Dream CreamThe U.S. played with a sense of purpose and rolled into the quarterfinals by sacking Croatiaby Johnette Howard
There were no surprises, no moments of hope. Croatian forward Dino Radja stood in a Georgia Dome hallway last night, rubbed his wet hair, shifted his weight from side to side and fielded postgame questions with the same sour look he'd played with for most of the game. Like many of his teammates on the Croatian basketball team, Radja looked like a kid who had dutifully shown up at the principal's office to get his punishment. Playing the Dream Team is tough enough on the U.S. squad's worst day. But playing the Dream Team when it felt like turning up the jets?
"Why should I be disappointed?" Radja said, pursing his lips and shrugging off the U.S. team's 102-71 romp. "We have no shot to win. I knew it four years ago [at the Barcelona Games]. I know it here. For them this was just an exhibition game."
Zan Tabak and Croatia had no shot at winning with Shaq playing defense from the outset.
photograph by
And not much of one at that. With NBA talent like Radja and Toni Kukoc, Croatia was the one team expected to give the U.S. a scare. But the Americans, 5-0 heading into the quarterfinals tomorrow against Brazil, seemed ruthlessly intent on shattering any delusions Croatia might have had.
The U.S.'s starting five hunkered down and played aggressive defense from the outset. Forward Charles Barkley, fresh-legged after sitting out a 63-point rout of China two nights earlier, began his game this way: steal, dunk, steal, dunk. Starting guard Mitch Richmond scrambled around the perimeter, taking away the Croatians' beloved three-point shots and breaking downcourt to lead the fast break.
Point guard Gary Payton—the best player on the floor in the early going—looked as though he were auditioning for leading man in Bud Greenspan's paean to the '96 Games. In the first eight minutes Payton rattled the Croatian guards so thoroughly that even making a simple entry pass became a small victory for them. Then, with 14:55 to play in the first half, he pulled the crowd to its feet with a no-look pass that Richmond muscled in for a layup despite getting hammered to the ground.
The three-point play gave the U.S. a 17-8 lead and ranked as the play of the game until Shaquille O'Neal saw Croatian guard Damir Mulaomerovic driving toward the basket two minutes later, took one massive stride across the lane and blocked Mulaomerovic's layup attempt into the crush of courtside photographers. A teammate consoled Mulaomerovic with a pat on the back.
The U.S. already led 44-29, and there was no ember of hope for the Croatians. Radja was right: This was just another exhibition. "What did you expect?" he asked.
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SI Olympic Dailies
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