The New Dream

The Dream Team is dead.

On paper, Team USA basketball looks as good as ever. The squad has locked up the top seed in the FIBA Tournament of the Americas heading into the semifinal round behind the play of superstars LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant. The team’s average score of 114.3 points per game leads the tournament, and its average margin of victory is 39.3 points.

But no matter how many points Team USA could put up on the US Virgin Islands last week (123, against only 59), its latest venture into international play has revealed that the magic of those fabled US Olympic squads of the 1990s is gone for good.

Despite the numbers, the squad’s play hasn’t been perfect. There are only three big men on the roster, including little-used Tyson Chandler, and several teams have been able to take advantage on the glass. The squad’s focus on defense wanes after the opening minutes, and several opponents have been able to move the ball for open looks from beyond the arc and easy lay-ups. A combination of occasional sloppiness and appetite for the big play leads to turnover problems.

Case in point: Last night’s 91-76 win over Argentina. Team USA was out-rebounded 28 to 37, and committed 21 turnovers. While the U.S. took the first quarter 28-13, they increased their lead by only four in the second quarter, and were outscored by four in the second half.

Meanwhile, Argentina’s best player, power forward Luis Scola, sat the entire second quarter with three fouls, and only ended up playing 18 minutes, presumably so he could rest for the semifinals.

Team USA should easily defeat Puerto Rico in the semifinals, having trounced them 117-78 already, to qualify for the Olympics. While a finals rematch against Argentina may prove more competitive than the first contest, the U.S. will be the strong favorite.

But frankly, Team USA’s play at the Tournament of the Americas is irrelevant. This squad cannot be a Dream Team for reasons that go beyond their play on the court.

International basketball has developed greatly over the last decade. Brazil could add NBA players Anderson Varejao and Nene Hilario to its squad. France has the likes of Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Mickael Pietrus. When the Argentines come to play for real next summer in Beijing, they could bring Manu Ginobili, Fabricio Oberto, Andres Nocioni, Walter Herrmann and Carlos Delfino. That doesn’t even count Scola, who will return to international play next summer with a year of experience with the Houston Rockets under his belt.

And those are just NBA players. The U.S. lost in the semifinals of last year’s world championships to a Greek team of purely European players, although point guard Vassilis Spanoulis would go on to play for the Rockets in 2006. While the NBA is still the premier basketball league in the world, the disparity is shrinking.

As those international players have become stars in their own right, the Dream Team aura has waned. During the 1992 Olympics, opposing players often asked the U.S. superstars to take pictures with them before games. The U.S. players – Jordan, Magic, Bird, Barkley, Malone – were idols, to be feared.

15 years later, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in a four-game sweep in the 2007 NBA Finals, with Manu Ginobili outscoring LeBron 27-24 in the deciding Game 4. Manu, now a three-time NBA champion, is not scared by anyone on Team USA’s roster.

Frankly, the U.S. personnel doesn’t shout “Dream Team.” These are not the 13 best American basketball players. 1992 was the first year that pros were allowed to play in the Olympics, and the American superstars jumped at the opportunity. 10 of the 12 players on the original Dream Team were named among the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996. That excitement has since waned, and a number of the NBA’s biggest superstars, including Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, declined to play for the U.S. this time around.

And with the evolution of international basketball, a collection of the best individual players would not give Team USA its best shot at victory. The team needs role players to complement the high-flying superstars. Mike Miller is on the team for his outside shooting. Tyson Chandler provides interior defense. These guys are necessary, but they do diminish the American squad’s “star power,” and whatever intimidation that’s good for.

The expectations are too big. Team USA will never again create a dynasty in international basketball. There are too many good players abroad, and more and more internationals are coming over to the NBA, gaining valuable experience in the process.

Also, the consistency Team USA Managing Director Jerry Colangelo seeks is a pipe dream. There was huge turnover from the World Championships team a year ago to the FIBA Americas team, with only three players returning. Egomaniac-by-nature NBA stars won’t be willing to endanger NBA careers and contracts on a long-term basis by participating in international play, where injury is possible, and the twelfth and thirteenth men will likely resent diminished playing time, as Chris Bosh did last summer.

However, while the Dream Team isn’t coming back, the newest incarnation of Team USA basketball offers something new. Where the Dream Team was an opportunity for the USA’s best to dominate on the world stage, next year’s Olympics will be a test of individuals looking to prove something.

Carmelo Anthony showed in one moment of immaturity – a punch thrown at New York Knicks guard Mardy Collins last season – that he still has to grow up. Playing through a bruised heel this week is a step in the right direction. Kobe Bryant’s immense talent has often been overshadowed by his off-court issues, most recently making and then retracting demands to be traded. His selfless defense this week shows he wants to play for his salvation. And LeBron, for all his success, is only 22, and is coming off that four-game sweep in the NBA finals. He will travel to Beijing next year in hopes of building his resume as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

An easy path to the gold medal next summer is unlikely. But that prospect fits this Team USA. The Dream Team had to be perfect, or it failed, as it inevitably did. In contrast, if these men can be leaders on the court, play selflessly and give all the effort asked of them, the final result on the scoreboard might not even matter.