SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- There are player-coaches and players' coaches. The former coach and play, a la Bill Russell. The latter coach as if, somewhere deep down, they wish they were playing.

Then there's Larry Brown, who is in a category all his own. It's hard to put a name on it, since his playing days clearly inform the respect he shows those who play for him. But that respect is only granted to those who -- and I know how Hoosiers-ish this sounds -- respect the game.

	Larry Brown made sure his Team USA played like a team in Puerto Rico.

His unwavering dedication to that principle is why Team USA throttled Argentina 106-73 for the gold medal in the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament Sunday night. The defeat was so thorough that it may have even restored some of the awe and intimidation NBA-laden teams previously inspired around the world.

"They did everything we asked them to do and more," Brown said. "I can't imagine anyone ever playing better than this team did."

It was damn near Dream Team-caliber stuff and it happened, in large part, thanks to Brown. Driven by his insistence from Day 1 to play as a team and for the pride of country, the same team that had a tournament-low 18 assists Saturday against Puerto Rico had 17 assists by halftime against the Argentines. Through the first 10 minutes not one player held the ball more than three seconds before doing something with it, resulting in nine first-quarter dunks or layups. The defensive help was quick and decisive, forcing Argentina to loft hurried 3-pointers, the first seven of which missed. Its previously deadly perimeter attack didn't find net until late in the second quarter, and by then Team USA had a 34-point lead.

Brown obviously can't play anymore at 62, although his floor-leader instincts as an ABA point guard are clearly intact. He is one of the few coaches who stands in the middle of the floor, rather than the sideline, as his team practices, even though it means occasionally getting run over. He also has a gift of being able to track all 10 players on the floor at the same time. Nor will he hesitate to tell each and every one what he could have done better.

But he doesn't act as if he'd rather be playing. He is every bit the boss, unafraid to harp on his players or adjust their roles as he, not they, sees fit.

"He enjoys watching a player develop and be a part of it all more than he does anything else in the game," said Gregg Popovich, Team USA assistant coach, Spurs coach and longtime Brown confidant. "That's why he likes practice a whole lot more than a game."

Which explains why his mood had deteriorated as the two-week Olympic qualifying tournament progressed. There was no time for practice, other than game-day shootarounds. They skipped that Sunday morning and had a team meeting in which it was made clear they would lose if they played as they had against Puerto Rico. Brown, the scent of sprayed beer still wafting from his scalp as a result of the melee between Tracy McGrady and Puerto Rico's Eddie Casiano, was in a particularly feisty mood after Saturday's semifinal and Olympic berth-securing win over the hosts. He took on the Puerto Rican coach first, objecting to Julio Toro's published comments that some of the U.S. players were more interested in going home than winning the gold medal.

"He doesn't know my team," Brown said. "He doesn't have the right to say that."

But he also wasn't happy with the team's slippage sharing the ball. Team USA had only 18 assists and reverted to the isolation, quick-hit NBA-style offense, instincts Brown has tried to break them of since the team began practicing together three weeks ago.

"I have to do a better job as a coach," he said after that game. "We have to have better continuity and better movement."

If you want an explanation for why Brown has moved around so much or why he constantly is overhauling his roster or why he changes his playbook four times a season or why he has clashed with every star who ever played for him or why none of that diminishes his stature as the best overall basketball coach in America, it comes down to this: Brown has a precise vision of how the game should be played and can't abide anything else.

He also knows exactly when a player or a team or an organization has stopped moving forward, and the second he does they, or he, are gone.

	The folded sheet of paper in front of him had several plays drawn on it, including one Argentina ran successfully time after time ... Brown used it, to success, as Team USA's first play against Mexico the next night. Rest assured that kind of turning the enemy's weapons against themselves did not happen in previous tournaments.

Brown sat in a deserted Spanish tapas restaurant earlier this week for a dance card of one-on-one interviews with various writers and columnists. The folded sheet of paper in front of him had several plays drawn on it, including one Argentina ran successfully time after time against Team USA in the quarterfinals. Brown used it, to success, as Team USA's first play against Mexico the next night. Rest assured that kind of turning the enemy's weapons against themselves did not happen in previous tournaments.

"I feel like I can learn from all these teams," he said. "I just want people to understand what a special game we have if it's played the right way."

Both former Bucks coach George Karl and former Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich ascribe to the same axiom, but they had less success instilling it in the last two U.S. squads. One reason is that those teams were composed of equal-caliber players, eliminating any sort of natural pecking order. Every player on the last two teams felt as if he was good enough to be starting or playing significant minutes.

"We had 12 pros in Sydney," said Brown, who assisted Tomjanovich. "It was tough. Rudy said, 'Instead of coaching to win, help me substitute.' Team USA and the NBA went to great lengths to put a team together this time. But I still go back to my room and see some great players playing only 22 minutes. I'm still caught between coaching to win and being fair to these guys."

Despite those qualms, Brown hasn't waffled here. He will protect players from embarrassment, as he did by substituting the entire second team after Puerto Rico made a late comeback.

"You could tell last summer the coaches were worried about keeping everybody happy," Elton Brand said. "With coach Brown, you might play or you might not play. We can't be treated like All-Stars or prima donnas."

Hard to imagine hearing those words from an NBA player. This, as the commercial goes, is what Brown can do for you.

And Ones
USA Basketball put a mighty spin on McGrady's dunk after picking on Casiano in Saturday's semifinal. Word was passed that McGrady said in a halftime interview that he paused to look back at Casiano upon catching up with the ball because he wasn't sure if the whistle had blown. That part is very plausible. The fact that T-Mac, realizing there was no whistle, then shouted, "B--ch!" at Casiano before dunking the ball is not. Puerto Rico forward Sharif Fajardo got the worst of the fan reaction, catching a full cup of beer on the side of the head. The splash doused Brown but assistant coach Roy Williams suffered the scariest hit, catching a whipped quarter in the chest. ... If you're handicapping at home, look for Brand to be added to next summer's Olympic team and Kenyon Martin to stay home. Brand's lack of a jumper makes him a bit of a liability in the international game, but his effectiveness as the big man applying backcourt pressure will be hard to leave behind. Martin, meanwhile, did not have the best floor composure and went 1-for-9 in the second half against Puerto Rico, nearly all of them forced shots. ... Canada and Mavericks point guard Steve Nash was named MVP. Tournament all-stars were Nash, Argentina's Manu Ginobili and Andres Nocioni, Puerto Rico's Jose Ortiz and Duncan.

Ric Bucher covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine. Due to a personal project, he won't be answering e-mail until 2004.