the silver was because of a questionable decision by an outside official which gave the soviets the gold. the bronze in 2004 was because the team that qualified in 2003 had 9 of 12 players decide not to go to the olympics, otherwise it would have been yet another rout. our other bronze was comprised of a team of college kids who went on to become nba superstars but had not yet played in the league. it's also a strange coincidence that a year after that bronze medal finish, FIBA changes the rules to allow nba players into the olympics for the first time.

i am fully aware that basketball is becoming a bigger sport in most of the rest of the world, but if other countries feel that they would rather lose to nba players there is nothing i can do to change that. i can still disagree with the decision to allow them to play, but any time the us team completely annihilates a lesser opponent i can't help but be disgusted by it.