Dream team humbled

14 April 2012

America's bling-bling basketball stars, more used to playing for a fistful of dollars rather than with a heart full of pride, were today coming to terms with a defeat by Olympic outsiders Puerto Rico that was as humiliating as it was historic.

These young men, their ears studded with diamonds and their limbs fashionably tattooed, would not tie their own shoelaces unless paid mega-millions to do so by Nike or Reebok.

In America, an extravagant ability to bounce a ball on the run is recognised with the kind of rewards that make most Premiership players appear paupers by comparison.

Yet, when the call came to play for their flag, some of the biggest names in the NBA were humbled by opposition led by a 40-year-old veteran in Jose Ortiz who was shooting hoops before most of those floundering about him were born.

A crushing victory by 92 points to 73 meant Puerto Rico, inspired by Carlos Arroyo's 24-point haul, became the first team in Olympic history to beat the United States in a game that wasn't a gold medal-deciding final. Since Berlin in 1936, when basketball became an Olympic sport, the USA had won 109 games and lost only two. Those defeats were in the finals of 1972 and 1988.

Perhaps of greater significance, the USA were unbeaten in 24 games since 1992 when basketball went "open" and professional players were allowed to become Olympians.

But if Barcelona was blessed with the presence of the fabled "Dream Team" - think Michael Jordan, think Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley and Karl Malone - then the crowd of 11,560 crammed into the Helliniko Indoor Stadium saw a nightmare unfold for those wearing the Stars and Stripes.

The pain of a nation was captured in the grey face of head coach Larry Brown, a 64-year-old who is more used to savouring the upside of history. Just this summer he led the Detroit Pistons to the NBA Championship-with an emphatic 4-1 final series victory over glamour-side LA Lakers. Brown is also the only US male to win Olympic gold as a player, in 1964, and as a coach, being team assistant in Sydney.

Some time before tip-off against Puerto Rico Brown had recalled his Tokyo triumph with genuine emotion. "One of the best things that happened to me as a player was representing my country and winning the gold medal," he said.

"To me, representing your country is an unbelievable honour, but also an unbelievable responsibility."

It was a responsibility shirked last night by the likes of Allen Iverson, the flamboyant Philadelphia 76er, and Tim Duncan, USA Basketball's Male Athlete of 2004, and the lauded talent of teenager LeBron James.

This was a team of champions, but it was not a champion team. Brown swallowed hard and admitted: "I'm humiliated. Not for the loss. I can always deal with wins and losses. But I'm disappointed because I had a job to do as a coach, to try to get us to understand how we're supposed to play as a team and act like a team and I don't think we did that. Coaches should coach execution but never effort. That should be a given. But I'm truly not surprised. On the first day I got with this group I knew what was in store, basically. I'm angry because the mentality of our team was like this from day one.

"Now we're going to find out if we're ready to truly become a team. From our perspective the only thing we can do is find out what we are made of. This is a great opportunity for a group of guys to get together and figure out what it means to be a team. I'm anxious to see if we'll be able to do that."

Dwyane Wade, star guard with Miami Heat, offered no excuses. "We came out flat, dug a hole for ourselves and didn't make our shots," he said. "We have a lot to learn from this game, and I hope we can apply it in the games to follow."

The United States' next game is tomorrow. And the opposition? Only the host country, Greece.

If there is heart in his side, Brown had better get it beating. Quickly.

MORE ABOUT

Basketball

Dream team humbled

Read More