The Olympic Tragedy

In 2004 the NBA, under the graceful and all-knowing eye of Commissioner David Stern and his crony odd-couple of Stu Jackson and Russ Granik, put together an Olympic basketball team that ranks up there with “Steven Segal continually getting work” on the all-time tragedy scale.
Out of 300 plus American NBA players, the greatest players in the world, mind you, the Comish threw together a poor man’s NBA All-Star team to go to Athens and play for Olympic Gold.

In theory, why would this be flawed? These guys are the best players in the world, right? Two obvious reasons jump off the page at me almost immediately.

First off, this is real competition, not just an event for pure entertainment as is the NBA All-Star Game or, as it has been called before, the Black Super Bowl. To win in an Olympic competition with international rules you have to assemble a team that plays team basketball, not just throw together a bunch of me-first stars.

Team basketball will beat individual talent every single time. That’s really the bottom line in all of this. Just watching a team like the ’77 Blazers beat the infinitely more talented 76ers squad in the Finals proves that. This happens time and time again, and yet nobody on the Olympic selection committee has picked up on it.

Secondly, a multitude of these all-stars refused to play for their country – this includes “patriots” such as Tracy McGrady, who quit the team at the last second. I guess he had others things to attend to, like getting personal massages and hanging out by the spa with the Queer Eye guys sipping Zima.

So, what ended up happening? Could they pull together as a team and cast aside their egos? Please. These are NBA players we’re talking about here, the same guys who ‘one-up’ each other by seeing who can rock the biggest mink coat and spiral into debt the quickest. Strangely, this is why I love them.

What happened, though, was exactly what anyone who follows basketball and has half a brain thought – they failed miserably - placing in third and earning a bronze after getting destroyed by Italy. What a shocker.

What this travesty was, in all honesty, was another marketing endeavor for the NBA. Ship off the most marketable (i.e. biggest) names to the Games, sell jerseys, merchandise and tickets, make a big return and everybody’s happy - everybody except American basketball fans.
Fortunately, it seems the NBA and Team USA has finally learned from its mistakes. Long-time Phoenix Suns executive Jerry Colangelo has been hired to put together another Dream Team – a squad of players who aren’t the most talented individually, but will fit together well as a team and regain Olympic Gold for the United States.

Colangelo decreed that a three year commitment with training camps every summer and an appearance in this summer’s World Championships in Japan is the course of action. This time around, playing for Team USA will require a firm commitment, one some players, no doubt, will see as too much to sacrifice to be on the team.

I couldn’t agree more. So we lose a few players. Playing time together is more important, as even if you have a team that would mesh favorably together, you still need time to gel as a team and to become a cohesive unit.

So what does Team USA need? We have a basis in playing time and commitment as well as an NBA executive with basketball know-how overseeing it all. The following are what I see as must-haves for Team USA to win Gold in ’08:

1: A true point guard who doesn’t commit turnovers, can shoot the three, can haunt the passing lanes on defense, and can create solid scoring opportunities for teammates.

2: A head coach who isn’t a burden to play for and doesn’t cause conflict like Larry Brown did. (Coach K., the ordained Olympic coach, fulfills these requirements.)

3: Big men who can run, grab boards, and, most importantly, play the perimeter. International rules (collapsing zone defense) can cripple big guys who rely solely on post moves and the inside game, as it almost did to Tim Duncan in ’04.

4: Shooter, shooters, shooters.

So we’ve got the guide lines in place, but let’s see who Colangelo decided to go with.