By Doug Feinberg

Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS >> With limited practice time and improving teams around the world, Lisa Leslie and the United States team know they will be tested.

LISA Leslie and the United States women’s basketball team have dominated the last three Olympics, taking home gold each time. But a gold medal in Beijing is no sure thing with the Americans short on team training and the rest of the world catching up.

In the past few Olympics it wasn’t a question of whether the United States would win a gold medal, it was how wide the margin of victory would be. The Americans went 8-0 in the 2004 Olympics, winning by an average of nearly 24 points a game. They beat Australia 74-63 to win the gold.

Already, however, the Beijing Olympics have been a bit more challenging for the Americans’ preparation. With athletes playing overseas in the winter and with the WNBA in the summer, it has been tough to get everyone together. All 12 members of the team didn’t get together until the end of July, when the U.S. holds a training session right before the Summer Games.

“We definitely are the underdogs in terms of preparation. What we have going is tremendously talented athletes who are very hungry,” United States coach Anne Donovan said.

The U.S. has been forced to go with a piecemeal training philosophy, holding different training camps and tours over the last two years to help the selection committee choose from a pool of 29 players.

Joining Leslie on the team are three-time Olympian Katie Smith, and 2004 gold medalists Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tamika Catchings and Tina Thompson. DeLisha Milton-Jones earned a gold medal in 2000 but missed the Athens Olympics with an injury. The Americans also have many newcomers in Candace Parker, Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus, Cappie Pondexter and Kara Lawson.

The U.S. team is in a transition period with longtime stars Dawn Staley and Sheryl Swoopes gone. Staley will still be on the sidelines, but now as an assistant coach. Having so many new players does-n’t worry Donovan.

“It’s such a great mixture of Olympic gold medalists with some really tremendous young talent,” the coach said. “I love the combination of players that we have.”

Parker got a taste of the international stage in the 2006 world championships when she was a college sophomore. She was thrown into the spotlight when Leslie missed the worlds because her uncle had been paralyzed in a car accident.

The U.S. ended up taking a bronze after losing to Russia in the semifinals, its first loss in major international competition since 1994. Australia won the gold.

“Looking back at the world championship our loss has stuck with everyone,” Bird said. “I think we have a lot to prove.”

Taurasi agreed.

“It definitely made us mad,” she said with a smile. “We’re the underdogs as Australia is the world champions, and they have all the pressure on them.”

Donovan hopes the team’s hunger for a medal helps them focus and get past the difficult training schedule.

“The commitment of the players is to get a gold medal in August, so we have to make the most of the two weeks we have.