Team USA Enjoys a Rout of Fan Club

Another one happily bit the dust.

Argentina fell under the wheels of the Dream Team, bowing, 128-87, Wednesday night. The United States (4-0) secured one of the top four spots in the Tournament of the Americas and has qualified for the Barcelona Olympics.

Actually the Argentines put on a good show, seeing as how they would rather have been collecting autographs.

“I played with great happiness against the monsters,” center Hernan Montenegro said. “We dreamed of playing the 11 monsters. . . . This obviously is the highlight of our careers.”

Other highlights of their careers included:

Michael Jordan throwing down a dunk and the Argentine bench cheering.

Guard Esteban De la Fuente coming to the interview room in a USA Basketball T-shirt.

Forward Sebastian Uranga interrupting himself while shooting free throws to shake hands with Magic Johnson.

“He said, ‘Hey, Magic!’ ” Johnson said, laughing. “It was funny. I think we had a little thing going. They were just having a good time. They’d look to us for approval, like, ‘Good shot?’ I’d say, ‘Yeah, good shot.’

“I must have had my picture taken at halftime with their whole team.

“That guy, No. 9 (guard Marcelo Milanesio) told me, ‘I’ve got to have your jersey, I’ve got to have your jersey.’ I told him I couldn’t give it to him, but he didn’t understand me. So he kept asking for it through the game.

“You never know how popular you are and how you move people in other countries. We must have been doing something right, I guess. That’s what the college players could never bring. People say: ‘The pros shouldn’t be there.’ But that’s what they don’t understand.”

Then there was the game, such as it was.

The United States was down to nine players, Clyde Drexler having taken his sore right knee to the bench to join John Stockton and Larry Bird.

If anyone was wondering if nine Americans could still dominate, the answer was . . .

Yes.

The Argentines got the lead once, 5-3, when Milanesio made a three-pointer, but after that reality set in.

By halftime, the Americans led, 68-37, suggesting a heavy-duty rout was coming.

Instead, the second half turned into garbage time and a mere 41-point margin, the Dream Team’s smallest of the tournament.

“We came out for the kill,” Johnson said. “We got up on them, but manpower-wise, we only had nine bodies. With that many, it’s tough to play all-out and kill them. Plus they can play. That one guy, No. 10 (Juan Espil) has some nice NBA moves.”