They lost to Spain as well?

[Guest bob_barron]

From espn.com-

 

INDIANAPOLIS -- The U.S. team had one last debacle before leaving town.

 

 

Michael Finley and Team USA will have to chew on its worst-ever showing for a while.

 

 

The United States lost again at the World Championships on Saturday night, falling 81-75 to Spain in the fifth-place game.

 

It was an outcome far worse than anyone on the American team ever could have expected coming into this tournament -- the worst showing in history by a U.S. team at a World Championships.

 

"In Spain, the people are sleeping now. But our team is having a dream in the States,'' Spain coach Javier Imbroda said.

 

Spain closed with a 9-0 run as the American team failed to score in the final 2:38. Paul Pierce, the team's leading scorer, did not play in the fourth quarter -- a move coach George Karl admitted might have been a mistake.

 

Spain's on-court celebration was subdued, even though beating the United States was quite an accomplishment for a team that finished ninth at the 2000 Olympics.

 

It was, after all, only the fifth-place game -- played before a crowd of less than 1,000. But at least Spain didn't have to settle for the embarrassment of finishing sixth.

 

That distinction belongs to the Americans.

 

"Quit is a very hard word,'' Karl said, disagreeing with that assessment. "They got frustrated, felt the pressure a little bit, didn't finish some plays that they would have completed on their own teams because of their familiarity with each other.''

 

The United States won its first five games of the tournament to improve to 58-0 when using NBA players in international competitions, then lost three of their final four to Argentina, Yugoslavia and Spain.

 

Juan Carlos Navarro, a draft pick of the Washington Wizards, led Spain with 26 points. NBA Rookie of the Year Pau Gasol had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

 

Raef LaFrentz led the U.S. team with 13 points, and Ben Wallace had 12.

 

"This is a good experience (for the Americans) to establish what happens when you lose, and to analyze it, because the world is changing,'' Imbroda said.

 

Michael Finley made one of two foul shots for a 75-72 lead, but that would be the final point for the Americans.

 

Navarro's two foul shots with 2:09 left made it a one-point game, and a foul shot by Jose Antonio Paraiso tied it with 1:37 remaining. Finley missed for the Americans and Gasol then missed for Spain, which grabbed the offensive rebound. Gasol's two foul shots with 52 seconds left put Spain ahead for good.

 

Gasol missed two free throws with 35 seconds remaining and a chance to give Spain a four-point lead, but Finley missed a 3 for the U.S. team at the other end.

 

Navarro's two free throws with 19.4 seconds left made it 79-75, and Reggie Miller was called for a double dribble at the other end.

 

"We didn't play the right way, we didn't play with the passion of the other teams,'' Antonio Davis said.

 

After scoring Spain's first five points, Gasol picked up two fouls in quick succession midway through the first quarter and was not much of an offensive factor the rest of the half.

 

The U.S. team held a double-digit lead for most of the half, and Pierce's 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the United States a 50-40 lead at the break.

 

Wallace had an alley-oop dunk to complete a 6-0 run to start the third quarter, making it 56-40 before Spain inched back within nine by the end of the quarter.

 

The Americans went ahead 69-56 early in the fourth before Spain made its comeback.

[Guest Insane Bump Machine]

LMAO!

 

btw: Germany won the bronze medal. Wh00t!

[Guest El Hijo Del Lunatic]

"Spain'll get 5th place. NOBODY seems to have an answer for Pau Gasol right now." -- El Hijo Del Lunatic, after Yugoslavia beat the US

 

I wish there was an emoticon with a smilie holding a sign that said "booyah".

 

LUNATIC

- Pimpin' ho's and clockin' a grip like my name was Dolemite.

[Guest Ripper]

When I saw that score I actually thought of your post.

 

Karl pulling the ONLY real scorer on the team wasn't the brightest move.

[Guest Will Scarlet]

To top it all, they apparently now have to qualify in the Tournament of the Americas, or else they cannot go to the Olympics in 2004. It is nice that the US will be facing teams who are more their speed like Trinidad & Tobago, Peru, and Costa Rica, instead of taking on the big boys like Spain, Yugoslavia, and Argentina.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

SERVES EM RIGHT! They've been running up the scores on shit teams for years for no reason.

 

They should have never taken these games away from the college kids to begin with.

 

To hell with NBA players...give the game back to those who deserve it!

 

I was praying for this for the longest time...

[Guest swan]

I saw bits and pieces from a couple of games and all I can say those guys didn't even half-ass it. I haven't seen that much lack of effort since the Clippers of the 80's.

[Guest AlwaysPissedOff]

College kids would get fucking massarced now, especially with all the big teams playing their pros and NBA players. Team USA just needs to find 12 NBA guys who actually WANT to be there.

[Guest Ripper]

You had a team of a bunch of guys that couldn't score...plain and simple. Outside of Pierce noone on the team was a guy you could go to when you needed a basket. Reggie needs the screens to be effective, Wallace and Oneil aren't really scorers, Baron Davis and Andre Miller are good point men, but they not that consistant. Marion has always relied on a point guard to get him the ball in the right place. So you take of team of non-scorers and they get out scored. Bottomline. Other teams had great inside men and perimeter men. The US had Pierce.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

The US had Pierce

 

...and Raef LaFrentz! How the hell did he make the team?