There is a cottage industry that has grown up around fretting over USA Basketball’s senior men’s program. The world seemed to have caught up to the United States 12 years ago, following an underwhelming (but perfect) sweep in Sydney, the disaster in Indianapolis and the bronze in Athens. Even after Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski were installed in 2005 to rebuild the program, the team lost at FIBA Worlds in 2006, with a nearly fully formed LeBron at the helm. It appeared that even if you built a top-flight team and put it under the stewardship of a committed, great coach, there was no gap between Team USA and the rest of the world.
USA Basketball shouldn’t change a thing
USA Basketball isn’t perfect, but it works. Another gold in Rio is proof of that.
David E. Klutho-USA TODAY Sports
Well, that was a damn lie. The Americans haven’t lost a game since that FIBA tournament in 2006. While Team USA underwhelmed in the back half of group play in Rio this month, with two one-possession wins, they raced through the knockout round with some spectacular defense, and only one mildly competitive game (a semifinal against Spain). Until Serbia unleashed Nemanja Nedovic to run wild in the final minutes of the gold medal game, Team USA was on track to challenge the largest ever margin in the men’s basketball Olympic gold medal game (45 points, set in 1948, back when there wasn’t an NBA). Instead, Team USA won only by 30.
Team USA can leave the top four American finishers in NBA MVP voting at home and still win gold by a 30-point margin. Team USA can present a suffocating defense that held all three knockouts opponents under 40 percent shooting ... despite leaving the two-time reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year at home and relegating the two-time runner-up, Draymond Green, to human victory cigar status.
That bears repeating: Team USA is so good that Coach K turned Draymond Green into James Michael McAdoo in the knockout round.
Colangelo stunted on the rest of the world a little bit in the afterglow of a third Olympic gold medal. As well he should. Team USA suffered embarrassment in Indianapolis and Athens, saw how hard redemption would be in Japan in ‘06 and found it.
Meanwhile, the leading lights of international basketball haven’t kept up. Spain hasn’t kept pace and only won bronze in Rio on the continued fortitude of 36-year-old Pau Gasol. France has never put together a proper challenge to the Americans despite an excellent talent base. We see where Serbia stands. Argentina is diminished and Brazil never met its potential. Canada, promising as it still may be, can’t even win admission to the Olympic field. Australia is held up as a potential challenger, and yet Australia has never won a medal in Olympic play, even in a year when its path to silver seemed plausible.
Team USA got it together. Now where’s everyone else?
To be sure, the Americans did face challenges in Rio. And they took critical heat for it by analysts that expect 30-point margins every night. As I’ve written recently, the idea that there will be widespread superstar continuity on the roster is a pipe dream in the modern NBA. Players won’t risk their money or their health to fulfill a commitment to give up multiple summers for international work. (Nor should they, if they don’t feel up to it.) No, the status quo — players are inserted and removed from a wide field depending on who’s available — is the most likely future of USA Basketball.
And that’s fine! Just as it’s fine if Team USA eventually loses because Ben Simmons and Dante Exum bring Australia to another level, or Andrew Wiggins boosts Canada to continental power status, or Karl-Anthony Towns injects the Dominican Republic with a dose of post-Horford, post-Francisco Garcia excellence.
The critics on Twitter or TV may disagree, but being less than absolutely perfect is actually OK, and often more interesting than the alternative. It’s really not necessary to grade out favorably to the Dream Team or Redeem Team every four years. Showing up, representing the country as well as possible under the circumstances and providing some compelling basketball is all that should matter.
USA Basketball has created a nice ecosystem with the Select Team and stable coaching. There are plenty of high-level Americans still interested in the program; even those top players who sat out this year seem interested in returning when circumstances change. (LeBron is openly flirting with returning for 2020, and Steph Curry hasn’t yet played in the Olympics, so you could definitely see him link up in Tokyo.) Hiring Gregg Popovich to take over is going to bring a lot of interest from star talent, just as Coach K did in ‘05. (Arguably it was Coach K who brought Kobe Bryant out in 2008, and arguably Team USA doesn’t win gold in Beijing without Kobe, who was vital in the gold medal game vs. Spain.)
This system is still producing golds in 2016. It’s not perfect, but it works. There’s no sense in changing how Team USA creates its rosters now. The status quo is good enough.
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Nike is great at hiding other brands in Team USA photos
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