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The Dream Team was the unofficial nickname of the United States men's Basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona , Spain . This team is often regarded as the greatest collection of talent on one competitive basketball team, and some regard the team as the greatest collection of talent in ''any'' sport. [http://www.popmatters.com/sports/features/030128-globalnba.shtml [http://blogs.foxsports.com/vabulous69/2005/12/08/Dreaming_about_the_Dream_Team] A 1989 rule change by FIBA allowed professional athletes to play in international competition for the first time. The Dream Team qualified for the Olympics after having a 6–0 record in the Men's Tournament of the Americas. Two years later, a second Dream Team competed in the 1994 Basketball World Championship s, finishing first. In 1996 and 2000 , Dream Teams III and IV once again captured gold medals. (No Dream Team competed in the 1998 World Championships as an NBA Lockout prevented its players from competing.) Though the nickname was bestowed by some upon subsequent American national teams, the perfomances of the 2002 World Championship and 2004 Summer Olympic teams (which finished sixth and third, respectively) all but denied it, and perhaps future teams, the right to the "Dream Team" nickname. The 2004 team lost three games on its way to a bronze medal, a record that represented more losses in a single year than the country's Olympic teams had suffered in all previous Olympiads combined. It was also the first time since NBA professionals became eligible that the U.S. men's basketball team returned home without gold medals. DREAM TEAM I Dream Team I featured Some Players Considered Among History's Best . The roster was: Team roster
Coach: Chuck Daly of the New Jersey Nets Because of this star line-up, the team's games usually featured pregame photos by the opposite team of their U.S. opponents — and idols. The team won its games by huge margins, beating Croatia in the gold medal game by 32 points. Some have argued the U.S. players played slack defense, shrinking the victory margins. Stockton was the only Dream Team member to wear his NBA number in the Olympics (12), and the only one allowed to by international rules, which restrict player numbers to 4 through 15. All other Dream Team members normally wore numbers outside the allowable range. Half of the players never won an NBA title: Charles Barkley , Patrick Ewing , Christian Laettner , Karl Malone , Chris Mullin and John Stockton . Results at the 1992 Tournament of the Americas in Portland
Results at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona
Final standings at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona # United States (8–0) # Croatia (6–2) # Lithuania (6–2) # Commonwealth Of Independent States (5–3) # Brazil (4–4) # Australia (4–4) # Germany (3–5) # Puerto Rico (3–5) # Spain (3–4) # Angola (2–5) # Venezuela (2–5) # China (0–7) DREAM TEAM II The second Dream Team competed in the 1994 World Championships , held in Toronto , Ontario , Canada . This was an entirely new roster, as USA Basketball elected to showcase stars who were not present at the 1992 Olympics. Composed primarily of younger NBA players, the team lacked the widespread appeal of its predecessor but nevertheless continued its dominance. Team roster
''^Injured; unable to compete'' Coached by Don Nelson of the Golden State Warriors , this team easily captured the gold medal in tournament play. Results at the 1994 World Championships in Toronto
Final standings at the 1994 World Championships in Toronto # United States (8–0) # Russia (5–2) # Croatia (7–1) # Greece (4–4) # Australia 5–3) # Puerto Rico (3–5) # Canada (4–4) # China (2–6) # Argentina (5–3) # Spain (5–3) # Brazil (2–6) # Germany (5–3) # Korea (3–5) # Egypt (1–7) # Cuba (3–5) # Angola (1–7) DREAM TEAM III The third Dream Team participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta , Georgia , USA . The star quality of team was impressive as it featured five members of the original Dream Team (Barkley, Malone, Pippen, Robinson, and Stockton). The rest of the squad consisted of high-caliber players, and they rolled to another gold medal. Team roster
Charles Barkley , John Stockton , Scottie Pippen , Karl Malone , and David Robinson were the only players who participated in both Olympic Dream Teams. Dream Team III cruised through the 1996 Olympics , defeating every other team by margins greater than 20 points. They captured the Gold Medal after defeating Yugoslavia 95–69. Lenny Wilkens coached this team, which definitively lived up to the expectations of the thousands of fans that went to see their home team. Dream Team III was thought by some to be the last of the "invincible" Dream Teams. Results at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta
Final standings at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta # United States (8–0) # Yugoslavia (7–1) # Lithuania (5–3) # Australia (5–3) # Greece (5–3) # Brazil (3–5) # Croatia (4–4) # China (2–6) # Argentina (3–4) # Puerto Rico (2–5) # Angola (1–6) # South Korea (0–7) 1998 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM The American team that competed in the 1998 World Championships in Athens , Greece is not considered a Dream Team, as none of its players were current members of NBA teams. Because of a labor dispute that led to a Lockout , no NBA players were permitted to compete in the tournament. This unheralded team, composed largely of players from the minor-league Continental Basketball Association , captured a bronze medal—considered a solid achievement given the team's complete lack of top-notch talent. Results at the 1998 World Championships in Athens
Final standings at the 1998 World Championships in Athens # Yugoslavia (9–0) # Russia (7–2) # United States (7–2) # Greece (5–4) # Spain (7–2) # Italy (5–4) # Lithuania (5–4) # Argentina (3–6) # Australia (5–3) # Brazil (2–6) # Puerto Rico (3–5) # Canada (1–7) # Nigeria (2–3) # Japan (1–4) # Senegal (1–4) # Korea (0–5) DREAM TEAM IV During the late 1990s , international basketball began to gather attention as more and more foreign players became stars in the NBA. Therefore, Dream Team IV had the enormous task of proving that American basketball was the best in the world. The new team that was assembled again featured NBA players, but this time few of them were considered to be true superstars, as several elite players elected not to participate. Since the team was more ordinary than a collection of the greatest ever to play, and not much better than other teams in the tournament, many fans do not believe that the name "Dream Team" should apply and instead use the term 2000 US Men's Basketball Team. Team roster
Dream Team IV participated in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and was coached by Rudy Tomjanovich . It began by defeating its first rivals by large margins but suddenly the margins began to shrink. The preliminary game against Lithuania 85–76 was the first time a Dream Team failed to win by double digits. A major shock came on the semifinals game when Lithuania fell to the Dream Team by only two points, 85–83, after Lithuanian star (and future member of the Indiana Pacers ) Sarunas Jasikevicius missed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer that would have won the game. Dream Team IV eventually won the Gold Medal against France in a very close game, which the Americans won 85–75. Though Dream Team IV won the 2000 Olympics undefeated, for the very first time the American superstar team began to lose its aura of invincibility. Results at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney
Final standings at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney # United States (8–0) # France (4–4) # Lithuania (5–3) # Australia (4–4) # Italy(4–3) # Yugoslavia (4–3) # Canada (5–2) # Russia (3–4) # Spain (2–4) # China (2–4) # New Zealand (1–5) # Angola (0–6) 2002 US MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM The 2002 US Men's Basketball Team competed in the 2002 Basketball World Championship s in Indianapolis, Indiana , USA . Coached by George Karl , the team finished a surprising sixth in the competition, marking the first time that a team consisting of NBA players failed to capture the gold medal in international play. To a greater degree than in 2000, a number of top NBA players declined to participate, forcing USA Basketball to resort to picking mostly second-tier players. Team roster
Results at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis
Final standings at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis # Yugoslavia (7–2) # Argentina (8–1) # Germany (6–3) # New Zealand (4–5) # Spain (7–2) # United States (6–3) # Puerto Rico (6–3) # Brazil (4–4) # Turkey (4–4) # Russia (3–5) # Angola (2–6) # China (1–7) # Canada (2–3) # Venezuela (1–4) # Algeria (1–4) # Lebanon (0–5) 2004 US MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM The humiliating outcome in 2002 prompted a number of NBA superstars to agree to join the team for the 2003 Tournament of the Americas, which the squad was required to participate in to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics . The team easily cruised to a first-place finish, earning it a spot in Athens , Greece the following summer. However, the dominant team that competed in 2003 could not be kept together. Primarily due to security concerns, 10 of its 12 players elected not to participate in Athens, causing USA Basketball to scramble to fill their places. The revamped 2004 US Men's Basketball Team generally consisted of either young NBA players early in their careers, or veteran players thought to be somewhat beneath superstar status. The only established superstars on the team were Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson —not coincidentally, the only two players left from the 2003 roster. Team roster
The 2004 US Men's Basketball Team was coached by Larry Brown . Although this team was occasionally called a "Dream Team" because it was composed of NBA players, it is likely that the media will end the use of that nickname after its performance. Indeed, some media outlets took to calling it the "Nightmare Team." The 2004 US Men's Basketball Team was defeated by Italy by 17 points in an exhibition game in Cologne , Germany ; two days later, also in Cologne, the US team needed a long Iverson three-pointer to keep its friendly game against Germany from going into overtime. For the very first time, the world saw that in fact a team composed of American players who played in the NBA was beatable. The vulnerability of the Americans was confirmed on August 15 , 2004 when Puerto Rico defeated them 92–73 in the very first game of the 2004 Olympics in Athens . It was only the third Olympic basketball defeat ever in the history of the United States and the first one for a American team composed of professionals. Carlos Arroyo of Puerto Rico led the attack in the game, which suggested that the level of International Basketball had caught up with that of the United States. After winning close games against Greece and Australia , the U.S. team lost another game against Lithuania , dropping to 2–2 in the Olympic tournament. Sarunas Jasikevicius , who missed a three-pointer that would have beaten the U.S. in the semifinals four years earlier at Sydney, scored 28 points to lead the Lithuanian team. Even though it managed to win easily against Angola, 89–53, because of the goal average rules 2004 US Men's Basketball Team entered the quarterfinal round in 4th place, the lowest seed of their group. The Americans faced undefeated Spain in their quarterfinal game and finally put up a dominant performance. Led by Stephon Marbury 's 31 points, the 2004 US Men's Basketball Team defeated the Spaniards 102–94, eliminating them from medal contention. Any momentum gained from that victory was lost a game later, however, as the team was defeated by Argentina , led by Duncan's teammate Manu Ginobili , 89–81 in the semifinals, ending the Dream Team's lock on the gold medal. The 2004 US Men's Basketball Team ended the Olympics with a 104–96 win over Lithuania to win the bronze medal. It marked only the third time that an American team failed to win gold, and the first time for a American team composed of professionals. Before 2004, American teams had only lost two games in all previous Olympic tournaments, whereas in this one the American team lost three. Results at the 2004 Olympics in Athens
Final standings at the 2004 Olympics in Athens # Argentina (6–2) # Italy (5–3) # United States (5–3) # Lithuania (6–2) # Greece (4–3) # Puerto Rico (3–4) # Spain (5–1) # China (2–5) # Australia (2–4) # New Zealand (1–5) # Serbia & Montenegro (2–4) # Angola (0–6) 2006-2008 US MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM Following the failure of the previous dream team, USA Basketball decided to move in a different direction. It appointed Jerry Colangelo to be solely responsible for selecting the team. Colangelo made it clear that he would ask players for a three-year commitment—the 2006 Worlds and the 2008 Summer Olympics . The same commitment is required of coaches, who are to be Mike Krzyzewski with assistants Jim Boeheim , Mike D'Antoni , and Nate McMillan . While some prominent players, such as Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett have already stated that they do not plan to play for the team, superstars Kobe Bryant , LeBron James , Allen Iverson , and Shawn Marion have publicly announced their commitment for the 2006 Worlds and the 2008 Summer Olympics . Iverson, however, despite being the captain for the 2004 Olympic team, was not invited to train with the team. Training camp roster
Shaquille O'Neal of the Miami Heat has a standing invitation but has not made it clear if he wishes to participate. SEE ALSO |
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