U.S. men's basketball head coach Larry Brown (Xinhua photo) 

(Xinhua photos)

    ATHENS, Aug. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. men's basketball head coach Larry Brown said Friday it is important for the development of the international basketball to have only one set of rules for the sport.

    "We've got lots of prefect young players that can grow our future Olympic teams. But we can not do this with little time to spare and without a trial. We cannot do this with different type of rules," Brown said at a press conference of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

    "I would hope that some day we have one set of basketball rulesfor everybody, and have the best international rules adopted by the NBA. I think that's really important," Brown said.

    The American team lost to Italy 95-78 in the Diamond Ball Tournament last week, the first time the Dream Team lost in an exhibition game with its professional players.

    "We had nine travels at the start (of the game) against them, and none called against them," said American forward Richard Jefferson. "So it takes a little bit (time) to be used to it. It's just a matter of getting used to everything."

    The international basketball has closer three-pointer arc and doesn't have illegal three-second defense, which is one of the rules only introduced in the NBA. Enditem