The Olympic flame has long been extinguished, but the maelstrom over the U.S. men's basketball team's failure to win gold remains a fiery topic.

Despite salvaging a bronze medal, Team USA continues to get raked over the coals in the national media. From head coaches, fans and basketball analysts, everyone it seems has an opinion about what went wrong in Athens, Greece, and how to insure a similar failure does not take place in Beijing four years from now.

Some of the criticism levied against Team USA's effort ranging from a lack of chemistry to the players and head coach Larry Brown's inability or resistance to adapting to the international style of play are indeed valid.

On the other side are the head coaching fraternity and "basketball purists" like Fox basketball analyst Charley Rosen, former NBA head coach George Karl and CBS college basketball analyst Billy "ACC" Packer whose disdain for anything professional comes through in their diatribes. In their opinion, the problem with Team USA lies deeper than just the rest of the world catching up to the NBA game.

While Rosen and Karl cite "uncoachable players" who are not interested in team play and basic fundamentals, Packer goes as far as to call for the NBA owners to pull a "Donald Trump" and "fire" Commissioner David Stern. Packer believes Stern's unwillingness to impose tougher early NBA entry for college and even high school players has diluted all levels of basketball and turned the game into an unwatchable product.

If that's the case, why does Packer not call for the firing of NCAA President Myles Brand. For that matter, why is he not criticizing the college basketball coaches he converses and sometimes argues with on a daily basis?

Last year's college basketball season was lackluster, with no great teams, inconsistent overall play and even less fervent fan interest as compared to the glory years of the 1980s. Other than both University of Connecticut teams winning the national championship, does anybody really remember anything special about this past year's men's NCAA tournament?

Packer does has a point about the college game suffering because its star players are leaving early for the NBA. However, it still does not explain why those players who do stay 3-4 years have not as a whole gone on to enjoy the same success on the pro level as compared to those international players who arrive from overseas.

Even USC men's basketball coach Dave Odom has jumped on the "blame the NBA" bandwagon,

"We don't play good basketball in the NBA anymore," said Odom.

Ironically, the new "Wizard of Whaley Street" takes great pride in having coached and developed former NBA MVP and Team USA center Tim Duncan at Wake Forest. Yet, here was Odom's prized pupil struggling to stay out of foul trouble on a nightly basis and frustrated out of his wits in trying to adapt to international play.

I guess a student can only learn so much from a "good" teacher.

Perhaps the harsh criticism of Team USA also has something to do with our egocentric nature. Americans have always viewed basketball as our game, much like Canadians view hockey, and to see other countries surpass us is something totally unacceptable. What American basketball critics refuse to accept is that international play has improved by leaps and bounds as players receive more of a concentrated dose of instruction and training in basketball fundamentals starting at an early age.

This was clearly seen this past June when a U.S. junior national team which include prep all-stars like Calhoun County guard Zambolist "Buck" Fredrick and fellow Georgia Tech signee forward Ra'Sean Dickey competed in the fifth annual Coca-Cola Global Games in Dallas, Texas. After edging China (89-88) and routing China (121-91), the U.S. dropped two straight games to Croatia (96-91) and Lithuania (94-76). In both losses, the U.S. averaged 41.2 percent from the field, 27 percent from three-point range, 72.2 percent from the foul line and were outrebounded by a total of 101-85.

Like Team USA, the junior nationals earned a bronze after surviving a last-second three-point attempt by Puerto Rico to win in overtime 108-107. Nevertheless, what does this foretell about how future Team USA squads will fare against an ever-improving international field?

What it says is that rather than waste time pointing fingers at the players, it's time to start getting better teachers of the game. A recommitment towards teaching basketball fundamentals, instead of just the 'fun' part, is needed, and getting the players to buy into it at an earlier age is needed if American basketball wants to regain its world stature.

If not, then 2008 will make the 'bronze' summer of 2004 for Team USA men's basketball look golden.

You must be logged in to comment.