“Every time we lose a game, its like the end of the world, an apocalypse.”- Stephon Marbury, USA Basketball
The one basketball organization struggling more than Georgetown these days is well, the United States Olympic team. Featuring a former Georgetown star Allen Iverson, the squad has already equalled its loss total-two-in all previous Olympic games combined. The US is butchering games against teams starting players that make Wesley Wilson look like Wilt Chamberlain. Once again, USA Basketball committee patched together yet another “Dream Team” instead of putting together a fundamentally sound team that plays well as a group. The team doesn’t have anyone who resembles a shooting guard, nor do they have a big man that can draw his defender out of the paint. Olympic basketball is a different game from the NBA. Under international regulations there is no three second rule in the paint, and the three point line is shorter. These rules create a need for the two positions the United States lacks.
Its like those Visa Card commercials that show American athletes without the equipment they need to compete. You know, the one where the swimmer shows up at the pool in just a towel, the tennis player without a racquet and the track team without a baton. Well, that’s actually what happened with the basketball team. They forgot the shooting guard!
It takes more than just a “Dream Team” name to win nowadays. Talent alone is no longer enough to blow opponents out of the water. Couldn’t we have asked Michael Redd to play on the team? How about J.J. Redick? The Serm feels especially bad for Coach Larry Brown, fresh off a championship with the Detroit Pistons. “You can’t coach effort,” he quipped after one of their losses. I bet he wished he had the intensity of Rasheed Wallace right now, technical fouls and all. Can’t you just picture ‘Sheed with his huge gapped tooth grin, holding up a gold medal with the World Championship ring on his finger? Now, that would have been the Olympic dream.
