U.S. far from best in tourney

ATHENS -- If you weren't expecting this, then you weren't paying attention.
Argentina beat the U.S. men's basketball team in the Olympic semifinals Friday, 89-81, and it wasn't a fluke.
If Argentina plays the United States in a best-of-seven series, the Argentines would win it, 4-1.
Argentina was quicker, smarter and better-coached. It had the best player on the floor Friday -- the San Antonio Spurs' Manu Ginobili, who had 29 points -- and the best attitude.
For once and for all, this should prove something to the stubborn Americans who believed against all evidence this team would still win the gold.
After watching several of the games not involving the U.S. team here, it was readily apparent that the U.S. team was no better than the third- to fifth-best squad in Greece.
Exactly what they deserve
Playing for the bronze medal today against Lithuania is about right for this American group of miscast millionaires -- their 4-3 record in these Games is exactly what they deserve.
What went wrong for the Nightmare Team? You could list a hundred things, but let's narrow it to three.
First of all, about a dozen NBA stars didn't bother to show up.
Weddings.
Trials.
Security concerns.
Whatever. They didn't come. The United States basically fielded its second-string all-star squad, which in past Olympics still would have been enough. Not this time.
Said Argentina head coach Ruben Pablo Magnano: "We were very aware that they had trouble raising a team, but that's not our problem."
Iverson speaks out
After the game, Allen Iverson -- one of the few legitimate NBA all-stars who never wavered about his Olympic commitment -- basically called out all of the NBA stars like Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady who skipped these Olympics.
"If a person is selected to a team like this, it shouldn't even be a question in your mind," Iverson said. "It should be an honor to accept. If you grew up in the USA, you need to think of all the things the USA did for you -- how it allowed you to support your family and be recognized as a household name."
Exactly.
Second, coach Larry Brown and the USA Basketball selection staff made some bad picks. They needed more specialists and fewer 6-7 players who wanted to do the same thing -- slash to the basket and complain when they didn't get a foul.
They needed a couple of Dell Curry types who just wanted to bomb from outside. They needed a couple of players who didn't want to shoot at all but could play suffocating pressure defense. They didn't need Emeka Okafor -- Brown never played the Charlotte Bobcat rookie, anyway, so what was the point of taking him along?
World getting better
Third, the world is better. Basketball is one of America's most successful exports for good reason. It's a cheap sport to play, it's wonderful exercise and it's great fun.
NBA Commissioner David Stern, who witnessed the U.S. loss to Argentina on Friday, has seen his own league begin to bulge with foreign players.
"The youngsters are beginning to dribble the ball instead of kick the ball now," Stern said, "and the NBA has been the beneficiary of that."
The Olympic competition is far better than it was in 1992, when the original U.S. Dream Team averaged more than 117 points per game and worked up more of a sweat signing autographs for opponents than worrying about beating them.
The United States was a staggering 109-2 in Olympic men's basketball games until this year. The United States had lost games only in 1972 (when they got jobbed by some bad refereeing) and in 1988 with collegiate players. The U.S. had never lost with NBA players before until these Olympics.
No longer a cakewalk
But Olympic basketball is no longer a cakewalk -- which the Olympics are never supposed to be in any sport. The next few Olympic basketball tournaments will be far more interesting now that the world has caught up to us.
Said Iverson: "You can't just show up with 'USA' on your chest and feel like you're going to win the basketball game."
No, you can't. And after a while, this team understood that.
It just wasn't good enough to do anything about it.
XScott Fowler is a columnist for The Charlotte Observer (Knight-Ridder Newspapers).