On the basketball court and the gymnastics mat, this was a day the Americans would like to forget.
Yugoslavia gave the United States a lesson in the value of poise, precision and patience to win the basketball gold, and the Soviets reasserted themselves as queens of gymnastics Sunday at the Goodwill Games.Playing as if they invented the game, the Yugoslavs won the gold medal 85-79, the third straight time the Americans have failed to finish first in a major international competition.
"They execute their offense extremely well," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "You can tell they know one another very well."
"Their international experience really hurt us," U.S. center Alonzo Mourning said, "because they played well and they passed the ball well and they were able to hit the open jump shots."
The U.S. players, all college underclassmen, are just getting to know each other. The difference was apparent to anyone who watched the finale.
"When we weren't hitting, each kid took it upon himself to make it happen offensively, and that only happens on a team like this that doesn't know each other," Krzyzewski said.
"Our weakness is not really knowing one another," he said. "I feel bad for our kids."
In gymnastics, the Soviet Union won seven of 12 individual medals. Sixteen-year-old Natalia Kalinina led the way with two golds and two silvers. The Americans managed just two bronzes by 14-year-old Kim Zmeskal.
The Soviets moved ahead of the Americans in the gold medal race 52-49. The Soviet Union also leads the overall medal chase 142-124.
The United States fared better in baseball, advancing to tonight's medal round with a 15-2 victory over Mexico.
Five of six U.S. boxers won in Sunday's preliminaries, including world 106-pound champion Eric Griffin.
Meanwhile, the American wrestlers are basking in their best performance against the Soviet Union in three decades. On Saturday night, in front of a wildly enthusiastic crowd at the University of Washington's Hec Edmundson Pavilion, the United States beat the Soviets in a major competition for the first time since the 1960 Olympics.
The Americans also won four individual wrestling titles - Cory Baze at 105.5 pounds, John Smith at 136.5, Nate Carr at 149.5 and Bill Scherr at 220.
Basketball
The Americans had trouble hitting open shots all night. Playmaker Kenny Anderson was 3-for-12. His backcourt partner, Todd Day, was 1-for-10.
"We've been hitting like crazy in these ballgames," Krzyzewski said. "We just couldn't put them down tonight."
And the U.S. pressure defense didn't bother Yugoslav guards Toni Kukoc and Jurij Zdovc."I am very, very satisfied with the play of our guards," Yugoslav coach Dusam Ivkovic said.
The Americans found themselves behind most of the game, even though Yugoslavia lost starting forward Zarko Paspalj, with a sprained right ankle eight minutes into the contest.
Yugoslavia scored seven straight points to take a 74-65 lead with six minutes to play. The last basket came when the Americans' Chris Smith accidentally knocked the ball in the wrong basket while going for a rebound.
The United States narrowed it to 78-74 on Billy Owens' 3-pointer with 2:56 to play. But Kukoc, a second-round draft pick of the Chicago Bulls, responded with a 3-pointer with 2:31 remaining to boost the margin back to seven.
"Toni is a big-hearted player," Ivkovic said, "and when it is an important part of the game, he is a winner."
Not even Jane Fonda's participation in the "wave" by the 13,156 fans at Seattle Coliseum could bring the Americans back.
Zdovc made 9 of 10 field goals and scored 21 points. Kukoc, who played the last 11 minutes with four fouls, had 17 points and 10 assists.
Billy Owens led the Americans with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Mourning added 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Gymnastics
Kalinina, who won the all-around gold Saturday, won golds in the floor exercise and balance beam, silvers in the vault and uneven bars at the Tacoma Dome. She again overshadowed teammate Svetlana Boginskaya, the current world champion and winner of four gold medals at the Seoul Olympics.
Boginskaya, who tied Kalinina for the gold medal in floor exercise and won the bronze in the balance beam, said she had no immediate plans to retire. But it was apparent she knew what it would take to battle her young rival.
Zmeskal's bronze on the uneven bars was a measure of redemption for the 4-foot-5 American champion. She missed the top bar on a somersault maneuver in Saturday's all-around and fell to the mat, killing her chances for a medal.
"I'm really happy with how I did today," she said. "I'm glad I can come back from yesterday's disappointment."
She also won the bronze in the floor exercise.
Oksana Chusovitina of the Soviet Union won the gold in the vault. Zia Zhang of China was the gold medal winner in the uneven bars.
Baseball
The United States, in a "must win" situation, clobbered Mexico as Scott Hatteberg and Jorge Fabregas each homered and drove in four runs. The victory sets up a showdown tonight between the Americans and powerhouse Cuba in the semifinals. Cuba beat Canada 14-7 in a game that didn't end until early this morning.
Canada plays Japan in tonight's other semifinal at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.
Hockey
The United States meets Soviet the Union in a first-round game tonight in the Tri-Cities. Both teams are 1-0.
Boxing
Griffin quickly established himself as the favorite in the smallest amateur weight class in a dominating performance against Alcis Bel Flores of Venezuela. American light heavyweight Jeremy Williams scored a spectacular first-round knockout of Ljubomir Agov of Bulgaria.
All five Soviets won Sunday, bringing the team record to 10-1 after two days of boxing.
The favored Cubans, who had been expected to win several medals despite being allowed to enter fighters in only seven of the 12 weight divisions, already have two losses.
Water Polo
Yugoslavia won the gold medal as Igor Milanovic and Ducan Popovic scored goals in the second overtime period to beat the Soviet Union 10-8.