On the eve of the USA vs. Argentina Olympic semi-final rematch, we as basketball fans really have to look at what these Olympics can potentially mean for the basketball community at large. Unlike 1992, when the U.S. National Team completely obliterated any other team that dared to step in between the 92x50 parameters of execution and dominance, the 2008 Olympics have had a different tone as far as basketball is concerned. Instead of the Dream Team we have the less impressive Redeem Team, a collection of guys who have set out to bring the prominence there once was back to the states and to take their dignity back from the world. In the wake of these semifinal match-ups, considering the way that the U.S. team has played despite their obvious weaknesses, we have to ponder two rudimentary questions: Why is this U.S. team playing so well this year as opposed to recent world competitions dating back to the 2004 Olympic Games? And, is the international gap as close as we think it is?

The U.S. Men’s Basketball Team has been the most discussed and researched topic of these Olympics with Michael Phelp’s mom taking a close second, and it seems like everyone has taken notice of some of the members of the team off of the court. We’ve consistently seen Kobe Bryant and LeBron James in the stands at other sporting events cheering on other U.S. Olympic athletes like drunken college students, and I think this is one of the reasons why the U.S. team is playing so well.

No, it isn’t because they’re drawing inspiration from Phelps or Misty May and Kerri Walsh, it’s because they’re enjoying each other. The guys from this team really like each other, their personalities mesh and they’re going out to other sporting events and the Olympic Village together. Further more, what has stood out the most, well, at least to me, is the fact that this is almost a collegiate experience for the team, which works wonders for guys like Bryant and James – and also Dwight Howard – guys who didn’t go to college.

We’ve seen Bryant and James in the stands wearing red, white and blue polo’s while cheering like they’re representing their school’s swimmers and volleyball team. They’re out there pumping their fists, they’re yelling and giving high fives to random fans just like they’re the same as everyone else, just much larger. Guys like Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony only experienced one year of college life (which they probably didn’t get to fully enjoy going through all of the pre-draft events during their second semester or third quarter) and seem to be enjoying themselves in the same ways. This experience has been completely different from anything most of these guys have experienced, and the fact that they’re experiencing this together is going a long way as far as their chemistry on the court goes. What makes this year so different is that we never saw guys out together watching other events in previous years, not since 1996, the last really good U.S. Olympic team before this one.

In an interview with ESPN’s George Smith, Bryant talked about what life has been like in Beijing and what he’s enjoyed the most so far and said, “Going to the village has been the most fun, I think. Eating in the cafeteria with all of the guys just going in there and hanging out, being around so many other Olympians, being a part of the experience and going to the different events has been the most fun by far.”

Having two of college basketball’s best coaches in Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim has also been a different and rewarding experience for the team. Coach K and Boeheim are two completely different personalities, but they’re similar in the sense that they’re basketball ideologies and the way they handle players off of the court are completely different from anything you’ll find in the NBA. These NBA players, as much as you’d like to think otherwise, love learning about basketball, and both Coach K and Boeheim can offer different insights about basketball and just life in general that guys aren’t getting from their NBA coaches. The complexity in differentiating between the learning taking place in this year’s Olympics compared to 2004, when Larry Brown coached the team, is actually not complex at all. Coach K requires a certain brand of respect from his players than what Brown offered (that and the fact that Brown coached a bunch of guys who really weren’t students of the game).

If you were to ask me why this team seems to play so much better than recent teams of the past, I’d say it’s the collegiate feel of these games for the team. The camaraderie is not only between the players on the U.S. basketball team, but the camaraderie between the U.S. basketball team and the other U.S. Olympic athletes. The way they interact is akin to the way athletes on college campuses interact, and the guys on this team love it. The mere fact that they’re enjoying themselves off of the court (something that didn’t happen with the 2004 team) is doing wonders for the team on the court.

This other question, however, still remains to be answered. Everyone has their own opinion on the theoretical gap between the talent of the U.S. athletes and the athletes around the world, including myself. I realize that I’ll probably catch some hell for this, but I don’t think the breach between the U.S. and the world is as close as we’ve all grown to thinking, in fact, popular ideas about this speculative gap aren’t even close to what the reality is.

I know, I know, the world has come a long way from 1992 – a very long way – and I’ll be the first to tell you how much I appreciate the heightened international play and competition, however, as much as the world has improved, it’s still leagues behind the talent level of the American’s. For about the last five years we’ve heard about how teams play together for years and how the cohesiveness of these teams is what has given the world an advantage in recent tournaments (and when I say the world I mean countries like Spain, Argentina, Lithuania and Greece). The style of play, combined with opposing teams abilities to play as one unit instead of five individuals, has given certain American teams problems, but I honestly don’t see this trend continuing.

The sense of pride has been re-established within our countries basketball populace. The American basketball community knows how to go out and field a basketball team that will not only compete with the best of the rest, but will set out to completely obliterate their opponents, or at least want to. This year’s team’s average margin of victory is 32 points per game despite their obvious flaws (can’t guard the three worth a damn, less than impressive in the half court set, can’t shoot from behind the arch to save their collective lives, lacking size, still have problems with the pick and roll, play down to their competition, etc.). The collection of talent here is unmatched anywhere else in the world, it’s just the way the talent was selected in previous years that gave the rest of the world grounds to think that they’ve caught up.

Yes, we’re past calling up random NBA All-Stars and sending them to the Olympic Games thinking that they’ll come back with commemorative gold medals around their communal necks, but we’re still a long ways away from having to worry about our very best struggling just to get into championship games year in and year out (just to clear things up, when Stephon Marbury is the starting point guard, you’re not sending your very best). Just consider this, when the U.S. goes over seas to play basketball, they’re expected to win, and anything less than perfection is still considered a failure not only to U.S. basketball fans, but to fans across the world, and no other country feels anything even remotely close to that kind of pressure. When the Argentines beat the U.S. for the first time (the only country to beat an American team twice), that had to be the greatest accomplishment of each of their individual lives. They went out and beat “the best in the world,” and it’s something that they’ll go on and tell their grandchildren about 35 years from now, however, after this US team continues its dominance and ultimately stands on the top of that podium listening to the instrumental version of the Star-Spangled Banner, they won’t have the same feelings about beating other countries of the world because it was expected, and there is no team that they will have beaten that has the athleticism, talent and depth like the U.S. team does. Instead of talking about beating either Spain or Lithuania in the 2008 Olympics, they’ll tell their grandchildren about how they got to see Michael Phleps and Usain Bolt make Olympic history because they’ll have other basketball stories to tell about beating each other in the NBA that are far more note worthy.

I love that the world has made strides in the knowledge of the game, but the raw athleticism, speed and overall depth just isn’t there. Before these games, I was right there with you, having hundreds of questions about the state of American basketball as it related to the rest of the world, but now, I wonder if the rest of the world will ever really catch up. There will be competitive games for the US down the road, but as far as basketball dominance goes, I think the world should get use to hearing the Star-Spangled Banner.


Photos Courtesy of cnn.com, coachk.com, and turner.com, respectively

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Phillip Barnett is a senior writer for Talkhoops.net and can also be read at imsohideous.blogspot.com