is over, ending Sunday when France closed the game on a 16-2 run to beat the Americans 83-76 in the Tokyo Games. And that might be the biggest indicator yet that the Americans - even after three consecutive Olympic gold medals - are no longer feared by other top international teams.Ī 25-game Olympic winning streak for the U.S. To them, beating the United States again wasn’t really a surprise. SAITAMA, Japan (AP) - The final buzzer sounded and France barely celebrated. If you’re watching the next couple days you’ll see it pay off with the camp in Las Vegas.Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot fends off Keldon Johnson during France’s come-from-behind victory. So while a lot of people will mock the 2004 team – and rightfully so – it ended up being the perfect mistake for USA Basketball. It’s why guys like Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving, DeMarcus Cousins and DeMar DeRozan some experience playing the international game. It plays into his whole 3-year commitment, with different guys going to the FIBA World Cup compared to the Olympics. It gives USA Basketball the ability to pick and choose, while still having them compete. The other thing Colangelo did that doesn’t get enough respect is building up the player pool, which we’ve seen the importance of the last two Olympics. He brought back Kobe and Jason Kidd to be the leaders of the team. He brought in the likes of Michael Redd, who didn’t play much but was there in case a shooter was needed. They would get used to playing with each other and have a coach that would be around for more than one cycle.Īfter that the second thing Colangelo did was rectify the mistake the 2004 team made, by not having a surplus of small forwards that weren’t great shooters. He immediately demanded a three-year commitment from players, building a team, like you know, a team. He was one of the leaders of the team and one of the five best players ever, yet couldn’t get past a bronze playing for Team USA.Īfter the embarrassment of getting our asses kicked by Puerto Rico and going 5-3 in Athens, US Basketball hired Jerry Colangelo as director in 2005. After his retirement a couple weeks ago people started to rattle off all his accomplishments, but somehow this is never mentioned. On top of that it’s the one lone blackmark on Duncan’s incredible legacy. Of course this was coached by Larry Brown, who refused to play the younger guys as well and tried to run the offense through Marbury and Iverson. They didn’t have a shooter, they didn’t have a passing guard, they had two guards starting that just wanted to drive and play in the midrange. The problem here is the obvious, the US just put together guys with big names and didn’t have any sort of team feel. That bronze medal team featured big name guys, Stephon Marbury, Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan and young LeBron James, Carmelo and D-Wade. The 2004 team showed the USOC exactly how not to build a team. More importantly it changed the way the US approaches the Olympics and as someone who loves international basketball, it’s great to be this damn good again. The 2004 team that won bronze and was a complete flop in the Athens Olympics. With the US Olympic camp underway it’s time to look back at the reason why the US is dominant again.
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