2004 Olympics: Basketball

09:20 PM CDT on Friday, August 27, 2004

By BRAD TOWNSEND / The Dallas Morning News

ATHENS, Greece – The United States' reign in Olympic men's basketball supremacy bottomed out Friday with a resounding splat.

Already wobbled by two preliminary-round losses, the United States was defeated in the semifinals by Argentina, 89-81, at Olympic Indoor Hall. It marks the first time since NBA players were added to the roster in 1992 that the United States will not win gold.

Team USA's three defeats in these Games are one more than it lost in 111 previous Olympic contests over a 64-year span. And the alleged Dream Team's nightmare may not be over because its bronze-medal opponent today is Lithuania, a team it lost to last week.

"I think rather than knocking our players and our league, we ought to give credit to the people we had to play against," U.S. coach Larry Brown said.

At halftime, NBA commissioner David Stern criticized American media members for "wild" reporting that he said has stirred sentiment against this team and USA Basketball's selection process.

"I think it's good for the game," Stern said of the wide-open competition. "I think it fuels all kinds of conversation. ... This is what being in an international arena is all about."

Argentina coach Ruben Magnano tried to sum up this game's historical significance.

"We're very aware of the fact that they did have some difficulties in getting a team up to come here," he said. "But then again, that's not our problem.

E-mail btownsend@dallasnews.com