How did the 1988 USA Basketball Team not win Gold?

[L.Kizzle]

Two Hall of Famers who played on the 92 (David Robinson) and 96 (Mitch Richmond) Olympic teams. Three other All-Star players (Dan Majerle, Danny Manning, Hersey Hawkins.) A bunch of serviceable guys like Willie Anderson, Stacy Augman, Charles Smith, Bimbo Coles and JR Reid.

I know the back story but still, with that talent how did they loose?

I don't wanna hear they were too young. Rookie Richmond and Robison were both 22+ their first season in the NBA. The majority of the team is around 15+ ppg in their rookie seasons as starters as well.

[97 bulls]

Two Hall of Famers who played on the 92 (David Robinson) and 96 (Mitch Richmond) Olympic teams. Three other All-Star players (Dan Majerle, Danny Manning, Hersey Hawkins.) A bunch of serviceable guys like Willie Anderson, Stacy Augman, Charles Smith, Bimbo Coles and JR Reid.

I know the back story but still, with that talent how did they loose?

I don't wanna hear they were too young. Rookie Richmond and Robison were both 22+ their first season in the NBA. The majority of the team is around 15+ ppg in their rookie seasons as starters as well.

I've always maintsined this. The 88 men's team was damn good. Probably better than the team today. The international players had caught up to US talent. The dream teams were just that good.

[L.Kizzle]

I've always maintsined this. The 88 men's team was damn good. Probably better than the team today. The international players had caught up to US talent. The dream teams were just that good.
Soviet Union lost to Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia lost to Soviet Union and Puerto Rico.
US beat Puerto Rico by 35+ points.

People talk about Sabonis killing Robinson that game. Robinson had 19/12 in 25 min and Sabonis had 13/13 in 35 min.
Rimas Kurtinaitis had the game of his life. 28 points on 4-10 from 3.

Looking at the boxscore of the game, USA shot a higher FG% but Soviet Union took more 3's and more free throws.

[pandiani17]

Idk about Richmond, but Robinson hadn't played in the league yet because he had to do service in the US Marine or something like that. Also, anything can happen in one basketball game, and maybe the Soviets had one of those rare days where everything went OK for them.

[ralph_i_el]

I asked my dad. He said they had bad spacing and no shooters. He said John Thompson is a racist and left some good white dudes off the team on purpose. I have no idea if this is true or not, just the opinion of my old man.

[ArbitraryWater]

doesnt really sound like the typical USA uber team bro

[Stephonit]

Is it a coincidence that none of them won a NBA championship as "the guy"?

[L.Kizzle]

Is it a coincidence that none of them won a NBA championship as "the guy"?

Only 3 of them were actually "the guy" and only 1 of them was in the playoffs enough for it to even happen.

[Overdrive]

Is it a coincidence that none of them won a NBA championship as "the guy"?

Just like Curry.

[jlip]

I just watched the entire game between the US and the USSR on YouTube, but let me also provide some background leading up this game before I describe what I observed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3XI5x3jV2w

Because of the Cold War, the US and USSR were not just rivals militarily, but their basketball teams had been arch rivals since the USSR's controversial 1 point win in 1972. The USSR defeated the US again in the 1974 FIBA tournament eventually winning gold. They did not face each other in 1976, but the US won gold in that Olympics. The US boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. So they didn't get to play each other that year. The USSR defeated the US again in the 1982 FIBA tournament. Then the USSR boycotted the 1984 Olympics in LA. So they didn't face each other, but the US won gold that year. Then finally, the US squeaked by the USSR with a narrow two point victory in the 1986 FIBA tournment winning gold.

For 16 years leading up to the 1988 matchup the US and USSR had basically been in some type of 80's Lakers vs. Celtics rivalry with each team winning against each other at times. Yugoslavia was like the early 80's Sixers being that third contender sneaking victories against both teams every now and then.

Now on to the actual 1988 game between the US and USSR resulting in the US losing and eventually winning a bronze medal...

The USSR was simply a much more mature team that had been playing together for years. They were a squad of grown men with a couple of them being 30. During the game the commentators kept repeating that the average age of the USSR team was 26, basically the age when an NBA player enters his prime. The US squad featured young players ages 20-23 who were either college seniors or had been just drafted a few weeks prior. They were technically not NBA rookies, because the 1988 season had not begun, and the US was not sending official "professionals" to the Olympics. They still viewed the Olympics as a showcase for "amateurs." Danny Manning who was the #1 draft pick that year and one of the primary stars of the team went scoreless. It was ugly for him.

Also, the USSR team was much bigger than the US. During the game the commentators again kept mentioning that the average height of the USSR team was 6'8" led by the 7'4" Sabonis. Other than David Robinson, there was not a player on the US team taller than 6'9". While the rebounding boxscore numbers may have been fairly even, the US gave up two crucial offensive rebounds to the USSR in the last 10 seconds while they were only down 3 points resulting in them fouling the USSR, essentially putting the game away.

The US kept trying to pressure the USSR after made baskets and free throws. Other than a stretch at the start of the 2nd half where the US cut a 10 point halftime deficit down to two points, the USSR kept beating the press. It was not effective for the most part. Not only would they beat the press, they would often score because the US would have only one player near the basket.

Then, especially in the first half, the USSR was playing 2021 NBA ball. They hit more threes in the first half than the US hit the entire game. They made the same number of threes that the US took. There was graphic that was played early in the game showing that the USSR was a prolific 3 point shooting team while the US rarely made use of the shot. I think that 1 or 2 of the few 3 pointers that the US took were desperation threes in the last minute. In a 6 point victory that went a long way. Hershey Hawkins who was considered the best 3 point shooter on the team was sidelined with an injury.

Finally, one of the last thing the commentators stated as the game was ending at the 1:03:20 mark is that the world had caught up with the US. I partially agree. The reason I do not fully agree is because of what I remember when the Dream Team was selected to play in 1992. I was 15 at the time, and remembered sports personalities saying that the reason it looked like the world had caught up is because other nations were sending their best professional league players while we were still sending "amateurs". When we finally agreed to send our professional NBA veterans starting with the the Dream Team, it was made clear over, at least the next three Olympics, that the world's best had not caught up with our best.

[ScottieQuitting]

No Michael Jordan.

1984? Gold. With Juniors in College. Led by a guy who dominated HOF legends Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and Kareem in exhibition games. And had announcers calling him the best player they’ve ever seen.

1988? No MJ, no pros.

1992? MJ, gold again.

[getting_old]

I've always maintsined this. The 88 men's team was damn good. Probably better than the team today. The international players had caught up to US talent. The dream teams were just that good.



any collection of very good NBA stars would wipe the floor with college children

all i remember is them pumping up JR Reid who was one of the bigger busts in hoops history, considering the endless parade of trumpeting of what a star he was going to be