"We're thrilled with the way Carlos [Arroyo] played," O'Connor, the Jazz's senior vice president of basketball operations, said of the point guard's 24-point performance in leading Puerto Rico to a stunning 92-73 upset of Team USA in the teams' Olympic basketball opener in Athens. "The better he plays, the better we'll be."

Still, Arroyo's game wasn't exactly what O'Connor had in mind. "I was rooting for Carlos to have 25 assists, about 16 points - and the U.S. still wins," he joked.

That's because O'Connor sits on the USA Basketball committee that chose the players for this Olympic team, one that is now being roundly criticized as an ill-conceived, ill-prepared bunch. O'Connor would not comment on Team USA's difficulties, other than to note that "it's a loss, but it's not the last game. We're a long way from being done."

Same goes for Arroyo. The Jazz noticed considerable development in Arroyo's confidence last fall, after he helped Puerto Rico qualify for the Olympics. Now O'Connor hopes that Arroyo's leadership role, not to mention his spectacular play, in Athens will have a similar effect.

"Any time you're responsible for your team, and you play against top-notch competition, it's going to help," O'Connor said. "What we'll look for now is consistency. We want to see at the end of [the Olympics] if he's maintained this level. That's where you really see the improvement. . . . We're excited to see how he'll do."