DATELINE: ST. PETERSBURG : Instead of a Dream, Raveling Offers a Wakeup Call on Life

Although the young men selected to play basketball for the United States in the Goodwill Games would not be confused with even a college Dream Team and most of the Russians who beat them by two points Sunday are seasoned professionals, Coach George Raveling is aware that few people at home will understand still another international defeat.

He feels pressure to win the gold medal here, which the United States still has a chance to accomplish, and does not apologize for passing that feeling on to his players.

“It’s the reality of life that nothing less than a gold medal is going to satisfy the American thirst,” he said last week.

But Raveling, who is spending his summer vacation from USC by coaching the U.S. team, has not allowed that goal to diminish his other role--as an educator who knows that the gym is not all there is to life.

Whether or not it is fair, officials of USA Basketball, which governs U.S. teams in international competition, have become recognized as the quintessential ugly Americans.

It was their decision to send the U.S. men to luxury quarters in Miami between games of the 1991 Pan American Games at Havana. And although they had no control over the behavior of Bob Knight during the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico or of John Thompson during the 1988 Summer Olympics at Seoul, it was their decision to appoint them as U.S. coaches.

But if USA Basketball must accept at least a share of the blame for Knight and Thompson, then it deserves the credit for Raveling.

When he appeared at a news conference last week, he did not bring players with him. He had sent them on a tour of the spectacular St. Isaac’s Cathedral.

“I thought it would be a failure for us to come this far and not take advantage of the educational experience available to us in a city of such historical significance,” Raveling said. “You almost have to thrust it on the players, but later in life they’ll appreciate that we did.”

They will see other famous tourist attractions before returning home, but that is not all.

“I’m looking forward to them taking a bus into the city, getting away from the tourist spots and getting a bird’s-eye view of the people,” Raveling said. “I want them to see the stark contrast that exists between life on the street here and in Washington, Chicago and L.A.”