Who's Afraid of the USA Dream Team?

The upcoming FIBA World Championships gives us this question, 'Who's afraid of the USA Dream Team?'. Certainly not Manu Ginobili. The dare devil from the Latin world will lead the Argentina cause this august 19, 2006.

Manu boldly said that the days of Team USA's dominance are 'part of the past'. Saying, "I don't think you're ever going to see again a U.S. team that beats everyone else by a big margin. That was 15 years ago or whenever it was. Now basketball has changed and many of us are playing with them [in the NBA] every single day so we're getting closer." As if it's not closed.

Conceited as it may seem, Ginobili is actually being polite. World basketball is not getting closer, it already closed. In the NBA alone, top players are non-US players. Power forwards Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan, point guards Steve Nash and Parker and center Yao Ming. The list is long.

How close is the gap in planet basketball? For God's sake, Argentina won the 2004 Olympic Gold Medal. The 2002 world championships was taken by Serbia and Montenegro, beating the same Argentina team with a limping Ginobili. Last time a US team won a gold was way back in 2000. Barely winning the Sidney Olympics gold. Man, 2000! That was so long ago.

Today, everybody still consider the USA as the favorites. Even Manu Ginobili recognizes this but he knows too well that in the field, it's a different story. Names at the back of the jersey don't matter. It is what in front the matters. That is "ARGENTINA".

Quoting Manu. "Of course the United States will always be among the favorites because of the talent that they have like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony. However, basketball is about the team, it's not only about the players."

Yes its about the team concept but team need players to do the job. That, Argentina has. Manu Ginobili will be ably supported by a personal favorite, the hard nosed, do-it-all small forward from the Bulls, Andres Nocioni. This guy was already a favorite even before he played in the NBA. Can defend, can shoot threes, can shoot mid-range, can attack the basket and certainly not afraid of big games and big names.

Practically the core of the Athens gold winning team will be back including the San Antonio Spurs back up big, Fabricio Oberto and another Spur prospect, Luis Scola. A team that has been playing for almost a decade together, since their teens versus a group of players assembled barely a month. I smell ‘some’ trouble brewing for the USA team. Do you?