There was the next-generation team of NBA stars coming to the bench with a 30-point lead over Argentina. Carmelo Anthony waved his arms, calling for more noise from the crowd. Dwight Howard twirled a towel over his head. The fans at Thomas & Mack Center were on their feet and electric.
For all its past embarrassments in international competition, the Americans were close to perfect in the first half of their 118-81 victory in the gold-medal game of the FIBA Americas championship, which could double as a dress rehearsal for the Olympics.
The big three of Anthony, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant knocked down seven three-pointers in the first quarter, which the Americans closed on a 15-0 run. And that just preceded a barrage of four consecutive dunks by James and Howard in the second quarter.
Anthony and James finally took home gold after settling for bronze medals that felt like lead at the 2004 Olympics and 2006 world championship.
"I'm tired of bronze, man," Anthony said, adding, "I am going to hang this like as soon as you walk in my house, like by the door. Just hang it up there on the chandelier somewhere."
It was a fitting end to a tournament in which the U.S. was barely tested. They never can match the larger-than-life 1992 Dream Team, but the Americans at least merited comparison in averaging 116.7 points in Las Vegas.
Their margin of victory (39.5 points) was the largest since the Dream Team took the court in the Barcelona Olympics. Fifteen years later, their descendents drilled Puerto Rico and Argentina by a combined 81 points here in the semifinals and final.
Never mind that the U.S. shouldn't have been in the Americas tournament in the first place. They hoped to qualify for the Olympics at last summer's world championship before suffering a stunning loss to Greece in the semifinals.
After watching the Americans the last three weeks, though, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo now considers that loss a blessing in disguise.
"Had we won last year, we would not be as prepared for next year,'' Colangelo said. "I mean, it might have been maybe a false sense of security a little bit, too. We made some changes. Our resolve was that much greater because of what happened.
"So when we look forward now going to Beijing, we're much better prepared. There isn't any learning experience. We know exactly who we are. Everything does fit. There were questions people had, even about Kobe. Is that going to work? We know it works. You saw it work."
At the same time, the U.S. has to wait another 357 days until final judgment is passed on the three-year mission to restore the national team. Nothing short of leaving Beijing on Aug. 24, 2008, with Olympic gold will be deemed acceptable.
The tournament MVP went to Argentina's Luis Scola, but the U.S. had the untouchables in James, Anthony and Bryant. James took the last bow, scoring 31 points Sunday and hitting 8 of 11 three-pointers to go with his highlight dunks.
The U.S. scored the last 15 points of the first quarter, holding Argentina scoreless for four minutes, in taking a 35-14 lead.
rsiler@sltrib.com
