The
U.S. did manage to win the Gold, but it wasn't by much, and it wasn't what
one would expect from an NBA group, which is to say dominance. The French
were in the game (incidentally, Crawford Palmer looked pretty good when we saw
him), and the idea that the French National Team can keep up with NBAers is a
bit bizarre.
But there it is. Next time, the U.S. should consider a
different approach. Dean Smith had a good idea with his 76 team - he took
players who knew each other and who were familiar with his system. This
would be possible again - take players who know say either the UNC/Kansas system
or the Duke/IU system. We don't necessarily mean NBAers, because a college team would be easier to put together in many ways, but apply
the same thing to the Triangle offense and it would work there, too. There needs to be a cohesive team
is what it comes down to. David Stern says it's obvious now that the world
is catching up, but
that was obvious to some of us a while ago.