Ever since the 1992 Dream Team, USA Basketball has been absolutely dominant in the Olympics, missing gold only once. The team has the luxury of fielding eight world-class players able to ignore their teammates and still find ways to score — something no other team in the world can come close to. USA knows it, their opponents know it, and most games — beyond the barrage of 3-pointers and slam dunks — are about as entertaining as watching paint dry.
At least, that was the case prior to group play. Used to set up the bracket for the single elimination knockout stage that determines the three champions, USA’s position at the top of its group is almost always assured. But this past week has raised some doubts.
Despite posting a perfect 5-0 record, the Americans of the North have actually had to put in some effort in three of those games, often extending well into the final minutes. There’s blood in the water, and the time is ripe for one of USA’s opponents to hand them the defeat the world is waiting for. But which team is the biggest threat?
Spain, France and Argentina are the usual suspects, all of them boasting multiple NBA-level players. (USA plays Argentina today at 5:45 p.m.) But a fourth team actually seems more poised to give them a run for their money: Australia.
With its blowout victory over Venezuela on Sunday, Australia finished second in pool group play behind none other than the USA, with a very impressive 4-1 record. Their only loss? USA, in a game Australia actually led at halftime. Although the score will show a 10-point defeat, the game was close until the final minutes and could have gone either way. As any sports fan can tell you, keeping a game close against a powerhouse is huge for players’ confidence.
Australia has three NBA players, all of whom played for contenders this past season, including the two teams that made it to the NBA finals. What’s interesting, though, is that Andrew Bogut (Golden State), Matthew Dellavedova (Cleveland), and Patty Mills (San Antonio) are all mere role players on their respective teams, asked to play defense and take shots if the ball ever finds them. Three players who are far from being the cream of the crop have sprouted and grown into overachievers — and their team in turn has outgrown all expectations.
Australia is arguably the second best team in the Olympic basketball field right now, outscoring opponents by double digits about as often as the Americans do. (This morning they beat Lithuania by a whopping 26 points, 90-64.) They are certainly underdogs in the race for gold, but they seem in the best position to rally and rewrite the foregone conclusion.
The usually confident USA is getting nervous, while Australia is is shattering expectations. With the preliminary games finishing up, and the semifinals knockout stage about to begin, can Australia find a way to deal a stunning blow to USA, in the sport that the US has lorded over for 20 years? Only time will tell. But for the moment, it seems that USA , for the first time in a while, will actually have to work hard to earn its medals, or see themselves become modern-day Goliaths.
This article appears in Aug 11-18, 2016.