USA won 84-74, as you could probably tell from Scout's lack of updates. Up 50-36 at halftime and never close in the second half.
I can see people being angry at Kobe, Shaq, Garnett, Carter, etc. for not accepting the invitation to play for the USA but I wouldn't put Iverson in that category. He was not invited nor has he ever been invited to play for the USA national team. David Stern said he wants good citizens on USA Basketball. And I can't argue that Iverson is not a good citizen but do you think he would have let the USA lose to Argentina? I don't. I can just imagine what he would have done with the score tied with two minutes left.
>>but do you think he would have let the USA lose to Argentina? I don't>> You seem to miss the entire point of what happened which is that the US lost due to lack of team play. One SUPERSTAR wouldnt have made it any better, possibly it would have been even worse since the team would depend on him or the guy would try to do it all alone. Argentina literally SCHOOLED the US by playing Basic, solid team basketball. Many now doubt that any colloection of NBA stars would have done better.
The most overrated element in basketball is "team play". Given this Argentina team (team play) vs the 1992 Dream Team, what do you think the outcome will be?
>>The most overrated element in basketball is "team play". >> Yeahhhh Okkkkkaaayyyy.... did you watch any of the games? If you did you wouldnt utter such nonsense. That is why the US lost. As for dream team 92, who knows, thats history and it cant happen. All I know is what I saw on Wednesday and Thursday. The US showed its true colors in Basketball, so much so that you can expect lots of changes to happen. The NBA and USA Basketball have seen the light. They see US domination in BBall falling apart. But it can be fixed, simply put some solid teamplay in the US teams and the Gold will return,
Yes, I've seen all the games involving the U.S. I can easily say that the 2002 American players can't hold the jocks of the 1992 Dream Teamers. That's why they lost. Individual talent can certainly wins games, if you are Jordan, Magic or Bird, not if you are Paul Pierce, Michael Finley or Jermaine O'Neill. See the difference? Do you think you and your friends train for 12 months, develop all the team chemistry you can have, played Princeton/Argentina style team ball, can beat the 1992 Dream Teamers in a pick-up games? Why not?
Nope, I am saying that the 1992 Dream Teamers playing individual ball could still have beaten the 2002 Argies and Yugo, while the 2002 USA playing individual ball cannot. Conclusion: the difference is individual talent level between 1992 USA and 2002 USA.
Personally, I think if you put the 1992 players out there TODAY, they'd still win this tournament even though most of them are long past it. Give them 2-3 months to prepare and they will beat the 2002 team of STIFFS. The 1992 team played smart, tough basketball and had the DEMEANOR and talent to back it up. I'm sorry, but the 2002 US team was devoid of smart players. And, they were certainly devoid of players who had any experience as champions or leaders. They were second and third tier stars and most of them are only recently developing stars. They needed experience besides the one-dimensional Reggie Miller who is way past it himself and even in his prime couldn't hold the jock of the 1992 players. And...the 1992 team did not have the best player in the league, pound for pound at the time, Isiah Thomas.
No, the difference is that those (1992) stars played a team game as well as being mega-talented. If this crew of 2nd rate NBA players played as a team as well as the '92 version they'd be mopping up. Unfortunately, these clowns couldn't identify a bounce pass, free-throw or 15 foot jumper on their lives.
When you are winning every game by ~40 points, "team game" is just a cliche. I mean, how much team chemistry was there when the pre-Olympic training camp was no longer than the current team's? I saw overmatched oppositions in 1992. I didn't see Princeton/Argentina style team games. If this crew is as talented as the '92 version but don't play a team game, they would still be mopping up. So what are you trying to say?