Nash and Stoudemire. Parker and Duncan. Stockton and Malone. Papaloukas and Tsartsaris?!?

The pick and roll - one of the most basic plays in basketball - is also one of the most difficult executions to defend. The Greek National Team, among others, have hurt Team USA with this play in recent international competition. But Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski isn't about to see that play destroy his team in Beijing:

P.J. Carlesimo, an assistant coach to Team USA boss Mike Krzyzewski, had clear orders when he gathered select-team players in an auxiliary gym Monday at Valley High.

He diagramed four or five variations of pick-and-roll offenses, and that's all the select team ran against the senior team for three hours.

It was relentless. The young select-team players have run the pick-and-roll against Team USA all week.

Carlesimo says the senior players were aggressive against the offense.

"It's just really a challenge, but they took us out of most of them,"he says. "They can use their athleticism and size and quickness to really stop people from running it."

Kobe and the rest of his teammates are clearly aware of the problem:

"They've hurt us pretty bad," Kobe Bryant says. "We're looking forward to the challenge, to see if we can negate that problem."

Listen to Kobe talk about defending the pick and roll on the bottom right of this page.

Elsewhere, Two4 echoes the call for improved defensive play in this piece over at NBA.com:

"No matter where you play or who you play against, if you're playing pick-up ball at the YMCA, if you defend and you rebound, you're going to win," Bryant said. "That's true anywhere you go. That's something that we'll focus on."

More Olympics:

Kobe says Team USA assistant and new Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni is more prepared that some give him credit for:

"You know what? He's actually more detailed than people think," Kobe Bryant said. "I used to think playing against Phoenix that the players are just freelancing, but he draws all that stuff up, and he can have 10 options on one play. I've never seen an offensive mind like his. And I don't know any player on this team that doesn't think (he) wouldn't be fun to play for."

Kobe might love Pau Gasol as a teammate, but the ultra-competitive Bryant says he's ready to deny Pau Gold in Beijing:

"One thing that's on my list is to stop Pau from winning a gold medal," Bryant said.

Of course, on thing Kobe does when he's on the floor is have fun and enjoy himself. And his time in Beijing will be no different, as he talks about his memories of the 1992 Dream Team:

"The joy of the game," he said. "I think a lot of times that gets lost in the Olympics because of all the pressure and the hype."

Tune up: Team USA vs. Canada on Friday, July 25, 5pm PT on ESPNHD.

Nike's new Flywire design (used in the Hyperdunks) is turning a lot of heads and the technology could change the way shoes are manufactured. Team USA will be sporting the shoes in next month's Beijing Olympics, as will teams from Russia, Argentina, China, Australia, Spain, Puerto Rico, Lithuania and Germany (see their shoes at NiceKicks.com).

But just what is Flywire construction, exactly?:

The inspiration for the new construction came from the cables on a suspension bridge. Rather than cords of steel, Flywire uses thin, strong-as-steel threads of Vectran, placed in fan-shaped clusters of between 10 and 20 strands, each about 3 inches in length. The strands are positioned at key points -- the forefoot, the heel, and so on -- and anchored to the shoe only at the ends; a scrim between the foot and the filaments keeps out rocks and debris but has no larger structural role. Up close, you can see through a Flywire shoe in the same way you can see through a house that's just been framed with two-by-fours.

And there's more:

Flywire lead designer Jay Meschter's stroke of genius was to stop thinking of a shoe as something assembled and start thinking of it as something that is, well, printed. When Meschter connected the two ideas of filaments and strength, his mind leaped to embroidery machines, which, he realized, print out lines and shapes using colored thread stitches rather than ink. If Meschter could stitch in 3-D form the cabling that holds up a suspension bridge, and anchor the ultrathin "cables" around a foot shape, he'd be able to create an ultralight shoe in the same time it took to stitch somebody's name on a shirt.

You know Kobe loves his Hyperdunks. Check out this great quote:

Predictably, a shoe made of thread and a slip of fabric is incredibly light. "When I tossed one up in the air," NBA MVP Kobe Bryant says of his Flywire-based HyperDunk, "I wasn't sure it was going to come back down." The surprise lies in how strong the new construction is -- and how Flywire could change Nike, maybe even the shoe industry itself.

As you probably know, Kobe and Team USA began practice in Las Vegas yesterday in preparation for next month's Olympic Games in Beijing.

We'll get to KB's thoughts on bringing home the gold in a moment. First, check out his thoughts on the Lakers losing Rony Turiaf to the Warriors:

"I'm sad about it. I wish we could have kept him," Bryant said. "I love him as a person. I love him as a basketball player and I hate to see him leave. I just wish him all the best.

"He would much rather have stayed with us, but that's the nature of the NBA, man."

Kob also chimed in on the possibility of bringing Sasha Vujacic back (the Lakers have made a qualifying offer of one year, $2.6 mil):

"I'm optimistic that we can re-sign Sasha," Kobe Bryant said. "We definitely should. He's turned into a fantastic player for us and I would hate to see us lose two of our key guys off the bench."

PREPPING FOR BEIJING

After failing to capture gold in the 2004 Olympics, Team USA is on a mission to prove America is the king of hoops. But what separates the 2004 team from the '08 version? Kobe:

"What we have is a determination to win," Bryant said after the first day of practice at Valley High. "We have guys who work extremely hard, play hard, play well together and go out there and do what we do best."

Bryant has put aside the Lakers' loss to Boston in the NBA Finals and re-ignited his passion for the sport he dominated this past season. He said he is looking forward to the competition and pressure the United States faces heading into the Olympics.

"There is pressure every time we play, pressure to win, especially for us, USA Basketball," Bryant said. "It comes with the territory. It comes from playing sports. Pressure comes along with it.

"But everyone is used to dealing with it. We thrive on it."

So, Olympic gold or an NBA title? Kobe says brining home the hardware from Beijing is more important than winning the NBA's highest top prize

"you're playing for your country. You're not playing for a region, a state...you're playing for the United States of America and that has more importance."

And KB acknowledges the atmosphere in Wukesong Indoor Stadium will be wild, especially if Yao Ming is there:

"It's going to be berserk, no question," Bryant said Monday. "I really don't know much about how the other guys handle crowds - if they listen to them, if they feed off of them. "Personally, I block it out. It doesn't hype me up. I just tune it out and do what I do."

Adding to the pressure is the thought that Team USA is in the toughest Group, which includes China, Germany, Greece, Angola and Spain:

"On its face, our group is the toughest,"Bryant said. "But we wouldn't have it any other way. It's what we're here for. It's the greatest challenge in the world and the greatest players in the world in one tournament.

"Let's have at it."

Kobe and Co. hit the floor Friday vs. Canada in a warm up game, to be followed by tune ups against Turkey and Lithuania. Check the schedule below for more, including TV coverage info:

RELATED

Team USA: Roster | Schedule | TV

Well at least some of them.

Nike Basketball has put up a cool feature of the Signature Moves of their hoop stars. Next time you lace them up, be sure to thank the good folks at Nike for helping you improve your game. Here, Kobe showcases some of his go-to moves from the triple-threat position.

Now you just have to figure out how you're going to break down your opponent:

- Free up space with the jab step and hit them with the outside jumper
- Go baseline and convert on the up-and-under layup
- Move in and take the pull-up jumper
- Get your defender to bite on a pump fake

Too fast for you? No worries. Highlight each video thumbnail here and click on the "Walkthrough" links under each move. Kick back, relax and get instruction from Kobe himself on how to execute each motion.

Earlier this month we brought you a clip of Kobe stopping by Regis & Kelly as the "mystery guest."

The second part of that interview is now available (video starts roughly 2 minutes in). Check out Kobe's special surprise for Regis & Kelly before he leaves.

If you missed the first segment, we've got you covered.