The U.S. Olympic basketball team got drilled by Italy in a tune-up game yesterday. The Italians managed to drop 15 3-pointers on a team composed of NBA stars. A lot of big names dropped out of the Olympic squad (or turned down invites) because of security concerns, exhaustion, injury, and/or marriage plans. I think one actually said he couldn’t go because he was washing his hair.
Anyway, the era of American dominance in hoops has been over since the World Championships in 2002, when Argentina beat the U.S. pretty badly (I bought an Argentina basketball jersey from Ebay the next day: Go, Origenes!). The American team went into a spiral, and came in 6th at that tournament, an absolute embarrassment for a squad comprised of NBA veterans.
This year’s squad may repeat that performance, on a much bigger stage. Sports Guy (Tyler Durden to my Narrator) explains why this is going to happen, and how USA Basketball can fix it.