USA TODAY International Edition
Colangelo: USA ‘ raising bar’ for world basketball
Not long after Team USA won Olympic gold for the third consecutive time, downing Serbia 96- 66 on Sunday at Carioca Arena 1 to finish 8- 0 in the Rio Games, the program’s managing director threw down the gauntlet to the rest of the basketball world.
When asked about the margin of victory in the finale, Jerry Colangelo — the former NBA executive and owner who rehabilitated the national program in 2005 — made it quite clear that he wasn’t about to apologize for the onesided outcome.
“I’m all for raising the bar for global basketball,” he began. “The more interest in basketball on all levels, I’m for. I’m a lifer in the game. I love the game. Basketball is the No. 2 sport in the world, ( but) we just need to see these other countries get their acts together and become more competitive.
“I’d love to see that. Everyone would love to see that. I’m not going to be making excuses for anyone about our ( dominance). Someone said to me ( after the game), one of the officials said to me, ‘ You know next time you play, you ought to play with four.’ And I said, ‘ No, maybe the other teams better get their act together and compete.’ ”
There’s a Kevin Durant- sized rub here, of course, as the 2016 edition of Team USA cut its gold medal mission much closer than its predecessors. The USA was pushed from beginning to end by Australia ( 98- 88), then survived three- point games against Serbia and France ( 94- 91 and 100- 97, respectively) before finding its way again vs. Argentina ( 105- 78) in the quarterfinals.
Before facing Serbia, Team USA won yet another close game in the semifinal against Spain ( 82- 76). By comparison, the 2008 and 2012 U. S. Olympic squads had only cut it that close twice in 16 combined games and both times in London ( a 99- 94 win against Lithuania and a 107- 100 win against Spain for the gold medal).
When asked if the close games were a product of other teams catching up or the Americans simply not playing to their potential, Colangelo said, “A combination of all of it. But what I’m just saying is you look around, you look at the programs that may be big- time programs going forward. People are talking about Canada. People are talking about Australia. They’re talking about Argentina losing their ( older) players. Some of the programs are going up, some are going down, but the healthiest thing for the game of basketball is to have competition around the world that makes it even more intriguing. But we’re just going to continue to do everything that we can do to stay on top.”
Even with the close games this time, there’s no questioning Team USA’s dominance under Colangelo. Since taking over the national program in 2005 and hiring coach Mike Krzyzewski soon after, the Americans have gone 59- 1, winning gold in the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, 2008 Olympics, 2010 FIBA World Championship, 2012 Olympics, 2014 FIBA World Cup and now the 2016 Olympics. The lone blemish came in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, when a U. S. loss to Greece led to a bronze medal finish.
“We’ve been helping in basketball around the world for 50 years,” Colangelo said. “We’ve taught the world the game. We’ve taught their coaches, players — look at the number of ( international) players in the NBA, look at the number of international players in college today, in the States. So we’re all for that. I want to see the level raised.”