It’s our own fault.
In 1992, the United States sent over a dream basketball team — heck, The Dream Team — to compete in the Olympics, the first Team USA featuring pros. They were good.
So good, they inspired an international movement. Many people involved in the sport point to those Olympics, and the glamour of Team USA, as the moment when the game went international, inspiring young players and coaches worldwide. Ten years later, they beat the shorts off Team USA.
After an embarrassing sixth-place performance at the 2002 world championships, and an equally shaky bronze medal showing at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, it was time for a shake-up. USA Basketball hired former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo to engineer an overhaul.
On Monday, Colangelo and Team USA coach Mike Krzy-zewski announced the 2008 Olympic roster for the Beijing Games in August.
“It’s not an all-star team — it’s a team,” said Krzyzewski, the coach at Duke.
Nuggets small forward Carmelo Anthony, who played brilliantly for Team USA the past two summers, is expected to start at power forward.
“It’s an honor being on this team, it’s a blessing, and I never felt any excitement like this before,” said Anthony, who played little as a member of the 2004 Olympic team, alongside fellow youngsters Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. “In 2004, we were just coming into the NBA, didn’t know what to expect. (In the Olympics), we felt like we were thrown to the wolves. We talked amongst each other and said: ‘We’ll be back. We’ll commit three summers, we’ll do it to redeem ourselves.’ I now think we’re more mature, and we know the international game.”
Trapped by the trapezoid lane and swarming international zone defenses, Team USA has struggled adapting to the international style of play in recent years, now that the talent gap has closed. In the past three summers, USA basketball officials strategized and studied. They concluded that the international game is less of a low-post game, Krzyzewski said, with a center less influential because of the larger lane, and so Team USA has just one true center, Orlando’s Dwight Howard.
The roster doesn’t necessarily include the 12 best American players, but Team USA officials believe it has the 12 best parts. Milwaukee’s Michael Redd isn’t an elite player by NBA standards, but the sharpshooter was added to the roster, Colangelo said, “because shooting is a big thing in the international game — there are so many zones you have to face.”
And Detroit forward Tayshaun Prince, arguably not even the third-best player on his own NBA team, is on the national team while other more highly thought of NBA stars, are not.
“He is a specialist, he has great length and can guard three positions on the court,” Colangelo said.
At point guard, where Krzyzewski said, “We have to win that position in every ball game we play,” the team has three types of generals: New Orleans’ Chris Paul, Utah’s Deron Williams and Dallas’ Jason Kidd, the lone gold medalist on the roster (2000).
Krzyzewski noted that in international play, there is a variety of sizes of guards, saying: “With the nuances of the international game, some of those guys are more physical. I call it chucking, where you can stop a speedy ball-handler with physical play. So we made that adjustment.”
As for strategy, yes, Team USA is going to get its points, notably with NBA MVP Kobe Bryant on the same court with the likes of Anthony, James, Howard and a pass-happy point guard.
“But,” Krzyzewski said, “this is going to be won by team defense, and not letting other people shoot. If you just expect to outscore them, you play at a more level playing field. Our team, the emphasis will be defense and scoring off of our defense, getting a fast break and an opportunistic shot before the zone is set up. If you force turnovers, if you push it up the court, there is no zone.”
Colangelo, hired to change the culture of Team USA, influenced the game’s young stars to commit to the national team back in 2005.
“Up to this point,” he said, “everything is going according to plan.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
Slip shows
Since winning gold at the Sydney Olympics, the U.S. men’s basketball team’s performance in international competition has been anything but a dream.
2000 Sydney Olympics
Record: 8-0 Result: Gold medal
2002 world championships
Record: 6-3 Result: No medal. Finished sixth in a 16-team field in Indianapolis
2004 Athens Olympics
Record: 5-3 Result: Bronze medal
2006 world championships
Record: 8-1 Result: Bronze medal in Japan
