Here are the 5 worst performances by Team USA (Olympics + FIBA World Cup). Hope you enjoy!
I make all kinds of NBA videos which include trivia, analysis, player stories, countdowns, conspiracies, and mysteries. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video!
► Instagram: @Andy93y
► Twitter: @AndyHoopsYT
► Music:
On The Cool Side by Kevin MacLeod
Eternity by Kevin MacLeod
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Find all of his songs and download them for free here: http://incompetech.com
► Sources:
Stats and box-scores from Basketball-Reference.com
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/8/19/20811547/team-usa-worst-ever-2019-fiba-world-cup
https://www.si.com/vault/1998/08/03/246964/dirty-dozen-the-retreads-and-rejects-representing-the-us-in-athens-may-not-be-a-dream-team-but-they-do-have-a-dream
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2731575-the-miseducation-of-the-2004-us-mens-olympic-basketball-team
#fiba #usa #nba
I make all kinds of NBA videos which include trivia, analysis, player stories, countdowns, conspiracies, and mysteries. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video!
► Instagram: @Andy93y
► Twitter: @AndyHoopsYT
► Music:
On The Cool Side by Kevin MacLeod
Eternity by Kevin MacLeod
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Find all of his songs and download them for free here: http://incompetech.com
► Sources:
Stats and box-scores from Basketball-Reference.com
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/8/19/20811547/team-usa-worst-ever-2019-fiba-world-cup
https://www.si.com/vault/1998/08/03/246964/dirty-dozen-the-retreads-and-rejects-representing-the-us-in-athens-may-not-be-a-dream-team-but-they-do-have-a-dream
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2731575-the-miseducation-of-the-2004-us-mens-olympic-basketball-team
#fiba #usa #nba
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SportsTranscript
00:04USA Basketball
00:05USA Basketball has been widely regarded to be the greatest ensemble of players the world has ever seen.
00:11Over the last few decades, ever since NBA players were allowed to represent Team USA,
00:17they've been the most dominant basketball team in the entire world.
00:20As of this video, they've participated in 18 different Olympics and won the gold medal 15 times.
00:28Unfortunately, their performance in the FIBA Cup has not been as successful.
00:32Even historically, they've only won the FIBA championship 5 times since 1950.
00:38Obviously, it would be a different story if the best players actually participated, but that just wasn't the case.
00:44So just how bad were some of their performances throughout history?
00:49How's it going folks? Let's begin.
00:57This is the only one on the list where NBA players were not yet able to play in the Olympics.
01:03As only amateur players were allowed back then, it wouldn't be until 1992 when that rule was changed.
01:09However, the same cannot be said for other countries.
01:12While Team USA was only made up of college players, the Soviet Union was filled with a bunch of experienced
01:18veterans and professionals.
01:20This included guys like Arvidas Sabonis, one of the greatest European players ever.
01:25And in 1988, he played for the Soviet Union.
01:28Another guy there was Sarunis Marchalonis, another European legend who led the team in scoring with over 18 points a
01:35game.
01:36Technically, both of these guys were born in Lithuania, but back then it was still part of the Soviet Union,
01:42so they played for them.
01:44In the semifinals, Team USA would lose to the Soviets who would eventually win gold.
01:49USA finished in third place winning bronze.
01:52Their roster looked like this.
01:54It included many potential NBA prospects who would have some great careers but they were still in college at the
02:00time.
02:00Guys like David Robinson, Danny Manning, Dan Marley, Mitch Richmond, and Hershey Hawkins would all become future NBA All-Stars.
02:09Anyway, in that semifinals game, the final score would be 82-76 in favor of the Soviets.
02:15Then in the bronze medal match, USA would crush Australia 78-49.
02:20In fact, most of Team USA's games were like this.
02:23They blew out a lot of teams on their way to the semis including a 102-35 obliteration of Egypt.
02:30However, when they met the Soviets, it was a struggle.
02:33And it was clear that their players could not get by with sheer athleticism and speed.
02:38The Soviets had a ton of talented players who were prepared.
02:41They outplayed and outsmarted Team USA.
02:45Number 4, the 1998 FIBA World Cup, Athens, Greece.
02:50By 1998, Team USA was unquestionably the greatest team in the world.
02:55We saw the Dream Team in 1992 destroy their competition.
02:58Then we saw it again in 1996.
03:02Fun fact, the 1996 Olympic team had the most number of All-Stars across the roster, with 12.
03:08Literally, every single player on that team was an All-Star that year.
03:12So, what the hell happened in 1998?
03:16There was some controversy.
03:18Because the NBA was in a lockout, there were some legal ramifications surrounding the NBA and FIBA.
03:24According to an article about this circumstance, it stated,
03:27The players responded that the owners had plenty more to go around and, anticipating the July 1 lockout, wondered publicly
03:35whether 12 NBA stars ought to represent the U.S. and help promote the league in the 1998 FIBA World
03:41Championship.
03:42The attorneys on one end of the speakerphone and the agents on the other kept daring each other to make
03:47a move.
03:48USA Basketball, the Sports American Federation, was caught in the middle, without a team.
03:54On June 16th, the federation said it couldn't wait for an answer any longer from the NBA players.
03:59In effect, the Dream Team was put on waivers.
04:03As a result, no NBA players were able to participate in the 1998 FIBA World Championship.
04:09This led Team USA to put together a mishmash of random college players and random American players who were playing
04:15overseas.
04:16Some were good, some were bad, and some you've never heard of before, as you can see from this roster.
04:22In fact, most of them you've probably never heard of.
04:25There was Trajan Langdon, who played for Duke, and Brad Miller, who eventually had the most successful NBA career, but
04:32that's not saying very much.
04:34This ragtag group of guys made it to the semifinals, but lost to Russia in a very close match, 66
04:40-64.
04:42Overall, their run was viewed very positively, considering the lack of talent on the roster.
04:47They got farther than expected.
04:49Once again, they won the bronze medal match and got the bronze medal.
04:52For this specific team, it was a great accomplishment, but for USA Basketball in general, a bronze medal is nothing
04:59to be proud of.
05:01Number 3, the 2006 FIBA World Cup.
05:05Saitama, Japan.
05:07In 2006, USA Basketball saw a rise of new talent, new superstars.
05:12Guys like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Joe Johnson.
05:19They all stepped onto the scene.
05:21While they were just in their early to mid-20s, they were still thought of as the next generation of
05:26stars who would take over the NBA.
05:29Unfortunately, they weren't even able to take over... Greece.
05:32Now, don't get me wrong, Greece was exceptionally strong at this time.
05:37Some Greek fans I talked to said that the mid-2000s were their strongest era of basketball.
05:42Despite breezing through the preliminaries and the first few rounds, Team USA's run would get stopped by Greece in the
05:48semifinals.
05:49The downfall of this team was mainly cited to be their lack of veteran presence.
05:54There were some older guys on the team, but none of which had any international experience.
05:59Greece would win 101-95 and they supported a very strong team, which included guys like Vasilis Spanoulis and Dimitris
06:07Diamantidis.
06:08In this game, Carmelo Anthony would lead all players in scoring with 25 points in the loss, and it would
06:15become the start of Melo's dominance on Team USA.
06:19Number 2, the 2004 Olympics, Athens, Greece.
06:23I'm sure everyone knows about the 2004 Olympics, probably the most disappointing loss in the history of USA basketball.
06:30Since it was in the Olympics, it was a much bigger deal than FIBA.
06:34The team lost multiple times in the exhibitions and preliminaries.
06:38In fact, the biggest loss in the history of Team USA came against Puerto Rico during the group stages.
06:44Puerto Rico destroyed them 93-72.
06:48Then, USA lost another game in the group stage to Lithuania.
06:51Then, finally, they would lose to Argentina in the semifinals, led by Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola.
06:58Team USA finished with a bronze medal, only the second time in history that the USA got bronze in the
07:03Olympics.
07:05It was a disaster from top to bottom, and the thing is, if you look at their roster, it doesn't
07:09look that bad on paper.
07:11It actually looks really good on paper.
07:13The team had two of the previous MVP winners, Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson.
07:19The coaching staff looked pretty damn good too, with Larry Brown as the head coach and Greg Popovich as an
07:24assistant.
07:25The problem was similar to the 2006 FIBA World Cup I just mentioned.
07:29Their young stars were not yet ready for the big stage, although there was a lot going on behind the
07:34scenes too.
07:35Apparently, Coach Larry Brown did not like playing the rookies too many minutes, and gave most of the possessions to
07:41Iverson and Stefan Marbury.
07:43The relationship between the coaches and players were not good either.
07:47Right in the middle of the 2004 Olympics, Marbury said,
07:51You know, Coach Brown isn't letting us play. He's trying to make us play the right way. He's not letting
07:56us play. We just need to play.
07:58And Larry Brown responded with,
08:00I want him off the team. I want Stefan Marbury off the team. Now, put him on a plane and
08:06send him back home.
08:07With Iverson and Marbury chucking up shots and Tim Duncan struggling with foul trouble, Team USA collapsed.
08:15The aftermath of this loss was brutal. Basically, the entire USA basketball program got restructured.
08:21Larry Brown never coached another FIBA or Olympic team again.
08:24Now, there was more focus on getting players who are not just individually talented, but could play in a more
08:30versatile system.
08:37The other four teams on this list have one thing in common. They still won the bronze medal.
08:42It's not the ideal result since Team USA is expected to win gold every year, but now in the 2019
08:49FIBA World Cup,
08:50the Boston Celtics, er, I mean, Team USA, didn't even make it to the top three.
08:55They didn't even make it to the semifinals. They lost in the quarterfinals to France.
09:00Their best player, Kemba Walker, went two for nine from the field and got outplayed by Frank Nielakina.
09:06Rudy Gobert also dominated on both ends, scoring 21 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.
09:13After the loss, Team USA played Serbia for the chance to get fifth place, and they lost that one too.
09:20Then, fortunately, they beat Poland, so they ended up with a seventh place finish.
09:24By far the worst placing USA basketball has ever gotten.
09:28The story this time was centered around the ridiculous number of players who dropped out and simply did not want
09:34to participate.
09:35Take a look at this graph here.
09:37In terms of cumulative all-star selections, the 2019 team had the fewest since 1992.
09:43And that's not counting 1998, which I mentioned earlier that NBA players were not allowed to play in.
09:48The aftermath of this terrible performance is still yet to be seen.
09:53In the future, we might see more stars join and help USA win the FIBA World Cup.
09:58It's always been a low priority compared to the Olympics, but maybe this loss will ignite a fire.
10:03Maybe more American players will regret not joining and watching their team suffer these humiliating losses.
10:09On the other hand, maybe this is just the general direction that USA basketball is going in.
10:14Most American players seem to not care much about FIBA.
10:17If that's the case, then we'll see Team USA lose more and more in the upcoming years.
10:23Anyway, that's all folks.
10:25That sums up the five worst performances by Team USA in the Olympics or in the World Cup.
10:30Let me know your thoughts on USA basketball in general.
10:33Why do you think American players and also Canadian players,
10:37why do you think they don't care as much about representing their countries compared to all of the European countries?
10:43Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
10:44Thank you everyone so much for watching, and as always, I'll see you next time. Peace.
10:52And고요
10:54And we'll see you next time, P-Rain
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