The "Dream Team" Is A Nightmare

Quotes from here:

Puerto Rico have beaten the United States 'Dream Team' basketballers 92-73 in Athens in one of the biggest shocks in the history of the Olympic Games.

NBA superstars Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and LeBron James were humiliated by a team they had beaten 96-71 just over two weeks ago in Florida.

It was the first defeat in 25 games for the United States since NBA talent including Michael Jordan began playing for them in Olympic competition at the 1992 Barcelona Games.

This is nothing short of humiliation for Team USA.

Puerto Rico is a little island with a few million people. They are technically a part of the United States. Yet their team, which does not have a high international ranking, utterly destroyed the US in every facet of the game.

The US shot barely over 10% from 3-point range, despite the fact that under international rules, the 3-point line in nearly three feet closer to the basket than in the NBA.

The US missed a disturbing number of free throws, which could have otherwise kept them in the game.

Look, the US team could have been better. Countless athletes turned down their invite to the Olympics for various reasons, especially security concerns.

But that is simply excuse-making. Even with a team comprised mostly of understudies with a few superstars like Duncan and Iverson, Team USA should be routing their opponents. And they aren't. They lost to Italy in exhibition, and had another close-call with Germany.

I honestly don't believe anything better than Bronze will be won by this current "Dream Team."

And that, frankly, should be considered a national nightmare.

Article Author: RJ Elliott

RJ is a graduate student at the University of Central Florida. His passions in life are sports, politics, nature, and women who have piercings they never told their daddy about. He dislikes daytime television, left-wing dictators, and people who talk like Garrison Keillor. …

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