USA Basketball Team Loses to Greece in World Basketball Championships

Just when you thought a Bronze Medal at the 2004 Olympics was bad, an even better USA basketball team falls again.

LeBron James hardly played in the 2004 Olympic basketball tournament. He was too young and raw. At least this was what the media assumed head coach Larry Brown believed. Brown, since aptly dubbed Larry Bronze after the USA took home the third-place medal, didn't like playing rookies. He wanted only wily veterans in his lineup. Obviously, his philosophy was flawed.

So, when the USA headed off to the World Basketball Championships, under new head coach, Mike Krzyzewski, the philosophy changed. James, Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony, the best young players the NBA has to offer, would lead a team that appeared invincible. Basketball glory was to be returned to its rightful place.

Insert record scratching sound, car tires squealing or loud buzzer here; anything that indicates a sudden stop and change of course. Team USA lost!

You read right; some of the NBA's best couldn't complete the job, losing to Greece in the semi-finals of the FIBA World Basketball Championships.

How is this remotely possible? Now, I'm the first to praise Coach K. as one of the finest minds in basketball, but throw me a bone here, because I simply don't get this.

I don't care what great NBA star might be missing from Team USA, how can a team with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony lose to a Greece team that doesn't have a single NBA player. At least Germany had Dirk Nowitski, for crying out loud.

James, Wade and Anthony should have been able to waltz to the World Basketball Championships title, if they were playing alongside Tatoo and Mini-Me.

Maybe Team USA needed more strength inside. Perhaps better shooters would have helped.

Can't James, Wade and Anthony score, though? None broke the top five in scoring in the tournament, yet these three combined for better than 75 points per game in the 2006 NBA season. However, these guys averaged just 50, while playing together during the World Basketball Championships.

LeBron, who was 30 points 7 rebounds and better than 6 assists per game in the 2006 NBA season was, at best, quiet throughout the World Basketball Championships. What is it with coaches who continually refuse to unleash the greatest player on the planet during key international games.

I used to coach basketball. Sure, it was in high school, not the NBA. And I'm not suggesting that I know more about the game than Larry Brown or Coach K. I'll say this, though, if I am coaching a basetball game, and my team has LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, I'm not losing.

It doesn't take genius to say, "Hey LeBron; hey Dwayne, forget everyone else. You guys take the shots. Get to the basket, get to the foul line, do whatever it takes. It's in your hands.

Do this, and that team wins every single time.

If fans can figure this out, why don't professional coaches get it?

Meanwhile, USA basketball has suffered another awful defeat. Will the disgrace ever end?