BEIJING — The memories have been bronzed.
Three years and 360 days ago, Team USA lost in the Olympic semifinals to Argentina. For the first time since NBA players joined Olympic rosters in 1992, the Americans didn’t win gold. “LeBronze” James and teammates always will remember the embarrassment.
“2004 was miserable for us. Now we’ve turned this whole thing around,” Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony said. “In ’04, we weren’t prepared for the world the way we are now.”
Such was the sentiment after Team USA thumped Australia in the Olympic quarterfinals Wednesday. With 15 points from Anthony, the Americans won 116-85. The Aussies stuck around in the first half, but Anthony and Kobe Bryant took over in the third quarter.
Team USA is 6-0 at the Beijing Games. Cruising, it seems. Clicking, more accurately.
But on Friday, Team USA will play the same Argentina squad it played in the 2004 semifinals, when it lost 89-81, leading to an overhaul of how the country’s Olympic team is selected and groomed. This time the winner plays Sunday for the gold medal against the winner of Spain (5-1) vs. Lithuania (5-1), the latter led by the Nuggets’ Linas Kleiza.
The Americans are being called the “Redeem Team,” and this journey through the tournament already has featured redemption with a blowout of Greece, which stunned Team USA in the 2006 semifinals of the world championships.
A victory over Argentina (5-1) on Friday would be fitting redemption.
For Bryant, it’s even simpler than that.
“We want to play the best,” said Bryant, a three-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers. “We want to play the defending (Olympic) champs. It’s all about challenges. Anyone who has aspirations to be a champion, you understand there is a sense of pride that comes along with beating a champion.”
Four years after leaving Athens with bronze, Team USA players pride themselves on everything they didn’t have in 2004 — teamwork, camaraderie and passion.
“We’re loose, we’re having fun. But at the same time, we’re taking care of business,” said Anthony, who clashed with his coaches and sat on the bench much of the time in 2004. “We don’t want to be too uptight.”
During a team stretch last week, the players sat in a semicircle at midcourt and one made a groaning sound that sounded much like “uhhhhh!” from rapper Master P’s masterpiece “Make ‘Em Say Uhhhhh.” Suddenly, the players rapped the song in unison — “Make ’em say uhhhhh . . . na-na, na-na” — while laughing at their own goofiness.
But the Redeem Team also understands the seriousness of this tournament. Many of the players were on that 2004 team, like Anthony. Those who weren’t, even they remember the loss. The aftermath has lingered. Now Argentina is the next hurdle toward redemption.
“I’ve told the guys that once you receive that gold medal, you might cry,” said Jason Kidd, the lone U.S. player in Beijing who has won Olympic gold (2000). “You understand and reflect on all the hard work. This team is hungry.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
