Highland 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 Source ATHENS (AP) - Bronze is the best the American men can do in basketball, and the reason is simple: A hastily assembled assortment of NBA stars couldn't beat a better team - Argentina. Manu Ginobili scored 29 points to lead his team to another victory over the country that used to dominate the sport, an 89-81 win in the Olympic semifinals Friday night. For the first time since 1988, the gold medal will not go to the Americans. And for the first time since pro players were added for the original Dream Team in 1992, the United States will not be the Olympic champion. ``We fought as hard as we could,'' Allen Iverson said. ``We couldn't get it done for whatever reason. ``They were a better team than us.'' Argentina, with almost the same roster that made history in 2002 by becoming the first team to defeat a U.S. squad of NBA players, will compete for the gold medal against Italy, which defeated Lithuania 100-91. The U.S. team will play Lithuania for third. Argentina had better passers, shooters and defenders than the Americans. They confronted them with a mixture of man-to-man and zone defences, and confounded them with an assortment of back picks and deft passes that turned the start of the second half into a layup drill. Argentina's players celebrated wildly when the game ended, and the crowd yelled ``Ole!'' U.S. coach Larry Brown walked over and gave a handshake and hug to his Argentine counterpart, Ruben Magnano, who played for Argentina against the first Dream Team in Barcelona. ``Our rival today was extremely tough, but in the few hours that passed between yesterday's game and today's, we realized that nothing was impossible,'' Magnano said. ``We had to go out there and attack them on an equal footing, go for them. ``That's what we did, and that's why we won.'' NBA commissioner David Stern attended the third loss of the Athens Games for the Americans, who entered the tournament with a 109-2 Olympic record. Their 19-point loss to Puerto Rico in the opener was shocking, and their second defeat, to Lithuania, finally hammered home a message to the team's young players that the level of competition was a whole lot better than they had imagined. The U.S. team's best effort came Thursday in a victory over previously undefeated Spain. But just a day later, they went back to missing three-point shots, lost Tim Duncan to foul trouble, didn't get a breakout performance from any of their players and couldn't make a sustained comeback after they fell behind by a double-digit margin. The Americans gave Argentina credit, but the fact remained that a big part of the U.S. team's loss was its fundamental weaknesses: a lack of familiarity with each other, poor defence and abysmal outside shooting. It showed that the quarter-final victory over Spain was an aberration, not an awakening. ``I don't know if we'd have beaten them if Timmy had played 40 minutes - though I'd have liked to have had that chance,'' Brown said. ``Basketball has been getting better around the world because of what the Dream Team did in '92, and rather than knocking our guys we should give credit to the guys who won.'' The results might have been different if the Americans had fielded a team of their best players, but injuries, indifference and insecurities left many of the best Americans - including Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Jason Kidd - back in the United States. ``In 1992, the USA had the best players ever. Here they are great players, too, but they are young and they never played internationally, so with different rules it's a whole different thing,'' said Ginobili, who also plays for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs. ``The rest of the world is getting better and the States isn't bringing their best players.'' Argentina shot 54 per cent overall and 11-for-22 from three-point range, while the Americans finished just 32-for-77 (42 per cent) and 3-for-11 on three-pointers. After scoring 31 points against Spain, Stephon Marbury led the U.S. team with 18, and Duncan had just 10 while being limited to 19 minutes. ``You can't just show up at a basketball game and feel that because you have USA across your chest you're going to win the game,'' Iverson said. ``It means a lot to other teams out here to get a medal as well.'' Italy used some incredible three-point shooting to advance to the gold medal game for just the second time ever. The only other time Italy (5-2) played for gold was in 1980 when it lost to the Soviet Union. Lithuania (6-1) has won the last three bronze medals and now it must beat the United States for a second time to make it four straight. Italy finished 18-for-28 from three-point range (64 per cent) in the game of runs, the last of which belonged to the Italians. Lithuania trailed by 10 points entering the fourth quarter but went on a 15-0 run to take a 78-73 lead with 6:34 to play. Italy answered with a 12-0 run, the last six points of which came on - what else? - three-pointers by Giacomo Galanda and Basile, who was 7-for-11 on three-pointers. Galanda's three-pointer came with 2:21 to play and it was Italy's first field goal of the fourth quarter. Lithuania couldn't come up with a final run and Italy guaranteed itself at least a silver medal. Italy beat Argentina 76-75 in the teams' final preliminary round game. Gianmarco Pozzecco had 17 points for Italy, while Galanda added 16. Arvydas Macijauskas, who had 32 points in the quarter-final win over China, had 26 for Lithuania, all but two in the first half when each team held a double-figure lead. Saulius Stombergas added 12 points for Lithuania, all in a 2:42 span to open the fourth quarter. Lithuania finished 15-for-35 (43 per cent) from three-point range. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest fanofcoils Report post Posted August 28, 2004 Unfortunately they will win a bronze medal. Their pattern is win 2 games, lose 1. I wished they lose this game so there would be a major shakeup in the NBA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 Unfortunately they will win a bronze medal. Their pattern is win 2 games, lose 1. I wished they lose this game so there would be a major shakeup in the NBA. Why would there be? The best player in that game was Manu Ginobli, an NBA player. The best player in the Spain loss was Carlos Arroyo, and NBA player. Pau Gasol, an NBA player, dominated the tournament. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steviekick 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 Unfortunately they will win a bronze medal. Their pattern is win 2 games, lose 1. I wished they lose this game so there would be a major shakeup in the NBA. Why would there be? The best player in that game was Manu Ginobli, an NBA player. The best player in the Spain loss was Carlos Arroyo, and NBA player. Pau Gasol, an NBA player, dominated the tournament. Very true. The NBA still manages to win somehow. And I'm still pissed that Ron Artest wasn't on the team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest fanofcoils Report post Posted August 28, 2004 Duncan, Iverson, and the rest of the team will all be worth nothing for awhile if they don't win the bronze medal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Golgo 13 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 Because their million dollar contracts and generally being the go to player on their respective teams as well as being regarded among the best in the NBA, can attest to that fact. Seriously, it's "just the Olympics", where a poorly constructed US team made the trip and found the rest of the world caught up. It's not that big of deal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steviekick 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 Duncan, Iverson, and the rest of the team will all be worth nothing for awhile if they don't win the bronze medal. I would hate to be the team playing them for the Bronze. The US team is at a point where if they don't win, they will be COMPLETELY mocked for all eternity and looking to humiliate their opponent. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steviekick 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 Because their million dollar contracts and generally being the go to player on their respective teams as well as being regarded among the best in the NBA, can attest to that fact. Seriously, it's "just the Olympics", where a poorly constructed US team made the trip and found the rest of the world caught up. It's not that big of deal. It's a big deal to the people who follow there national basketball leagues and to stupid people in America who won't admit that there are equal/better players abroad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Mindless_Aggression Report post Posted August 28, 2004 Saw the game. I know Larry Brown hates anyone not pushing 30, but when Lebron James is consistently giving you more energy than anyone else on the team, you really should play him in the second half. Same with Dwayne Wade. Chad For probably made the best point about it all. Larry Brown is a great NBA and College coach, but he just never seemed to figure out how to use this team during the Olympics. Anytime any of the young guys showed flashes of brilliances in the first half, they got nothing in the second. Just a really poor job on his part, IMO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kahran Ramsus 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 Unfortunately they will win a bronze medal. Their pattern is win 2 games, lose 1. I wished they lose this game so there would be a major shakeup in the NBA. I really don't see them being able to beat Lithuania. Had Italy lost, I might have agreed with you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 So Lithuania misses the finals, and Spain fails to medal. Its not just the US that failed in these games. This is parity more than anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Kaspar Kucera Report post Posted August 28, 2004 Well, the US probably feels a little better now. Other than their brainfart loss to Puerto Rico, at least they have only lost to the teams that either will or still have to chance to medal in this thing. This has to be a dream run for Italy. I believe they were quite lightly regarded going into to this thing, but now they beat up the US, and will at least get a silver medal. Not bad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 I'd rather them just lose this 3rd place game. If you're on this team would you really want that lousy bronze medal the rest of your life? With no medal at all at least you could forget about the whole wretched experience. I hope this does away with the idea of using pros. It was started essentially to prove a point after 1988 (namely that if we sent our best guys, we kill everyone). But now? Just send the college champions or whoever wins the NBA title. It's been done before...in 1948 Kentucky won the national title and then also was the US Olympic team and won the gold. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 I hope this does away with the idea of using pros. It was started essentially to prove a point after 1988 (namely that if we sent our best guys, we kill everyone). But now? Just send the college champions or whoever wins the NBA title. It's been done before...in 1948 Kentucky won the national title and then also was the US Olympic team and won the gold. Actually, our country was against it. Other countries wanted it so they could send their best players to the NBA and still allow them to play in the Olympics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Kaspar Kucera Report post Posted August 28, 2004 I hope this does away with the idea of using pros. That's just silly. Heck, Argentina is in the gold medal game and they were led by Manu Ginobili who is growing into a star on the Spurs. The US team was just badly formed. It went more for stars, instead of trying to build a team. They needed a few more guys out there to be specialists and handle things like defense and three point shooting, while letting the star shooters be star shooters. I am very curious how their lineup will look for 2008. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Anglesault Report post Posted August 28, 2004 The US team is at a point where if they don't win, they will be COMPLETELY mocked for all eternity Oh, believe me, that part is set in stone. They could blow Lithuania out and (perhaps rightfully so, perhaps not) still be mocked for all eternity Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest fanofcoils Report post Posted August 28, 2004 I don't think having a guy who is undersized with back problems (Emeka Okafor) on your team will scare anyone. Having him on the team is exactly why they are is failing. I just hope Larry Brown gets into a fight or something with Allen Iverson before they part ways. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Baron 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 If you think a team of superstars can get you a gold medal, because its "your sport" think again. As I have stated, USA does not have a strong perimeter shooting, and a passing team. The team does not pass, pick and roll, give and goes, and see the open man to create great scoring chances. Its shoot outside or give it to the big man. When Argentina was in the 2-3 Zone, USA was baffled. No crisp passes. hardly any open shots. This created lots of turnovers by the States and simply gave Argentina the game. The team is not balanced, and has not adapted to the International rules and the style that they play. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Exslade ZX 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 And now..they have to delay the start of the bronze medal game because they don't have the right uniforms... I don't agree with it, but damn they're gonna be bashed so hard its not funny. Hell...they're already being bashed.. But still am wrestling instead so, (is a wrestler) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brett Favre 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 Seriously people, the game of basketball around the world has evolved. The difference between International players around the world in the NBA Today and 1992 is huge. The NBA took their game around the world, and now teams around the world have taken basketball more seriously. They have a huge league in Europe that's as big, if not bigger than the NBA's, and they practice basketball a hell of a lot more than they do here. I don't see how this is an embarrasment especially since the US is playing FIBA rules which are very different from the NBA rules. There are no defensive second violations, no offensive goaltendings, different types of fouls, different types of screens, shorter 3 point lines, I mean it's hard to adapt when you have only learned how to play basketball one way during your whole life. Argentina just happened to be a better team, there's really nothing to be ashamed of. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dangerous A 0 Report post Posted August 28, 2004 "No gold, for the "Dream Team" Apparantly no Bronze either. BTW, this is not a "dream team". The only dream team was the '92 team. All the other teams are insert year Team USA teams. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spaceman Spiff 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2004 Um, they won the bronze. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
therealworldschampion 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2004 And they looked as excited as one were if he was going to get a root canal to get the bronze medal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Highland 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2004 "No gold, for the "Dream Team" Apparantly no Bronze either. BTW, this is not a "dream team". The only dream team was the '92 team. All the other teams are insert year Team USA teams. I know, but most people still equate the men's US Basketball team as the Dream Team, regardless of the year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dangerous A 0 Report post Posted August 31, 2004 Correction. Team USA wins the bronze. (I know, 3 days late, sue me) I am not sure about who most people are. I don't recall the 2000 Team USA being called a Dream Team, although the '96 team was for sure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Anglesault Report post Posted September 1, 2004 It's funny that they call the women's team the "Ladies Dream Team" or the "real Dream team." Even, I, a basketball hater, knew every guy on the 1992 Dream Team, and knew most of them on this team. I've never heard of ANY of these women. To be a dream team, I think they have to transcend the sport just a little. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
