Basketball at the Olympic Games
The United States has dominated basketball for decades. Kevin Durant averages 29.6 points per game, but the Dream Team has some shortcomings. Their players don’t have much style or centimetres, but their ability to score and defend the basket has made them world-beaters. In the final, the USA beat Yugoslavia in front of 34,600 spectators in the Georgia Dome. The game was tied at halftime, and Yugoslavia closed the gap to 51-50 in the second half.
Kevin Durant averages 29.6 points per game
Kevin Durant has become an unstoppable offensive machine. In his 14 games at the Olympic Games, he hasn’t scored less than twenty points once. The only times he’s scored less is when he didn’t score at all. This is largely due to the fact that he takes the best shot possible with the least amount of dribbles. He also doesn’t care who guards him, or if defenses cover him.
Dream Team lacks style and centimetres
The Dream Team, arguably the greatest basketball team of all time, has a few flaws. One of them is that it lacks style and centimetres. The Dream Team, which won gold in Barcelona 30 years ago, has a few problems.
Soviets exploited American limitation by listing their players as soldiers or workers
The Soviets did not recognize the boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games as a reaction to the invasion of Afghanistan, and instead offered other explanations. They said the boycott was motivated by the militarists of the nato and America, and that the boycott violated the Olympic Charter and the United States constitution.
American dominance
In the past, the United States has dominated basketball at the Olympic Games. The men’s team has won gold medals in the Olympics 16 times, and the women’s team has won nine times. From 1936 to 1968, the USA won the Olympics without losing a game. However, in the last two decades, the United States has only reached the top step of the podium one time, in Barcelona 1992. In Athens 2004 they lost to Argentina. And for the past twenty-one men’s basketball tournaments, the Americans have not been on the podium.
Loss to Soviets
The Soviets had a chance to win the game, but in the final seconds of regulation, they were denied, and the United States was credited with a 51-49 loss. The Soviets had plenty of time to design a play, but their coach, Vladimir Kondrashin, asked for a timeout. He pressed a button on the Soviet bench to signal the timer, but the timer didn’t sound.
