HoopsHype.com Columns

Task proves to be harder than some Americans thought
by Roland Lazenby / September 1, 2006

I had hustled all week to work out an interview with Tracy McGrady, who has been touring Asia to promote his adidas shoes. He finally called early Thursday from Hong Kong, and one of the topics of our discussion was the new rookie headed to McGrady's Houston Rockets, Greek guard Vassilis Spanoulis.

McGrady had made a point of tuning in and watching Spanoulis in the world championships in Japan. What he saw made McGrady smile.

"I really like how he pushes the ball," McGrady said. "He's going to help us right away."

Now that Spanoulis has scored 22 points and led Greece to an astounding 101-95 win over Team USA in the FIBA World Championships in Japan, the rest of the NBA has an idea of what McGrady is talking about.

Spanoulis is no fluke. Neither is Mihalis Kakiouzis, who scored 15 for the Greeks against the Americans, or 6-foot-10 Sofoklis Schortsanitis – "Baby Shaq" - who made 6 of 7 shots from the field and finished with 14.

The veteran Greek team played hard and smart, and they executed extremely well. After it was over, they got nothing but praise from Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his players. Which is how it should have been. There were no ugly Americans this time in international competition. They lost with class, despite being devastated by the sight of the Greeks dancing in celebration afterward at mid-court.

The Greeks will go on to meet the Spanish team, led by Pau Gasol, for the gold medal, while the Americans will face a tough challenge Saturday against a dominant, veteran Argentinian team that lost by a point to Spain.

The immediate questions facing the Americans, meanwhile, are why and how?

The quick answer is that the Americans got forced into too many bad three-pointers, missed too many free throws (they shot 32 percent from 3-point range and 59 percent from the foul line) and couldn't seem to play any solid defense down the stretch.

The Greeks executed well on offense, used the screen-and-roll expertly and relied on their tough-and-tested defense when it mattered most.

The Americans continued to be plagued by chemistry problems, not brought on by any particular selfishness or ego problems, but by the nature of their hastily assembled team. This time around, the Americans took more effort with the process and worked harder, but the outcome revealed that they were trying to make too much happen too soon.

They need more time.

"This is the biggest thing we've ever done," former Greek star Panagiotis Fassoulas said. "The Americans are the most talented players but we have a better team. Right now we're the best in the world... Beating the U.S. is more important than the final."

As the head of Team USA, Jerry Colangelo, pointed out, the American players were hurting after the outcome. It's the third straight failure in international competition for the Americans, dating back through the 2002 World Championship.

But that's also where the consolation comes in for the Americans. They put this team together with the idea that the players would form a nucleus that would work over the next two years to prepare for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

As much as this loss hurts and embarrasses a U.S. team that once dominated international basketball, it may actually serve a greater purpose – to remind the American stars how much they must work to build team chemistry and to reinforce the idea that there will be no more cakewalks for American teams in international competition.

The Dream Team is just that, a distant dream in the rearview mirror of American basketball.

Now, every major international competition will be a dogfight. The Greeks, Argentines and Spaniards all showed that they are all quite capable of running with the USA's best athletes.

It may also spur Team USA to drag out even bigger guns for the fight in Beijing. The Lakers' Kobe Bryant, coming off knee surgery and unable to compete, comes to mind immediately. But so do the likes of Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan. And certainly Gilbert Arenas has a beef. Maybe the American coaches did need to take a longer look at what he had to offer.

On the other hand, Spanoulis has shown that he has lots to offer. McGrady and Yao Ming have top-flight help on the way for Houston (Spanoulis has reportedly signed a three-year deal with the Rockets).

The rest of the NBA is now officially on notice, too. The Europeans keep getting better and better, not to mention tougher and tougher. Ignorance of that is no excuse.

Roland Lazenby is the author of The Show: The Inside Story Of The Spectacular Los Angeles Lakers In The Words Of Those Who Lived It, recently released by McGraw-Hill

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