August 28, 2004

No "I" in Team

got-game.jpgNow that the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team has lost three games, poorly -- when America had won the gold medal in almost every Olympics and had not lost even a single game since NBA players first qualified in 1992 -- the dirty secret is out. They just can't play the game. Basically, It's Fundamentals [washingtonpost.com]. From basketball's inclusion in the Olympics in 1936 until this summer, the United States had won every gold medal save three -- in 1972, in a controversial loss to the Soviet Union, 1980, the year of the boycott, and 1988, in Seoul.

That's now well and truly over. As yesterday's Argentinian winner summarized:

"They're the best team in the world in terms of individuals, don't get me wrong. But the game is five-on-five, not one-on-one. It's not tennis."

That emphasis on individual talent and endorsement deals has turned NBA players into a morass of poor shooting and inept passing, punctuated by an occasional highlight-reel dunk. Even NBA commissioner David Stern agrees, saying "We have a great, great team here," but adding, "I shouldn't say that. We have 12 great basketball players."

And it's not a question of race. American's won't cheer for this team because it is not a team, rather a loose collection of overpaid, pampered one-on-one players. As Mike Wilbon cogently observes, Americans:

presume when a player is black and athletic he is a superior player. When he's got a big shoe contract, can sell some soda and can throw it down in an NBA game, we presume he's skilled. . . . Black and white people in America presume black athleticism on a basketball court equals skill, and it doesn't. Skill is colorless. All kinds of people can develop it, from Beijing to Vilnius.

The NBA likes to ask if "you've got game." The real question is, does the team have skill. This sad assemblage of trash-talking U.S. basketball jammers is neither skilled nor a team.

 Posted by glenn

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