Team USA Notebook: McMillan Preparing to Have Fernandez in Training Camp

ISTANBUL -- Portland coach Nate McMillan wouldn't mind at all seeing Rudy Fernandez stay with the Trail Blazers.

McMillan, a Team USA assistant, was asked by FanHouse if his hope is the disgruntled swingman will remain with the team.

"He's a great player,'' McMillan said. "He's a good player. A talented player. Very talented.''

Asked further about the subject and McMillan said, "He is in my notes for training camp. All right.''

Fernandez, unhappy with his role in McMillan's offense, wants to be traded and already has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for that demand having been publicly issued. Through his agent, Andy Miller, Fernandez told The Oregonian two weeks ago he intends to not report to training camp even though he has two years left on his contract.

McMillan spoke to Fernandez, a member of the Spanish national team, two weeks ago when Team USA was in Spain to play exhibition games, but has not divulged specifics of the conversation. But McMillan said he hopes to speak with Fernandez again by this weekend in Istanbul.

Team USA and Spain both have advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Championship. The teams are on opposite sides of the bracket but could meet in Sunday's gold-medal game game at the Sinan Erdem Dome.

"We haven't talked (in Istanbul),'' McMillan said. "But we'll talk.''

McMillan cares deeply about trying to straighten out this matter.

"That's my player,'' McMillan said. "He's my player. That's how I'm approaching it. When I see him, I'll talk to him. I'll wish him luck. And if we get the opportunity to meet each other, then we're going to looking to beat each other. But that's my player.''

For how much longer is anybody's guess.

London Calling

Not that there was much doubt, but USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo figures forward Kevin Durant can make plans to spend the 2012 Olympics in London as a member of Team USA.

"I think you would assume Durant is going to be on the team. That's one,'' Colangelo said of players off this summer's Team USA outfit marked for London.

Colangelo could see a scenario in which the 2012 Olympic team is mostly a combination of players from the 2008 Olympic team and from this team. None of the players from 2008 opted to play this summer.

But Colangelo stressed it's obviously still extremely early in the process. There are 35 players in the pool now for 2012, with 22 having been on the 2008 Olympic team or on this team. There are some top players in the pool to have not participated in either event and some could be added, namely Clippers forward Blake Griffin.

"We'll always have a fluid roster,'' Colangelo said. "You're always going to have some turnover going forward because players need to look forward for that opportunity. It's not like with some of the countries that we play against, they'll have the same guys playing two or three Olympics in a row or World Championships. But that's not going to be the case with us. It just can't be. It's not realistic.

"The Olympians (from 2008) played three years, took a year off and now we have a new group. It's all about the equity and everybody's earning equity.''

Colangelo said Team USA officials could face extremely difficult roster decisions in 2012 if a good number of players from 2008 and 2010 all want to play in London.

"That's good,'' Colangelo said. "I like those kind of decisions.''

For now, Durant, Team USA's leading scorer with a 17.7 average, was pleased to hear Colengelo say his tickets looks punched for London.

"I hope so,'' said the Oklahoma City star. "So I'm going to do my best but keep that in my mind. I've got to continue to keep working hard.''

Russia Next

Team USA next faves Russia in a Thursday quarterfinal. The Americans, who got a favorable draw for the knockout round, are big favorites. But coach Mike Krzyzewski is taking no team lightly.

"We're beatable. We're not unbeatable,'' said Krzyzewski, whose team took Tuesday off and will practice Wednesday in preparation for the game. "But I've been fortunate to be the U.S. coach for the last five years, and there's no one in our country with a greater feeling of respect for the international game. I just think there are so many good teams, so many great players... We just have to work hard and be our best and that might be good enough to win.''

The Americans last played Russia in the Worlds in 2002, winning a group game 106-92. Russia defeated Team USA 66-64 in a semifinal at the 1998 Worlds, but that was an American team without NBA players due to the lockout.

For Turkish fans, Hedo Turkoglu’s still gold

ISTANBUL, TURKEY—From the 20-foot-high facing of an overpass bridging a six-lane highway on the southwestern edge of this massive city, his face beams down.

In and around the Sultanahmet area — the gorgeous, centuries-old home of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, the two most recognizable landmarks of this historic city — his face adorns billboards and buildings at almost every turn.

He is there in the port and around the arena, omnipresent.

And when you mention Hedo Turkoglu’s name around these parts, people perk up.

“Hedo? He is No. 1,” said 31-year-old Bora Nebioglu. “The best.”

There are tens of thousands of Raptors fans who may not agree with the assessment of Nebioglu, a hotel worker who says he’s an avid fan of the Turkish national basketball team. But that’s a rather parochial view of the 31-year-old Turkoglu, the one-year Raptors washout who seems to be the singular face of his national team at the world championship here.

Even though he had been playing so-so, averaging about 10 points in Turkey’s first-round games while shooting just 32 per cent from the field, there can be no denying his popularity.

“Everybody likes Hedo,” Nebioglu said before Turkey routed France 95-77 in the first playoff round Sunday night. “He was our first player in the NBA. He is the captain of our team. We are all very proud. Turkish people are very proud of him.”

And very familiar with what he’s done in his career. Nebioglu, who was quick to point out that fellow Turk Mehmet Okur has an NBA championship ring (won in 2005 with Detroit) while Turkoglu is still searching, knew immediately what Turkoglu’s year with the Raptors was like.

“He was very good in Orlando but he did not play well when he was in Toronto at all,” said the restaurant worker. “He will be better with Phoenix Suns, we are sure.”

No one here seems to be the least bit concerned by what went wrong in Toronto. They know he was a Raptor, isn’t one anymore, and just revel in his time with the national team.

“For us, he brings great pride,” said Nebioglu.

Basketball may play second fiddle to soccer in this country (“It is that way in all Europe. What can you do?” Nebioglu said with a shrug) but not for this two-week period. The 15,000-seat Sinan Erdem Dome was packed for the easy win over France and the hype is never-ending. There are huge pennants bearing the likenesses of the national team everywhere and Turkoglu is front and centre on all of them. He responded with one of his best games of the tournament, scoring a team-high 20 points and dishing out a team-best three assists.

“His impact on the team is unimaginable,” said Turkey’s Sinan Guler. “The way he played today (energizes) everybody else and the country, of course. When you hear his name being said on the announcements, everybody’s screaming louder than for anybody else.”

To many, it’s as if Turkoglu never set foot in Toronto. They love him for what he does for the Turkish program. They remember what he did the year before he spent with the Raptors.

“He’s probably the No. 1 sports guy in Turkey right now because of the way he played, especially with Orlando,” said Guler.

Turkoglu was not available to reporters after Turkey’s win, blowing off a group of about 100 by taking a back exit from the court. It certainly won’t damage his reputation here, much the same way people shrug off his year with the Raptors.

“I don’t know what happened in Toronto,” said Nebioglu. “He did not play well, but we don’t care about that much as long as he does well for Turkey. He is ours.”

Offseason of change continues for Miami Heat's LeBron James

On July 8, LeBron James announced he was taking his talents to South Beach'' to play for the Miami Heat. Not only would his zip code be changing, but his uniform number as well. He has chosen to wear No. 6 next season.

It's a season of change for LeBron as he has decided to revamp his signature, too. Since 2003, James has always signed his first name with a looping ``L'' that closely resembled the start of his uniform No. 23. Now he has tapered that with a more definable starting letter and added ``#6'' to each autograph.

``It just feels right. This marks a new beginning for me,'' said James in an exclusive interview with Upper Deck, the sole supplier of his authentic memorabilia. ``Miami represents a new chapter in my basketball career. I'm really looking forward to it. It's gonna be fun. And I'm gonna do what I can to the best of my ability to bring home a championship to that city.''

New state, new team, new uniform number; it only makes sense James would want to modify his autograph as well.

``LeBron's signature has always been in demand and now that he's chosen to change it, [Upper Deck] has the opportunity to completely overhaul LeBron's memorabilia lineup -- from team to number to design,'' said Steve Sloan, Upper Deck product manager.

U.S. breezes into quarters

ISTANBUL - Before it can win a world championship, the United States needed to start looking like a world champion.

Kevin Durant, Chauncey Billups and the rest of the Americans finally had that appearance yesterday, powering into the quarterfinals with a 121-66 victory over Angola.

“Obviously we want to stay humble, but at the same time we have to know that we can do it,” forward Kevin Love said. “We know regardless of what people are saying, that we still are the favorites and we should play and really act like it, too.”

They did, opening the knockout round with a quick knockout.

With Billups scoring 16 of his 19 points and Durant all of his 17 in the first half, the Americans saved their most impressive performance in Istanbul for the elimination stage, overwhelming the Angolans from the start after a couple of lackluster performances to close the group stage.

“We don’t want to be a team that’s going to turn it on and off,” Durant said. “I think of course we’re playing with a little more sense of urgency when you know if you lose, you go home. Guys came out and responded from those last two games.”

The U.S. forced turnovers that led to easy baskets in transition, and when forced into the halfcourt, shot 18-of-38 from 3-point range, one off the team record for 3s at worlds.

“Our guys were sharp,” U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

Eric Gordon and Rudy Gay also scored 17 for the Americans, who will face Russia on Thursday night. Gordon was 5-of-6 behind the arc.

Joaquim Gomes, who played at Valparaiso, scored 21 for Angola, which finished fourth in Group A. The Angolans advanced on a tiebreaker by virtue of their overtime victory over Germany, but had lost by 50 to Serbia, and 21 apiece to Argentina and Australia.

They were no match for the Americans, who had won the teams’ four meetings in the Olympics, starting with a 116-48 romp in the Dream Team’s debut in Barcelona in 1992, straight through to a 97-76 victory in Beijing two years ago.