Dont cry for me USA - ARG 89 vs. USA 81

[nikolass127]

Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece -- Bronze is the best the American men's basketball team can do, and the reason is simple: They were beaten by a better team, Argentina.





Manu Ginobili scored 29 points to lead his nation 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.



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 the winner of Friday's late game between Lithuania and Italy.



The Argentines were the better passers, shooters and defenders. They confronted the Americans with a mixture of man-to-man and zone defenses, and confounded them with an assortment of back picks 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.

[nikolass127]

Boxscore

http://www.nbcolympics.com/results/5053191/detail.html

[iG®]

Question is:Will they win the bronze?BIG question...

[Alcoholic]

They're probably so demoralized they won't even win the bronze now...

The dream is gone... oh well... good times they were..

[j.23]

it still has been an impressive run.. hopefully they'll get better by the next olympics

i feel really bad for iverson tho, the guy worked his ass off and all he could hope for now is a bronze.. i would love to see him play for the US again in 2008

[Jay-Peso]

Wake up call for the rich basketball players of the NBA.



Maybe the US needed this to come to grips of reality

[Amphatoast]

I wonder if the "real stars" such as KG, tmac feel bad about this? Some made up excuses that were false while others like Kobe and Kidd had legit excuses.

[Alcoholic]

I can see it now- articles blaming the superstars for backing out.

[bchogan]

KG had a real excuse, he was getting married this summer. Granted, that wouldn't take the whole summer, but I'm sure he wanted some honeymoon-time with his new bride.
Back to the U.S. performance, I can only hope that this will bring a change to the selection process for the U.S. national teams. A lot has been said about the 13 guys who refused the invitation, but even if they all had played, the U.S. might have had a tough time, given the performances of U.S. teams in 2002 & 2000.
It's easy to second guess this team, especially now, but the U.S. needs to field a better balance of players in the future. Most of the players on this roster are scorers, but not shooters & defenders. I would have liked to seen a few players like Bruce Bowen, who is one of the best defenders in the NBA and shoots the 3 very well. Recruiting players that aren't all superstars is a better way to go. Michael Redd & Wally Szcerbiac are a couple more that were mentioned that could have given the U.S. an outside presence. Hell, I would have even liked to see Mark Madsen play in the Olympics! At least he would raise the energy level.
Regardless of who the U.S. didn't have, I think that Larry Brown screwed up a bit with how he coached. I kept thinking, even back in the exhibition games, that the U.S. team's greatest strength was it's deep bench. They should have played uptempo the whole game, constantly pressuring on defense and running and moving more on offense to wear down their opponents, who didn't have as many good players to work with. But even today they just walked the ball up, made lazy passes and didn't pick up their intensity until they were already out of the game. And Brown had shortened up the rotation, benching Carmelo, Amare & Okafor, and barely playing LeBron. He could have at least used those guys to come in and commit fouls. I understand the concept of using only your best players to let them get into a better flow, but it obviously didn't pan out.

[Matt]

I sense that Tim Duncan will be back in 4yrs for some unfinished business. Now the play Lithuania for Bronze, who would of thought

[Fresh8]

The tw favourites end up playing off for bronze...ironic

And my man Kobe will be there in 2008- he's gonna rip it up. Now I can laugh at T-mac...maybe he was scared he wouldnt get enogh shots.... lol

[MaD_hAND1e]

T-Mac will be at 2008, Yao Ming will convince him to play since the Olympics will be in Yao's hood

[Matt]

heheh, i have a sense that USA will win this game

[Rokas[LTU]]

heheh, i have a sense that USA will win this game

What game ?
Bronze game ?

[Say]

HELL YEAH BABY!

Go Argentina!

[J@3]

[Say]

.....

[J@3]

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 11:21 pm

Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 7:14 pm