Posted on: Wednesday, August 4, 2004

Guarantee the gold? Dream on

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Can you say "disaster" in Italian?

Larry Brown, the coach of the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team, probably can by now. He can probably say a lot of things he hadn't imagined saying a month ago.

Pick a word — "disastro," "calamita," or even "imbarazzo" (embarrassment) — they all apply after yesterday's tune-up game for the Olympics.

And, guess who did the tuning, 95-78, on a neutral court, yet?

Yes, Italy. Land of art, history, language, food, fashion ... and, now, inna-you-face hoops?

Hard to believe, but a couple guys named Giacomo Galanda and Gianluca Basile hung a combined 53 points on Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, et al, like they were the Clippers.

And, that was supposed to be the easy one against a team without an NBA player on its roster. If the U.S. melted like gelato on a summer's day in Rome against these guys, well ...

Now it gets interesting — or, if things don't improve in a hurry, downright scary, with 10 days until the Olympics begin and both Germany and Serbia-Montenegro before that.

Suddenly, Carmelo Anthony's "guarantee" of a gold medal is on shakier ground than the Tower of Pisa ever was. Backing up his promise of, "we're bringing (the gold) back" is taking on the appearance of an uphill climb that would challenge Lance Armstrong.

As the embarrassing sixth-place finish in the World Championships two years ago underlined, the days when the U.S. can just show up and win gold medals on talent alone are over. The memories of the 1992 Dream Team blowing out teams by an average of 40 points have gone the way of $1-a-gallon gasoline. In 2000 at Sydney the margins were closer and the games competitive.

Yes, this is a young (average age 23ý years) team that hasn't spent a whole lot of time together. And, with 14 players having either backed out or declined to go to Athens, this isn't the complete NBA varsity.

But they aren't tomato sauce, either. Certainly not the kind that should absorb a 17-point loss to Italy that was the most lopsided setback since the U.S. began using pros 12 years ago?

The rest of the world, it seems, has learned its basketball lessons all too well. Now, it is up to us to do some learning. Past time, really. It is time for the U.S. team to dust off and examine a copy of Basketball 101. Not just the international game with its nuances, but what was once thought to be basic fundamental U-S-of-A basketball.

You know, outside shooting, defense, rebounding and team work. All the things that have suffered in the shadow of a preponderance of monster dunks.

"Tonight was a wake-up call for us," Iverson said. "We understand we have to get better."

You sure hope so, because otherwise the U.S. is in danger of going from "Dream Team" to Olympic nightmare.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.