Gold medals at stake for U.S.

The men's basketball and women's softball team will look to defend their gold medals.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- In the Mediterranean home of Olympic wrestling, a pair of born-in-the U.S.A. sports get their due today: basketball and softball, where the long dominant Americans are determined to extend their gold medal streaks.
Version four of the hoops Dream Team -- defined now as those NBA stars not sleeping back in the states -- opens its gold medal defense against Puerto Rico. Since the Magic-Michael-Larry team of 1992, when the Olympics began admitting professionals, the U.S. has swept to three straight golds without a loss.
Trying to keep pace is the women's softball team, looking for their third consecutive Olympic title. In just their second game in Greece, the Americans face their Olympic bete noir: the Australians.
The basketball team that arrived in Athens is much younger and more vulnerable than its predecessors. Coach Larry Brown, fresh off winning the NBA title with the Detroit Pistons, will need the group to play beyond its years for his championship resume to expand.
Tough test
A dozen years after U.S. basketball first shunned collegians, two of the Olympians are barely out of high school: LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire, who both spurned college and then won the NBA rookie of the year. Two other players, Carmelo Anthony and Dwayne Wade, just finished their first pro seasons.
The team's average age: 23. And they already have an ugly loss on their ledger, a 95-78 pre-Olympics thumping by Italy -- the most one-sided defeat ever by an American team comprised of NBA players.
But James was confident the kids were all right before their Olympic debut. The game will appear live Sunday afternoon on NBC, part of a six-hour block of Athens coverage that will also feature swimming, rowing, volleyball and beach volleyball.
"I'm still young, but I've learned so much in the 19 years I've been alive," said James. "I'm a teenager in age, but I've been a man a long time."
And then there are the women of the softball team, with four players who won their first gold medal when Lebron was a man of just 11.
On a roll
In capturing the last two Olympic titles, the U.S. team has a 15-4 record in the Summer Games -- but two of the defeats came to the Aussies in extra inning heartbreakers. This game could easily provide a preview of the medal round competition.
The Americans won their Saturday debut, shutting out Italy 7-0 behind pitcher Jennie Finch. Expect more emotion and fewer runs against the Australians; the Americans scored a 1-0 victory against them in the 2000 semifinals.
"All the countries are physically very talented," said pitcher Lisa Fernandez. "It's going to be the mental part that separates the gold from the silver, the silver from the bronze."
Fernandez is one of the veterans hoping to add an Athens medal to those won in Atlanta and Sydney. The team's coach, Mike Candrea, almost left the team when his wife died suddenly of a brain aneurysm last month; his players have dedicated their efforts to her memory.
The softball airs live at 10 a.m. on cable television's Bravo, which will bookend the game with live tennis and highlights from badminton and table tennis. In all, there are 24 sports in action today.
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