During the course of USA Basketball training camp, players will be checking in on a regular basis to give you the scoop on what's going on in Las Vegas and in the minds of the team as they prepare for the 2006 FIBA World Championships.

Chris Paul | Elton Brand | Amare Stoudemire
Previous Player Blogs: July 22 | July 21 | July 20 | July 19

Defense leads to transition baskets for Paul and Team USA. Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

It was a little bit of a tougher practice today. We went a little bit longer, but I think we really got after it. We definitely put in a lot of time on defense. Coach said in our meeting this morning, and it's true, that defense is going to win us the gold.

We did a drill today where there were three guys on one end of the court and two guys on the other end. You do the three-man weave until one guy gets a layup. The two people on the other end of the court pass it to the two guys that didn't shoot the layup and they get jumpshots. Then you do the same thing going the other way and just keep going back and forth. You gotta hit 110 points in four minutes and 15 seconds.

We came up short three times and then got it to end the practice. Everyone just had to get on the same page. It's not about you working on your shot. It's about everyone playing together and getting the drill done. Once everybody got on the same page, it made the drill so much easier. We actually do that drill everyday with the Hornets. It's just one of those drills where you gotta pay attention and make sure that everybody's on the same page.

Coach K has told me to keep being vocal, to be a vocal leader and make sure that everybody's in the right spot at the right time. The role off the point guard is important on any team, but it's even more important on a team where guys haven't played together, because the point guard's job is to make sure that everyone's on the same page.

I've never been outside of the United States or Canada, so the prospect of going to Japan for the World Championships is very exciting. It would be great to go over there and experience new things, but at the same time, it's gonna be all about winning the gold.

The focus of today's practice was on coming together and learning our defensive schemes. Today was more of a defensive practice. We worked on the offense and scrimmaged a lot in the previous few days. Today was more about working on defense so that we can dominate. Our defense is going to lead to our offense. If we're playing defense and getting steals, we'll get out on the break.

I'm feeling good about what I've been doing out there. Once everybody got acclimated, you could see different guy's talents. I'm definitely proud of the way I've played.

Las Vegas could be distracting, but when you've got practice every morning for something like this, you know how important it is.

The whole focus today was about defense and working together. We're representing the USA, so we gotta be on the same page. The defense leading into transition baskets is very important. On the Phoenix Suns, that's how we get most of our fast break baskets, off of creating turnovers and rebounding. The guys that we have here are so fast in the open court and the court is 10 feet shorter than the NBA court, so you can get down the floor a lot faster.

The way I feel know is pretty much night and day compared to where I was in summer league a couple of weeks ago. In summer league, I wasn't quite there. The whole purpose of summer league was to make gradual improvement and that week was great for me. It gave me a chance to see where I was and how I felt playing in a fast-break, full-court type of game with the officials. It helped out a lot, but now this week is night and day and next week should be even better. I should have improvement each week.