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Chad Ford's article about the loss
Can be found at
http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2002/0904/1427436.htm
An excerpt:
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Dream Team is dead. The ghost of Larry Bird has left
the building. And the nightmare for Team USA has just begun.
Don't cry for Team USA. The truth is Argentina not only beat America
Wednesday night, they took the formerly unbeaten NBA-powered national
team to school.
America lost more than a game. The air of invincibility now is completely
gone. The King is dead and international basketball will never be the
same.
"We have given hope to many teams," Emmanuel Ginobili said. "The U.S. is
no longer the best in the world. . . I think they are not happy for sure.
"
Wow. Talk about your hyperbole. "The nightmare" is just beginning?
Because of one game? I love how people can see a trend after only one
game. By definition, that's not even possible.
(And, of course, the requisite "Evita" reference. Truly predictable.)
Meanwhile, if anyone is going to be laughed at, it ought to be Emmanuel
Ginobili. Because if he really thinks that the "U.S. is no longer the
best in the world" then he's got more than one screw loose. It's one game.
Sure, the Argentines were better that game, but let's at least wait for
the tournament to be over before pronouncing the victor.
This isn't some sort of death knell for USA basketball. What the loss
does, though, is help expose the fact that, no matter what the guys in
charge of USA basketball think, basketball's a team game. A collection of
All-Stars doesn't have as good a chance of winning as a collection of
players who complement each other, have played together for a while, and
know each other. Everybody who's ever played the game knows that.
Argentina played like a team, exploited bad defense, played physical
defense themselves, and won. They deserved it. I hope that they keep
this high and underestimate the USA the next time they face, because that'
ll be a big mistake.
Bird