LONDON — With a 98-71 clobbering of France on Sunday at the Olympic Basketball Arena, the absurdly stocked U.S. men's basketball team commenced its parade toward what might be considered the inevitable.
"We're here for the gold medal," guard Kobe Bryant said, "and to try to inspire other athletes like the Dream Team (in 1992) did with us."
Even so, this team is ever-mindful of a nightmare team: the dysfunctional Dream Team descendant that had to settle for bronze at the 2004 Athens Games.
Team USA entered Athens with a 109-2 record in its Olympic history only to suffer three losses in one Games.
"We talk about that a lot," said Carmelo Anthony, who along with LeBron James was on that team. "We definitely remind ourselves, and we bring everybody else up to speed about how (those) times felt. They definitely weren't good times."
Not only do Anthony and James keep it at heart, he said, they impress it upon their young teammates such as first-time Olympian Kevin Durant.
"It was an embarrassment. It was a defeated moment," Anthony said. "It was like somebody stuck a pin in a balloon, and it just bursts."
Thus girded, there were no hints Sunday any such fiasco awaits. In contrast to the 2004 opener, a 92-73 loss to Puerto Rico, the U.S. won convincingly over a French team that features five NBA players
Yes, the U.S. led just 22-21 at the end of the first quarter, and France might have at least momentarily changed the dynamic if it had made more than four of its first nine free throws to take a lead.
But the U.S. peeled away from there with an 11-0 run and led 52-36 by halftime despite zealous officiating that clogged up the half.
Thirty fouls were called in the first 20 minutes, including 18 on Team USA, and another 22 were assessed in the second half.
"The game didn't really have a flow," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Still, it had plenty more flow for the U.S. than France, which was hindered by two-of-22 3-point shooting and was outrebounded 56-40 as the U.S. outscored the French 20-6 in points off turnovers.
While Durant stood out with 22 points and nine rebounds, perhaps just as notable was the team's diversity and distribution:
The U.S. twirled out 27 assists (France had 10), and six players scored between eight and 14 points.
"We want to play the right way," said James, who had nine points, eight assists and five rebounds.
James made it a point to say the Olympics are about not the names on the backs of the jerseys but those on the front - though he also offered a reminder of the pedestal NBA players occupy when asked if there were any other Olympic athletes he'd like to meet or see perform.
He smiled and shook his head no.
But being above it all isn't the same as not wanting to be a part of it, as many were in 2004 with several stars begging off playing.
That led to a structural change at USA Basketball that included securing longer commitments from those interested in being in the national team pool and stabilized the program.
Asked his feelings now about any movement to make Olympic basketball an under-23 operation, James said, "I don't agree with it."
Asked why, he smiled and said, "Because I'm 27."
James was among several after the game who talked about room for improvement as the U.S. moves forward.
And even with a possible letdown in the making in the form of Tunisia on Tuesday, the lessons of 2004 probably will be alive in a team that wants to be compared to 1992.
"We don't want to have that feeling again," Anthony said.