Rio Olympics: Ranking the seven US men’s basketball teams of Dream Team era – CBSSports.com

Team USA has not impressed anyone in Rio.

As they enter quarterfinal play, this year’s group has a plus-117 point differential, which is more than 70 points behind the 2012 team’s mark. Australia bullied them for more than a half. They barely survived Serbia and France, and all this in a year that was considered down for the rest of the world. Even with many superstars absent due to rest, injury, or Zika fears, this squad was expected to roll over the globe.

It’s too early to get a sense for how this Team USA will ultimately be viewed. A loss to Argentina Wednesday in knockout play, for example, would likely be considered worse than the 2004 semifinal loss to Argentina (or even the losses to Puerto Rico and Lithuania in group play that year), given the perceived weakness of this year’s competition.

Could Team USA really change the way it’s currently being viewed if they, say, light up every opponent in the knockout and medal rounds with dominant blowouts? Would that be enough? We’ll see.

As of right now, here’s a look at where Team USA probably ranks among the seven U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball squads since the introduction of pro players in 1992. Again, the story isn’t finished. After the medal round we’ll have a clearer picture. But right now, they haven’t looked good.

Though they’re not the worst, either. Yet.

7. 2004: The Nightmare Team

Best Player: Tim Duncan

2nd Best: Allen Iverson

A team reviled for its selfishness and lack of effort, this squad, loosely referred to as the “Nightmare Team” at the time, had a young LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, each just a year after being drafted, so at least they were still teenagers who knew very little about the game. As for the rest of the team … well … with Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury at guard, who could have guessed this might not work out so well?

Still, three losses (all listed above — Argentina, Puerto Rico and Lithuania) in the same Olympics for any USA team is a disaster.

This team is maybe the only real blemish on Tim Duncan’s resume. You can’t blame the youngsters, but Duncan and Iverson have to take much of the blame on the player end. Then there’s Larry Brown and his total failure in both selecting a balanced roster (some shooters would’ve been nice) and inspiring anyone to play.

In some ways, there are real comparisons to the 2016 team we’re watching now in this regard: many of the best players sat out. Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter were all absent for the 2004 Games, and those were the best players on earth at the time. Tracy McGrady and Jason Kidd, both of whom also sat out, would have helped, too.

The 2004 team didn’t win the bonze medal. They lost the gold.

6. 2016: The Meme Team

Best Player: Kevin Durant

2nd Best: Carmelo Anthony

They’ve been the most active team from a social media standpoint ( not always for good reasons … Draymond), and through group play, Team USA is undefeated and there are ways to excuse how close some of the games have been. Australia is a tough team that caught them unaware. Serbia wouldn’t have hung in as long as they did if it weren’t for Nikola Jokic’s incredible performance, and France wound up only trailing by three but there was little fear they would actually win that game.

Still, this team has not been good. The defense has been awful. The ball movement sporadic at best.

Ultimately, this team does seem vulnerable, and the prospect of losing in a down international year is very real. Most disturbing has been the lack of an individual takeover from any one player. Kevin Durant has not established himself as the far-and-away best player on this team as you would expect. Carmelo Anthony in many ways is playing the 2012 Kobe Bryant role, only without the defense.

The team is also low on role players. There is no pure shooter like a Michael Redd here (though Klay Thompson did bust out against France), nor a dynamic defensive big man who can manage the perimeter. (DeAndre Jordan is controlling the paint but there’s only so much he can do on the edge, where much of the international game is played, at his size.)

If they lose, they could wind up at the bottom of this list, especially if they fail to medal. Assuming they do win gold, they’ll still be behind even the 2000 team, just based on expectations relative to performance. The best this year’s team can hope for now is to simply go out quietly with nothing really to remember, good or bad.

The good news is that won’t make the gold shine any less.

5. 2000: The slide begins

Best Player: Kevin Garnett

2nd Best: Vince Carter

There were signs in 2000 that a slide had begun, or that the world had started to catch up. This team won by “just” 21.6 points per game, survived two close calls to Lithuania, and beat France by 10 in the gold medal game. Kidd helped lead this team at point guard, while Allan Houston, Shareef Abdul-Rahim and Alonzo Mourning were among the role players. This was the last team for he U.S. before the world really caught up in the sport.

4. 2012: Kobe’s last hurrah

Best player: LeBron James

2nd Best: Kevin Durant

It’s popular to mention that this team had to scrape and claw to survive Lithuania by five, but they also clocked France in its prime by 27, Argentina by 29, and it never felt like they would actually lose the gold medal game against Spain despite just a seven-point victory. They beat their opponents by an average of over 32 points per game.

2008 felt like Kobe Bryant’s team, this one felt like LeBron’s, and in some ways it was superior. Better balance in terms of role players, as Tyson Chandler was a rim protector who wasn’t looking for his own offense, and Kevin Love as a rebounder and shooter.

3. 2008: Redeem Team

Best player: LeBron James/Kobe Bryant

2nd Best: Dwyane Wade

From the beginning, this team felt special. The first team under Coach K, the team hell bent on righting the wrongs of 2004. Kobe Bryant in his prime, stepping into a real leadership role, as LeBron James surfaced as the best player on the planet.

This was the team that eventually led to James leaving Cleveland to join the Heat with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, winning two championships. It’s funny to see some of the names on it now (two-time Olympian Carlos Boozer!). This team had the kinds of role players and specialists that this year’s team is missing. True point guards like Chris Paul and Jason Kidd, rim protection with Dwight Howard, and this team gave light to the term “Olympic Melo” with Anthony as the perfect stretch four.

This squad ran through every team except Spain in the gold medal game, and that team was better than any team 1992, 1996 or 2000 ever faced. They beat Argentina’s “Golden Generation” team by 30 points in the semis.

2. 1996: Dream Team II

Best player: David Robinson

2nd best: Scottie Pippen/Anfernee Hardaway

Five members of the Dream Team, ten Hall of Famers and a well-balanced squad which beat opponents by an average of 31.8 points per game. As with the Dream Team, it’s important to remember ho nascent the game was internationally, and Lithuania was the only team to put up more than 80 on that team.

With Grant Hill, Hardaway, and Payton in their primes, along with Barkley, Shaq, and the greatest-shooter-before-Stephen-Curry-showed-up, Reggie Miller, this squad had unbelievable talent at every spot. 2008’s team might have the better top 2-3 players from each, but the overall strength and performance of the team goes to ’96.

1. 1992: Dream Team

Best player: Michael Jordan

2nd best: Charles Barkley

Come on, you knew this was coming. The best basketball team ever made, with the Greatest of All Time, Michael Jordan, along with Barkley, Pippen, Bird, Magic, Malone, Stockton, Ewing, Drexler and David Robinson. Every player except Christian Laettner is in the Hall of Fame. They outscored their opponents by an average of 44 points. They revolutionized what Olympic basketball was and in doing so, drastically expanded the global reach of the NBA. This team has books written about them, and for good reason.