The president of the IOC made a good point. He noted that everyone loves an underdog. The U.S., as the strongest, most powerful nation on earth, is never the underdog and thus, is never likely to be the crowd favorite in international competition. He further noted that much of the animosity also stems from envy.
The Dream Team deserved to lose. Their apparent spokesperson is Iverson - an ex-con gangster who can't get his hat on straight and who can't even be bothered to show up for practice at his full-time, multi-million dollar gig. I think most of the NBA guys saw the Olympic team as an obligation or a smart PR move recommended by their agents. I think the games meant more to the Argentines, Lithuanians and Italians than to the U.S. players.
The U.S. women's basketball captain pointed out that since the WNBA has never really taken off, the Olympics are the pinnacle for the women. They have practiced together and played international ball together for years. No surprise that they fared much better than the men.
All in all, I'd say this was the Olympics of the U.S. women (in all sports). Not only did they win a bushel of medals, but they were far superior sportsmen on and off the fields.
