August 16, 2004

Pampered, Gutless and Second-Rate

This is why I have stopped watching professional basketball in the U.S. With yesterday's trouncing of the American Olympic basketball team by Puerto Rico -- which led by as much as 21 points in the fourth quarther -- the inherent weakness of a game in which players try only for slam dunks and ESPN highlights was glaringly obvious for the world to see. Mike Wilbon calls it "the end of an era," saying that:

Anybody who wanted to see this defeat coming could see it as clear as an onrushing train. Teams from San Juan to China have spent the past 12 years creating clever strategies and exploring every nuance of the game's fundamentals, while Americans obsessed over dunking and reassured each other we were keepers of the global game.

2004dream.jpgWell said, Mike. The latest incarnation of the so-called Dream Team (and actually, this one is neither) got just what it deserved. They can't even shoot a 12-foot pull-up jumper, and the best 3-point shooter on the team was 47th in the NBA. A simple zone defense did them in, easily, from the start. It was sad, but oddly gratifying to watch. Nothing is going to change today's sports culture that celebrates these pampered, overpaid athletes, but yesterday revealed the vacuousness of their limited skills in stark detail.

 Posted by glenn

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