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Sunday, October 1
Dream lost in shuffle for Americans
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- A cakewalk. A 40-day working vacation,
stretching from Maui to Bondi Beach. Another round of NBA hero
worship at the Olympics.
The Australian line, "No worries, mate" was made for the U.S.
men's basketball team.
Or so everyone thought.
The Americans had to work for their gold medals this time.
Lithuania scared them good, twice, losing by just two in
Friday's semifinal. France cut a 12-point deficit to four with four
minutes left on Sunday. But Vince Carter double-pumped before
dunking with 1:40 left and the U.S. team scored nine of the game's
final 12 points en route to an 85-75 win.
"This wasn't an easy journey for us," a teary Vin Baker said.
"We played together, and came up and proved we're the best team
in the world," Allan Houston said. "It was a little bit tougher
than I thought. Nobody can tell us we didn't earn it. That's what
makes it even more special."
This tournament was nothing like 1992, when opponents were more
concerned with getting the Dreamers' autographs than defending
them, and the real suspense was how Michael Jordan & Co. would
cover up a rival sponsor's logo (U.S. flags). No opponent finished
within 32 points.
It wasn't much like 1996, either. Then, Charles Barkley worried
more about the size of his hotel room than the competition. With
good reason: No U.S. opponent came within 22 points.
This time, opponent after opponent pushed back when pushed. They
got some help from the refs, too, as a series of outrageous calls
fueled the growing feeling the mighty Dream Team might be ready to
take a fall.
That didn't happen. The United States picked up its 12th gold
medal in 14 Olympic basketball competitions, but this one will be
remembered as the Olympics when the rest of the world caught up.
"What this Olympics demonstrated is that the competitive level
of international basketball has improved -- more so than casual
observers of the game understood," NBA commissioner David Stern
said.
The final victory margin of 10 points against France was the
lowest ever for the United States in a gold-medal victory. It was
the fifth time in these Olympics that the Americans won by 15 or
fewer points.
No wonder these players, so distant and detached when they first
arrived on these shores, turned into a tough, tight-knit bunch by
the end.
"It was fun within our little unit, but I really didn't feel we
were welcome here," Mourning said. "You could just feel it, the
lack of respect, how the people wanted to see us lose. Our strength
came from inside our own unit."
It might have been different had the United States fielded the
best team possible. For various reasons, that didn't happen.
Shaquille O'Neal stayed home, saying it was time for someone else
to get a gold medal. Kobe Bryant refused to move his wedding date.
Tim Duncan went down with a bum knee. Grant Hill pulled out, too,
because of an injury.
Without them, no one stepped up to assume the leadership role,
to do what Jordan might have done -- assert his will, fire up the
team and refuse to allow any opponent to even believe it had a
chance.
None of the 12 players on the U.S. roster had ever won an NBA or
NCAA championship. Only two, Gary Payton and Houston, had ever
played in the league finals.
On the day they arrived in Australia, the national newspaper
called them a "Dream Team of Nobodies." The were criticized for
everything -- for not winning by enough, for getting in the faces of
their opponents, for not being as compelling as the U.S. teams that
preceded them.
It was a no-win situation.
"I agree with that," coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We've got
players going out and playing their hearts out and competing and
still winning the game, and at times it's like people think we
failed. I think that's the wrong attitude.
"As a coach, this has been the most difficult thing I've done.
I won two world championships, one from the sixth seed, which no
one else has ever done, and this was more difficult. The weight of
the world is on you, everybody is expecting these teams to roll
over for you and that's just not the way it is. That's not
reality."
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