The 2004 Olympics

[JaxMagic]

A lot of the A-list talent dropped out due to fear of terrorism and then a very poorly built team was put together. If Kidd, McGrady, Carter, Allen, and Jermaine O'Neal went I would say they would easily have glided to the gold.

I think we got robbed of watching an awesome team. Would've been fun watching Kidd run point with McGrady, Carter, and a young Wade and LeBron on the wings.

[CarMalone]

Three point shooting also played a major role. Opposing defenses were able to pack the lanes and force the US to shoot long jumpers. Combine this with Duncan's foul troubles, the lack of chemistry, B list talent, and the improvement of international teams and a perfect storm was created.

3 point shooting in the three losses:
3/24 vs Puerto Rico
8/21 vs Lithuania
3/11 vs Argentina

In losses: 14/56 (25%)

3 point shooting in the five wins:
4/21 vs Greece
3/17 vs Australia
3/6 vs Angola
12/22 vs Spain
8/18 vs Lithuania

In wins: 27/78 (34.6%)

In all games: 41/134 (30.6%)

[predators]

One part the roster they took wasn't good at Fiba Ball. Duncan did not translate at all, and there weren't any good outside shooters to bust the zone. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure NBA\Fiba have since changed their rules to be more similar to each other; back in 2004 they were essentially two different games.

One part Argentina was one of the more talented Non-U.S. teams ever . Ginobli, Scola, OBerto, Noicioni, Hermann, and Delfino all spent time in the NBA, and they had great chemistry on top of that.

[Genjuro]

The Argentina game was a fluke . We have kick their ass every time since then

Except it was two games, and a a close third one in 2003. Argentina peaked between 2002 (some people say 2001) and 2004.

[Lexluthor]

The Argentina game was a fluke . We have kick their ass every time since then

Except it was two games, and a a close third one in 2003. Argentina peaked between 2002 (some people say 2001) It was a fluke none the games have been competitive since then

[Heat3]

most of the big stars didn't go because they were afraid of terrorism but didn't publicly admit it. probably the same reason this year + zika though there were a few big stars there.

people were still shocked and upset though i think. LeBronze nickname came from there too lol.

[nesta]

Their core was basically a college aged team, minus Marion, Marbury, AI, and Duncan. That alone does not make for success, as you can reference 1972 and 1988.

Having Larry Brown work with young talent doesn't help too. As you can predict, the 4 oldest players got the chunk of the minutes. Duncan surrounded by a bunch of streaky non shooters is not a good mix. Anything can also happen in 1 game, and Ginobili took advantage against some lazy and/or unexperienced defenders.

Lebron only played 3 minutes against Argentina....that shows you how much he had an hard-on for vets. I bet Brown would have benched a rookie MJ, Bird, or Shaq if they were on the team.

[qm22]

Didn't they pick Brown for the coaching position just after the NBA finals? On top of choosing him, they had LeBron/Wade/Melo (1 year) and Amar'e (2nd year). I think they put things together on the fly. I don't remember about the terrorism concerns for players, but if that's true it is odd there were all time greats and the most hyped rookies of all time OK with playing, not to mention all the other olympic athletes and international players.

I only remember watching a little. Reflecting their poor approach and perhaps late coach selection, they didn't look like they had any playbook. It's just an unsubstantiated feeling, but I don't think that Puerto Rico blowout happens with any other coach but Larry Brown.

[SunKing]

Everyone knew that the 04 was a mess of a team... You have Starbury,AI,no shooting whatsoever... it was a cluster. They got killed in the very first game vs Puerto Rico and lost to Lithuania in group play... It is shocking that they even got a metal because they looked that bad... ironically... it was Starbury stupid iso game that he pulled out of his ass vs Spain that got led them into the semis. Wade,Melo,Lebron never really got burn and you had Lamar Odom and Richard Jefferson getting significant mins in games. Alot of players didn't go to Athens because of security concerns as well...

Everything people need to know about this trash team, is explained just right here. I wouldn't have said it better.

EVERYBODY with their right mind and a little basketball knowledge knew how terrible it was. Remember at the times, people kept in mind that :

- With a legit very good 2000 team, they needed a Shareef Abdur Rahim rebound on a free throw and Jasikevicius missing not by far a 3 to go to the final to win against a fluky French Team by only 10pts.

- In 2002, they ended up 6th on their home soil. Losing 2 times against Argentina and Yougoslavia.

Then they cameback with a bunch of rookies, Tim Duncan and some nice players, no shooters coached by Larry Brown ???? It was just going 0 to 100 straight the wall.

The major fluke of this whole tournament was Marbury going hot against Spain in quater finals. I remember Pau Gasol absolutely DESTROYING Team USA.

No cohension, poor fit... I remember some players like AI and Stoudemire being suspended in pre-Olympics game. LeBron/Melo/DWade not having playing time... If your team sucks at least, play with their strenght... Then Larry Brown happens.

The more I think about this team the more I'm amazed how they got a medal

[NO-KG-AI]

It was a terribly constructed team, but they still should have overwhelmed the field with pure talent. The best player was a big disappointment there, especially since he gets so much respect for "carrying" supposedly poor teams to titles.


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[UcanUwill]

As Lithuanian, it sill pains me to think that we were one Jasikevicius shot away from pulling Argentina back in 2000. That was a dark age of USA basketball for sure.
Argentina game wasn't a fluke, I remember anticipation for that game, and a lot of people actually thought Argentina was a favorite at that point. This was USA team that got blown out by Puerto Rico, lost to Lithuania, and finished 4th. in their group stage!

[j-ragg]

Man I remember when we needed a buzzer beater to beat Germany on a miracle shot from AI. I knew we were doomed. That roster was a huge mismatch of talent.

[styLesdavis]

Man I remember when we needed a buzzer beater to beat Germany on a miracle shot from AI. I knew we were doomed. That roster was a huge mismatch of talent.

What a game.

It was in Cologne (Germany) right after the us team got totally beaten up by italy with a total
margin of nearly 20 Points. Nowitzki tied the game at 77-77 with a jaw-dropping three but Iverson
answered with a half-court buzzer beater on his own. The americans celebrated that win like a
gold medal, while every local spectator was like "WTF?".

You have to know that Germany didn`t even qualify for Athens in 2004.

[dautjazz]

I bought an official Manu/Argentina jersey, I remember I used to rock in on the courts and people were like OH ****!



I live in MIami, but as an Argentine, I was really happy for Argentina, it was huge! Everybody in Argentina was thrilled! Manu is as close to a god as a basketball player can be in Argentina.

[DoItALL9]

I think it could've been much more interesting if we'd just sent the champion 2004 Detroit Pistons to play for the USA minus Darko Miličić, Mehmet Okur, and Željko Rebrača.

They could've been declared the literal World Champs!

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[DoItALL9]

The coaching held back the team that actually went in 2004. They had enough talent to win. They didn't have the schemes and adjustments needed coming from the top.

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[Johnny Firpo]

There are entire tomes written about this including one just recently at the start of the Olympics:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/red-white-and-bronze-2004-death-and-rebirth-usa-basketball

To summarize:

The world closed the gap

But

They weren't concerned about the World Championship 6th place finish because they sent out their C list team.

They felt validated that it was a fluke because a team of stars dominated the FIBA Americas tournament to qualify for Athens.

That team of stars wouldn't actually stick together and go to Athens predominantly because of fear of terrorism. Only 3 players out of 12 stayed on, Richard Jefferson was one of them.

The rest of the Athens team were slapped together at the last minute and the replacements were comprised predominately between guys who would actually accept an invitation and had a big enough name rather than any thought towards fit. Guys were meeting each other for the first time just over a week before the actual Olympics. The brass thought throwing together a strenuous exhibition series leading up to the Olympics would help shock the players into camaraderie and the talent would take care of the rest.

They were extremely young in terms of both age and experience overall and the kicker, had a coach that had zero respect for young players plus felt his old school mentality on basketball would not only humble LeBron, Melo, Wade, and Amar'e but also FIBA and their style of play. Additionally, Brown had very public feuds with two of the few veterans on the team in Iverson and Marbury leaving a team of kids he didn't care about and vets he didn't care for. Of course, Brown wasted no chance to publicly voice his distaste for his roster.

From an on the court standpoint, beyond the chemistry and questionable strategy, they seriously lacked shooting. They went from having Ray Allen, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Mike Bibby just the summer before to Richard Jefferson being their best 3 point shooter at a pedestrian 36%. Duncan's impact on offense was mitigated to put backs because the key was so congested and opposing teams took advantage of him on the other end by constantly involving him in pick and roll coverage with Euro bigs, that is for the small amount of time he actually managed to stay on the court out of foul trouble. The team as a whole didn't seem to know who's responsibility was what on defense and couldn't make any sense of even the simpler zone schemes on offense.

I think LeBron adequately described the whole situation when he called it a **** show.

Great summary, thanks!

[udfa]

I was in elementary school when it happened and didn't give a darn about the NBA. So I was wondering how the basketball community reacted when the USA lost to Argentina. Seeing how people seem to be very disappointed with a lackluster team USA not blowing out opponents this year, I can't fathom how crazy it must have been for the team to be beaten convincingly.

2004 was a titanic style disaster slow-motion disaster. I had concerns about the construction of the roster (particularly the guards) but along with just about everyone else in America I expected them to win gold because they always win gold in the Olympics and poorly constructed or not that team still had a huge amount of talent. Puerto Rico was like hitting the iceberg. The ship didn't sink for quite awhile after but immediately everyone knew something was terribly wrong on board. Many, including myself, naively believed they would get it together and successfully adjust to their limitations but that team was a dead end and if they had managed to win gold it would have been a total fluke (though one that likely would have went unrecognized). The whole summer looked mentally and technically a step behind every quality opponent.

Not a lot of basketball stories really make a deep impact into the broader daily American pop culture but the epic meltdown that was the 2004 "Dream Team" certainly did. Americans were the first to heap scorn on that team. Winning bronze only seemed to bring more derision than a medal-less finish. It was a national sporting "disgrace", a perfect episode to support the narrative that NBA players lack heart or are too selfish to win despite phenomenal talent.

I think it was a great wake-up call for USA basketball. From that point on the US game started to open up and for the first time evolve in response to the advancement of international basketball. The next year the league began to crack down on hand-checking and brute-force post action. Perimeter skills became more emphasized at all positions and the high pick and roll/pop became the league's ubiquitous play. The shape of the NBA game today is a direct offspring of the adaptation spurred by the humiliation of 2004 and the league is better off in almost every respect because of it.

[Anticon]

I actually think that year was a turning point when people realized score first guards (Iverson, Marburg, Francis) with iffy shooting weren’t winning players, and that shooting and efficiency were more important.

The seven seconds or less Suns that fall led by Nash made that even more true.

A few rule changes and 5 years later Steph is drafted and the rest is history.

[DoItALL9]

I was in elementary school when it happened and didn't give a darn about the NBA. So I was wondering how the basketball community reacted when the USA lost to Argentina. Seeing how people seem to be very disappointed with a lackluster team USA not blowing out opponents this year, I can't fathom how crazy it must have been for the team to be beaten convincingly.

2004 was a titanic style disaster slow-motion disaster. I had concerns about the construction of the roster (particularly the guards) but along with just about everyone else in America I expected them to win gold because they always win gold in the Olympics and poorly constructed or not that team still had a huge amount of talent. Puerto Rico was like hitting the iceberg. The ship didn't sink for quite awhile after but immediately everyone knew something was terribly wrong on board. Many, including myself, naively believed they would get it together and successfully adjust to their limitations but that team was a dead end and if they had managed to win gold it would have been a total fluke (though one that likely would have went unrecognized). The whole summer looked mentally and technically a step behind every quality opponent.

Not a lot of basketball stories really make a deep impact into the broader daily American pop culture but the epic meltdown that was the 2004 "Dream Team" certainly did. Americans were the first to heap scorn on that team. Winning bronze only seemed to bring more derision than a medal-less finish. It was a national sporting "disgrace", a perfect episode to support the narrative that NBA players lack heart or are too selfish to win despite phenomenal talent.

I think it was a great wake-up call for USA basketball. From that point on the US game started to open up and for the first time evolve in response to the advancement of international basketball. The next year the league began to crack down on hand-checking and brute-force post action. Perimeter skills became more emphasized at all positions and the high pick and roll/pop became the league's ubiquitous play. The shape of the NBA game today is a direct offspring of the adaptation spurred by the humiliation of 2004 and the league is better off in almost every respect because of it.

"The next year the league began to crack down on hand-checking and brute-force post action."

This is somewhat interesting because I often hear the international game is rougher in the post.

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