ATHENS, Greece -- Their shots clanged off the rim, smacked the side of the backboard or missed completely. Their best player stared at the floor helplessly as the ball squirted between his legs and rolled away.
Whatever remained of America's aura of invincibility slipped away, too, in a shocking, lopsided loss that left their coach embarrassed and angry.
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Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and the rest of the U.S. basketball team fell 92-73 to Puerto Rico on Sunday, only the third Olympic defeat ever -- and first since adding pros -- for the nation that ruled the sport for three-quarters of a century.
It was by far the worst defeat for a U.S. men's team, coming in the Americans' first game of the Athens Olympics. Having it happen against a team they had dominated in the past 13 months only made it hurt worse.
"I'm humiliated, not for the loss -- I can always deal with wins and losses -- but I'm disappointed because I had a job to do as a coach, to get us to understand how we're supposed to play as a team and act as a team, and I don't think we did that," Larry Brown said.
Puerto Rico, which had lost to the Americans five times since last July, led for more than 33 minutes of the 40-minute game, was ahead by 22 at halftime and gamely held off a fourth-quarter comeback for one of the greatest sports achievements in the territory's history.
"We're a small island with a big heart," guard Elias Ayuso said.
The loss was a blow to the Americans' confidence, but it did little to hurt their gold medal chances. They need only to finish in the top four of their six-team group to reach the quarterfinals.
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| Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan sit stunned as Puerto Rico pulls away in the first half.(AP) |
As Carlos Arroyo left the court with just over a minute left, he defiantly pulled at the words "Puerto Rico" on his jersey. He led his team with 24 points.
"That was him telling his island of four million people he was very proud to beat the big colossal from the north," Puerto Rico coach Julio Toro said.
Anyone in America who didn't see this coming hadn't been paying attention to the way international basketball has been changing.
