August 28, 2004
No "I" in Team
Now that the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team has lost three games, poorly -- when America had won the gold medal in almost every Olympics and had not lost even a single game since NBA players first qualified in 1992 -- the dirty secret is out. They just can't play the game. Basically, It's Fundamentals [washingtonpost.com]. From basketball's inclusion in the Olympics in 1936 until this summer, the United States had won every gold medal save three -- in 1972, in a controversial loss to the Soviet Union, 1980, the year of the boycott, and 1988, in Seoul.
That's now well and truly over. As yesterday's Argentinian winner summarized:
That emphasis on individual talent and endorsement deals has turned NBA players into a morass of poor shooting and inept passing, punctuated by an occasional highlight-reel dunk. Even NBA commissioner David Stern agrees, saying "We have a great, great team here," but adding, "I shouldn't say that. We have 12 great basketball players."
And it's not a question of race. American's won't cheer for this team because it is not a team, rather a loose collection of overpaid, pampered one-on-one players. As Mike Wilbon cogently observes, Americans:
The NBA likes to ask if "you've got game." The real question is, does the team have skill. This sad assemblage of trash-talking U.S. basketball jammers is neither skilled nor a team.
Posted by glenn
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