ATHENS, Greece -- Their shots clanged off the rim, smacked
the side of the backboard or missed completely. Their best player
stared at the floor helplessly as the ball squirted between his
legs and rolled away.
Whatever remained of America's aura of invincibility slipped
away, too, in a shocking, lopsided loss that left their coach
embarrassed and angry.
Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and the rest of the U.S. basketball
team fell 92-73 to Puerto Rico on Sunday, only the third Olympic
defeat ever -- and first since adding pros -- for the nation that
ruled the sport for three-quarters of a century.
It was by far the worst defeat for a U.S. men's team, coming in
the Americans' first game of the Athens Olympics. Having it happen
against a team they had dominated in the past 13 months only made
it hurt worse.
"I'm humiliated, not for the loss -- I can always deal with wins
and losses -- but I'm disappointed because I had a job to do as a
coach, to get us to understand how we're supposed to play as a team
and act as a team, and I don't think we did that," Larry Brown
said.
Puerto Rico, which had lost to the Americans five times since
last July, led for more than 33 minutes of the 40-minute game, was
ahead by 22 at halftime and gamely held off a fourth-quarter
comeback for one of the greatest sports achievements in the
territory's history.
"We're a small island with a big heart," guard Elias Ayuso
said.
The loss was a blow to the Americans' confidence, but it did
little to hurt their gold medal chances. They need only to finish
in the top four of their six-team group to reach the quarterfinals.
Still, the defeat will go a long way toward giving the
competition hope that it's someone else's turn to move to the top
of the sport.
As Carlos Arroyo left the court with just over a minute left, he
defiantly pulled at the words "Puerto Rico" on his jersey. He led
his team with 24 points.
"That was him telling his island of 4 million people he was
very proud to beat the big colossal from the north," Puerto Rico
coach Julio Toro said.
Anyone in America who didn't see this coming hadn't been paying
attention to the way international basketball has been changing.
The U.S. team nearly lost in the semifinals at Sydney on a
last-second shot by Lithuania, then dropped three games on its home
turf at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis - the first
losses ever by a U.S. team of NBA professionals.
This year's team, weakened by defections and rejections of 12
top players, had opened its pre-Olympic tour of Europe with a
17-point loss to Italy and a last-second victory over Germany - a
pair of games in which their vulnerability to a tight zone defense
was clearly exposed.
Puerto Rico exploited that weakness, too, and the Americans
could do next to nothing against the strategy.
After Lamar Odom made a 3-pointer for the U.S. team's first
points, the Americans missed 16 straight from behind the arc. They
tried to get the ball inside, but Puerto Rico collapsed several
defenders into the paint and made life difficult for the U.S.
team's best player, Duncan. He and Iverson led the team in scoring
with 15 points apiece.
American teams had been 24-0 since the professional Olympic era
began with the 1992 Dream Team, but now there is a blemish on their
record to go with two losses to the Soviet Union in the 1972 gold
medal game and the 1988 semifinals.
"I think Puerto Rico right now is celebrating big because of
this," Arroyo said. "By far it's the happiest victory of my
career."
The Americans handled the loss with grace, congratulating their
opponents and joining them in a huddle at center court before both
teams exited to a standing ovation.
The U.S Olympic team's record now stands at 109-3.
"Anybody watching that game who enjoys basketball should get a
thrill out of it," Brown said. "From our perspective, all we can
do is figure out what we're made of. I'm anxious to see if we'll be
able to do that."
The Americans shot only 35 percent, finished 3-for-24 from
3-point range and had nearly as many turnovers (22) as field goals
(26).
"We couldn't hit anything. I shot two off the side of the
backboard. Never in my life have I done that," Richard Jefferson
said. "This was a worst-case scenario."
Puerto Rico was 8-for-16 from long range and 31-55 (56 percent)
overall to help negate the Americans' 46-27 edge in rebounding.
After Odom's 3, Puerto Rico backed off and dared the Americans
to hit from behind the arc. They didn't, missing eight 3s over the
rest of the quarter to trail 21-20.
When Duncan and Iverson sat down in the second quarter, Puerto
Rico simply outclassed the Americans' young reserves. (Stephon
Marbury scored just two points, Carlos Boozer added one.) Arroyo
drove past two defenders for a layup that made it 35-22, and the
Americans were suddenly on their heels.
"International basketball is so different from the NBA," Jose
Ortiz said. "They probably didn't know because of how young they
are. I saw them a little panicked, but they were down 20 points,
what can you do?"
Whistles and jeers greeted the Americans as they emerged from
the locker room after halftime, but the crowd gave them some
support when they tried to get back in the game in the third
quarter. But each time the Americans tried to make a run, Puerto
Rico had an answer.
"They play the game the way it's supposed to be played,"
Iverson said. "It's not about athletics. That's the game the way
Karl Malone and John Stockton play it. It's good for kids to see
how the game is supposed to be played."
Now, it's up to the Americans to show whether they can play that
way, too.