U.S. roster spot means the world to Tucker
Role-playing forward takes pride in long journey to perhaps go for the gold
There were many reasons that playing for the U.S. national team in the World Cup appealed to P.J. Tucker, though he was so flattered to receive the call from USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo that he really did not weigh his decision at all.
Still, Tucker has long known who he is as an NBA veteran. That is his great strength as the Rockets’ 3-and-D power forward, understanding and embracing his role to the point he can excel in it.
Knowing just who he is and how he got here made the chance to play in China next month in the FIBA Basketball World Cup appeal to him even more.
“It’s something I don’t think anyone (has) ever done; being in my position, be in the NBA, be out for so long, get back in, establish myself and come back and play for my country,” Tucker said. “I think it’s one of my things toward the end of my career to kind of cap it off, to have a chance to win a gold medal is pretty cool. It’s a pretty cool experience.”
Drafted in the second round by Toronto out of the University of Texas in 2006, Tucker had played just one NBA season before he was out of the league, spending the next five seasons in Israel, Ukraine, Greece, Italy and Germany. He broke through with the Phoenix Suns in 2012 and finished one season with the Raptors before signing with the Rockets as a free agent in 2017.
The Rockets have been contenders ever since, winning the most regular-season games of any team in the league in Tucker’s two seasons. That helped earned Tucker respect, but he is still far from the superstar type who has typically filled USA Basketball rosters since NBA players became eligible for FIBA competitions with the 1992 Olympics.
He has averaged 7.4 points per game in his eight-year career, 6.7 with the Rockets, far short of the numbers put up by teammates James Harden and Eric Gordon, who were among the many NBA stars invited to Team USA and then dropped out.
Tucker, however, fits the USA Basketball desire to build teams rather than collect all-stars. If he is among the 12 players to emerge from training camp in Los Angeles this week, he would take that philosophy to another level.
“He earned a spot on the roster and the invitation just predicated on his work ethic and his skills, experience, toughness, all the positives of his game and his character,” Colangelo said. “It was not as a starring role, but as someone who can add qualities to a team effort. Then, it’s up to the coaching staff to sort through the players and who will complement each other best. Most of our teams since I took over (in 2005) have had a specialist who played a particular role. It will be no different this year.”
Different style of offense
USA Basketball is expected on Saturday to bring 14 or 15 players to Australia for the next portion of training camp and one more exhibition game. The roster must be cut to 12 by 48 hours before the first game in China. Tucker turned an ankle on Thursday, but his chance to make the final roster is expected to be about how he can fill a role.
“No doubt about it,” Tucker said. “You can see how they’re putting it together as a team. It’s not just all-stars, or what have you. You can see they’re putting a team together. What I do, that doesn’t change much.”
There is a difference, however. The USA Basketball offense under Gregg Popovich is much more motion-oriented than the Rockets’ offenseso. Tucker still has many possessions providing spacing in the corners, as he did for his lone bucket in last week’s exhibition in Las Vegas and likely will on Friday against Spain in Anaheim, Calif., but he also handles the ball more to deliver passes to guards on the move.
“I’m kind of a point forward a lot of times, making plays,” Tucker said. “With the rules being a little different, you need to attack the
middle to open it up. In the NBA, the floor is so spaced out, it’s a totally different deal. There is not a lot of iso. We’re more in motion. But you still have to do the hardwork stuff nobody else does.”
With the Rockets’ reworked backcourt pairing of Russell Westbrook and Harden, Tucker expects to largely provide spacing. But he said the Rockets with just that one significant change “will be different.”
“Everybody’s excited, rightfully so, to add Russ to our team,” Tucker said. “I think it’s something we’ll have to work at. We can’t skip steps. It’s about us coming together to make it work, seeing how different lineups, different matchups will change. Coach (Mike) D’Antoni is really good at that.”
‘I’ve gotten better’
Before he gets that chance, Tucker hopes to play in the World Cup. His spot is not assured. With so many defections, Popovich and Colangelo could opt to keep an additional scorer. But Tucker is not thinking about competing for a roster spot,
“I never think about competing, especially out here with young guys,” Tucker said. “I’m by far the oldest guy here (at 34). Nobody really does what I do on this team. I’m one of the only guys here with European experience and played in FIBA as well. It’s (about) teaching guys what they’re going to see and how we’re going to play. It’s about teaching and getting better. I definitely feel I’ve gotten better because I’m doing more than I have with the Rockets.
“It’s been great, man. I’ve stayed in shape the entire summer, playing all year. I haven’t stopped playing. My body feels really good. Lot of great coaches here. Honestly, it’s been really great.”