Not this time, though.

Having spent the past three years trying to build a program to restore the basketball glory that was lost at the Athens Olympics in Greece, the players who gathered at Valley High School on Monday to start the final leg of preparation for the Beijing Games in China - the Jazz's Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer among them - felt a lot more like old, familiar teammates than superstars thrown together on the fly.

"It seems like we're a team already," Boozer said, "and it's only our first day."

That was hardly the case four years ago, when Boozer, Anthony, Dwayne Wade and LeBron James were part of a team that gathered for the first time only about three weeks before the Olympics - then proceeded to lose more games than every other American men's team in Olympic history combined and settle for a bronze medal.

But now, most of the players and coaches who will compete in Beijing have been together for each of the last three summers, so they won't have to play beat the clock in their attempt to get ready. And though Williams was added to the team only last year and Boozer missed the past two summers because of an injury and a son's illness, even they are feeling the effect of not waiting until the last minute.

"You can feel it coming together," Williams said. "You get chemistry with guys, playing together for a couple of years and you grow to like guys and get to know them, and that definitely helps on the basketball court."

The Americans were together for 42 days in 2006, counting the world championships at which they won a bronze medal. Last year, they played for 24, including the FIBA Americas Qualifying Tournament here, and they will be together for another 20 before they tip off against host China in their first preliminary-round game on Aug. 10 in Beijing.

By comparison, the 2004 team met for the first time just 20 days before its first game - a loss to Puerto Rico.

mcl@sltrib.com