Why did our best NBA pros with Duncan, Lebron, Iverson, Wade only win a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics?

Question

Why did our best NBA pros with Duncan, Lebron, Iverson, Wade only win a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics?

Answer 1

This is a tough question that makes my head hurt thinking about the answer.  That was a great team back then, I still don't know how we could of lost like that.

Answer 2

they started not playing good together

Answer 3

Other Olympic teams have vastly superior cohesion, for one thing. The men's team played together for something like 2 weeks before heading off to the Olympics. Think about that. 2 weeks of adjusting to playing with people you were fighting a few months ago, then going to play in the Olympics against teams that have in some cases played together for 5 years [Greece]. That definitely hurt us.

But I think you can also point to a lack of drive in the last Olympics. Complacency, maybe. After all, the USA dominated international basketball for essentially the entirety of the 90s, and I mean dominated.

This year, however, we've made some moves to counteract this [I think they practiced together for 1-2 months] and we're playing more preliminary matches. We should do better now that we've been shocked a little.

Answer 4

They were unprepared.

Plus some of the NBA vets did not want to play for their own SELFISH reasons.

Some of the vets were injured, others decided to give their slots to younger players.

One of those NBA Vets was Kobe. He choose not to play. I wonder why? He was not injured then, he was fairly young in 2004, and at that time he hasn't won any olympics medal. I wonder what his reasons were at that time? Hmmmm.

Answer 5

The root comes from the fact that the team they put together was flawed.  They were still building a fantasy NBA team and not a FIBA team.  The rules are different, the games are different, and you need guys that fill particular roles but in different ways than the NBA.

That team had no consistent outside shooters.  The team was made of slashing wings, shoot-first point guards, and Duncan who, other than the 3 this year's playoffs, is not strong offensively the farther you move him away from the basket.  However, the FIBA game needs big men that can at least hit a long 2, if not the 3 in order to space the floor and break down zone d's in order to create space in the lane to drive.  If you can't hit from outside as  big man that's a problem, especially if your wing players are all slashers and not a consistent threat to knock down a 3.

Larry Brown was part of the problem too.  He coached the team like they were one of his Kansas teams and LeBron and Wade were college freshmen sitting on the end of the bench.  I think they could have won silver if Brown had just gone with the fastest most athletic team he could put on the floor.  They wouldn't have won gold, but I think the could have made the gold medal game.  I think they would have lost because the team was flawed, but they could have done better with a different rotation.  

Answer 6

Coach Larry Brown, his staff and the best basketball minds in America are still at a loss to explain our 3rd place finish. A team with the caliber of talent we sent to Athens cannot use cohesiveness as an excuse. Five guys at a local gym can play good team-ball in a pickup game even though they never met each other. Those guys had more than enough talent and experience to win the Gold. The beauty of basketball is its simplicity. Pick & Roll, Help on Defense, Pass to Open Man, Good Shot Selection are basic principles that never change. No excuse for such a poor showing. The 2008 Olympic mens basketball team will restore World Order in Bejing.

Answer 7

It's because Argentina had Manu Ginobili. And Manu Ginobili is an absolute beast.

Answer 8

Because players like Kobe and CP3 were not there.

Answer 9

Because the US found out that just sticking a bunch of All-Stars together for some pick-up games in the Olympics doesn't cut it anymore.   The other teams have people who have played together for years.  That's why Team USA wanted 3 year commitments from players so there would be better cohesion.

Answer 10

they got better now

Answer 11

They did'nt play well enough to get gold or silver.