Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007 | 7:18 a.m.
Usie Richards combines his two passions as president of both the U.S. Virgin Islands Legislature and that territory's basketball federation.
Sometimes, those passions runneth over, as they did last week in the Thomas & Mack Center, where the most exotic participant in the FIBA Americas Championship also provided the most drama.
The Virgin Islands - St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John - was blasted by the U.S. in its opener. Still needing only one victory against Canada, Brazil or Venezuela to advance to the second round, V.I. proceeded to go 0-for-3.
It had first-half leads against all three of those opponents, but its lack of roster depth caught up with it in each game.
The drama occurred Friday, at the end of a 94-84 defeat by Canada.
Carl Krauser, who played at the University of Pittsburgh, led a 2-on-1 fast break for V.I. He didn't pass, then missed a close but tough shot with 10 seconds remaining.
As Krauser retreated downcourt, Richards yelled , "Pass the ball!" from the eighth row of the nearly empty arena. Each of the roughly 200 fans then heard Krauser bark "(Expletive) you!" back at Richards.
Richards appeared to stand up and challenge Krauser, daring him to come into the stands.
Virgin Islands coach Tavester Anderson pulled Krauser from the game. As he stomped to the bench, Krauser unleashed another expletive-filled salvo.
Richards boiled during the game about a report by Channel 8 sports anchor Chris Maathuis, who, tongue-in-cheek, said he didn't even know the Virgin Islands had a basketball team.
"Those were some disparaging comments," Richards said. "That's an affront. The Islands have been playing international competition since 1964. We're among the top 10 of the 44 countries in the Americas . That's why we're in Las Vegas.
"We're proud that the Virgin Islands is here."
V.I. - what its players yell in unison on breaking huddles - advanced through a Centro Basket tournament in Panama to reach Las Vegas and get a shot at its first Olympics in basketball.
Richards' pride comes from getting that chance despite living in a territory with fewer than 150,000 inhabitants. No other country in the Americas tournament has a population of less than 4 million.
"We're ranked 32nd out of 228 FIBA members," Richards said. "We see that as a big accomplishment."
The effort fizzled in the Virgin Islands' final two games, though, when severe dehydration kept Krauser out of the second half against Brazil and the entire game against Venezuela.
Richards was not offended by Krauser's very public comments toward him at the end of the Canada game.
"No, because he's from the streets - he's from Brooklyn," Richards said. "He'll be OK. We look forward to having him on the team for a couple years."
No V.I. T-shirt
One of the most popular items at the concession stands has been the gray T-shirt that bears the flags of each of the 10 participants. It goes for $22.
U.S. custom jerseys fetch $140 or $95. U.S. sweats cost $120 - $55 for the top and $65 for the bottom.
Individual country T-shirts cost $22. Don't look for a Virgin Islands T-shirt, though, because none was produced. Richards doesn't need another reason to fume.
Any connection?
During timeouts or lulls, especially in practice, LeBron James often can be seen gnawing on his fingernails. He does it so frequently, it's a wonder he doesn't draw blood.
"Just a habit of mine," he said. "Everyone has his own habits. That's one of mine."
Former NBA great Spencer Haywood, during a practice at Valley High two weeks ago, said he did the same thing.
Is that a mark of the great ones, LeBron?
"Oh yeah," he said, laughing. "Yeah, I guess."
The originals
Longtime resident and reader Johnny Ventura, the self-proclaimed "happiest person in Las Vegas," rang last week to inquire about the meaning of FIBA.
That's the acronym of the International Basketball Federation, the world governing body of the sport. Founded in 1932 in Geneva , Switzerland, it was moved to Munich , Germany, in 1956 and relocated to Geneva in 2002.
For extra credit, Mr. Ventura, what were the eight founding countries of FIBA?
(Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland.)
In a zone
U.S. assistant coach Jim Boeheim has employed a zone defense for most of his 31 years at Syracuse University, and that's been his area of expertise on the national team.
Foreign competition usually tries to neutralize the Americans' individual strengths with zones to force them to make long-range shots.
That has not worked at the Americas, as the U.S. shot a stellar 56.1 percent from the field, including a blistering 48.4 percent from 3-point range, in winning its four preliminary-round games by an average of 48 points.
"We're shooting it much better now than we have in the past," Boeheim said. "We have been attacking it much better now. It puts teams in a bad situation. They really can't defend us either way now."
Someone suggested that the U.S. has earned As, or A-pluses, across the board. Boeheim paused.
"We're still in mid terms," he said of the team's need to qualify, either in Las Vegas or in another tournament next year, for next year's Olympics in China. "A lot of times, you get As and don't do so well ... We have to keep going and make sure we do well in the finals."
When the U.S. national team practiced at Valley High, dozens of the school's students and average fans hung out by a concrete staircase to catch a glimpse of , or an autograph from , the American stars.
Koji Sakamoto was one of the lucky fans.
The 33-year-old native of Japan got most of the U.S. players' autographs on a special American flag that had been handed down to him from his wife's late stepfather.
The couple recently moved to Las Vegas from Hawaii.
"He's very excited," Yumiko Sakamoto said of her husband, who doesn't speak English. "Seeing a lot of those players has been great. This was a great idea."
Everyone, it seems, is a fan of the U.S. team.
When practice shifted from Valley High to the Thomas & Mack Center before the competition, the U.S. took the court after Uruguay, whose players lingered so they could take snapshots of the Americans as they warmed up.
Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) and Mike Krzyzewski (Duke) aren't the only coaches at the tournament with collegiate national championships on their resumes.
Jim Harrick, an assistant to Tavester Anderson on the Virgin Islands' staff, guided UCLA to a national title in 1995.
Harrick, who sat on the end of the V.I. bench and all but ran strategy sessions and mapped plays during timeouts, will coach Bakersfield in the NBA Developmental League again this season.
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