"It's obvious that European players master the fundamentals better," Jordan told reporters while discussing the  U.S. team's disappointing bronze medal-winning display at last month's world championships which Spain won with a 70-47 defeat of Greece.

    "They have taken this aspect of the game to a higher level," said the former Chicago Bulls superstar who retired in 2003.

    "In the United States, we're too focused on the highlights, dunks and passes. It's not that we don't have the players we need, but putting together a team becomes difficult under these conditions. But I think things are going in the right direction today."

    Jordan became a part owner of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Bobcats in June. He said that adding European squads to the NBA was a good long-term concept.

    "In the long term it's a good idea. The distance and the traveling would be a problem, but it's obvious that European teams are increasingly competitive.

    "European basketball has become very strong and their players have contributed a lot to the development of the game. The United States now has problems beating them."

    NBA league commissioner David Stern said last week that a conference of European teams is at least another 10 years in the future, and depends on a city's willingness to build a multimillion dollar stadium.

    The only current European venue seen as NBA-worthy is the 19,000-capacity KolnArena in Cologne, Germany.

    There is an arena scheduled to open in London in 2007. There are also plans in Berlin, CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid. Should those plans become reality, those city teams could form the heart of an NBA Europe division. Enditem

    (Agencies)