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Las Vegas • Rodney Hood's work is done. The U.S. Olympic basketball is on its own, from here through Rio.
Hood spent four days this week practicing with and against the Olympians as a member of the USA Basketball Select Team. The experience is designed as preparation for the 12-man team and an audition for 24 other players — including Hood, the Jazz's third-year wing player.
He's in the system now, just as Jazz teammates Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors and former teammate Trey Burke have been in this decade. The process worked for Hayward, who joined the Select Team in 2013 and advanced in the program. Hayward declined an Olympic team invitation last month, citing his wife's pregnancy.
"It's a stepping stone," Hood said as the Select Team concluded its stint at UNLV, prior to the Olympic team's launching a five-game exhibition tour with Friday's victory over Argentina. "You've got to take the right steps every summer, every season, and see where that leads you."
That destination could be in Tokyo in 2020, when Hood will be in the prime of his NBA career at age 27. Five members of this Olympic team — Kyrie Irving, DeMarcus Cousins, Kevin Durant, DeMar DeRozan and Paul George — were Select Team players in 2012, and Klay Thompson later filled that role. The pipeline is important to USA Basketball.
"It's about them understanding the culture they're in and understanding what's going to be expected of them as they matriculate," said Gregg Popovich, who directed the Select Team and will succeed Mike Krzyzewski as the U.S. national team coach after the Olympics. "They're all good players, but that's not the point. The point of them being here obviously is to prepare the Olympic team and help them … and to see how those guys conduct themselves, to see how focused they are and how committed they are. We have to find out who fits into that mold."
Hood's discovery? Those guys were not themselves this week. They were upgraded versions of the NBA players he knows.
New York's Carmelo Anthony, a four-time Olympian, especially impressed him, with vocal leadership and defensive effort. "Things you don't really see him doing with his team, he's doing out here," Hood said.
Hood's ties to Krzyzewski, after he spent two years in the Duke program (including a redshirt season), may have helped him get the Select Team invitation, as one of five former Blue Devils participating. A couple of them were late additions, though, and Hood was an initial pick. He enjoyed being around Krzyzewski and learned from Popovich and the veteran players.
"Those guys have been superstars for years," Hood said. "They carried franchises, they did big things for themselves and their teams. It's really motivating to be around them. … You just soak up every single moment."
Philadelphia's Jahlil Okafor, who followed Hood at Duke, said, "Rodney performed how I would expect him to. He's a great teammate; that's first and foremost. It was fun to watch him play."
Hood wants to model "just the swagger that you have about yourself" of the Olympians. Yet the experience also told him, "I can compete with anybody. I'm really confident in myself and I can take that into the season."
And he's revved up about 2016-17 for the Jazz. They've added George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw — "some great character guys, guys who can really play and help us out [with] some leadership and things like that," Hood said.
Johnson, in particular, will be asked to share some of the late-game scoring duties that largely fell to Hayward and Hood last year, with only occasional success. Strong finishes will become a priority for Hood and his Jazz teammates this season. As for his USA Basketball experience, Hood hopes this week in Las Vegas was just the start.
Twitter: @tribkurt —
Past, present, future
• Rodney Hood averaged 14.5 points on 42.0-percent shooting in 79 games for the Jazz in 2015-16, his second NBA season.
• Select Team members from Duke: Brandon Ingram, Jahlil Okafor, Jabari Parker, Justise Winslow and Hood.
• Following the 2016 Olympics, the next major event for USA Basketball is the 2019 FIBA World Championship in China.