INDIANAPOLIS — What in the world went wrong?
This afternoon should have been the day Team USA played for the 2002 FIBA World Basketball Championship. But instead the team will watch Yugoslavia and undefeated Argentina go for the gold and ponder that question.
How did it ever lose to Argentina in second-round pool play, ending a 58-game international winning streak for American NBA stars? How did it ever lose to Yugoslavia one night later in a quarterfinal-round game that eliminated the U.S. from medal contention, not to mention any hope of playing in today's title game? How is it that the Americans are now forced to go to a qualifying tournament next summer in order to win the right to play in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece?
The list is long.
Too selfish, some critics have suggested. Even players like Paul Pierce, whose team-high point production appeared to some to come at the expense of solid team play, and Andre Miller, whose 17 shots hoisted up against Yugoslavia were contrary to his usual pass-first point guard mentality, were targets.
Too much bickering, evidenced in part by a reported shouting exchange during the Yugoslav game between Pierce and Miller, apparently prompted by Pierce's belief that Miller was holding onto the ball for too long.
Then there was George Karl's coaching, including his reluctance to give big man Raef LaFrentz, whose game seems suited to the international style, and guard Jay Williams any significant quality playing time . . . The fact the USA does not have a full-time national coach . . . A decided lack of fundamental skills on behalf of the showy Americans . . . Ineptness at international basketball, a much more physical and precise style than is normally played in the NBA . . . A thrown-together team with not nearly enough pre-tournament time spent playing together . . . And even little-to-no support from a disinterested home-soil crowd.
Karl said the Americans were particularly hurt by the fact international games allow players only five fouls, as opposed to six in the NBA, and that games last only 40 minutes, not the 48 to which they're accustomed.
"Forty-eight minutes, you can goof around a little bit," Karl said. "Forty, you can't goof around."
But beyond all those Mickey Mouse excuses, there is a fact that should not be contested: The NBA's most-super of American-born stars all stayed home.
Shaquille O'Neal succumbed to pending toe surgery. Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett were nowhere to be seen. Allen Iverson didn't answer the call. Jason Kidd, Ray Allen, Tim Duncan and Tracy McGrady all begged off with injury concerns. Chris Webber may not have been asked to play.
If even one or two of the aforementioned had appeared — especially proven-point Kidd, according to Karl ("If we would have had Jason . . . ") — things might have been different.
But they weren't.
Some try to downplay the collective absence of the big names, noting the credentials of those who did play. Several NBA All-Stars and experienced international players, including veteran Indiana Pacers standout Reggie Miller, should have been enough.
Yet reality suggests foreign countries are gaining ground on the Americans, and it's not just because those from the U.S. are regressing. European and even some South American teams are stocked with more and more players who have, do or will make their millions in the NBA.
With that in mind, several Americans who did play bemoaned the attitude of those who did not.
"All these other countries, they're bringing their best," said Pierce, the Boston Celtics star. "We brought a team with some of our best, but we didn't bring the players that everybody was looking forward to seeing, the Shaqs and the Kobes.
"Hopefully," Pierce added, "it will be a wakeup call."
Andre Miller, the former University of Utah star recently traded from Cleveland to the Los Angeles Clippers, agreed.
"Whoever they invite (in the future), hopefully those guys won't say they don't want to represent the U.S.," Miller said. "I mean, I know if I'm asked again I'll certainly want to represent the U.S. But I can't speak for other guys."
"Coming into this thing," American teammate Antonio Davis of the Toronto Raptors added, "I don't think we realized how important it is to the other teams and how important it should've been to us — not only to represent our country, but (to) represent the game of basketball."
A lot of good that does America this time around.
"There are no solutions," Miller said after the loss to Yugoslavia. "It's too late now."
It's not too late, though, for the future, something not lost on Karl, the Milwaukee Bucks head coach who was humbled by the realization of a dream to coach his country.
"To be honest, even if we have our best players, the best European teams will be able to play with us pretty soon," Karl said. "To say whether we would be better if Kobe and Shaq were here — that's for the hierarchy of the NBA to decide."
But, Karl added, "Our players should be complimented because they came. They knew the challenge would be hard, but they came anyway."
That's more than most American superstars could say..
"We gave up a part of our summer to represent our country, our NBA teams and our families. We took a lot of pride and joy in that," Dallas Maverick Michael Finley said. "I don't think the USA Basketball Committee would really want players here that didn't want to be here.
"For guys that made the sacrifice," Finley added, "I commend them."
For those who didn't, condemnation could hang until America regains its place in the game where it once had the world at its feet.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com