This looks more like it

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro — Perhaps the worst is already in the past for the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team.

Following coach Larry Brown’s mantra of “playing the right way,” the Americans dominated the defending world champions with defense in an impressive 78-60 exhibition victory over Serbia-Montenegro on Friday night.

The Americans took a partisan crowd out of the game by holding Serbia-Montenegro to just nine points in the second quarter, showing none of the faults that hampered them in earlier games against Italy and Germany while shutting down an opponent that appeared both overconfident and incompetent.

“We played hard and we tried to do what was right, and I think that was a significant step,” Brown said.

Tim Duncan led the U.S. team with 16 points, LeBron James added 11 and the entire team played with a level of determination that should go a long way toward re-establishing them as one of the favorites for the gold medal in Athens.

When the evening began, they weren’t even picked to win the game. Local betting parlors listed the Serbian team as a four-point favorite.

“We are the team that everyone wants to play their best basketball against,” Lamar Odom said. “We’re playing for a lot, and it means a lot to us.”

The U.S. team went 14 for 14 from the free-throw line and 30 of 60 from the field while holding the Serbian team to 35 percent shooting overall and 1-for-14 accuracy from 3-point range.

A 14-0 run to begin the second quarter put the Americans in control, and their defense the rest of the way kept the home team from making any kind of extended rally.

A crowd of about 18,000 showed the Americans their respect by standing and applauding as the game ended.

“We have a young team and are still learning about each other and hopefully that will improve as each of these games goes on,” Brown said.

Rather than playing a zone as Italy and Germany did almost exclusively in the Americans’ earlier exhibition games, the Serbian team went with a man-to-man scheme.

The U.S. team also played man-to-man defense, and two of the game’s best one-on-one moves were made by Dejan Bodiroga — often called the best player in Europe — against Carmelo Anthony. The first was the most impressive, Bodiroga dribbling behind his back and through his legs before darting around Anthony for a layup.

The U.S. team’s next game will be against Turkey on Sunday night.