The women play for the joy of it. The men play like they're late for the charter. The women run. The men lope. The women play together. The men are 12 guys on the same corner, hailing 12 cabs.

The women understand the international game. The men couldn't care less. The men act like rock stars. Who'd have guessed they'd play like them, too?

You see some quaint things in the American women's game: diving for loose balls. Using the backboard. Making the extra pass. Draining a jump shot more than once a week. The woman defend as if defense is more than a concept.

The women win. The men don't.

The women beat up on a decent team from the Czech Republic Monday, 80-61, to run their Olympic record since 1980 to 33-1.

They did to the Czechs what the men should have done to Puerto Rico Sunday night.

The Czechs played well early, leading 21-12 late in the first quarter.

The U.S. women turned that around simply enough.

They went to a full-court trap that had the Czechs launching passes to invisible teammates. The Americans used their defense to generate their offense. Now, there's a thought. The United States led 40-30 with 3:23 left in the half.

"We don't underestimate these foreigners or the international game," said Shannon Johnson, a point guard on vacation from the WNBA. Johnson comes off the bench and plays defense like she's caffeinated. She's not alone.

"They're great shooters," Johnson said of the international squads. "They're fundamental. They penetrate and kick it back out. You can't leave them open."

The differences between the U.S. men and women are equal parts seriousness and purpose. You should have seen the NBA rich guys during warmups Sunday. While the Puerto Ricans used just three balls, to run offensive sets, the U.S. studs were draining entire ball racks on errant bricks from beyond the 3-point line.

When someone asked Shannon Johnson why the American men aren't good shooters, she responded diplomatically. "They're good scorers," she said.

The World hasn't caught up with the American men. The American men have regressed. They can't shoot. They won't guard. The World plays a tight zone, the U.S. guys look like New Yorkers in Des Moines. America probably still has better athletes. At least we have more of them. But the myth of NBA wealth infects every kid playing basketball. The SportsCenter need for dunks must be met. So nobody can shoot.

The men are a team only in the loosest sense, a confederation of rich guys who decided to take a little trip. Some of the women have played together since a February training camp. Most toured Europe together in March. Three U.S. women have been Olympians since 1996.

The men didn't bring their best players, either. The women did.

But it's the other stuff that sticks out. The defense, the shooting, the togetherness. As Johnson put it, perfectly: "It's not about 'who' with us. We don't try to do here what we do individually for our WNBA teams."

You could say we prefer to watch the women at the Olympics for the same reasons we'd rather spend $5 watching minor-league baseball than $50 watching the big-leaguers. That would be selling the women short. These ladies can play.

The women are on track for a fifth Olympic gold medal in the last six Games. The men are on track to shoot 3-for-24 from outside 10 feet.

"We try to work together and move the ball," Johnson said. And, more often than not, put it through the hole. "We have one thing in mind: winning the gold medal." The men seem to have one thing in mind as well: when the bus leaves.

Who knows, maybe the international players will start emulating their NBA cousins, and the U.S. men will have a chance again.

Next up

Men's basketball

Today: U.S. vs. Greece, 3 p.m., USA network

Women's basketball

Wednesday: U.S. vs. Korea, 7:30 a.m., USA network

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E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com