Dream teams don't come any more dreamlike
than the Americans who set foot on the basketball court
at the Olympic Games. A US dominance was
already well established by 1992
when they stepped up a gear and
sent the professionals along to the party.
A cast of NBA All-Stars arrived in Barcelona starring
Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen
and Larry Bird.
In '92 and '96, they played 16 games,
scored 1,754 points
and no-one got within 22 points of them.
They were, in a word, unbeatable.
The USA came to the Millennium Games in Sydney
as the hottest of hot favourites.
A squad of NBA superstars starring Kevin Garnett,
three-time All-star, Jason Kidd, three-time All-star,
Alonzo Mourning,
five-time All-star, and Vince Carter, NBA Rookie of the Year.
The supporting cast wasn't bad either.
They were head and shoulders above all the rest.
They brushed aside the old enemy Russia
in the quarterfinals.
It brought the United States team to a semifinal
against Lithuania -
bronze medallists in Barcelona and Atlanta, but scarcely
household names.
None of them played in the NBA,
but there was talent on the roster,
including some established players
from top European leagues -
Sarunas Jasikevicius of FC Barcelona,
Saulius Stombergas of TAU Ceramica,
and Gintaras Einikis of CSKA Moscow.
But their one true superstar, Arvydas Sabonis, had retired.
Surely they were no match for the dream team.
Nearly 15,000 supporters were
in the Sydney Super Dome for the semifinals.
The first half went as expected, Lithuania struggled.
The United States scored at will. It was business as usual.
A three-pointer from Jason Kidd
on the buzzer took them to half-time
with the United States leading 48-36. The second half,
however, was a different story.
The Lithuanian team re-emerged reinvented. It was game on.
For the next 15 minutes, the scores were neck and neck.
Lithuania scored, the USA scored.
Amazingly, the game was in the balance
deep in the fourth quarter.
With only 96 seconds left on the clock,
Alonzo Mourning commissioned
a foul, ending his game and giving
Lithuania two free throws.
Were the USA about to throw it away?
Sarunas Jasikevicius hadn't missed from the line and
wouldn't start now.
And Carter drives, he goes up and is fouled.
The basket does not go in.
The fouls are going to be on Stombergas,
Carter will shoot too with a chance
to put the US in the lead.
Second shot now, 80, 80,
and it's missed,
it's tipped and loose ball falling down.
Everyone's diving and Lithuania have it.
It was all square going into the final minute.
The clock continued to run down and the drama only became
more frantic.
Lithuania missed a three-pointer but got the foul.
It's a chance for Lithuania to take control of this game.
The upset could be on.
But Ramunas Siskauskas
missed two out of three from the line.
Vince Carter scored at the other end
and the USA had a one-point lead.
Carter again going for the basket,
over Timinskas and hits and the US leads by one.
Full-court pressure by the US,
Garnett knocks the ball out of bounds
and he's fouled in the rush for the loose ball.
Timinskas, I think, got the foul.
Garnett will shoot two.
Garnett at the line shooting two, US up by one.
We have seen a lot of missed foul shots
under the pressure of the last couple of minutes
and Garnett has missed his first.
Second shot, it's up and missed and McDyess with the rebound
off the glass - US up by three.
They need the points quickly, on the drive, lays it in,
a one-point game and they're going to have to foul.
US up by two, still five seconds,
this jump ball is crucial.
McDyess has it, but there's a whistle,
he's called for jumping too soon, Lithuania get the ball.
Just time for one shot now,
can the Lithuanians, with a three, beat the dream team?
Sarunas Jasikevicius had
destiny in his hands
as he sprinted full court and threw for three.
And game's on the line,
shot's up and he has missed it.
Heartbreaking for Lithuania.
US has dodged a bullet.
By a matter of centimetres,
the dream team had avoided infamy.
They kept their unbeaten record by the skin of their teeth but
they had been rocked.
The Lithuanians were shellshocked.
They left the arena,
forced to contemplate what might have been.
They went through to the bronze-medal match
and beat Australia to stand on the podium.
With their authority undermined,
the United States reacted powerfully in the final.
They beat France without breaking sweat.
Another gold medal for the dream team.
Lithuania, however, became the most heroic
of heroic losers.
A few agonising centimetres
from causing the biggest upset
of all time in the Olympic Games.