Leslie's back for National Team tour

Though the resemblance between this roster and the group that heads off to Beijing next summer may be purely incidental, the U.S. National Team still needs to begin laying the foundation for a gold-medal run.

Though the 90-73 win over Maryland Wednesday wasn’t exactly a full load of concrete – the Terrapins were without surefire first-round WNBA draft pick Crystal Langhorne – the second half was solid set of two-by-sixes. Even more welcome than the 50-35 outburst after the break was the return of Lisa Leslie to court after having a baby, as the Americans have suffered internationally in her absence.

Granted, Leslie didn’t exactly tear up the court, but she did have 10 rebounds and two blocked shots in 23 minutes, which isn’t bad for her first game in more than a year. Leslie’s inside presence will be crucial for the American hopes of defending their Olympic title, though USA Basketball added erratic Kara Braxton to the roster for this eight-game tour that will end Nov. 15 at Stanford.

Sue Bird is running the point, as she done for America since 1996, and young National Team veterans Diana Taurasi and Seimone Augustus will flank her on the wings. The trio went 16 of 30 from the field Wednesday, had nine assists and just three turnovers to help the National Team hold off the fired-up Terps.

As usual, the college players are more than thrilled to be playing against some of the best players in the world, and in fact Kara Lawson, who’s playing for the National Team now, helped Tennessee upset the eventual Olympic gold medal-winning team in 2000 with a last-second shot. Wednesday, Laura Harper (20 points, eight rebounds) and Kristi Toliver (18 points, eight rebounds, five assists) gave notice that they can play against top-level competition, and Harper may have boosted her WNBA draft stock as well.

Without Langhorne, though, Maryland lacked that extra offensive spark it needed to get by the National Team, which got 17 points from Lawson (six of seven shooting, plus eight assists), 16 from Augustus and 15 from Taurasi. Of the three, Lawson’s play has the most potential impact on the makeup of the Olympic team, as she has had some solid performances this fall. She’s still a long shot to make the final 12, in part because of inconsistency, but she’s also been impressive on occasion.

Taj McWilliams-Franklin would love to cap her career with a trip to the Olympics, but she only scored six points in 22 minutes, while Braxton had seven points in 21 minutes – but only one rebound. Katie Feenstra, the other National Team post, played only 10 minutes, but had eight points and two rebounds before fouling out.

In short, Leslie’s return is critical for another gold medal, and USA Basketball is hopeful Sylvia Fowles will be able to contribute as well. Fowles, however, had academic duties at LSU earlier this fall, and now is playing with the Tigers, so she is unavailable until the spring.

Also trying to make a case is Swin Cash, who has never been the same since tearing her ACL. She had five points, one rebound and one assist in 19 minutes, which again isn’t quite the kind of performance that will vault her onto the Olympic roster.

Nonetheless, she, Braxton, Feenstra, McWilliams-Franklin and Lawson all will have seven more games (tonight at UConn, Sunday at Tennessee, Nov. 6 at Baylor, Nov. 8 at Arizona State, Nov. 11 at Texas A&M, Nov. 13 at USC and Nov. 15 at Stanford) and six more practices to impress the Senior National Team Committee, which selects the team. Coach Anne Donovan and assistant Mike Thibault are not on that committee.

Of course, the coaches have their hands full trying to get the Americans back after that disappointing third place finish in the World Championships in 2006. Since then, there have been stumbles in international play, including two losses to European club teams in a Russian tournament, and the National Team is beginning to lose that aura of invincibility that surrounded it before Donovan took charge.

Then again, adding Leslie to the mix – and Tamika Catchings when she’s healthy, just to name another – will go a long way to making the U.S. much more competitive at the international level. And really, what happens now will be completely irrelevant once the plane lands in Beijing.