The U.S. National Basketball Team. . . Is down eight points to Argentina going into the fourth quarter at the World Basketball Championships. ESPN's David Aldridge is looking prescient, with his observation in the midst of the tournament that the Latin American teams in the tournament were showing the most promise. Funny enough, even though Argentina is in the midst of pulling off one of the biggest upsets in international basketball history, Conseco Field House is half empty. Stay tuned. . .
UPDATE: A little more than 30 years ago tonight, a team of Russians shocked the ice hockey world by soundly beating a team of Canadian NHL All-Stars, 7-3, in the opening game of what's known as the Summit Series. Though Canada would eventually win the series after eight thrilling games ("Henderson Scores For Canada!"), the ice hockey world was never the same. It was only a matter of time before an avalanche of players from Europe would begin to fill NHL rosters, changing the game forever, and for the better.
Tonight in Indianpolis, Argentina defeated the U.S. 87-80 at the World Basketball Championships -- marking the first time a U.S. team composed of NBA players had lost in international competition in 59 games. Though this second round game only helps determine seeding for the medal round, and the U.S. is still in the competition, tonight's loss is an absolute earthquake in international basketball. Certainly, the U.S. team was not at it's best, with all the top players too busy this Summer to play for their country. But, as memory serves, that Canadian team that lost the first game in 1972 was undermanned as well, due to a dispute between the NHL and the WHA.
In any case, there was no excuse for the U.S. to lose this game. As ESPN's Tommy Tolbert noted on the broadcast tonight, it was as if each American player had determined that he was better than the individual guarding him on the floor -- hence, why not take the game into your own hands and take it to the basket every time? Meanwhile, Argentina simply worked the ball around the perimeter, looking for the one player who got an open, and an easy, look at the basket.
"They played together, and they were a bit more hungry than we were," said American Byron Davis after the game to ESPN's Aldridge. No kidding. Despite just getting beat, Davis continued to insist that the rest of the basketball world was still, "not there yet," when it came to competing with the U.S. The scoreboard said otherwise.
Despite this, in the end, the news for basketball as an international sport has never been better. All around the world, basketball fans now know that the might Americans can be beaten. And if the Americans can be beaten, maybe more international players can find their way onto NBA rosters? A little competition never hurt anyone. Looks like the U.S. is beginning to get as much as it can handle.
