Posted on Fri, Apr. 18, 2008

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski might have thought losing early in the NCAA tournament was tough the past two seasons, but losing in the 2008 Olympics would be far worse.

Anything less than a gold medal for the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing will correctly be perceived as a failure. And the U.S., which once won 63 consecutive men's basketball games in the Olympics, is far from a sure thing to win it all. Krzyzewski, the coach of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, has been charged with going to China in August and leading the U.S. to the gold medal that Americans once considered their birthright.

"In some respects, we've been a little bit arrogant about the game," Krzyzewski said this week in Chicago, where he met with about 100 journalists attending the 2008 U.S. Olympic Media Summit. "It is not our game. It is the world's game now. It just originated here."

Certainly, the world has caught up to the U.S. in basketball. There are about 75 international players in the NBA, representing 30 countries. The U.S. has failed to win a gold medal in the past three major events it has played -- the FIBA world championships in 2002 and 2006 and, most strikingly, the Summer Olympics of 2004.

The U.S. "Dream Team" of 1992, the one that worked up more of a sweat signing autographs for opposing teams after the game than while actually playing, was replaced by the "Nightmare Team" of 2004. In Greece, the U.S. lost more games (three) than it had in the previous 14 Olympics combined (when it went 109-2). The U.S. basketball players finished with a bronze medal and a reputation as spoiled millionaire malcontents.

I had the misfortune of watching that 2004 team from courtside several times. After about a dozen All-Stars backed out in the final months for various and often lame reasons, the U.S. sent its second-string All-Star squad. Coached by Larry Brown, who employed North Carolina's Roy Williams as one of his assistants, it consisted mostly of 6-foot-7 players who couldn't shoot from outside and loved to complain about referees' calls.

Said Jerry Colangelo, the chairman of the Phoenix Suns and now the managing director of the men's team, of that 2004 squad: "Body language to me has always been a key component to basketball. It wasn't pretty. ... The performance left a great deal to be desired."

Colangelo tapped Krzyzewski as coach for 2008 and instituted a stricter commitment policy for the players. The U.S. in 2008 will field a remarkable 12-man roster that will include Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and 10 other NBA All-Stars. Put it this way: The team has so many good point guards that Coach K and Colangelo will need to cut Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Deron Williams or Chauncey Billups.

Slicing All-Stars from the squad will be difficult for Coach K, who has grown attached to the players he has also coached the past two summers in run-up events to the 2008 Olympics. "We're like teenagers at a dance," Krzyzewski said of himself and Colangelo. "We've fallen in love with everybody."

Krzyzewski and Colangelo are also being wise. They will add more outside shooters and defensive specialists this time. Kidd believes the squad will be comparable to the 1992 U.S. team. "And that's the biggest compliment this team can have," Kidd said.

To make that compliment stick, of course, the U.S. will need to go undefeated and win the gold medal in convincing fashion.

"We're a team now," Krzyzewski said. "We're not a selection of All-Stars."

To which the rest of the world offers a two-word rejoinder:

Prove it.

Summer Olympics

WHEN: Aug. 8-24

WHERE: Beijing

The team representing the United States will be chosen from players in this group:

Carmelo Anthony, Gilbert Arenas, Shane Battier, Chauncey Billups, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Bruce Bowen, Elton Brand, Kobe Bryant, Tyson Chandler, Nick Collison, Kevin Durant, Kirk Hinrich, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Antawn Jamison, Joe Johnson, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Brad Miller, Mike Miller, Adam Morrison, Greg Oden, Lamar Odom, Chris Paul, Paul Pierce, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, J.J. Redick, Luke Ridnour, Amare Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade, Deron Williams. Scott Fowler