Twenty-five years ago, when the first ten players of the original basketball Dream Team were announced, American media celebrated the historic assemblage of talent, and who could blame them?  This was the cream of the crop from the NBA’s Golden Age led by iconic legends.

And for a teenager at the height of my NBA fandom, the 1992 Dream Team was really a dream come true.  Rallying a team of NBA legends and all-stars that knew no conference lines, no divisions, and would come together for two months wearing the same jersey, representing their country, and one common objective: to bring the gold medal back to the United States.

Other than two missteps; the inclusion of Christian Laettner, the sole college player, and the exclusion of Isiah Thomas (we’ll get to that in a later piece), the USA Olympic Committee got it right with their selection of  Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton and Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler, and Chris Mullin.

WOW.

But the 1992 US Olympic Team wasn’t just a dream to me, or just to Americans, the team led by co-captains and NBA rivals Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, was just as inspiring for many basketball fans around the world.

Operation Gold Medal (and Globalizaton)
What was lost in the Dream Team’s spectacle and their Gold medal-mission, was the far-reaching effects that would reverberate on the game of international basketball.

The original Dream Team was not only talented legends that introduced the masses to their basketball mastery on the world’s largest sports stage, but they were also diplomatic in accomplishing their goal (save for Charles Barkley).

On the other hand, subsequent USA National Teams (Dream Team II, III, etc.) would not represent the United States nearly as well.

With the Dream Team, national teams from around the world competed, lost by 40, and took photos with the legendary squad of basketball greats before, and after the game. But they would also learn valuable lessons on the court that would shape the game into what it is today.

While future iterations of the Dream Team would only alienate these same basketball fans.  This was particularly true with the 1994 team, named Dream Team II, that included abrasive personalities and poor sportsmanship from players like Shawn Kemp, Derrick Coleman, Alonzo Mourning, and Larry Johnson.

After watching Magic, Jordan and Barkley steamroll their adoring competitors, most Americans and many of its NBA players would spend the next two decades assuming the USA would stroll through the World Championships and Olympics.

And as we’ve learned, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Maybe 15-20 years to Improve…”
Whether they knew it at the time or not, the 1992 Dream Team would set the benchmark for their world’s progress, but how long would it take for the world to catch up?

Drazen Petrovic said at the time that it would take “maybe 15-20 years for European basketball to improve.” The way the Americans dominated the field, that seemed like it was hard to believe.

But Petrovic was spot-on with his estimate.  just 20 years after the 1992 Dream Team’s inception, the US Men’s National Team would be defeated in the 2002 World Championships.

But Petrovic would be surprised to hear that it wasn’t a European team as he predicted, but was a team from South America.  Argentina put an end to the USA’s 58-game winning streak in international competition during the 2002 World Championship.  And the US would also be defeated by the former-Yugoslavia and Spain in that same tournament.

However, the first hint that the world was catching up wasn’t in a United State’s loss, but in a close win.  During the 2000 Sydney Olympics,  Lithuania lost 85-83 to the United States in the semi-finals, and Lithuania had a chance to win the game, but their gutsy point guard, Sarunas Jasikevicius missed a three-point shot at the buzzer.

Final Scores were hints of things to come…
If you take a look at the final scores of all the original Dream Teams’ games closely, and you revisit the USA’s losses in the last decade, you’ll see that there’s a pattern in those numbers.

During the Dream Team’s run in 1992, the four teams that lost by the least amount of points during the Tournament of the Americas and the Barcelona Olympics were Croatia twice (33 and 32), Puerto Rico twice (38), Argentina (41), and Spain (41).

As we know now, three of those teams Puerto Rico, Spain, and Argentina have since defeated the United States in international tournaments.  While Croatia has had a tough time rebuilding, International teams are generally cyclical, and their golden years were in those early 1990s.  And it didn’t help when they would lost their legendary leader Drazen Petrovic in 1993 to a car crash.

Argentina, Puerto Rico, and Spain, along with Lithuania (whom lost to the 1992 Dream Team by 51), Greece and the former-Yugoslavia, are the teams that have defeated an NBA-led US National Team since 1992.

One can also track the progress, albeit not-very-scientifically, by the USA’s average margin of victory in the Olympics.

Since 1992, when the Dream Team had an average margin of victory of 45 points, the margin has since dropped throughout the years.

In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Dream Team III had a margin of victory of 31.75.  In 2000 it fell to 21.6 (including the two-point win against Lithuania), and finally in the 2004 Athens Olympics, it was a mere 13.6 margin, and that was when they won.  In 2004, the USA would lose three times.

“These guys can really play,” said Magic Johnson after winning the 1992 Gold Medal. “There’s going to be a big problem sending them college guys. There’s going to be a big problem. You look over at these guys, Croatians, Lithuanians? You send them college guys over here, it’s going to be a problem.”

And as we’ve found out, it’s just not Europeans that would give the best NCAA guys a problem.  The rest of the world is now giving our best NBA guys a run for their money.  Six losses in the last three international tournaments is not a fluke, and in part, we have the 1992 Dream Team to thank for that.

Links and Resources: Dream Team Justified more Dreams (New York Times), United States 85, Lithuania 83 (Everything2), USA Basketball Official Site (USA Basketball)

Are you interested in watching replays of the Olympic Basketball Semi-Finals or Quarterfinals?  Specifically, the USA-Argentina or Spain-Lithuania game replays?  If you are located in the United States then IBN has the direct links to the replays for you.  Just click on Replay after any of the games you want to watch online.

Olympic Basketball SemiFinals Replays (August 22)
* Spain-Lithuania Olympic Semifinals Replay (discuss game online)
* USA-Argentina Olympic Semifinals Replay (discuss game online)

Olympic Basketball QuarterFinals Replays (August 20)
* Spain-Croatia -> Replay (discuss game online)
* Lithuania-China ->  Recap (discuss game online)
* USA-Australia ->  Replay Highlights or recap (discuss game online)
* Greece-Argentina -> Replay (discuss game online)

Click on any of the above links and it will take you directly to that game’s replay.  NBC doesn’t offer all the replays or “rewinds” of the games, so I have listed only those matches that was available. You may also click on Discuss Game Online and you will be taken to a dicussion thread dedicated to previewing, predicting and discussing the game.

NBC Olympics.com offers replays of most all the Olympic Basketball games.

On their site, you’ll find the Olympic basketball schedule for both Mens and Womens.  Expand the date in which the game was played.  For example, if you are looking for the USA-Spain replay, expand August 16th by clicking on the + sign next to the date.  From there, click on “Rewind” and you should be able to enjoy the entire replay.

I’ve linked many of the available Olympic basketball replays from NBC Olympics in a previous post.

Links and Resources: Watch Olympic Basketball Replays Online (Interbasket)

The Olympic basketball’s final four has been determined, and there are no surprises as Argentina, Lithuania, Spain, and the USA, the top four seeds going into the round have advanced.

The four teams have a combined record of 21-3 with the United States the only undefeated team left in the field.  Argentina, Lithuania and Spain are each 5-1.

To watch the games live, you’ll have to determine whom is your local official Olympic partner.

August 22, 2008 Game Times
20:00: Spain vs Lithuania (discuss the game)
Watch Live in Argentina, Lithuania, Spain, USA

22:15: Argentina vs. USA (discuss the game)
Watch Live in Argentina, Lithuania, Spain, USA

If the above providers don’t work, click here to find your specific local partner in your region or country.

Olympic Basketball Quarterfinal Recaps:
Spain defeated Croatia 72-59 behind 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots from Pau Gasol.  As with their two other losses previous to this game, the Croatians couldn’t find the mark from three, shooting only 5-17.  Marko Banic led the Croatians with 15 points.   Felipe Reyes chipped in 13 and Jose Calderon added 10 for the Spanish team.

Lithuania put away host China in the second match of the day 94-68.  The game was only a two point difference after one, and from there the Lithuanians pulled away with each subsequent quarter, outscoring the Chinese team by 9, 6, and 9.  Sarunas Jasikevicius hit 5-6 threes, scored 23 points, and dished out 6 assists.  Linas Kleiza and Ramaunas Siskauskas added 15 each.  Team China was led by Yao Ming 19 points and 7 rebounds, while Yi Jianlian added 11 points and 9 rebounds.

The Aussies kept up with the Americans, keeping tight after one, and only down 12 at half.  That was until Team USA used a 14-point run to start the third that opened up the game.  Kobe Bryant scored 25 points for the Americans in his first game of the tournament in which he shot better than 50% from the field.  Lebron James added 16 points and 9 rebounds, and Carmelo Anthony scored 15 for the USA.  Patrick Mills was amazing again against the Americans, the speedy 5-11 guard scored 20 points with 3 steals.  Glen Saville socred 13, and Joe Ingles added 11 hitting all four of his shots.

Everyone expected the Argentina-Greece match to be the most competitive, and they were right.  Behind Carlos Delfino’s 15 fourth quarter points, great individual defense by Pablo Prigioni, and Manu Ginobili scoring Argentina’s final seven points, the defending Olympic Champions held off Greece 80-78.  Greece had a stretch in which they threw the ball away three consecutive possessions, allowing the Argentinians to build a lead before riding some hot three-point shooting back into the game.  Ginobili’s layup put Argentina up 5 with 46 seconds left, Greece’s Panagiotis Vasilopoulos banked in a three.  And after a missed three by Ginobili on the other end, Vasileios Spanoulis dribbled up-court, shot a straight-away three that was just short to make the final margin.

Manu Ginobili led Argentina with 24 points, hitting 6-13 threes.  Carlos Delfino scored 23, Luis Scola had 11 points and 8 rebounds and Pablo Prigioni added 7 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists.  For Team Hellas, Antonis Fotsis led the Greeks with a double-double (17 points and 10 rebounds) and received some surprise offensive contribution from Konstatinos Tsartsaris with 13 points.  Tsartsaris had scored only 9 points total in the five games previous.  Ioannis Bouroussis remained solid again with 12 and 3 rebounds.

Links and Resources: Watch Olympic Basketball Live Online (interbasket), NBC Olympics Live Basketball Coverage (NBC Olympics),

Just days after news broke that the NBA had disallowed any teams to talk or deal with Iranian superstar Hamed Ehadadi, as well as other Iranian basketball players, due to the lack of the correct license from the US Government, reports are that the NBA has been approved for the license and the restriction has been lifted.

Teams are now open to negotiate with Hamed Haddadi (also spelled Hamed Ehadadi).

Ehadadi is a 23-year old, 7-2 Persian center with great potential.  Many basketball fans and scouts were able to see Haddadi for the first time in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in which the Iranian National Team participated.

Though Iran’s team was by far the weakest of the twelve teams, and didn’t win a game in five games in group A, Hamed Ehadadi opened a lot of eyes with his play during the preliminary rounds.

Ehadadi averaged 16.6 points, good for eighth overall, and was the only non-NBA player in the top-ten in rebounds with 11.2.  In fact, the Iranian center led all players in rebounds through the first five games.  Ehadadi also led the field in blocks (2.6) and tied Yao Ming with the most double-doubles with two.

When NBA General Managers called to inquire about the center a little less than a week ago, the NBA put a halt to the communication because the league needed a license from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control before proceeding.  Today, that license was granted.

Whether Ehadadi will field or entertain this overtures is unknown.  Hamed was once offered a significant deal to sign with KK Partizan, a Serbian club, but he eventually turned it down.

In addition to Ehadadi, NBA teams have also shown interest in Mohammadsamad NikKhah Bahrami, the Iranian shooting guard that led Iran in scoring (17.2) on 50% field percentage.

Links and Resources: Politics and sports - Hadadi banned from playing in the NBA (Interbasket), NBA Teams cleared to negotiate with Iranians (Yahoo!), NBA seeks clearance to sign Iranian (Yahoo!), Iranian Prospect Barred from NBA (AOL Fanhouse), Hamed Ehadadi, the next big thing (INterbasket)

10:00am (August 21): Back up.

4:22pm: Still down.  Hate it.

11:50am: In the process of moving… I would estimate the site being back up in 3 hours or so….

10:49am: Looking to move the forums to a more secure server.  Hoping that can be done in a hurry.

10:15am: Hey guys, the forum is currently down because we got blasted with connections after the Argentina-Greece game.  If you try to get the the forum, you’ll get this error message:

Site Temporarily Unavailable

We apologize for the inconvenience. Please contact the webmaster/ tech support immediately to have them rectify this.error id: “bad_httpd_conf”

We had so much traffic that it was slowing down not just the forum, but the entire site down was suffering.

I’ve been forced to disable the forum for the time being and am trying to get it back up as we speak.  I hope to have a resolution in less than a couple hours.  Please be patient while we work through this and get the site back up and check back here for the latest updates on it.  I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, I know everyone wants to talk Olympic basketball… and I am doing my best.

Cheers, Stuart

The Olympic basketball quarterfinals are less than a day away with the four best teams from each group advancing onto the next round.  The four quarterfinal games are Spain vs. Croatia in the first game,  Lithuania vs China, Argentina vs. Greece, and the United States vs. Australia.

Are you searching the internet to watch the USA vs. Australia game live?  Look no further, if you are in the USA, click here to access NBC Olympics, in Australia, go to au.sports.yahoo.com.  If you are in Europe, you’ll likely find what you want on EuroVisionSports.tv.  If you live outside these regions, click here.

August 20, 2008 Game Times
14:30: Spain vs. Croatia Live Online
16:45: Lithuania vs. China Live Online
20:00: Argentina vs. Greece Live Online
22:15: USA vs. Australia Live Online

In the first game of the quarterfinals pits Spain against Croatia.  Spain (4-1).  In their pool play, Croatia has lived and died by the three thus far.  In their three wins, they’ve shot 62.5% from three (30-48), and only 25% in their two losses (8-32).

The second game features Lithuania, the Group A winner, taking on host China, whom are coached by a Lithuanian, Jonas Kazlauskas.

In probably what will be the toughest matchup in the quarterfinals, Argentina squares off against Greece.  Both teams are excellent defensive teams, as Argentina is second in points against and Greece is third.

After losing to Lithuania, Argentina (4-1) ended the tournament with four straight wins defeating their opponents by an average of 17 points per win.  Manu led Olympic pool play in scoring at19.6 per, while Luis Scola was third in scoring with 19.2 points per game.  As a team, Argentina turned the ball over the least in the tournament.

Greece doesn’t have any players in the top-10 in scoring, as they take a combined approach on both the offensive and defensive side.  They managed three wins in a up-and-down tournament with a couple disappointing losses to Spain and the United States.  Ioannis Bouroussis has been solidly efficient in the middle for Hellas, Vassilis Spanoulis leads them in scoring with 15.4, with solid contributions from Antonis Fotsis, Theodoros Papaloukas, and Nikos Zisis.

Outside of Argentina, the hottest teams in the tournament will be playing against each other.  The United States and Australia will duel in the last game of the Olympic quarterfinals.  The US hasn’t lost a game (5-0), and are the only team to get out of pool play undefeated.  Australia (3-2) lost their first two games, got their act together won their final three games, as they throttled Iran, Russia, and Lithuania, by an average of 28 points.  Bogut has really come alive in the last two, averaging 22.5 points and has shot 5-6 from three.  The Aussies are shooting 52% from downtown and have hit 41 threes in their wins.

Some of you may remember that the Boomers were the ones that gave the Americans their closest game in nearly two years during their final preliminary game on August 6th.  Bogut sat out that game and he watched Patrick Mills, Chris Anstey, and David Barlow challenge the United States before finally falling 87-76.

“What (the USA has) done and where you see them can intimidate a lot of people,” Anstey said. “I think to come into a game intimidated you’ve given up before you start…”

What to say about Team USA?  They’ve steamrolled the competition even with their chief competitors in the same bracket, winning all five pool games by an average of 32.2 points, including a 37-point blowout of Spain and a 49-point destruction of Germany.  They lead the competition in points scored, but not one player has scored more than 22 points in a game.

“I think (the USA is) unbeatable,” said German coach Dirk Bauermann. “I don’t even think it’s going to be close. I would be surprised if anyone can even give them a game.”

Don’t tell that to Chris Anstey and Australia.

Links and Resources: NBC Olympics Live Basketball Coverage (NBC Olympics), Quarter-finals: Argentina vs Greece (Interbasket), Quarter-finals: USA vs Australia (Interbasket), Quarter-finals: Lithuania vs China (Interbasket), Quarter-finals: Spain vs Croatia (Interbasket), German Basketball Coach Says Americans Are Unbeatable (New York Times)

Searching for replays of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Basketball games in their entirety?

If you are in the United States then you’ve come to the right place.  You can go to NBC Olympics.com coverage or click here to go directly to the page.

NBC Olympics.com offers replays of most all the Olympic Basketball games.

On their site, you’ll find the Olympic basketball schedule for both Mens and Womens.  Expand the date in which the game was played.  For example, if you are looking for the USA-Spain replay, expand August 16th by clicking on the + sign next to the date.  From there, click on “Rewind” and you should be able to enjoy the entire replay.

I’ve directly linked replays of some Olympic basketball games available on NBC Olympics below:

August 10: USA vs. China Replay (Replay Now)
August 10: Australia vs. Croatia Replay (Replay Now)

August 12: Croatia vs. Russia Replay (Replay Now)
August 12: Greece vs. Germany Replay (Replay Now)
August 12: Angola vs. USA Replay (Replay Now)
August 12: Argentina vs. Australia Replay (Replay Now)

August 14: Germany vs. Spain Replay (Replay Now)
August 16: Australia vs. Iran Replay (Replay Now)
August 14: Angola vs. China Replay (Replay Now)

August 16: Australia vs. Russia Replay (Replay Now)
August 16: Croatia vs. Lithuania Replay (Replay Now)
August 16: Argentina vs. Iran Replay (Replay Now)
August 16: China vs. Germany Replay (Replay Now)
August 16: USA vs. Spain Replay (Replay Now)

If you are in Europe and looking for replays, you’ll likely find the replays you want on EuroVisionSports.tv.  If you live outside these two regions, click here.

Links and Resources: NBC Olympics Basketball Coverage (NBC Olympics), USA vs Spain Replay (NBC Olympics) China vs. Germany Replay (NBC Olympics), 2008 Beijing Olympics (Official Site)

Looking to watch USA vs. Germany Olympic Basketball game live or the Australia Lithuania online match?   Or are you just looking for a replay?  Look no further, if you are in the USA, click here.  If you are in Europe, you’ll likely find what you want on EuroVisionSports.tv.  If you live outside these regions, click here.

The fifth and final day of pool play starts August 18th, 09:00am local Beijing time.  You can watch the games live online, find out which official sites are streaming the Greece-China game here.  You’ll find the Olympic basketball day five schedule below, with a link to our forum next to each game.  The link leads to a  message board that previews, predicts the score, and play by play action with fans from around the globe.

August 18, 2008 Game Times
09:00 : Iran vs. Croatia Live Online
11:15 : Australia vs. Lithuania Live Online
14:30 : Greece vs. China Live Online
16:45 : Angola vs. Spain Live Online
20:00 : USA vs. Germany Live Online
22:15 : Argentina vs. Russia Live Online

None of today’s games have any qualification implications as the four teams from each group have essentially been determined.  With the two top teams in both groups already decided, only the seeding of the teams in 3rd and 4th place is yet to be determined. Without getting too much into if-thens, the eight teams going on the next round will look like this:

Group A: Lithuania (4-0), Argentina (3-1), Croatia (2-2), Australia (2-2)   Out: Russia (1-3), Iran (0-4)
In group A, Lithuania and Argentina advance on their overall record.  Croatia and the Aussies are also in, even though the chance that the two teams and Russia could all end up 2-3.  Even if Russia wins their game tomorrow against Argentina and Australia and Croatia both lose, the three-way tie would still have Russia being eliminated because they lost both head to head games against the Boomers and Croatia.

Group B: USA (4-0), Spain (3-1), Greece (2-2), China (2-2)    Out: Germany (1-3), Angola (0-4)
In Group B, the United States and Spain move forward with their overall records.  Greece and China will both move.  Despite the unlikely chance that the Germans will beat the USA in their final game.  And even with the two teams that Germany is chasing, China and Greece, playing each other tomorrow, both teams have the tiebreaker over Deutschland.

The Basketball Quarterfinals will look like this:
August 20th: Spain vs. A3
August 20th: Lithuania vs. B4
August 20th: Argentina vs. B3
August 20th: USA vs. A4

With all that said, the most interesting match will be the Boomers taking on Lithuania in the second match of the day.  Lithuania has the chance to go into the quarterfinals unbeaten, while the Aussies can continue their momentum by unseating a less-motivated Lith team, whom has sewn up the #1 spot.

Another interesting game will pit hosts China against Greece.  Though the Chinese have already advanced, their goal is to improve (and not to be embarrassed at home), so look for them to try to make a statement.  Not to mention the winner of the game receives the third seed, which will be either Lithuania or Argentina.

Links and Resources: Group A, day 5: Argentina vs Russia (Game Thread), Group B, day 5: USA vs Germany (Game Live), Group B, day 5: Angola vs Spain (Interbasket), Group B, day 5: Greece vs China (Interbasket Game Thread), Group A, day 5: Australia vs Lithuania (Interbasket)