Gone without a trace

Many millions of basketball fans in America will be waking up to their morning coffee soon, and on the morning news they're going to see the big headlines -- Americans LOSE. Ya, that's right, to Greece. The so-called "Pistons of the NBA". They certainly have copied them pretty well. The "real" Pistons beat the Lakers and 4 Hall of Famers. These "copy-cat Pistons" have done the same to a team that is full of All-Stars and superstars.

This, obviously, was a disappointing loss. Even if they win the third-place game and get the bronze, this is going to hurt all over. This finally shows that, truly, the Americans will no longer really dominate. They're going to win a gold medal...eventually, but no more 30-point wins on average.

This game really showed the lacking of this team. For one thing, the Greeks used the pick-and-roll to perfection. Every time they used it, they got a good shot, and most of the time it was an open layup. Down the stretch, consistenly, they couldn't stop the team. Even Bruce Bowen couldn't have helped here. He could have guarded, say, Vassilis Spanoulis, but then they could have gone to another player, and have done just as well.

Plus, they American's couldn't make the free throws when they needed to, and the Greeks could. 20/34 from the line for the US. 14 misses from the best players in the world? Carmelo, 6-of-10, Wade, 6-of-9, Lebron, 1-of-4.

So, what happens now? You can't put anymore players on. They have a team of stars, there's no more talent better than those on the team now. The US simply has to face the fact that...well, they're normal. No more Dream Team. Disappeared, just like every victim on Without a Trace. Will we ever find that Dream Team again?