Column: Has Team USA men's hoops lost its edge?

Above photo property of USA Basketball

TOKYO- Early Sunday morning, ESPN breaking news alerts sounded on mobile phones across America.

It was not proclaiming the number of medals Team USA had won overnight, considering the majority of events took place when Americans lay fast asleep. Instead, it rang out the news of a loss. A loss for the USA men’s basketball team. The United States’ first since 2004.

For quite some time, USA men’s hoops has had little trouble capturing gold at the Olympic Games, boasting a roster of NBA stars. Unlike baseball, which has struggled through its appearances in the Olympics due to the fact that the MLB and minor league seasons are going on at the same time, basketball has achieved great success as the NBA season ends before the Games begin and doesn’t start back up until November.

The result has been a “superteam”, appearing invincible for the last 13 years, relying on individual talent and high-scoring performances. Based on past history alone, the Americans headed to Tokyo as the favorites to capture yet another gold medal.

But that first game changed the minds of many Team USA supporters, as their countrymen finished a 83-76 loss to France early Sunday morning (U.S. time) by going 0-for-9 from the field and giving up the lead in the final minutes.

Some called it a disgrace, some displayed great disappointment, even frustration, and many had the same question in their minds: has Team USA lost its edge?

In a way, yes.

In my opinion, America has been passed by in the world of sports. Not just on the basketball court, but in a variety of other sports as well.

But that is not because the talent level has diminished. The U.S. is still as talented as ever, with the luxury of a large pool of top-notch athletes. However, the way in which Americans play team sports seems to have changed, especially when compared to the way team sports are now contested in other countries.

You probably have an idea of where I’m going next. But it is a point I’m going to make anyway.

Team sports have become increasingly individual in the U.S. over the last decade or so. Young athletes are constantly looking for the scouts and college coaches in the stands. They would rather go 4-for-4 at the plate, or put 30 points on the board and see their team lose than have their team win and not dominate the stat sheet. Don’t get me wrong. Competitors at the highest level hate to lose, but more and more often, the focus is on “getting to the next level” rather than making the most of the opportunity where you already are.

There isn’t anything wrong with this, but it does shape a style of play that is remarkably different from other places in the world. Take basketball in Europe for example, considering the USA fell to France. More emphasis is put on the team aspect, such as pick and rolls, often 30-40 set offenses, ball movement, and intense defense.

Says Thomas Roijakkers, a Dutch pro coach on Eurobasket.com: “In Europe we play more as a team. In general our style involves more ball movement and more player movement off the ball. Having said that, know it’s not only about you, even though you might be a key part of the team.”

Bulgaria national team head coach Nikolai Gospodinov expressed the same sentiment, and added, speaking of American basketball on Eurobasket.com: “American basketball relies primarily on the individual actions of their players based on their athleticism and good physical performances. American coaches do not focus on too many set offenses. Defensively, players are not as accustomed to playing team defense, they (players) rely on 1/1 defense using more of their arms and usually in Europe it’s called a foul violation. In Europe basketball is different.”

On paper, France should not have beaten the U.S., but on the court, their team defense was better (limited U.S. to 36 percent shooting) especially down the stretch, and the ball movement paid great dividends in comparison to the Americans’ frequent “iso” plays.

Also consider one additional thing. Several experts have attributed Slovenian sensation Luka Doncic’s incredible first three NBA seasons to the way he grew up practicing the sport. There were no AAU tournaments in which Doncic played four to five games a weekend. In fact, he often played one game a week. But what happened during the other six days while his American counterparts traveled the country at tournaments, getting “game reps”? Doncic and his team were practicing. Every day. And it provided a foundation of fundamentals that allowed him to adjust flawlessly to the NBA.

The same appears to be true for the Olympics. The European basketball model, built on intricate set plays, intense defense and repetition worked for France. I’m not so sure it won’t work for other national teams as well in Tokyo.