The Dream Team days are long gone for USA Olympic basketball

The era when American players could win gold at the Games just by showing up is over. The rest of the world has simply become too good

It's too easy to make excuses for the Team USA men's basketball team as it stumbles, and stumbles again, on the court.

It's too easy to point out that this is international play, and these are international referees and rules, that this isn't the NBA, that the points and fouls aren't coming the way they do at home.