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Lithuania a Familiar Foil for Team USA
Filed under: FIBA, USA Basketball, FIBA World Championship
ISTANBUL — Jerry Colangelo was the architect of the Redeem Team. But where did it all start that USA Basketball would need redemption?
Chinks in the armor began courtesy of Lithuania, a tiny nation of 3.3 million, about the size of Connecticut.
In 1992, the Dream Team rolled to a gold medal in the first Olympics with NBA players. That was followed by NBA stars leading the Americans to easy wins in the 1994 FIBA World Championship and the 1996 Olympics.
An NBA lockout stalled matters in 1998, and a group of minor leaguers and college kids took bronze at the Worlds. Then came the 2000 Olympics, when the Americans had a good team but one that was also missing some very top NBA players.
Entering the event, U.S. pro players had not played a game closer than 15 points while going undefeated in 1992, 1994 and 1996. In group play in 2000, they beat Lithuania by just nine. And in an Olympic semifinal Lithuania came close to providing one of the most shocking sports upsets ever.
A desperation three-pointer by Sarunas Jasikevicius at the buzzer fell short, and Team USA escaped with an 85-83 win. The Americans won the gold medal two days later but their aura of invincibility was slipping away.
