Advertisement

U.S. never wakes up // A far cry from the Dream Team, USA loses in semifinals

 
Published Aug. 28, 2004|Updated June 20, 2006

Think of it as a charming Olympic story of a nation overcoming the odds in a sport where, really, it isn't very good.

Think of it as a plucky little team trying to overcome its natural disadvantages on a world stage.

Think of it as an awkward, flawed bunch of athletes who have stumbled a bit, staggered a bit throughout the Games, yet somehow find themselves with a chance to win, gasp, the bronze medal.

Doesn't such a story tug at your heart? Doesn't it warm your soul? Doesn't it say something about the realization of dreams?

Ah, yes. Someday, perhaps, the United States will take up this strange game called basketball for real.

Perhaps you have not heard of this team. After all, the United States is a small nation in the Western Hemisphere, wedged between Canada and Mexico, and according to most reports, some of its players are barely multimillionaires. It still needs time to work on the subtleties of the game such as "shooting" and "defense."

Yet, there the United States was Friday, bravely coming within eight points of mighty Argentina in the semifinals of the Olympics. There for a while, it appeared that, if it got a couple of breaks, it might come within six.

Think of it like that, if it helps. Think of it as a team destined to fail because, after all, the excuses are easy to find. Think of how the rest of the world has improved, and how the best U.S. players didn't show, and how the international rules are different.

That way, you don't have to think of it this way.

Man, did this U.S. team reek.

We are standing in the ashes of another U.S. defeat, and you have to admit this. It was the most unsurprising defeat in the history of United States basketball. You could see this coming a week away, and by the time it arrived, there were more parts comedy than tragedy. Argentina won, 89-81, and if the teams played next week in Madison Square Garden, the result would be the same.

Here's a statistic for you. Before this year, the U.S. had lost two games in Olympic history. This year, it tries to avoid its fourth loss tonight.

You know the scary thing? The U.S. team, given the sum of its questionable parts, played fairly well. And it played fairly hard.

And it still stunk.

If this was a Dream Team, it is fair to say the team dreaming was Argentina, which used to have visions through the night of an American team this flawed. All in all, you could say this makes up for the U.S. casting Madonna as Eva Peron.

First things first: Everyone here deserves a pay cut. This is an indictment of the players who lost, of the players who didn't come and, pity their souls, of the players who weren't good enough to make it. It's an indictment of the people who chose the team. It's an indictment of the people who coached the team.

There are a lot of fingerprints on this failure. Let's start with Larry Brown, who had been trying since the opening game to wipe his off of the lineup. Great coach, Brown, but he bailed early on this team. All he would do is grumble about the players who weren't here.

On the other hand, there is this. If you put the entire player pool into a draft and picked sides, 12 of the first 20 or so picked would be the Americans. They still have all the talent. They still have all the contracts.

What they don't have is the game. When assistant coach Gregg Popovich, trying to deflect criticism, saying this isn't '92 anymore, it swings both ways. Yes, the opposition has gotten better. Yes, the Americans have backslid.

"Individually, they're the best," Argentina's Pepe Sanchez said. "But this is a team sport. We're playing five-on-five, not one-on-one. This isn't tennis.

"We've lost that fear of seeing them in the highlights."

For the Americans, it is time to take the rest of the world seriously. That means no more picking players who are not yet ready (Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James), players who aren't good enough (Be honest: Raise your hand if you had ever heard of Shawn Marion before this tournament), or players named Stephon Marbury.

That was the fatal flaw with this team. It was picked as if someone backed up a fleet of limos to the NBA offices, and the first 12 guys inside got to go. There was no true point guard. There was no shooter. (The best shooter, Richard Jefferson, was 47th in the NBA in three-point shooting this year.) You wonder: Didn't the people selecting the team watch Hoosiers? That team struggled, too, until Jimmy Chitwood started shooting jumpers.

True, it might have been different if so many players hadn't invented so many excuses over the summer. If you're going to toss around scorn, aim it at Shaquille O'Neal and Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter and Kevin Garnett and the rest.

"If a person is selected to a team like this, it shouldn't even be a question in your mind," Iverson said. "It should be an honor to accept. If you grew up in the USA, you need to think of all the things the USA did for you, how it allowed you to support your family and be recognized as a household name."

When Iverson is the voice of perspective, that is perhaps the cruelest blow.

Still, you come away from a competition such as this with one question. Did the United States overachieve or did it underachieve?

Answer: Not only did it underachieve, it turned us into the Clippers.

Think of it as a chance to get better. Who knows? Maybe the shoe companies will make all of the high school athletes of other countries millionaires. Maybe their children will be raised on highlight films until they believe they don't need college coaching at all. Maybe someday, we'll learn to hit a jump shot. Maybe we'll figure out in the next four years how we're going to get the better NBA players to go to China.

Maybe, if everything comes together, we will be able to beat Argentina.

Dare to dream.