Commentary: Thank Goodness the Olympic Basketball Squad Finally Remembered How to Work as a Team

By: Deborah Mathis

Had it happened in the Nevada desert rather than the Mediterranean Sea, we might never have learned of the humiliation that beset the USA men’s basketball team at the 2004 Olympics.

Alas, what happens in Athens does not stay in Athens, so the shock of the team’s humiliating losses -- point-wise and medal-wise -- made headlines around the world. A bronze medal from the most famous, richest and professionalized team in the games; from the progenitors of basketball, no less?

Sometimes mockingly, sometimes regretfully, sports commentators worldwide began calling the squad the “Bad Dream Team,” noting that the players hadn’t had enough pre-Games practice, assumed too much of themselves and too little of their opponents, had not familiarized themselves with the nuances of international play, and, in some instances, betrayed a me-and-mine attitude with a keener eye on the MVP award than on the gold medal.

Now, in Beijing, the U.S. men’s basketball team is determined to make the “Redeem Team” moniker stick. In their quest to recapture the top medal, the 2008 delegation is treating all comers with respect -- i.e., as if they could win.

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