Look at Allen pass. Pass, Allen pass. Who knew? It's no surprise that the USA Basketball team is going into the semifinals this weekend as the only undefeated team in the Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament. With Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd and Ray Allen last summer, the team probably would have even overcome George Karl and the feuding among Paul Pierce, Baron Davis and Andre Miller. And, oh yeah, with the guy who looks pass first and is a master of good shots, Allen Iverson. Yes, that Allen Iverson.

This U.S. team in the qualifying tournament hasn't been spectacular, i.e., Dream Team-like. The final scores seem like blowouts, but the Americans have trailed early in most games and won going away thanks to incredible depth. They're simply wearing down everyone else. In seven-minute games, this team, not together very long like their opponents, would be in trouble. So they're relying on waves of talent and professional play.

	Allen Iverson, left, is among Team USA's assist leaders at the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Not that Team USA wanted to accept losing a game, but the goal as much as qualifying for the 2004 Olympics was to be a team the U.S. and the NBA could be proud of. It wasn't just that last year's team in the World Championships in Indianapolis lost, it was the way it lost -- quitting, feuding, blaming.

"It was more embarrassing the way we lost," admitted Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal, back from that team along with Elton Brand and assistant coach Gregg Popovich. "We didn't just lose one game. We lost a lot of pride."

So this team has not necessarily played great, but they've made supporters proud of the way they've played.

They take the best shots. They've got the highest shooting percentage in the tournament and shot the best from 3-point range. They've recorded the most assists and have the highest percentage of assists to baskets. None of the top five scorers is from the U.S. team, but three of the top six players leading in assists are from the U.S., including Iverson.

"It's something I'll remember and cherish the rest of my life," Iverson said. "It's an honor to have a chance to do something like this and do it the right way. Me being out here seeing the way the guys play unselfishly is something I'll take home to my team (the 76ers) and let them know it's not about the fancy passes and dunks and all that. Like coach (Larry Brown) says, it's about playing the right way."

And do you suppose Brown is muttering, "Now he gets it and I'm leaving!"

The Orlando Magic is dismissing Tracy McGrady's back problems, saying he'll be ready for training camp and that all is fine. I'm supposed to have back problems -- and did I mention my lower back? -- not some 24-year-old.

"There's nothing I can do right now," McGrady admitted before sitting out three games and returning Thursday to score six points in a 91-65 rout of Puerto Rico. "I need to get my strength back and rest. If I continued to play, it would make matters worse."

This is not the first time McGrady has had back problems. Actually, he's had them too often for someone his age. He's not known as particularly aggressive in working out or in any exercises to strengthen his back. He's one of those wonderful natural athletes who just picked up a basketball and dominated. But there's a lot of strain carrying a franchise on your back.

It's not McGrady's fault. Grant Hill never recovered from his pre-free agency ankle injuries and may never play again. But it's put an additional burden on McGrady to carry a team that blew the greatest opportunity in NBA history when it allowed Shaquille O'Neal to leave. Rarely discussed, it was the worst management decision since the St. Louis Hawks traded the rights to Bill Russell.

And now the future of the Magic franchise is at stake. There have long been rumors of a move with no plans for a new arena. The team has patched things up well with the addition of Juwan Howard and last year's trade for Drew Gooden. But it still leaves the Magic as a lower-eschelon East playoff team and probable first-round playoff victim. Another such ouster could result in coaching or management changes. Quietly, Orlando management has been dropping basketball staff without long-term contracts. And McGrady can opt out of his contract and leave the team after next season. Can they make a major run before then? Is McGrady's back strong enough to lift an entire franchise if he can't lift a basketball this week?

With McGrady's absence for much of last week, there was only a glimpse of it last week here. But what a pairing it would have been if McGrady remained with Vince Carter.

"We still have a chemistry together, believe it or not," Carter said last week before McGrady's bad back forced him to sit.

	Tracy McGrady's aching back felt just fine on this dunk in a second-round win over Puerto Rico.

There long was the belief the cousins, once teammates in Toronto, could not coexist -- that jealousy raged. So McGrady took the money in 2000 and went back home to Florida. Carter was hurt, so who knows? But he appears healthy again and has been terrific in the qualifying tournament, taking over McGrady's starting job until McGrady returned Thursday. And all the bitterness seems gone as the two engage in a playful handslapping ritual before the games begin each night.

This kind of team is perfect for Carter, who flees the spotlight like few great athletes. Carter has virtually been begged by coaches to do more and take more shots. But he prefers to just play. This type of All-Star team, pushed to be unselfish, fits him best. When healthy, McGrady loves the spotlight, the ball and the last shot. They could have become one of the great pairs of this next NBA era, arguably the two most athletic and spectacular players in the game. And on the same team.

"I learned a lot from the two years that we played together," McGrady said.

Basketball would have learned a lot had they stayed together. Now, the future looks bleak for both of their teams.

Perhaps the most impressive performance of the tournament was O'Neal's reasoned, calm defense of fired coach Isiah Thomas, who'd been here working with the USA team, especially with Iverson. O'Neal unemotionally backed Thomas and suggested the Pacers betrayed him.

"I'm a professional," O'Neal said. "I'm going to go out and play. And no matter, at the end of the day whether it's with the Pacers or somewhere else, I'm going to continue to succeed. The guy was coaching me since I've been there. They told me he'd be there before I re-signed. If your boss told you your ace would be there for you and you came back and not even a month later he's not there, that hurts."

"We were gearing up to go at this really strong," O'Neal added. "Now we've got to retool, look at a new system. I don't know if we are really trying to win a championship. We had a crew that had been together. We were ready to really focus in and get to the NBA Finals. I don't know where my organization is trying to go now. I'm kind of dumbfounded."

But O'Neal, 23, also has shown himself able to be a professional, perhaps for the first time. He was immature in the 2002 playoffs when he bragged of his dominance and was shut down. He was the Pacers' best player in this year's playoffs but couldn't prevent an embarrassing loss. Last summer, O'Neal was on the losing U.S. team at the World Championships but played poorly. So, this year in the return match against Argentina, which most embarrassed Team USA last summer, it was O'Neal who stepped forward, leading the U.S. in scoring and rebounding and making the key defensive play down the stretch.

That he stood up for his deposed coach and showed his loyalty to someone he felt was special bodes well for both he and the Pacers. That is, if they can get him some more help.