Site Presented By
Tuesday, Nov 24, 2009
U.S. men go to hoops medal round playing a game of "Where's LeBron?" Plus: Drugs, NBC's high-def follies, Al Trautwig and more.
Aug 23, 2004 | Apparently USA men's basketball coach Larry Brown doesn't agree after all with your favorite columnist on the subject of LeBron James' rapid improvement over the course of the Olympic tournament.
James sat in the second half of Lithuania's 94-90 win over the United States Saturday as the U.S. got done in by Lithuania's 3-point shooting down the stretch. Brown, grilled Sunday by the media, said he had a lot of stars on the team and couldn't concern himself with any one player's minutes. "I have 12 guys," he said. "You play the guys who at the time you think give you the best chance to win."
True, but Brown's determination that James isn't one of those guys, well, that's just another one of those moves that I guess makes Larry Brown such a genius, because it's beyond me. The U.S. built a 10-point lead in the second quarter with James in the game, and then lost it with him on the bench. That wasn't unusual. Throughout the tournament, especially since the win over Greece, the U.S. has been a much better team with James on the floor.
With the Americans almost assured of getting to the medal round even if they lost to Lithuania, Brown may have been playing his cards close to the vest, not showing Lithuania the A game knowing they'll meet again.
I doubt it, but if so, that wouldn't be too smart either, because James, who is 19, has clearly been figuring out the international game over these last few games, and sitting him can only impede his progress.
This is not to say that the U.S. would have beaten Lithuania if James were in there. That was no fluke. Lithuania can play. It may be the best team in the tournament, and it beat an American team that played a good game.
After beating the U.S., Lithuania guard Sarunas Jasikevicius summed up American international basketball fortunes better than any typist has since this team came together: "The NBA probably -- I'd say 17 or 18 years ago -- there was a huge difference," he said.
"Now, obviously international basketball has caught up. The NBA is still the best league, and all the best players play there. But obviously all the best players are not here [in Greece], who play in that league. This team, in my opinion, is still the favorite to win gold. But this team is not unbeatable."
The Americans will in fact move on to the medal round. They crushed winless Angola 89-53 Monday in a meaningless game. James did play 27 minutes, but against an opponent that was totally outmanned and presented little challenge.
