LAS VEGAS - Tyler Kepkay was just starting to appraise the enormity of the challenge he's about to face tonight when coach Jim Boylen walked past, overheard a question, and gave his University of Utah point guard a playful shove.
    "He ain't gonna be nervous, man," Boylen said. "He'll just play a freakin' good game. . . . He's going to stand 'em up when they come through the lane."
    Easy for him to say.
    Boylen merely will be watching from the stands, while Kepkay, all 6 feet of him, steps onto the tracks - er, basketball court - for the Canadian national team and directly in front of the runaway freight train that is Kobe Bryant and the U.S. Olympic Team in an exhibition
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game at the Thomas & Mack Center.
    "It's going to be fun," Kepkay said. "Just go out, just have fun. Smile. And whatever happens, happens. You know?"
    Most fans can probably guess what's expected to happen.
    Bigger, stronger and faster, Team USA is loaded with glittering superstar talent - from Bryant and Dwyane Wade to Jason Kidd and the Jazz's Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer - and aiming to reclaim its lost international dominance at the upcoming Beijing Games in China.
    The Canadians, meanwhile, did not even qualify for the Olympics, losing to Slovenia and Croatia at the final qualifying tournament last week in Athens, Greece, throwing NBA
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center Samuel Dalembert off the team along the way. Oh, and point guard Steve Nash isn't playing for them anymore.
    Mosquito, meet the newspaper.
    But Nash's retirement from international play is part of the reason Kepkay was able to make his native country's senior national team for the first time this summer, as a third-string backup to starter Jermaine Anderson.
    Kepkay has started 26 games for the Utes, and hardly played in the qualifying tournament, getting just 15 minutes and one basket in three games.
    But he hopes to see a little more action tonight, knowing the game is only an exhibition intended mostly to help the Americans prepare for their headline-grabbing drive toward a gold medal in Beijing next month.
    "You can't really expect much," Kepkay said. "Go out and play and have fun and hope for the best. You can't really expect too much against those guys."
    Especially considering that Kepkay had enough trouble coping with the Mountain West Conference last season - let alone the star-studded elite players of the NBA.
    The Vancouver native had a difficult time adjusting in his first season with the Utes as a junior transfer from the College of Eastern Utah, acquiring an unkind reputation after coming up agonizingly short in several potential game-winning situations late in games.
    His confidence in shambles, Boylen benched him late in the season.
    Now, all he has to worry about is going against the likes of Williams, the former No. 3 draft pick who said he's never heard of Kepkay, or Bryant, the three-time NBA champion and reigning Most Valuable Player who said he never worries about how lesser-known opponents might engage him.
    "I think it's the other way around," Bryant said. "I'm more excited about it, because I want to prove to them that the positive things people say about my game are true."
    Uh-oh.
    Nevertheless, Kepkay said he has learned a lot in his first summer of international play, and Boylen believes it's going to make the senior-to-be a better player.
    The coach speculated that Kepkay could become part of a "solid foundation" for Team Canada and play in three or four Olympics before his career is over, even if tonight isn't exactly a roaring success.
    "It's what he's wanted his whole life," Boylen said. "The reason he came to Utah was because he wanted to play at a high level. He loves big games, competitive games. He's a big fan of the NBA and he loves NBA basketball - it's a goal of his. So I think it's just a dream come true. I told him to just embrace the opportunity, don't be fearful of it."
    Again, easier said than done.
    It won't be Boylen out there trying to defend Kidd, or get around Williams, or squeeze off a shot over Dwight Howard.
    But standing in the blazing sun next to a glistening swimming pool at a posh casino hotel, Kepkay sounded as if he was already bracing for the experience.
    "It doesn't count for anything," he said, "so if they go by me and dunk, I mean, they do that to everybody in the NBA on a nightly basis. . . . I'm just excited to see them play together and see how they play in person and see them on the floor."
    And maybe, just maybe, stand one of them up when he comes through the lane.
    mcl@sltrib.com
   
   
    Tyler Kepkay file
    Hometown: Vancouver, B.C.
    School: University of Utah
    Height/weight: 6 foot, 185 pounds
    Age: 21
    2007-08 STATS
    Games played/started: 33/26
    FG%: 40.2 (82 of 204)
    3pt%: 41.1 (39 of 95)
    Points per game: 7.5
   
    A bit unbalanced
    TEAM USA
    * All-time exhibition record: 26-1
    * All-time vs. Canada: 19-1
    * Recent games vs. Canada:
    USA, 99-70 (Aug. 31, 2000)
    USA, 97-61 (July 11, 1999)
   
   
    TEAM CANADA
    * All-time record: 145-142
    * Olympics: In the past 20 years, Canada has played in two Olympic basketball tournaments. It finished seventh of out 12 teams at 2000 Olympics - the last time it qualified for the games.
   
   
    FIBA world rankings
   
    1. USA
    2. Argentina
    3. Spain
    4. Serbia
    5. Lithuania
    6. Greece
    7. Italy
    8. France
    9. Australia
    9. Germany
    11. China
    12. Puerto Rico
    13. New Zealand
    14. Angola
    15. Turkey
    16. Russia
    17. Canada
    18. Brazil
    19. Slovenia
    20. Croatia
    21. Venezuela
    22. Nigeria
    23. Lebanon
    24. Israel
    25. Korea
    26. Qatar
    27. Uruguay
    28. Mexico
    29. Panama
    30. D. Republic
    31. Algeria
    32. Japan
    33. Iran
    34. Latvia
   
    USA vs. Canada
    Today, 6 p.m., ESPN