by B.J. on 9/05/2002 01:14:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

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[Damn, another edit from 12/16/03. No one gives a crap about USA Basketball, much less our second-third-tier stars representing the U.S. z Zzzzzzzzzzz]

US Dream Team Basketball Loses

OH WoW, The UNITED STATES of EMBARRASSMENT !

This was INEVITABLE considering how cocky the US has become in international competition and how eerily some articles (US Stays Perfect [not anymore, son] before this one that proclaimed that the US extended it's 59 game winning streak. It's because George "basty lips" Karl won't put in his quirkniness Jay Williams ! I'm jawdropped.



Wednesday, September 4
NBA-powered U.S. team finally falls
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Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- The basketball universe changed forever Wednesday night. The most powerful nation in the history of the sport lost a game.
Argentina pulled off a victory that until recently was considered nearly impossible, defeating the United States 87-80 in the World Championships.

Argentina celebrates its historic achievement.

It was the first loss for a U.S. team in 59 games since the Americans began sending NBA players to international tournaments in 1992."I'm embarrassed to be on the team that took the first loss. We can still go out and win the gold medal, but we're still 'that' team,'' Paul Pierce said.

The defeat did not knock the Americans out of the tournament, but gave them a lower seed for the medal round. They will play Yugoslavia in the quarterfinals Thursday and could get another shot at Argentina over the weekend.

The players tried to put their best spin on the loss and said their goal remains the same -- winning the gold medal. But their downcast faces and comments before leaving the arena betrayed their true feelings.

"I'm embarrassed,'' Baron Davis said.

This U.S. team had said it wanted to keep the unbeaten streak intact, but it also knew that the competition from around the world is getting better. Argentina was far from weak, controlling the game demonstrably for most of the 40 minutes.

"They were a lot better than we thought,'' Baron Davis said. "They were just beating us every which way.''

U.S. teams had two close calls in the past two years, defeating Lithuania by just two points at the 2000 Olympics and needing overtime to beat Brazil in the 2001 Goodwill Games.

Many of the best American players declined to participate in this tournament, and this version of Team USA looked quite vulnerable over the past week -- especially against nations that now have their own NBA players.

Rest of the Article

 



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