Charles Barkley used his forearms instead of his elbows. Angola played hard instead of watching in awe.
Things have changed in the four years since the original Dream Team beat Angola by 68 points, and the difference was evident Monday night.The United States dominated its second game of the Olympics, but it had another sluggish start and failed again to reach 100 points in an 87-54 victory over Angola.
"When we played the U.S. four years ago, our athletes entered the court defeated. We stood around and watched. Tonight we competed, we played the best we could, we did everything we could," Angola coach Vladimiro Romero said.
There were no ugly incidents to rival Barkley's elbowing of Herlander Coimbra four years ago, but Barkley still had the most energy of anyone on the court.
He muscled his way to seven points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and he gave the team an immediate boost when he entered the game with just under nine minutes left. The Dream Team led 24-21 at the time, and Barkley immediately sparked a 14-3 run that gave the United States its first double-digit lead.
"We've got to beat them down, and we have to do it by getting out there and jumping on them and not giving them a chance to build confidence," Barkley said. "They're not going to run-and-gun with us, and that's going to keep the games a lot closer."
Similar comments from Barkley's teammates and coach were the dominant theme as the U.S. team tried to explain its margins of victory. The Dream Team beat Argentina by 28 and Angola by 33, but its predecessors in Barcelona won by an average of 43.8 points.
"Teams don't want to run with us anymore, and we can't let it discourage us," said Karl Malone, the leading U.S. scorer Monday night with 12 points. "We're not the 1992 team and we have to make our own identity. We're winning by 29, 30 points, we're not that bad. But people want us to beat people by 49 or 50."
The 87 points were the fewest for any of the Dream Teams, and the lowest for a U.S. men's Olympic team since the semifinal loss to the Soviet Union in 1988.
The Americans play their next game Wednesday night against Lithuania, which was upset 65-61 by Argentina earlier Monday. Some of the players said they expect a more wide-open game with less of the slowdown tactics that Angola employed.
"Every time we face a team, they play spirited and hard and use the clock," Lenny Wilkens said. "Angola used about 26 seconds every time they set up and got us in a walking game. We just can't get frustrated. In '92, everybody ran with us to get the game over with. Now, they're trying to stay with us."
Scottie Pippen scored 11 points, while Mitch Richmond and Reggie Miller added 10 apiece. For the second straight game, every U.S. player scored.
The United States had nine dunks and 27 fast-break points, outrebounded Angola 37-17 and shot 57 percent with five 3-pointers.
"I think we took a better step tonight and we'll get better," coach Lenny Wilkens said. "We're a little bit out of sync, but not to the point where I'm concerned."
The Dream Team opened the second half with a 10-0 run and the lead was up to 20 points at 54-34 with 15:14 left. It got as low as 15 and as high as 33 the rest of the way.
Antonio Carvalho led Angola with 16 points and drew cheers from the crowd every time he made one of his four 3-pointers. David Dias had 10 points, and no other Angola player reached double figures.
The crowd of 30,831 was the largest in Olympic basketball history.