Indianapolis, USA, September 4 (AP) - Argentina pulled off a victory that until recently seemed nearly impossible, beating the United States 87-80 (34-21, 19-16, 15-23, 19-20) Wednesday night in the World Championships.
It was the first loss for a U.S. basketball team in 59 games since the Americans began sending NBA
players to international events in 1992. The defeat did not knock the United States out of the
tournament, but the team will now be seeded lower in the medal round, where the nations could meet
again.
"We'll be back to win the gold," guard Baron Davis said defiantly.
Argentina's victory was shocking enough, but what made it even more incredible was the manner in
which the upset was accomplished. The United States never led, trailed by as many as 20 and couldn't
mount an adequate comeback down the stretch.
The Argentines leaped and hugged each other as the final buzzer sounded, while the American
players stuck around and congratulated them. The Argentines then formed a tight huddle for several
seconds before emerging with their hands raised to salute a small but vocal contingent of their fans in
the lower seats at Conseco Fieldhouse.
This U.S. team had said it wanted to keep the unbeaten streak intact, but it also knew that the
competition from around the world was getting better. Like the U.S. team, Argentina won its first five
games in the World Championships to set up a meeting of the only two nations with unblemished
records.
Now, there's only one perfect team: Argentina.
"They were a lot better than we thought," Davis said. "They were just beating us every which way."
U.S. teams had two close calls in the past two years, defeating Lithuania by just two points in the 2000 Olympics and needing
overtime to beat Brazil in the 2001 Goodwill Games.
Many of the best American players declined to participate in this tournament, and this version of Team USA looked quite
vulnerable over the past week - especially against nations that now have their own NBA players.
"We are human beings and we dream. To say we were going to beat them, I did not know. I knew we had one of the best
chances," Argentina guard Pepe Sanchez said. "We came to play, we came to compete. As the game unfolded, we said, 'Wow,
we could really do this.'"
The first sign that emotions were high came less than four minutes into the game, when Paul Pierce was knocked down by
Hugo Sconochini and then stuck his leg out in a deliberate attempt to trip him.
United States coach George Karl,
left, and player Baron Davis
watch as the US team fall behind
by 20 points to Argentina during
the first half
|
Pierce continued to go after Sconochini and was whistled for two holding fouls in the span of one second. That deprived the
U.S. team of its most consistent offensive player, and the Americans did not make a field goal for the next five minutes.
The emotional outbursts from the U.S. team kept coming.
Jermaine O'Neal picked up a flagrant foul late in the first quarter for shoving forward Luis Scola to the ground after Scola
rejected his dunk attempt, and the U.S. coaching staff ran onto the court at the end of the quarter to complain when Reggie
Miller didn't get a call.
The frustration continued in the second quarter, when the Americans had trouble getting off decent shots. Argentina, on the
other hand, used its crisp passing to repeatedly find players open under the basket for layups and dunks.
Andres Nocioni, who had a memorable dunk over Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan in the 1999 Olympic qualifier, unleashed
another impressive jam over Ben Wallace early in the second quarter. He then stole the ensuing inbounds pass at midcourt and
made two foul shots for a 41-23 lead.
A driving layup by Emanuel Ginobili gave Argentina a 52-32 lead with 1:14 left in the half.
"They have better talent, they have better training, but I think we played better today. You got to believe," Scola said.
Third-quarter rallies had become the U.S. team's forte in the first five games of this tournament, but this one took some time to
start.
The Americans got their deficit down to a dozen early in the third on a 3-pointer by Pierce, but their offensive troubles wouldn't
go away. After Ruben Wolkowyski hit a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 62-47, Andre Miller sped into the lane and got
inside for a layup that rolled in and out.
Pierce hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 64-57, sparking the first chant of "U-S-A" heard during the entire tournament. But the
Argentine fans were back on their feet at the end of the quarter after Ginobili scored on a drive for a 68-60 lead entering the
fourth.
The final period began after a brief chanting duel between the fans of the two countries, but the American fans fell silent_ aside
from their gasps - as Argentina twice got open for layups off inbounds passes with the shot clock about to expire.
A 24-second violation and a turnover by the United States were answered by a pair of daring driving layups by Ginobili and
Sconochini, making it 76-63 with 5:55 left.
O'Neal was incredulous when he was called for a loose ball foul with 4:23 left, and the American players had blank looks on
their faces as they shuffled back to the bench during a timeout.
Davis scored inside and then dunked (and hung onto the rim, showing off) off an Argentina turnover to make it 80-71 with 2:28
left. Another turnover was followed by four consecutive misses by the U.S. team - two of them from right underneath the
basket.
A charging foul against Michael Finley ended the next U.S. possession, and a blocking foul on Davis led to a pair of foul shots
by Nocioni for an 83-73 lead with 1:10 left.
A missed foul shot by Miller, an off-target 3 by Davis and a turnover and foul by Pierce comprised the next three U.S.
possessions.
