Like any Olympic Games, the XXVIII Olympiad has had its share of poignant moments and inspiring stories.
The heroics of Paul Hamm, the brilliance of Michael Phelps, and the dominance of the USA softball team have tugged at the nation’s heartstrings and made us all proud to be Americans.
However, another storyline from Athens has had a decidedly different effect on the nation’s psyche: the decline of the USA men’s basketball team.
Since basketball was introduced as an Olympic sport in 1936, the United States has demonstrated an unparalleled level of dominance. Highlighted by the original Dream Team, which won all eight Olympic contests by more than 30 points in the most lopsided gold medal run in the history of Olympic basketball, Team USA has a proud tradition of virtual invincibility in the world’s premier athletic competition, the Olympic Games.
Prior to these Games, the American men’s basketball team held a 109-2 record in Olympic play. This year, the team went 5-3.
The latest edition of Team USA lost more games in a single Olympics than it had lost in every previous Olympic Games combined.
An 89-81 loss to Argentina knocked the United States out of gold medal contention for the first time since 1988, but the American invincibility faded early in the preliminary round.
In 1988, the world was stunned when the American squad failed to advance to the gold medal game. This time, the “Dream Team” seemed fortunate to escape with the bronze.
Team USA’s 92-73 loss to Puerto Rico signaled the end of an era in Olympic men’s basketball. When Jordan, Barkley, Magic and Bird dazzled the crowds in Barcelona against a field of international stars that was honored to stand on the same court as the American juggernaut, could anyone have believed that just 12 years later Team USA would be torched by Carlos Arroyo?
The decline of the American men’s basketball team can be attributed to two factors: the selection committee’s decision to assemble a collection of stars instead of a functional team, and the simple fact that the majority of the nation’s top players no longer have any interest in competing in the Olympics.
Against an international field that has mastered the art of the zone defense, the selection committee chose a team that has no outside shooters (unless you count Richard Jefferson, who opened the Olympics by missing his first 11 attempts from beyond the arc, or Carmelo Anthony, who entered the medal round with a .125 3-point shooting percentage).
Instead, the committee went for a team of slashers and post players who share one common trait: their first instinct is to take the ball to the basket. The team is well suited for the man-to-man world of the NBA, but it is a disaster against the disciplined zones of the Olympic Games.
Team USA has run into a number of teams that are capable of shutting down dribble penetration and collapsing on the post, while daring the American shooters to hoist up prayers from the perimeter.
The result is an embarrassing 44-140 (31.4 percent) from 3-point range — which ranks 11th out of the 12 nations competing in this year’s Olympic Games — and the first three-loss campaign in the history of American Olympic basketball.
What the selection committee failed to realize is that Mike Dunleavy, Jr., arguably the skinniest, least athletic white boy in the NBA, could help this team more than a dozen Shawn Marions.
If the committee had chosen just one or two Anthony Peelers, Team USA could have stretched the opposing defenses and opened things up for the slashers and post players. With a few consistent outside shooters, this year’s “Dream Team” might not have been a disgrace to the name.
However, the selection committee does not deserve all of the blame. The team the committee originally selected included Ray Allen, Mike Bibby and Tracy McGrady, all players capable of knocking down the three.
In fact, the list of players who declined their Olympic selections or withdrew after being selected is far superior to the team that actually made the trip to Athens. For various reasons, ranging from security concerns to sexual-assault trials, the following players decided to turn down the chance to represent their country in the Olympic Games: Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Ray Allen, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Jermaine O’Neal, Mike Bibby, Karl Malone, Ben Wallace, Richard Hamilton, Kenyon Martin and Elton Brand.
Aside from Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson, the 2004 edition of Team USA is composed entirely of second and third choices. This is not a Dream Team.
This team features Lamar Odom, Carlos Boozer, and Richard Jefferson. This is not the best our country has to offer.
In 1992, the greatest players of our time were honored to wear the stars and stripes and represent their country in the Olympic Games. Today, our country’s greatest players would rather stay home and watch the fall of the American dynasty on their 60-inch plasma TV screens.
