As the United States cruises through the FIBA Americas Championship, apparently headed for a huge matchup with Argentina, is it safe to say that USA basketball is back?

I don’t think so. It’s taken a lot of thought and a tremendous amount of dedication from the top down to get the US back on firm footing in this qualifying tournament. From all accounts, Kobe Bryant has been phenomenal and totally focused on playing defense.

Chances are, that’s what it will take from here on out for the United States to put in solid showings in international competition. I think the days of picking a group of stars, throwing on uniforms and dominating the world are gone for good.

Or am I way off base?

Comcast SportsNet has named Bob Salmi as its color analyst for Sixers’ broadcasts this season, pairing the former coach with play-by-play man Marc Zumoff.

A graduate of Florida Southern University and a former coach and scout for various NBA teams, Salmi has a wealth of basketball knowledge.

Whether he can put that knowledge to use while working for the team remains to be seen.

Color analyst for the local broadcast can be a thankless job because it’s the team that pays your salary. That has to have a dampening effect on the honesty of your comments during a game, especially when the home team isn’t all that good.

If Comcast allows Salmi to be honest and critical, then he’ll be a good addition. But another hometown yes-man? Let’s hope not.

Maybe Tim Donaghy wasn’t “an isolated, rogue criminal” after all.

Amidst allegations that the former referee could be naming other officials who violated the NBA’s policy by gambling, commissioner David Stern named Lawrence Pedowitz, a former Chief of the Criminal Division in the United State’s Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, to review the league’s policies relating to gambling and officiating.

“There is nothing as important as the integrity of our game and the

covenant we have with our fans,” Stern said.

What’s a bit amazing is that it’s gotten to this point. While Donaghy was an extreme case, it’s not too farfetched to believe that other referees gamble occasionally, even if they don’t bet on games.

Any gambling, however, and the problems that accompany it, is too much for a league whose games must be above suspicion, and whose outcomes often ride on an official’s call or non-call.

Stern thought he and the league had this covered, but in light of Donaghy’s actions, he’s decided more scrutiny is needed, and who can blame him.

While there was much hand-wringing when the Donaghy story broke, the damage to the league was minimal as long as it was one person. If it turns out that there are more violating the gambling policy, even on a much less serious level, the league could have a much more serious problem on its hands.

The 76ers put their 10- and 20-game packages on sale Tuesday, pushing the fact that you can get weekend heavy plans or weekday heavy plans. That's fine, they're a business and they've got to sell tickets.

What isn't so fine, at least how I see it, is that each plan will contain tickets to Detroit, Miami, Boston and Western Conference teams.

Pushing Detroit and Miami is one thing. They've been Eastern teams to watch for a few years now. But the Celtics? Ugh.

Does anyone else cringe at the way the Celtics have gone from the lottery to contention? It is, after all, a team that tanked in an effort to get one of the top two picks in the draft. And there is no doubt in my mind that it did just that. The Sixers second game in Boston made that clear. Early in the game, Boston was up by about 20, the Sixers were without key players like Andre Iguodala and the next thing you knew it was a romp for the Sixers.

Now, because the Celts didn't get Oden or Durant, because Paul Pierce was apparently grumbling, Danny Ainge did a 180, trading for Ray Allen on draft night, then giving away the rest of the young talent for Kevin Garnett. Instant contender. Reports say ticket sales in Boston are up 50 percent. Good for them.

But for the Sixers, who have done nothing this offseason to improve but preach patience and the fact that they'll have cap room next summer, to use the Celts as a selling point is just flat-out gross.

Patience isn't necessarily a bad thing. They've tried the quick fix route, trying to surround Iverson with pieces, and it culminated in Chris Webber. How'd that work?

Still, I'm not convinced that what they've got is good enough, or will get good enough, to carry them to contention two or three years down the road. Where's the power foward who can really bang the boards? Where's the shooting guard, with an emphasis on shooting not slashing to the basket?

So while Ainge has rebuilt the Celtics into a possible contender in a little more than a month, the Sixers have yet to fill any of their holes.

Does pointing that out to the fans by hawking the Celtics games make any sense?