David Thorpe was convincing that Team USA lost to Greece last summer on a day when Greece was so hot from the outside that they would have beat anyone.
That doesn't mean there wasn't plenty of blame to go around. I recall articles and blog posts blaming Sonny Vaccaro, LeBron James, Mike Krzyzewski, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant (who wasn't even there) Jerry Colangelo, and a million other people.
But what about the scouting? Is there someone we forgot to blame? Were Team USA players ill-prepared to face their international opponents?
I always remember Charles Barkley, when he was on the Dream Team in 1992, admitting that he did not know a single thing about the Angola team they were about to face.
I can't tell you that the team was underprepared for opponents last summer. (For the record, Rudy Tomjanovich was in charge of scouting then.) But I can tell you this: Team USA is at a natural disadvantage. NBA games are broadcast around the world, so most opponents have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the NBA players involved. Whereas Euroleague and other international basketball is very hard to watch in America.
NBA players go into not knowing much about a lot of these guys, while their opponents come into it knowing a fair amount.
This year, I can tell you that Team USA has gotten very serious about scouting. For one thing, they have hired the Pistons' highly respected Director of International Scouting Tony Ronzone to be in charge. He's hitting it hard, flying all over the place getting insight into the players and schemes Team USA may face.
Ronzone has also started working with Synergy Sports, the video scouting service a lot of teams use. They will prepare video reports detailing every player Team USA will face. Players and coaches will have DVDs they can take back to their hotel rooms every night showing the guy they'll be guarding the next day.
"The video element," Ronzone just told me, "will make a difference. People are able to break down plays, see the offense and the defense, and assess strengths and weaknesses. We always say that video doesn't lie."
"When we play Brazil," Ronzone adds, "NBA players might know guys like Nene and Barbosa, but they might not know as much about Machado. We can work with the staff Jerry Colangelo and Coach K have put together to make sure that everyone knows everything they need to know about everybody. Video, written reports, demonstrations ... There's no limit to our preparation."
