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Dream Team Stunned by Puerto Rico 92-73
My Way News ^ | 8/15/04 | CHRIS SHERIDAN/AP

Posted on 08/15/2004 12:50:40 PM PDT by wagglebee

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - In an upset as historic as it was inevitable, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and the rest of the U.S. basketball team lost 92-73 to Puerto Rico on Sunday, only the third Olympic defeat ever for the Americans.

It was also the most lopsided loss in the games for the U.S. team, alarming not only for its significance but also for its decisiveness.

Puerto Rico, which had lost to the Americans five times in the past 13 months, took control in the first half, led by 22 at halftime and gamely held off a fourth-quarter comeback for one of the biggest sports achievements in the island territory's history.

The loss was a blow to the Americans' confidence, but it did little to hurt their gold medal chances. They need only to finish in the top four of their six-team group to reach the quarterfinals.

Still, the defeat will go a long way toward giving the competition the bold idea that it's someone else's turn to move to the top of a sport that's been dominated by one country for nearly three-quarters of a century.

As Carlos Arroyo left the court with just over a minute left, he defiantly pulled at the words "Puerto Rico" on his jersey. He led his team with 24 points.

Anyone in America who didn't see this coming hadn't been paying attention to the way international basketball has been changing. The U.S. nearly lost in the semifinals at Sydney on a last-second miss by Lithuania, then dropped three games on its home turf at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis - the first losses ever by a U.S. team of NBA professionals.

This year's team, weakened by the defections and rejections of 12 top players, opened its pre-Olympic tour of Europe with a 17-point loss to Italy and a last-second victory over Germany - a pair of games in which their vulnerability to a tight zone defense was clearly exposed.

Puerto Rico used that defensive strategy, too, and the Americans could do next to nothing against it.

After Lamar Odom made their first 3-pointer, the Americans missed 16 straight. They tried to get the ball inside, but Puerto Rico collapsed several defenders into the paint and took the U.S. team's best player, Duncan, out of the offensive equation.

American teams had been 24-0 since the professional Olympic era began with the 1992 Dream Team, but now there is a blemish on their record to go with their two losses to the Soviet Union in the 1972 gold medal game and the 1988 semifinals.

They handled the loss to Puerto Rico with grace, congratulating their opponents and joining them in a huddle at center court before both teams exited to a standing ovation.

The U.S Olympic team's record now stands at 109-3.


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To: SamAdams76

I have to agree with you. These "representatives of the United States" appeared listless and bored for three quarters.


61 posted on 08/15/2004 3:33:01 PM PDT by Zechariah11 ("so they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver")
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To: Jewels1091

Correct. We need to return to sending our top amateurs (college players) -- people who actually want to be there. The NBA players spend too much time tripping over their own egos.


62 posted on 08/15/2004 3:43:34 PM PDT by My2Cents (http://www.conservativesforbush.com)
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To: My2Cents

....and the USA would never win and never even qualify for the olympics.

Nearly every team playing in the olympics has NBA players on it. Today, for example, the point guard from the Puerto Rican team plays for the Utah Jazz in the NBA. Teams with non-Nba players still have PROFESSIONAL players.

College players may want to be there, but they would have lost in the qualifying rounds.


63 posted on 08/15/2004 3:50:43 PM PDT by GWfan
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Why is everyone afraid to call a spade a spade. The NBA has been "ghettotized" with young, black street thugs with no desire to learn fundamentals. Fundamentals are not flashy and they do not draw attention enough to warrant a good chest beating. Even nice guy SHAQ is guilty. If he would throw the Jabbar skyhook, he would be the highest scorer ever, but it looks old fashioned and silly to street ballers.
64 posted on 08/15/2004 3:56:28 PM PDT by freeplancer
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To: freeplancer

Tim Duncan's nickname is the big fundamental. So much for your theory.


65 posted on 08/15/2004 4:04:19 PM PDT by GWfan
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To: wagglebee

Any number of Dependent Territories field their own teams including:

Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa - USA

British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Cayman Islands - UK

Cook Islands - New Zealand

Netherlands Antillies, Aruba - Netherlands


66 posted on 08/15/2004 4:39:25 PM PDT by GreenLanternCorps (I'm Pink, therefore I'm Spam.)
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To: GWfan
....and the USA would never win and never even qualify for the olympics.

A big loss, I'm sure.

67 posted on 08/15/2004 4:50:07 PM PDT by My2Cents (http://www.conservativesforbush.com)
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To: wagglebee

I'm sorry, I'm as patriotic as any American, and normally I want the USA to win, but in this case all I can say is a Nelson-like, "HA HA!"


68 posted on 08/15/2004 4:52:22 PM PDT by dfwgator (It's sad that the news media treats Michael Jackson better than our military.)
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To: yankeedame

Yep, this never would have happened if Bobby Knight was the coach.


69 posted on 08/15/2004 4:53:41 PM PDT by dfwgator (It's sad that the news media treats Michael Jackson better than our military.)
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To: wagglebee

The media is just trying to hype a story. This aint the dream team and never was. Most of the real NBA stars sensibly sat this one out and wisely so.


70 posted on 08/15/2004 4:56:30 PM PDT by thathamiltonwoman
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To: wagglebee

I was gonna reply but added my thoughts in the keywords instead.


71 posted on 08/15/2004 4:58:06 PM PDT by Rebelbase (Bush is Hell on liberals and terrorists.)
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To: SamAdams76

"Think about the 1980 hockey team for example. This was a bunch of mostly high school and college kids who beat the Russians and went on to win the Gold. Many of them never had NHL careers but they will always have that gold medal. There's something special about that."


I absolutely agree. No sports memory in my lifetime will ever match the win at Lake Placid by the American hockey team in 1980. When you have professional athletes like NBA and NHL All Stars competing, it just isn't the same, and it's hard to get really excited about it.


72 posted on 08/15/2004 5:02:25 PM PDT by Uncle Vlad
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To: gortklattu
We need to change our courts in the US if we want to seriously compete in international basketball.

Not true. They just need to pick a better team, one that can hit the 20 footers, this team can't. I want to know why Micheal Redd is not on this team. David Stern should be embarrassed because this is his brain child. He picked a team that would sell jerseys instead of being a great team.
73 posted on 08/15/2004 5:07:31 PM PDT by jf55510
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To: svxdave
When I saw the U.S Team composed of oversized, freaky looking guys with moronic hair and crazy tattoos all over their bodies, I thought, "What a bunch of losers they have selected to represent this great country".

Exactly,
Most of them are 50# overweight and just shuffle around on the court protecting themselves from injury.

I can't stand to watch pro basketball.

Give me some hustling college players.

74 posted on 08/15/2004 5:15:35 PM PDT by Vinnie
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To: razorback-bert
Far as I could tell, the rules were "get noticed, never EVER pass the ball because then someone ELSE would get noticed, refuse to play anything remotely resembling defense, talk smack, and oh.. yeah, get noticed." "Team" is not a concept in StreetBall.

When you... wait a second... you could take what I just wrote, replace "StreetBall" with "NBA", and it still makes sense. No WONDER this incredibly embarrassing loss occurred.

Regardless of their level of "professionalism" (and it makes me giggle like a damn schoolgirl to use the word professionalism in regards to NBA players. They may be professionals, but they don't exhibit an ounce of professionalism), until we get players who understand the concept of playing as a team instead of the "hey look at me, can I have an endorsement deal now?" ideal they're playing under at the moment, this will happen again and again.

75 posted on 08/15/2004 5:45:57 PM PDT by Jokelahoma (Animal testing is a bad idea. They get all nervous and give wrong answers.)
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To: Uncle Vlad

There's a simple way to make the US competitive in Olympic basketball again, let's just make Puerto Rico a state.


76 posted on 08/15/2004 5:47:01 PM PDT by dfwgator (It's sad that the news media treats Michael Jackson better than our military.)
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To: dmc8576
But, why not just let the Duke basketball team play? I guarantee you that Coach K would have led the Blue Devils to victory over Puerto Rico.

Ahhhhhh, music to my ears.

In all seriousnous, WTF should we care about a bunch of over-priced arrogrant tattooed hoodlums playing street ball? Defense? What is that in the NBA?

Giv me the Wojo/Duhon/Reddick-types of the world any day. And I'll give you the points.

77 posted on 08/15/2004 5:59:26 PM PDT by fuquadukie (If you can't hang with the Big Dogs... don't jump off the porch.)
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To: fuquadukie

FYI..little known factoid..the US men's BB team silver medals, from the rigged loss to the USSR, have never been claimed..they sit in a vault in the IOC HQ in Switzerland..


78 posted on 08/15/2004 6:36:29 PM PDT by ken5050 (We've looked for WMD in Iraq for LESS time than Hillary looked for the Rose Law firm billing records)
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To: jf55510

You missed a key point, many players did not want on the team. Key players.


79 posted on 08/15/2004 10:29:53 PM PDT by gortklattu (check out thotline dot com)
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To: kenth

I believe it makes the game better.


80 posted on 08/15/2004 10:31:04 PM PDT by gortklattu (check out thotline dot com)
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