Just read an article on GQ about the 1992 US men's basketball team. A great inside look at the team told through quotes from the players, coaches, and others involved.
Quote:
The Dream Will Never Die:
An Oral History of the Dream Team
Magic. Bird. Jordan. Legends at every position on the floor. Hall of Famers filling the bench. They were the greatest team ever assembled—in any sport—and twenty years ago in Barcelona, they put on a show the world will never forget
The one thing I remember about that game, which is surprising 20 year later, is that the US was actually trailing at one point in time against the Croatian team who literally needed to escape from their country on a bus in order to even get to the Olympics.
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I always hated the so called "dream team." It's not like any other nation could really compete against the US basketball. It would be like Canada taking on the Asian nations in hockey. They might have a couple good players, but there's not really any chance.
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The one thing I remember about that game, which is surprising 20 year later, is that the US was actually trailing at one point in time against the Croatian team who literally needed to escape from their country on a bus in order to even get to the Olympics.
Just read an article on GQ about the 1992 US men's basketball team. A great inside look at the team told through quotes from the players, coaches, and others involved.
The really amazing thing is it only took 10 years for the world to catch up to the US. The US is still the favourite but it is now competitive and the US loses regularly.
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Originally Posted by GGG
The really amazing thing is it only took 10 years for the world to catch up to the US. The US is still the favourite but it is now competitive and the US loses regularly.
Is it really that amazing ?.... I sound like my grandpa now but those guys back then played for a purpose. They were actually really proud to represent their country . Basketball players these days could care less about playing for team USA, they just want their huge NBA contracts and sponsorship money.
but also a lot of countries have put more money into training their athletes which would explain some of more parity.
The one thing I remember about that game, which is surprising 20 year later, is that the US was actually trailing at one point in time against the Croatian team who literally needed to escape from their country on a bus in order to even get to the Olympics.
I'll never forget Drazen Petrovic's heroics that game. Although Croatia lost, that game forever changed the scope of the sporting world for that country, especially during such a tumultuous time in the Balkans.
Watching the first half, things that caught my attention:
Scoring was really evenly distributed among the US players. Barkley led with only 18ppg.
Barkley was also 6 for 6 in 3 pointers for the tournament when he hit a 3 to regain the lead.
Thought Chris Mullins and Patrick Ewing playing together seemed funny - I could only think of their big Georgetown/St. John showdown in the NCAA tourney.
Petrovic could do it all - pass anywhere, shoot from the outside, penetrate inside - just didn't have enough support.
Jack Nicholson smoking and cheering at the end of the first half.
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Is it really that amazing ?.... I sound like my grandpa now but those guys back then played for a purpose. They were actually really proud to represent their country . Basketball players these days could care less about playing for team USA, they just want their huge NBA contracts and sponsorship money.
but also a lot of countries have put more money into training their athletes which would explain some of more parity.
Funny that you disparage the players today on this. The best players in the USA are on the olympic team this year: Kobe, Lebron, KD, Wade, D-Will, Paul, Love, Anthony, etc... Also, the team is a much bigger commitment now then it ever was back then. The teams actually have to sacrifice a lot more of their time to be on the team.
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Is it really that amazing ?.... I sound like my grandpa now but those guys back then played for a purpose. They were actually really proud to represent their country . Basketball players these days could care less about playing for team USA, they just want their huge NBA contracts and sponsorship money.
but also a lot of countries have put more money into training their athletes which would explain some of more parity.
Not sure where you're getting this from. As Sowa pointed out playing for the US national team is a much bigger commitment than ever before and I can't think of any players who have passed simply because "they just want their huge NBA contracts and sponsorship money".
I always hated the so called "dream team." It's not like any other nation could really compete against the US basketball. It would be like Canada taking on the Asian nations in hockey. They might have a couple good players, but there's not really any chance.
Not really. There were decent players on a few of those teams, guys who had long and very successful NBA careers. That can't be said for any of the Asian nations when it comes to hockey.
Not sure where you're getting this from. As Sowa pointed out playing for the US national team is a much bigger commitment than ever before and I can't think of any players who have passed simply because "they just want their huge NBA contracts and sponsorship money".
Did the US not have some issues with "me first" guys in the last decade or so?
Between guys like Carmello, Iverson, Carter, McGrady etc. I seem to remember a lot of issues with guys not really caring about the team and just wanting to collect their gold medal and go home.
Just an aside, Petrovic sadly died in a car accident a year or so later.
There's a great 30 for 30 about him and Divac, including his death and the whole dynamics of friendships between people on opposite sides of the war in that region.
Did the US not have some issues with "me first" guys in the last decade or so?
Between guys like Carmello, Iverson, Carter, McGrady etc. I seem to remember a lot of issues with guys not really caring about the team and just wanting to collect their gold medal and go home.
You just named 4 guys who have always been considered disappointments, be it in the NBA or elsewhere, largely do to their me first attitude. That said I don't recall any players passing on playing for the US due to being solely interested in their NBA contracts and sponsorships.
And I'm not sure what the issue is if they're still their to collect a gold medal, that's sort of the point isn't it?
You just named 4 guys who have always been considered disappointments, be it in the NBA or elsewhere, largely do to their me first attitude. That said I don't recall any players passing on playing for the US due to being solely interested in their NBA contracts and sponsorships.
And I'm not sure what the issue is if they're still their to collect a gold medal, that's sort of the point isn't it?
Not sure all the players or the reasons behind but from Wikipedia:
Quote:
However, the dominant team that competed in 2003 could not be kept together. Nine of its 12 players elected not to participate in Athens
they've had some issues in the last decade even naming the 2008 Olympic squad the "Redeem Team".
You just named 4 guys who have always been considered disappointments, be it in the NBA or elsewhere, largely do to their me first attitude. That said I don't recall any players passing on playing for the US due to being solely interested in their NBA contracts and sponsorships.
And I'm not sure what the issue is if they're still their to collect a gold medal, that's sort of the point isn't it?
First, I'm going off memory, I don't want to spend all afternoon doing research.
But I seem to remember some US BB players being total dinks and wanting everything to go their way when with the US National Team. The kind of stuff you might expect when a bunch of pampered, self centered dbags are chosen to represent the country because they're talented, not because of their will to win.
Didn't the US end up not winning gold one year and it caused the US National Team to rethink their strategy? Instead of just bringing the 12 best US players, they left the dbags at home and brought guys who wanted to win.
So yes, they did show up expecting to coast through and simply collect their gold medal but they ended going home with nothing (or a ####ty bronze I think).
But thinking you can just show up and collect a gold medal is pretty far from the point. Last time I checked they don't hand out medals based on how good the individual players are, they hand out gold medals for actually winning the tourney, something the US didn't do because their players thought they could just show up and collect their medal. They needed to work for it.
Plus there's a bunch that couldn't care to be bothered with the FIBA world championships it seems. Maybe I'll show my national pride for the Olympics, but world championships are not my thing. All 10 guys invited from 08 olympic team declined the 2010 World Championship invite.
I really have no point in relation to the topic. Just seems like a bunch of these guys don't have as much national pride as one might hope for considering this is what they do for a living.
An Oral History of the Dream Team
