Star Spangaled Dominance

[This article was originally published at Talkhoops.net]

On the eve of the USA vs. Argentina Olympic semi-final rematch, we as basketball fans really have to look at what these Olympics can potentially mean for the basketball community at large. Unlike 1992, when the U.S. National Team completely obliterated any other team that dared to step in between the 92x50 parameters of execution and dominance, the 2008 Olympics have had a different tone as far as basketball is concerned. Instead of the Dream Team we have the less impressive Redeem Team, a collection of guys who have set out to bring the prominence there once was back to the states and to take their dignity back from the world. In the wake of these semifinal match-ups, considering the way that the U.S. team has played despite their obvious weaknesses, we have to ponder two rudimentary questions: Why is this U.S. team playing so well this year as opposed to recent world competitions dating back to the 2004 Olympic Games? And, is the international gap as close as we think it is?

The U.S. Men’s Basketball Team has been the most discussed and researched topic of these Olympics with Michael Phelp’s mom taking a close second, and it seems like everyone has taken notice of some of the members of the team off of the court. We’ve consistently seen Kobe Bryant and LeBron James in the stands at other sporting events cheering on other U.S. Olympic athletes like drunken college students, and I think this is one of the reasons why the U.S. team is playing so well.

No, it isn’t because they’re drawing inspiration from Phelps or Misty May and Kerri Walsh, it’s because they’re enjoying each other. The guys from this team really like each other, their personalities mesh and they’re going out to other sporting events and the Olympic Village together. Further more, what has stood out the most, well, at least to me, is the fact that this is almost a collegiate experience for the team, which works wonders for guys like Bryant and James – and also Dwight Howard – guys who didn’t go to college.

We’ve seen Bryant and James in the stands wearing red, white and blue polo’s while cheering like they’re representing their school’s swimmers and volleyball team. They’re out there pumping their fists, they’re yelling and giving high fives to random fans just like they’re the same as everyone else, just much larger. Guys like Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony only experienced one year of college life (which they probably didn’t get to fully enjoy going through all of the pre-draft events during their second semester or third quarter) and seem to be enjoying themselves in the same ways. This experience has been completely different from anything most of these guys have experienced, and the fact that they’re experiencing this together is going a long way as far as their chemistry on the court goes. What makes this year so different is that we never saw guys out together watching other events in previous years, not since 1996, the last really good U.S. Olympic team before this one.

Having two of college basketball’s best coaches in Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim has also been a different and rewarding experience for the team. Coach K and Boeheim are two completely different personalities, but they’re similar in the sense that they’re basketball ideologies and the way they handle players off of the court are completely different from anything you’ll find in the NBA. These NBA players, as much as you’d like to think otherwise, love learning about basketball, and both Coach K and Boeheim can offer different insights about basketball and just life in general that guys aren’t getting from their NBA coaches. The complexity in differentiating between the learning taking place in this year’s Olympics compared to 2004, when Larry Brown coached the team, is actually not complex at all. Coach K requires a certain brand of respect from his players than what Brown offered (that and the fact that Brown coached a bunch of guys who really weren’t students of the game).

If you were to ask me why this team seems to play so much better than recent teams of the past, I’d say it’s the collegiate feel of these games for the team. The camaraderie is not only between the players on the U.S. basketball team, but the camaraderie between the U.S. basketball team and the other U.S. Olympic athletes. The way they interact is akin to the way athletes on college campuses interact, and the guys on this team love it. The mere fact that they’re enjoying themselves off of the court (something that didn’t happen with the 2004 team) is doing wonders for the team on the court.

This other question, however, still remains to be answered. Everyone has their own opinion on the theoretical gap between the talent of the U.S. athletes and the athletes around the world, including myself. I realize that I’ll probably catch some hell for this...

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-PB