for the way it battled Lithuania in a pre-World Cup friendly.
We dont take anybody lightly, Popovich said.
Popovich noted that there hadnt been much time for sightseeing on the opening day in Shanghai, and it wouldnt seem that itll be a priority over the next week either. Theres more practices set for Friday and Saturday, then games starting every other day beginning with the matchup against the Czechs.
