Watch for resurgent Dream Team

By CHRIS RATTUE


The United States on Sunday won the basketball gold medal they were supposed to, but it was hardly in the manner befitting a side labelled the Dream Team.

The Americans beat surprise finalists France 85-75 at the Superdome and their coaches and players immediately talked about the pride and pressure representing the USA brought.

To be fair to this USA squad, they have been burdened with a tag from the past they simply did not deserve.

Sure, they are still the best side in the world, but the Dream Team label belongs to another class of squad that wasn't in Sydney.

The original Dreamers can never be matched. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, and so on. What more can you say, except that they won their matches by a 44-point average.

The next batch lacked that stellar status but Charles Barkley, Shaq O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Pippen, David Robinson, John Stockton etc make for a pretty handy squad who won by a mere average of 32 points.

This American team were battlers in comparison, missing some great players such as O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, and won by a 22-point average. They almost failed to make the final, with Lithuania close to causing a massive semifinal upset.

That match brought home that it was even possible to imagine this US side losing.

France did not start though with that mentality, even though they kept the Americans scoreless for the first two minutes.

French coach Jean Pierre de Vincenzi said: "We started this game with a sort of fear. I thought we should get more physical and the second half was more interesting ... It is still a great day for French basketball."

And centre Henry Crawford Palmer said: "I think we were a bit afraid of the reaction of the Americans after their difficult game against Lithuania."

After trailing by 14 points at halftime, the French drew to just four behind the Americans with just over four minutes to play as the crowd yelled for what would have been one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history.

Those yelling for France not only favoured the underdog, but were also calling for their own place in history - to be able to say "I was there."

It didn't eventuate. American coach Rudy Tomjanovich called a time out, reorganised his defence, and his players were suddenly more aggressive. All it really took was a little touch on the accelerator for the Americans to ease away.

Coach Tomjanovich praised his player for battling on the ground to win loose ball, something they had to do as the French threatened a comeback.

"It showed fans around the world basketball is not just highlight tapes. You have to get down in the trenches as well," he said.

It helped them divert a disaster and allowed Allen to comment afterwards: "The Olympics are the greatest experience of my life."

They wouldn't have been if America had lost. Some players claimed after the close shave with Lithuania they would have had to move countries had they lost.

French centre Palmer suggested the Americans had unwittingly taken their Olympic assignment a bit easy.

He probably had it right when he said the Americans' tougher-than-expected time in Sydney would fire their resolve for future Games.

"Maybe it will go back to 30-point games then," he said.