For U.S. basketball team, a tough task ahead
By JOE POSNANSKI
McClatchy Newspapers
America, as usual, is expected to win the game. But this time around, Team USA is about more than winning and losing. Team USA is about more than expectations. This time around, Team USA is supposed to bring back a little pride and joy for American basketball. And that will be a tougher trick than winning gold. Sure, it was glorious the first time around, in 1992, when the first U.S. team of NBA stars was called Dream Team, and it won games by 40. Dream Team played brilliant team basketball. You could not take your eyes off them. Coach Chuck Daly did not call a single timeout the entire Olympics. But the impressive part is that opposing payers were proud to get drummed by that beautiful team - Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and all. When games ended they would wander up to the victors and ask for autographs on their sneakers. There was something regal about that team, something that, looking back, could never be repeated. They were invincible and lovable all at once. That's a hard double to pull off. Things were about the same four years later, in 1996 in Atlanta. Dream Team II won gold, and dominated every game, and signed lots of autographs. But already there was something missing, something hard to describe. The joy seemed to be wearing off. Michael Jordan did not play, the blowouts were beginning to get boring and pointless, a certain kind of arrogance seemed to be creep into the picture. Then came 2000, and some very bad signs. Oh, the U.S. team won gold, but just barely - America's best players decided to skip the whole thing. And everyone rooted against them. America's new identity seemed to be as basketball bullies. They almost lost to Lithuania when a last-second three-point shot fell short, and the fans loved it. In the final, they beat France in a game that was sloppily played and uncomfortably close. Something bad was coming, no doubt. But no one could have been prepared for what came next. An American team of NBA players finished sixth at the World Championships in 2002. Sixth! It didn't seem possible. Then came the calamity of 2004 in Athens. First, numerous top NBA players refused to play. Second, several U.S. players arrogantly guaranteed gold and the continuation of American dominance. - these weren't even guarantees, they were statements, as if they could not even IMAGINE another country being good enough to beat them. Third, those other countries now had their own NBA stars. Yes, this was going to be a very different tournament. And it was. Right off the bat, first game, the United States was stunned by the team from Puerto Rico. It wasn't just stunning, it was humiliating: Puerto Rico, an unincorporated American territory, a team without a single established NBA player, beat the United States stars by 19 points. It was America's worst loss ever in Olympic competition. Nobody seemed quite sure what to do after that. Here's what they did do: They complained about the officiating. They moaned about the International rules. They griped about playing time. They acted disgusted. Before the end of the tournament, the U.S. team lost to Lithuania and Argentina. The U.S. settled for bronze. For the first time, an American team of professionals did not win a gold medal.
And this time around it seemed like everyone in the whole world - including many Americans - were happy about it. What began with that beautiful first Dream Team had deteriorated into a whiny group of seemingly arrogant and reluctant millionaires playing selfish basketball. Even as Americans, how do you root for a team like that? "I was ashamed," says Jerry Colangelo, the managing director of USA Basketball and the main character of our story. "I was absolutely ashamed." Here's why Colangelo, the former owner of the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks, is the main character of our story: Because he will not hide his feelings. He will not color his words with apologies or spin. He sounds like one of us. "I'm a big believer in body language," he says. "And I could not believe how bad the body language was (on the 2004 team). It was atrocious. I saw players who did not want to be there. I saw players who were not proud to be representing our country. And to be honest with you, it made me sick." That right there is how a lot of people at home viewed the American basketball team. But it's one thing to say that at home, when you're watching the games on television. It's quite another to say it when you are responsible for bringing back some honor to American basketball. That's the job Colangelo was given just months after the 2004 debacle. He demanded complete freedom to fix the broken dream teams. He was given it. "We had to start from scratch," he says. "But, sometimes, when you're trying to build something, it's better to start from scratch." Here's what he did: First off, he named a Hall of Fame college coach, Mike Krzyzewski, as the Olympic men's basketball coach. It was a pretty gutsy move - no college coach had guided either and Olympic Team or World Championship team since NBA players were made eligible. The general perception had been that college coaches - even famous ones like Krzyzewski - did not have the presence or respect level to motivate and keep together a group of mulit-million dollar worldwide superstars. But Colangelo did not care about presence. He had something else on his mind. "I needed someone who loves America," he says plainly. "And anyone who knows Mike knows that he does. He cares about America. It matters to him that America not only play good basketball, but that we represent this country a certain way." This became the theme. Represent your country. Team USA was no longer going to beg star players to come along. No, Colangelo said, it was a special privilege, and players had to convince HIM that they belonged on the team. He personally interviewed every prospective player, and he wanted to know if they understand just how great an honor it is to play for the United States at the Olympics. He expected a three-year commitment. He expected Team USA to be the top priority. He wanted to know each players motivation for playing in the Olympics. He wanted a promise that each player, win or lose, would play hard and make America proud. "And if I didn't get that," he says, "they were gone." Well, maybe things have changed. Now, the players on what has become known as Redeem Team have played and practiced together for three years. They have visited the Statue of Liberty together. They have talked a great deal about what it means to be American. The cover of the Olympic Team Media Guide is not a bunch of flashy photographs of superstar players - it's an American flag and a single photograph of the faceless players holding their hands together, up in the air, during a huddle.
Now, there does seem to be a new sense of humility - or at least a lot of talk on the team about respecting the talents of other players around the world. "We know we are not the only great team here," Michael Redd says. "There are a lot of great teams here. We know that we will have to play great basketball here to compete." Now, will any of that make a difference? It's hard to tell. The team may have had a different sense of purpose at the 2006 World Championships, but that did not prevent them from losing to a Greece team without an NBA player in the semifinals. Colangelo is quick to say that was just one of those things. "They got hot, and we missed free throws," he says. Krzyzewski says that the team has learned a lot since then. Still, it has now been eight years since America has been the best team in the world. And it isn't like the players have all sound like humble servants to the game. LeBron James has guaranteed victory, Dwayne Wade talked about a gold medal party, and Kobe Bryant spend part of this week saying that he would play in Europe if offered $50 million a year. None of these things are really troubling in themselves, but it's not clear yet that this team is really a whole lot more focused or humble than years past. It won't be clear until the team faces a challenge and has to stick together to win. "I'm confident that when we're playing, you will see real togetherness," Colangelo says. "I'm confident that we have turned this around, and that we will represent America with class." "So," one reporter asked, "will this be a success if you don't win the gold medal?" Colangelo smiled. He paused for a second. "No, then it will be incomplete," he said. "And I'm too old to have anything be incomplete."
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