Coming into the Games, the United States had won all their games by no fewer than 22 points in the Olympics since Barcelona. In that span they had won by an average victory margin of 43.8 points in 1992 and 32.3 points in 1996. Teams are coming at us with a different look in their eyes, they are certainly more talented than ever before and have nothing to fear and everything to gain. Players asked for autographs after being outclassed by the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal. No doubt these will go down as some of the greatest names in the sport's history, but they could also back up their big talk and claims of being untouchable with the sound fundamental play that the NBA now appears to be losing.
Offence wins over fans.
Defense wins championships. They could win both. Even before the current team played their first match in Sydney it had become clear that, while this group of 12 NBA stars might be talented, other teams sensed they were fast closing the gap. They dared to do more than dream about beating the U.S. masters. Lithuania twice dared the U.S. to shoot by packing a tight 2-3 zone defense.