You can’t
cover the sun with your finger
by rick olivares
“You can’t cover the sun with your
finger.”
Perhaps among all the platitudes
heaped upon the 1992 United States Olympic Men’s Basketball Team or more
commonly known as “The Dream Team”, it was that quote from Miguel Calderon
Gomez, then head coach of Cuba, that best describes them.
Gomez’ charges were the on the
receiving end of a 136-57 annihilation during the Dream Team’s debut at the
Tournament of the Americas on June 28, 1992. In all 14 of their matches from
the Tournament of the Americas in Portland, Oregon to the ’92 Summer Olympics
in Barcelona, Spain, the Americans blew their foes off the court by an average
of 47 points a game. The one time an opponent took the lead was the Olympic
gold medal game when Croatia’s Zan Tabak scored a three-point play following a
flash in the lane and a zip pass by Toni Kukoc. David Robinson fouled Tabak and
the Croatian center made good on his free throw to give their side a 25-23 lead
with 9:41 to play.
On the other end, Charles Barkley
answered with a three-point shot of his own (he was six-for-six prior from the
three-point line at that point) that allowed the US to re-take the lead; one
they would not relinquish again en route to another blowout.
Even during Croatia’s run (at that
point only two players from Croatia had played in the NBA – center Stojko
Vrankovic and gunner Drazen Petrovic as Kukoc and power forward Dino Radja
would join the NBA a year later), Dream Team head coach Chuck Daly never called
a time out. Not one.
The 20th anniversary of the
debut of the Dream Team – June 28, 1992 – is just around the corner. Even
before I caught a whiff of the nostalgia in the air, this collection of 12
basketball Beatles had been in my mind almost like in a fevered state.
I couldn’t wear a replica Los Angeles
Lakers jacket the way a classmate of mine used to do back in school. I didn’t
have an original copy of Michael Jordan’s ‘Come Fly With Me’ documentary until
years and years later. I didn’t have the sweet jump shot of Larry Bird just
like a schoolmate of mine did have on the JV. But in 1992, I could own a Dream
Team shirt.
They were selling the “caricature”
souvenir shirt of the ’92 Tournament of the Americas where the Dream Team made
their spectacular debut. There was only one shirt left and I kept going back
and forth debating its purchase as it was a bit pricey. Eventually, I walked in
and forked over the dough and hightailed it home with my bounty. And when I
wore it, it was with pride.
In the pre-cable and internet days
that’s obviously ancient history, it was my slice of Dream Team. Anything NBA
or foreign sports for the matter, were difficult to come by locally. If I did
get to watch these NBA superstars, it was on one recopied betamax tape after
another never mind the generation loss. I would eventually add a few more
pieces of memorabilia – the Sports Illustrated issue with Patrick Ewing, Karl
Malone, Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, and Earvin Johnson on the cover as
well as the Dream Team book written by Alex Sachare that was autographed by the
late Chuck Daly and team assistant coach Lenny Wilkens.
Today, that souvenir shirt -- all worn out, faded and now several
sizes smaller for me – is still there in my closet. I even wore it to sleep a
few weeks ago.
I opened up a box of my old belongings
that my mother packed away when I moved out all those years ago. Inside were
all those videotapes that had corroded and melted with age. But the magazines,
brown with ages and all, were still there.
In my younger days, I was transfixed
when Doug Collins hot two clutch free throws to seemingly give the US the win
against the USSR during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Only game officials gave the
Soviets three chances to win the match which they eventually did. There have
been many heists in sports since but that Olympic finals game is right on top
alongside the recent controversial decision that awarded the boxing match to
challenger Timothy Bradley over defending champion Manny Pacquiao who pummeled
his American foe.
While the NBA was shown sparingly in
the Philippines unless you were one of the lucky ones who has that antenna that
connected you to the US Armed Forces’ Far East Network emanating out of Clark
Air Base in Pampanga. What was shown on a regular basis (if you can say that the
four-year cycle of the Olympics counts as one) were the games of the Olympiad.
So I saw in the intervening years the team of Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing,
Chris Mullin, Sam Perkins, Steve Alford, and company blow out foes en route to
a 1984 Gold Medal. Then there was the debacle of 1988 when head coach John
Thompson put on the floor a team that was good enough to win the Big East
Conference where his Georgetown Hoyas played but not the Seoul, Korea Olympics.
Sure there were the annual gatherings
of NBA All-Stars in the mid-season classic but they were mostly the stuff of
showtime. The Olympics were big time. It was theorized then that the world had
caught up to the Americans in the sport. Barcelona was meant to take it back
and show the world that it was still a myth.
For all the hoopla surrounding the
Americans the manner by which they were first introduced to the world at large
during the Tournament of the Americas was drab and simple. “A six-eleven
forward Christian Laettner,” the Rose Garden announcer said almost dryly as he
opted not to show any favoritism. He then continued his roll call in order --
David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan,
Clyde Drexler (who got a resounding ovation from Portland fans), Karl Malone,
John Stockton, Chris Mullin, Charles Barkley, and Earvin ‘Magic” Johnson.
When the ball went up for the jump
ball, the Americans dived right in like a pack of sharks. They dismantled foes
in different ways and the first few minutes of the game against Cuba in the
Tournament of the Americas provided the world with a view to a kill.
Half-court
offense
In the very first possession of the
Dream Team’s debut against Cuba during the Tournament of the Americas, Magic
Johnson fed the ball to Larry Bird who worked his way inside the lane for a
fadeaway.
Fastbreak
This is where Angola’s head coach
criticized the Americans as a running team that didn’t play any defense. The US
actually topped the Olympics in defensive stats. They had the most steals (177)
and blocks (47).
Against Cuba, Bird hauled down the
board. Passed to Magic Johnson who drove the length of the court. Magic took
off, surveyed his options in the air before he handed it off to Robinson on the
trailer for a two-handed stuff.
The
spectacular
One failed Cuban offensive after
Robinson’s jam, Jordan saved the ball from going out of bounds at the Dream
Team’s halfcourt line by whipping a behind-the-back pass to Bird who straddled
the baseline. Bird fielded the ball and in one motion hit a baseline jumper.
One stop after, Magic on the break found Barkley cutting under the baseline.
The Round Mound of Rebound drove in and turned around 360° for an emphatic
slam.
Gomez was right. You really couldn’t
cover the sun with your finger.
They continued that romp all the way
to Barcelona where they were arguably the first crossover team of any sport
with such immense popularity.
Their legacy is that basketball has
become truly a world game. The number of foreign players plying their trade and
not just in the NBA is staggering. If the Dutch football teams that espoused
total football changed the sport forever so did the Dream Team for basketball.
Twenty-years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play and the world is
better for it.
Enjoy this wave of nostalgia because
it’s all good. As for me, I’m going to rewind television announcer Marv
Albert’s line during the Olympics when he said (adding to one of the best
platitudes about the Dream Team aside from Gomez’ quote): “Do you get the
feeling that Angola’s last basket was yesterday?”
Rick Olivares used to tape NBA
matches on those old betamax tapes until he accumulated a massive collection to
go with his magazines, books, posters, and jerseys. He says that writing for
NBA.com completes his life. Oh, he still goes to bed wearing his Chris Mullin
Golden State Warriors #17 that he first bought during the Run-TMC years.
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