7-footer no match for Team USA

INDIANAPOLIS -- The U.S. team found itself in an unusual situation Saturday night. For the first time in the three-day old World Basketball Championships, the team had to dig itself out of a hole against Houston Rocket draftee Yao Ming and his China team. After being down by as much as 12 points, the U.S. team battled back and won 84-65.\nThe U.S. team, 3-0 in its quest for the gold medal in the Championships, was aided greatly by its defense after faltering offensively.\n"I thought China gave us a test," U.S. coach George Karl said. "Defensively, from the two-minute mark in the third quarter on, we had great effort, great intensity. Slowly, we wore the Chinese players out a little bit."\nBut the pressure on the Chinese team didn't happen until the U.S. team was already down 28-16 in the first quarter. Not until six seconds left in the first half, in front of a crowd of 22,619, did the U.S. team take a one-point lead, and headed into halftime with a score of 43-42.\nChina was led offensively by the Denver Nugget's Menke Bateer, who scored 19 points, with seven rebounds. Bateer's strong offensive game made up for Ming's lack of one. Ming, who in a game against Algeria scored 38 points, was held to just 10 points in 26 minutes of play after picking up three early fouls. Ming fouled out of the game with 2:47 left in the game.\n"We beat him up a little bit," U.S. team member and Detroit Piston Ben Wallace said. "We banged him. As the game went on, he started to wear down a little bit. The more we pushed him, the less fight he put up. I think that was the biggest key to the second half."\nWhile continuing to pound China defensively, the U.S. heated up their shooting following the break. The U.S. team shot just over 38 percent in the first half, but finished the game shooting close to 47 percent.\nThe big spark for the U.S. team came from the Phoenix Sun's Shawn Marion. Marion came off the bench to contribute 15 points, the second most on the U.S. team. Seven of those points came in the first five minutes of the second half, and two of those points came from a crowd-igniting dunk.\n"You never know who is going to start or be a factor," said U.S. team member and L.A. Clipper Elton Brand. "Tonight, Shawn Marion came off the bench and gave us a real spark. The first game, I started off hot and the second game it was Paul Pierce. So we have a lot of weapons."\nNot attracting as much attention as Marion in the game, Pierce led the U.S. offensively with 19 points in 29 minutes of play.\nTo start the second half, the Chinese team continued to hang with the U.S., until the U.S. went on a 9-1 shooting streak that widened the gap between the two teams. With Ming out, and the U.S. team's forwards consistently pressuring Bateer, the Chinese team did not recover.\nThe U.S. team earned is the No. 1 seed for Group C heading into the second round play. The U.S. faces Russia tonight at 8 p.m.\n"We can't afford to take any team lightly," Wallace said. "We know everyone is gunning for us. They are coming out hard. It's a matter of us maintaining our energy and taking control of the game. We don't want to make it a possession game. We want to keep the tempo up"