Seeing Ginobili get hurt in Beijing was nightmarish for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich — who then lost Tony Parker to another sprain early in the NBA season.

Popovich thinks it’s a confidence booster for some to have the Olympic experience, but in most cases, he just can’t see it providing any tangible help to players who are already superstars.

“I think it’s a great honor and great fun, but I’m not so sure they become better players,” Popovich said. “It would be hard to prove.”

Maybe beating Angola by 21 and Germany by 49 and Australia by 31 didn’t make any of the Americans better.

But what about when Team USA practiced?

Players like Wade and James said there’s no comparison for the intensity of matchups every day in practice, and cited those runs as the ones where they got their true springboard into this season.

“It was challenging and fun to go out there and compete against 12 of the best guys in the world, man,” James said. “How could you not get better going against Kobe and Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul and the rest of the guys every day? There is no way you can’t get better. Just the competition alone. It was fun.”

Wade had similar sentiments, and competition might have even been harder on him in practices, since he was with the second team and had to guard James much of the time.

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” Wade said. “Or any harder.”

For some of the Olympic champions, getting off to great starts is no surprise.

After all, it’s hardly a new thing for players like Bryant, James, Howard, Paul and Wade — among the best in the world — to be dominating the NBA.

And it’s not just about the numbers.

Denver’s Carmelo Anthony is seeing his stats dip a bit over past years, even with former scoring partner Allen Iverson now having been shipped to Detroit.

But the way Anthony sees it, he’s playing far more effectively than ever before — a concept he learned in Beijing.

“I brought the same approach to this team,” Anthony said. “I brought the idea of depending on my teammates more and helping them build confidence in themselves.”

The trick could be keeping this level up for the entire season, with limited rest this past offseason.

Sure, none of the U.S. players in Beijing averaged more than 25 minutes per game. But the combination of everything — training camp in Las Vegas, traveling to the other side of the world, countless media demands and other obligations, along with hustling back to the U.S. for post-Olympic responsibilities with endorsers and such — made for a hectic few months for the Redeem Team.

Keeping those stars fresh is very much on the minds of some of their coaches, many of whom have seen players return from Olympic appearances and not be at their tip-top best the following season.

Slideshow   The Week in Sports Pictures A kayaker flips out, a racehorse eyes the Triple Crown and more. more photos

“We’re concerned about it. There’s no doubt,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who doesn’t just have Bryant to worry about, but Spain’s Pau Gasol as well. “He took an extended period of time off after the Olympics and rejuvenated himself, then started over again and started his work ethic. He’s a hard-working guy, so it’s been a real issue.”

Bryant isn’t so worried, though. In fact, it doesn’t seem like any of the U.S. gold medalists are fretting over not being at their best when the NBA games start meaning the most.

It goes back to that bus ride, that championship moment.

Those who were there will never forget it, and will spend the rest of this NBA season desperately trying to match it when the title gets decided in June. Fatigue, they said, won’t deter them in that chase.

“When they throw the ball up,” Paul said, “you forget about all of it.”

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