Conversations stopped. People looked up. Spectators started to pay attention for the first time since this edition of Olympic men’s basketball got under way. The United States’ celebrated “Dream Team” was in trouble, big trouble. It was losing to Lithuania late in the game.
Because not all dreams come true and not all nightmares are real, the U.S. wound up with an 85-83 victory in a semifinal Friday at the Sydney Dome. The game woke a very bored basketball public from its slumber and shattered the sense of U.S. invincibility.
Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson have been replaced by Vince Carter, Alonzo Mourning and Jason Kidd. Good, maybe very good players in their own right, but not the icons of the game who turned the 1992 Dream Team into a worldwide curiosity.
That Dream Team was created for the Barcelona Games after the U.S.’ embarrassing loss in 1988 to the Soviet Union. No longer would college players carry the banner for the country that invented the game.
In the U.S., a bronze medal for basketball is not something to be proud of.
“I’m getting tired of being compared to all the other Dream Teams because we have our own identity,” Mourning said after the closest call the U.S. has had since it turned Olympic basketball over to NBA stars. “The bottom line is we were sent here to represent our country and win a gold medal. And that’s what we’re on course of doing. We’re going to play in the gold-medal game on Sunday and win it. Regardless of who’s out there, we’re going to win it.”
The U.S. will face France, which beat Australia 76-52 in the other semifinal.
But the question on everybody’s mind was, How did this group of Lithuanian players, a solid but starless team, take the best team in the world to the final seconds of a game and come within one three-point shot of winning?
“My heart was pounding when the guy shot the ball,” U.S. forward Antonio McDyess said of Sarunas Jasikevicius’ three-pointer that fell short at the buzzer. “I was taking little deep breaths to relieve myself from the stress. It was tough. I just couldn’t believe that.”
Said U.S. guard Ray Allen: “When we win the gold medal, we definitely can say we earned it.”
The raucous crowd of 14,653 cheered lustily for the underdog Lithuanians, and the noise level intensified as they put themselves in position to win in the final minutes. But they didn’t capitalize on their opportunities. Ramunas Siskauskas missed two of three free throws after McDyess fouled him on a three-point shot with 43.4 seconds remaining.
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“I just brushed against the guy and he started flopping and the ref called a foul. I couldn’t believe it,” McDyess said. “I said to myself, `OK, they’re going to put it to us tonight.'”
Kevin Garnett missed two free throws 18 seconds later, but McDyess scored off Garnett’s second miss to give the Americans an 84-81 lead with 25.9 seconds left.
“After I fouled that guy I said to myself that I have to come up with a big play, even if it’s on the free throw line,” McDyess said. “So I came up with it on the free throw line. Once I saw the ball come off the rim, I said there’s no way they were going to stop me from getting that ball.”
Jasikevicius drove for a layup to make it 84-83 with 11.4 seconds remaining. The Lithuanians then fouled Kidd, who made his first free throw and missed his second with 9.4 seconds left. It was an 85-83 game as the teams scrambled for the rebound of Kidd’s miss, and a jump ball was called with 5.2 seconds to go. Lithuania got the ball when McDyess was called for a jump-ball violation. Jasikevicius hoisted the final shot from about 22 feet, missing the rim.
And McDyess felt a sense of incredible relief.
“I never felt that way in a game before in my life,” he said. “If we had lost that game, there was no way I would get back on that plane and go back to the States. There are such high expectations for this team, I don’t think anyone would have wanted to see us when we came back. It would have been tough.”
Vince Carter led the Americans with 18 points. Mourning scored 16 and Garnett had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Jasikevicius, who was 5-for-11 on three-pointers, led all scorers with 27 points.
“You know everybody wants to see you lose, so your strength is going to have to come within your group, your unit,” Mourning said. “That’s where it came from. I think everybody did something good out there to help us win.”