Re: more pack journalism

[Tammo29@xxxxxxx]

  I think it's become obvious that the media is dying for a U.S. loss, 
although Deveney is the first writer I've seen actually admit to it.
You would think American pride would be more important than any "I told you 
so's", but I guess not. 
<A HREF="http://www.sportingnews.com/voices/sean_deveney/";>
Sporting News</A>
Sean Deveney    

Team USA needs a sense of urgency 

September 3, 2002  

There never was any real anxiety on the part of the Americans during a 104-87 
win over Germany in their second game of the 2002 World Championship, the 
55th straight Dream Team win. There was no concern even as German forward and 
Dallas Maverick Dirk Nowitzki poured in 22 first-half points, even as the 
Germans waltzed like Strauss to the free-throw line and even as Team USA 
found itself trailing with less than four minutes to play in the third 
quarter. As coach George Karl noted, "I am getting too old to worry about the 
third quarter." Good thing, George, because Team USA also trailed China in 
the third quarter of its next game. For those of us not aged enough to find 
second-half deficits to one-man shows from China and Germany troubling (these 
teams are not medal threats, folks), one thought sticks out: Maybe it's time. 
Maybe this Dream Team concept is ready for a nightmare. Maybe a Team USA loss 
would not be such a bad thing. Consider that, arguably, the best two players 
in the tournament are not wearing red, white and blue. Consider also how 
silly such a statement would have seemed in relation to past Dream Teams. But 
here in Indianapolis, it's simply a fact. Nowitzki clearly is the best in the 
field, and the preliminary nod for No. 2 (with due respect to Team USA's Paul 
Pierce) goes to the Spanish Grizzly, Pau Gasol.  Yes, Gasol. The sometimes 
timid, often defensively lost and always rail-thin Rookie of the Year spent 
most of the summer nursing a quadriceps injury, which limited his practice 
time with the Spanish team to just four days. Still, Gasol scored 25 points 
and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Spain to its first World Championship 
victory over Yugoslavia in 52 years. Along the way, he made bowling pins of 
Yugoslav big men Vlade Divac and Predrag Drobnjak. In his time away from the 
practice floor, Gasol hit the weights seriously for the first time in his 
life. He has put on 15 pounds of muscle, and with it has come increased 
confidence and aggressiveness, not to mention a bit of defensive toughness. 
How noticeable is the difference? "Ask Yugoslavia," Gasol says with a smile. 
When told that Gasol had just four days to practice before the tournament, 
Angola coach Marlo Palma shook his head, raised his eyebrows and said, "That 
just shows you, he is one of the two or three best players in this 
tournament, and he will be one of the best players in the NBA." Whether Gasol 
is better than Pierce, or Elton Brand, Michael Finley, Jermaine O'Neal or any 
of the Americans is immaterial. We'll leave that argument for sports bars and 
internet message boards. What matters is that a case, indeed, can be made 
that Gasol is the second-best player in the tournament, and that the two best 
players are not Americans. Though some might take that as further evidence 
that the rest of the world has caught up with the U.S., I take it as evidence 
that a Dream Team loss is just what the Americans need. Obviously, this Dream 
Team is not quite as dreamy as past editions. It's a good team, but it lacks 
the star power Dream Teams usually carry. There's no one to blame for this. 
You can't fault USA Basketball, which sends out invitations the way credit 
card companies send out offers for low introductory rates, and seems to deal 
with just as many rejections. You can't blame the players who say, "No," to 
Team USA because the NBA season is long and grueling, and players who want 
personal time should be allowed it. Players should not be forced to play 
because that undermines the spirit of this sort of competition. But if the 
U.S. had its top players -- if Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, 
Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan were lining up on the American side -- there 
would be no question about which team had the top two players. There would be 
no doubt the other 15 teams were playing for the silver, and Charles Barkley 
would not be foreseeing a Team USA loss. The problem, then, is figuring out 
how to make players spontaneously want to represent their country. How do you 
take a group of multimillionaire basketball players and convince them that 
beating up on the Algerian national team is a good way to spend part of their 
August and September? "What would be ideal," Karl says, "would be if players 
just wanted to play. Frankly, I don't know why more don't." The answer is a 
loss. Team USA's record with NBA players on the roster was 56-0 through last 
weekend and could be 62-0 at the end of the tournament. That's a large part 
of the problem. There is no urgency when it comes to defending the national 
basketball reputation. When USA Basketball began putting NBA players on the 
roster for the 1992 Olympics, the move came on the heels of a measly bronze 
medal in the 1988 Olympics. When the '92 team was assembled, NBA players 
welcomed the opportunity to restore the U.S. to its gold-medal standard. 
There was a certain, "we'll-show-them" attitude. Now, the American basketball 
reputation is holding up just fine, and that attitude is gone. The best way 
to convince American stars to play for the national team is to rekindle that 
attitude. A loss by Team USA sounds like a good way to do it. 

Sean Deveney is a staff writer for The Sporting News. Email him at <A HREF="mailto:sdeveney@sportingnews.com";>
sdeveney@sportingnews.com</A>.