Olympics 2012: Tunisians impressed by Team USA, but looking to take step up ... - SportingNews.com

Published Tuesday, Jul 31, 2012 at 10:05 pm EDT Last updated 1 hour and 22 minutes ago

LONDON â€" Tunisian forward Makram Ben Romdhane can admit itâ€"that was pretty cool. Stepping onto the floor Tuesday night, shaking hands with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, that is not something many basketball players get to do.

“Oh, it is very special to me, of course,” Ben Romdhane said after posting 22 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in Tunisia’s 110-63 loss to Team USA here at Olympic Park. “If you get to play against Team USA and those guys, it is something you remember. They just play so great, they are fast and strong, and they play without fouling.”

But Ben Romdhane pointed out that he’s already had the experience of going up against NBA players. He was on the team that faced the U.S. in the 2010 World Championshipâ€"in fact, Tunisia faced NBA players in all five of its games (they finished 0-5, ranked 24th of 24 teams in that tournament).

“We should be used to this be now,” Ben Romdhane said.

Maybe not, actually. Teams are not bowing down to Team USA the way they did to the Dream Team in the 1992 Olympics, but there was a certain amount of giddiness with the Tunisians following the game. Cameras caught one player, Mohamed Hadidane, taking off his shoe and asking Bryant to autograph it. In the tunnel on the way to the locker room, Tunisian coaches stopped players like Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony to ask for photos. The Americans obliged.

Still, for Ben Romdhane, clearly Tunisia’s best player, playing against NBA competition offers more than a chance for souvenirs. It is an opportunity for Africa, the one continent that has lagged behind South America, Europe, Asia and Australia in basketball development, to push its hoops growth.

“The difference between us and the other teams in the Olympic Games is bigâ€"the level of basketball in Africa and basketball in the NBA and Europe,” Ben Romdhane said. “I think it can be used to show everybody on our team how to play basketball. I don’t think we can play against these teams now. But maybe we play these games and we can build something for the future.”