NOW THAT the Boston Celtics are once again NBA champions, American basketball's next great championship hope falls to the men's Olympic team.

"They need it worse than the Celtics needed a championship this year," Paul Pierce said yesterday in an interview with The Associated Press.

"The United States has been a perennial basketball power and they just need to establish that once again. I think this is the team to do it," he added.

The 30-year-old forward, who won the NBA finals MVP after leading the Celtics to their first championship in 22 years, believes the Americans go into next month's Beijing Games having learned from recent failures.

Team building

US basketball changed the selection process and emphasised team building rather than individual skills since going without gold at a major championship since the 2000 Sydney Games.

"We'll see if it works out. I think it's been a great thing so far, but hopefully it carries over to the Olympics," said Pierce, who declined to follow Kobe Bryant and LeBron James and commit to the team three years ago to make the Beijing roster. "It would have been great to be a part of it, especially if they were to win gold. But that wasn't a dream of mine."

Instead, he'll spend the time with his family while preparing for the new season.

"I'll have fun sitting back and watching it," he said.