The Magic center managed just three points, two rebounds, a steal and a block in 19 minutes. Meanwhile, former Cypress Creek standout and current Phoenix Sun Amare Stoudemire had 11 points, 5 rebounds, a block and a steal and Tyson Chandler had no points and five rebounds. Those were the lowest numbers of the tournament for both Howard and Stoudemire. Brazil's Nene (Denver Nuggets) totaled 8 points, 5 rebounds and a steal, and Tiago Splitter (draft pick of San Antonio Spurs who likely will remain in Europe this season) had 13 points and 9 rebounds, and both played more minutes than any of the American big men.

Howard was hit with his fourth foul early in the third quarter, and considering how physical the game was, a couple of the fouls might have been ticky-tack. Even before that, though, his play did not appear as sharp as usual. Howard uncharacteristically tipped some potential rebounds out of bounds instead of hauling them in, and he had a couple passes thrown his way near the basket that he just didn't take control of. He only got off two shots, but he could have had at least three more. Most surprisingly, on several plays, he was boxed out and beat to the ball by Nene, who didn't appear to be in nearly as good condition. On the positive side, though, just Howard's presence discouraged the Brazilians from driving to the basket on some plays as he stepped in and chased them out of the lane. Perhaps fatigue was a factor because it was Team USA 's fourth game in five days, and Brazil was really trying to push the pace of play. But Team USA has games in the next four consecutive days (that will be six days in a row) that it will have to play well in to reach the semifinal round, and the Magic will have a lot of four-games-in-five-nights to start their season so fighting through fatigue will be key.

It could have been worse, though. The Detroit Pistons probably felt a little sick when forward Tayshaun Prince had to leave the game and be helped to the locker room. The report is he only sprained an ankle.

The struggles of the bigs did not affect the U.S. overall, though, as the Americans led at one point by 49 points. LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony each scored 21 points, and Kobe Bryant added 20 points and shut down the tournament's high scorer, the Suns' Leandro Barbosa. Barbosa was averaging more than 27 points a game coming into the contest against the U.S. and had only four on Sunday night.

The U.S. next plays on Monday night. I've heard conflicting reports about its opponent. It could be Mexico , or possibly Puerto Rico, which was going to advance despite finishing the tournament 1-3 if Argentina beat Panama as expected in the final game on Sunday night. The Americans likely will play the game that starts at 11 p.m. on ESPN2. If the U.S. does play Puerto Rico, that will pit Howard against Magic teammate Carlos Arroyo, who led Puerto Rico to a victory against the United States at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

NBA Future:
Glen Davis
Glen Davis showed that even though he is a lighter version of himself, he is still a lot to handle in the paint.Glen Davis scored 26 points and Tasmin Mitchell added 21 as No. 7 Louisiana State pounded the ball inside frequently in its 88-57 victory over Louisiana-Monroe.Despite being down 37 pounds from his playing weight of 326 last season, Davis continued to be a force inside, making 10-of-15 shots and grabbing eight rebounds.Behind the reigning Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, the Tigers (2-0) finished with a 42-12 advantage in points in the paint and won the rebounding battle, 43-28.

Glen Davis
Position: F
Class: Junior
Ht: 6-9 Wt: 289
College: LSU
Hometown: Baton Rouge

NBA Future:
Brandon Rush
Full name is Brandon L. Rush... Born July 7, 1985... Undecided major... Brother, Kareem, was a two-time All-Big 12 First Team selection at Missouri in 2001 and 2002 and has played four seasons in the NBA... Brother, JaRon, played collegiately at UCLA... Was ranked No. 13 overall and No. 2 small forward, behind KU teammate Julian Wright, by Rivals.com... Brandon Rush pulled out of the NBA draft in summer of 2005 and joined the KU team in August... Twice named an all-star at the Reebok ABCD Camp and was the 2004 ABCD Camp most valuable player while playing for AAU KS Rocktown... Brandon Rush was a late addition to the USA Men's Junior National select team at the ninth annual Hoop Summit in Memphis, Tenn., following the 2004-05 season.

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