U.S. Defeats Argentina to Salvage Bronze
United States 96, Argentina 81
Saturday, September 2, 2006; 5:57 PM
SAITAMA, Japan -- When the U.S. basketball team was assembled this year, it embarked on a three-year march to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Now the road to China must go through South America.
The Americans won the bronze medal at the world championships Saturday night with a 96-81 victory over Argentina. That will be their last game until next summer when they will try to earn an Olympic berth in the FIBA Americas tournament in Venezuela. A gold medal in the worlds would have punched their Olympic ticket.
 Dwyane Wade scores 32 points to lead the United States past Argentina, 86-71, in the bronze medal game at the World Championships. (David Longstreath - AP) TEAM USA LeBron James, pictured, and the U.S. beat Argentina and take home the bronze medal. Wizards forward Antawn Jamison has enjoyed his experience with Team USA despite not playing much. Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas says he would have been cut had he not left Team USA with a mild groin injury. Michael Wilbon: The U.S. is too arrogant when assessing its own basketball standing in the world. Mike Wise: Coach Mike Krzyzewski is charged with restoring American dominance in basketball. Graphic: How the U.S. team is built. ROSTER1. Nuggets F Carmelo Anthony, Age: 22. 2. Rockets F Shane Battier, Age: 27. 3. Raptors F Chris Bosh, Age: 22. 4. Clippers F Elton Brand, Age: 27. 5. Bulls G Kirk Hinrich, Age: 25. 6. Magic C Dwight Howard, Age: 20. 7. Cavaliers F LeBron James, Age: 21. 8. Wizards F Antawn Jamison, Age: 30. 9. Hawks G Joe Johnson, Age: 25. 10. Kings C Brad Miller, Age: 30. 11. Hornets G Chris Paul, Age: 21. 12. Heat G Dwyane Wade, Age: 24. AT A GLANCEWhen: FIBA World Championships: Aug. 19-Sept. 3. Where: FIBA World Championships: Japan. BASICSGroup A: Argentina, France, Lebanon, Nigeria, Serbia and Montenegro, Venezuela. Group B: Angola, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Panama, Spain. Group C: Australia, Brazil, Greece, Lithuania, Qatar, Turkey. Group D: United States, China, Italy, Puerto Rico, Senegal and Slovenia. Save & Share |
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"We obviously wanted to get the automatic bid, but we didn't," guard Kirk Hinrich said. "Maybe it'll be good for us. Maybe we need more time to gel as a team and we'll have more time to play."
The U.S. has a wealth of talent and coaching acumen. But that combination isn't enough against superior teams groomed for the international game. The U.S. has failed to reach the final in each of its last three major international competitions.
As the Americans accepted their bronze medals Saturday night, many gave military salutes to the Saitama Super Arena crowd of 16,700. But they knew a strong effort against Argentina had come one day too late.
"Winning the bronze, it's not good," center Dwight Howard said. "But we can't just look over it. We had to forget about what happened the other day against Greece and just come out and put our best effort forward in this game."
Immediately after the Americans' semifinal loss to Greece, players began fielding questions about whether the U.S. would have lost with Kobe Bryant, who missed this tournament after having minor knee surgery.
The U.S. players weren't biting on that one.
"I'm not a hypothetical person," forward Chris Bosh said.
Bryant is expected to be available next summer. On the court, there's little doubt Bryant would help the U.S. But his presence could alter the chemistry of a team whose leadership was assumed by young captains Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.
"We don't know what's going to happen next summer when other guys come up on the team, if we're still going to be captains or not," James said. "But I think we did a great job of trying to get our team mentally focused to play."
On Saturday, coach Mike Krzyzewski started all three captains together for the first time in Japan, along with Howard and Kirk Hinrich. They responded by leading the team in scoring, Wade with 32 points, James with 22 and Anthony with 15.
