Manu Ginobili: Rise and Fall with the Argentinian National Squad

2004 Athens Olympics

Argentina beat Italy 84-69 in the Olympics Finals to win the Gold Medal.

It was the first - and so far, the last - time the USA men's basketball team had not won gold in the Olympics since the legendary 1992 "Dream Team" introduced NBA stars to international competition. The American roster boasted names such as Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade & Tim Duncan, but ended up proving to be a hastily assembled assortment of NBA stars.

Manu Ginobili scored 29 points on 9/13 shooting and 7/8 on free throws to lead his nation to another victory over the country that used to dominate the sport. Argentina beat USA 89-81 in the semifinals and were better passers, shooters and defenders than the Americans all throughout the game.

The 2004 USA Olympic team will forever be marked as the one that brought home bronze instead of gold, but it also holds the recognition of being the youngest American side in Olympic history(the average age of the team was just 23.5).

"In 1992, the U.S. had the best players ever," Ginobili said following Argentina's semifinal win. "Here, they are great players too, but they are young and they never played internationally, so with different rules it's a whole different thing. The rest of the world is getting better and the States isn't bringing their best players."