Federer and Woods, it is reported, have been attempting to meet for some time, which makes sense since each has separated himself from the rest of the athletes in his respective sport; since each is a legendary destroyer in sport; since each represents half of professional athletics' current all-time best club. With that sort of status comes some measure of power, or, at least, influence. If Tiger lends his voice to a cause, that cause will receive a very substantial and public boost. I love Tiger because he is the best, because he brought Jordan-like killer instinct to golf, and because his hunger for victory is unlimited.
But Woods has failed to step off the course and exert his influence in any of the myriad cases where he may have made a positive difference. The most obvious example is Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters, which still refuses to admit women as members. Yesterday's U.S. Open men's tennis final is a less clear example of Tiger's wasted-or even harmful-influence. With last week's retirement of all-time tennis great Andre Agassi, American tennis is at a crossroads. Since the "open" era introduced foreign players to the U.S. Open, it has become increasingly difficult for Americans to win the championship. The top of the ATP Tour rankings has been recently dominated by talented Europeans, both veterans and upstarts. This week, the American tennis baton was unofficially passed from the last remaining member of the Sampras-Agassi era to a young and promising though unproven duo of Roddick and James Blake, each of whom fell victim in the last five days to Federer's historic onslaught. If ever there were a moment when American tennis was hopeful but unsure, in need of all kinds of support, no matter how trivial, now is that moment. Tiger Woods is the current great American athlete, the ultimate symbol of strength, desire and triumph. When Federer toys with opponents like Roddick and Blake, people compare him to Woods, who invented legendary dominance before Federer knew how. Perhaps it is in Woods' blood to embrace the dominator-if a vulture witnessed a run-in between a shark and a goldfish, the vulture would likely root for the shark. But Tiger-particularly during the week of golf's Ryder Cup, in which American golfers compete against their European counterparts-should have supported Roddick at Sunday's match, and Blake and the rest of American tennis by extension. At the very least he should have sat in neutral territory and applauded for neither player or both, so we could assume that he was doing something great for American tennis as it approached a major turning point. Then again, we love Tiger for being an on-the-field Jordan-like master, and perhaps selfishness is in the nature of the dominator. In any case, Tiger proved again that his brilliance is reserved for the golf course.
International play is Greek to U.S. squad
American men's basketball teams are making a habit of losing in international play. Two weeks ago in the World Basketball Championships in Japan, the star-studded U.S. team lost to a Greek team comprised of not a single NBA player. The loss, which devolved into a Greek layup drill in the third quarter thanks to dysfunctional American defense of the high screen-roll, means that the U.S. must travel to Venezuela next summer and succeed in the FIBA Americas Tournament just to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in China.
The worrisome part of this story is that the 2006 World Championship squad was built meticulously by Phoenix Suns General Manager Jerry Colangelo, with a careful eye towards every need, including shooting, teamwork and defense. This was supposed to be the team that would play together and avenge America's recent drought on the international basketball stage. Indeed, most commentators still maintain that all is well, that people shouldn't overreact to the loss to Greece, and that Kobe Bryant, Michael Redd and Amare Stoudemire will be added to the roster and save the day in 2007, by which point the team will have had sufficient time to gel.
This theory fails to recognize the problem. Overwhelming opponents with pure talent-invented by the 1992 U.S. Dream Team-fails more than it succeeds in the modern international basketball landscape, because other countries have instituted systems by which fundamentals and teamwork are taught from a young age, and players work together for long stretches of time before putting on their country's jersey. The NBA does the opposite-it takes the most talented players in the world and teaches them to play one-on-one isolation sets interspersed with limited pick-and-roll. Granted, if Kobe, Redd and Stoudemire join the team, the additional talent may boost the U.S. to victory. But it is foolish to think that time, and the influence of Mike Krzyzewski, will teach Carmelo Anthony to pass and rebound, turn Dwyane Wade into a pure shooter, or teach anyone on the roster to actually play team defense. The only way a collection of current NBA players will win in international basketball is if they embrace their selfish style of play and rely on their talents. They are past the point of redemption in terms of intelligent offense and solid team defense.
U.S. Basketball team brass has two options. The first is to stick with an NBA squad and push to gather the absolute best talents on earth, including Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Bryant. In the event of this choice, make no pretense that fundamentally solid basketball will be instituted. Just get the best players, let them play in NBA offensive sets, hope they hit some shots, and pray that pure athleticism will result in some defensive stops. Option two, which would be revolutionary and is perhaps completely unrealistic at this stage in the approach to 2008, is to decide that we will beat the foreign teams at their own game, that we will get back to basic college-style sound basketball. That means assembling a roster of college all-stars from the most fundamentally sound programs and running a long and intense training camp that reinforces a combination of college offensive and defensive schemes. It won't happen, but I'd like to see them get a shot against Greece.