USA Basketball and fans around the world called the 1992 and 1996 Olympic basketball teams “Dream Teams,” rightfully so after beating their opponents by huge margins and being led by the likes of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, and Karl Malone. Every player on the roster was a star in the NBA, and as expected, they dominated the foreign competition.

The USA Basketball team continued its success with a gold medal in Sydney in 2000. However, basketball fans are well aware after a bronze-medal finish in 2004 and after dropping numerous games to mediocre opponents that the international competition has risen since MJ started selling Air Jordans worldwide. The influx of foreign players shows that. Regardless, our fans won’t settle for second-place, and quite clearly have the better talent.

Although Team USA is undefeated at this point in the Americas tournament, the problem for our NBA All-Stars is not that they face superior players, but that they play under foreign rules. Only a handful of players on foreign national rosters could earn a contract in the NBA, yet somehow they light us up in international play.

Player selection: All-stars or international-style players

The 1992 and 1996 teams that dominated came before foreign countries had really developed their basketball programs. Our Olympic teams now must play against stronger competition than before, so 70-point blowouts may be a thing of the past. The original Dream Teams dominated with a team full of superstars and legends.

Now, only a portion of the top players wish to compete for the team, which leaves several roster sports open for second-tier stars (see Lamar Odom, Josh Howard, Tyson Chandler) or players that can thrive in international play without need a lot of touches (Bruce Bowen, Mike Miller).

Some of those second-tier players have international skill, but until the 12 best American players in the NBA want to play with a fiery passion for their team, Jerry Colangelo will have to continue picking his players out of a smaller pool. Where’s Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady? Even Shaquille O’Neal could come in for a 10-minute quarter and score 20 points if the “hack a Shaq” strategy.

So, because the Select team may or may not ever amount to anything, and the top players will continue to nurse injuries and get married during the month of play, USA Basketball fans should hope that Colangelo realized instead of bringing in second-rate All-Stars (add Kirk Hinrich and Brad Miller to that list), he should invite players who played on the U19 international team, rebounders, defensive-oriented players — even if it means cutting down on the 10 jumpshooters who were meant to spread the zone.

The Dream Team days are over. A gold-medal for the USA is no longer a shoo-in, and if the top players don’t want to play, forget filling in those roster spots with overpaid players to fill those shoes of Jordan, Bird, and Magic.