U.S. Upset

Embarrassment. Humiliation. Travesty. All words used to describe USA Basketball's demise at the hands of Puerto Rico in the Olympic tournament. Everyone is looking for answers. Can these guys just not shoot? Do they lack fundamentals? Was this team poorly assembled? Are they really this bad? Is the rest of the world really this good? All may be right to a certain degree, but one thing seems obvious to me. The problem is that the players on this team are not embarrassed or humiliated or find it a travesty that they lost.

This group of NBA stars has zero sense of Olympic history and plays like it. These NBA guys just don't get it. They don't care that, prior to their Puerto Rico disaster, the U.S. had lost only two games since 1936. Two games in sixty-eight years. Even the Globetrotters would be envious of that mark.

They don't care about those silver medals sitting in a European safety deposit box that the 1972 U.S. team refused to accept after their controversial, first-ever loss.

They don't care about those hundreds or maybe thousands of young men who have tried out for the U.S. team over the last half century, their only goal becoming a U.S. Olympian and, perhaps, claiming a gold medal, but couldn't make the team.

I have no doubt this team wants to win. Nearly every athlete in every sport does even with today's inflated salaries. The problem is that no one on this squad has passion for this event. They would love to win, but if they don't, there is always the next NBA season, the pursuit of a NBA crown and more paychecks.

That's, in part, what made the Dream Team in 1992 a dream team. They understood. They wanted the gold medal. They wanted to be a part of the U.S. Olympic basketball dynasty. They considered it part of their legacy. This U.S. team views the Olympics like a just another summer workout.

The 2004 U.S. squad has plenty of time and more than enough talent to regain its dignity and win a gold medal. That's a good thing because it sure doesn't look like this edition of USA Basketball has a clue about it's place in history.