It’s U.S. Against World, and World Is Winning

If you didn’t see this coming, you just weren’t paying attention.

In the question of when the United States would lose its first basketball game with NBA players, sooner definitely had the edge on later.

Perhaps you hadn’t noticed the USA’s two-point squeaker over Lithuania in the Sydney Olympics because it was so far away, at such a strange time that you might have wondered whether the 2000 Games even happened at all.

But you had to know that the NBA’s rookie of the year was from Spain, and you had to see all of those difficult-to-pronounce foreign names selected in the first round of the NBA draft in June.

So the consecutive losses to Argentina and Yugoslavia suffered by the U.S. at the World Championship this week were the next step. Almost inevitable. The days of the automatic wins are over.

That means there’s only one thing left in the world that’s guaranteed: Whenever “MTV Cribs” visits the home of a rapper, he will have a copy of “Scarface” in his DVD collection.

What makes other countries able to compete with the U.S.? The same thing that has made foreign players so appealing to NBA general managers: commitment to fundamentals and teamwork.

Argentina and Yugoslavia didn’t beat the United States because they threw up crazy shots that happened to go in. They won with better execution, better passing and cutting and, in Yugoslavia’s case, better free-throw shooting in the clutch.

Not to mention better coaching. Maybe USA Basketball hadn’t been paying attention, either, when it chose George Karl to head this group. Karl’s name seems to be closely associated with the phrase “spectacular disappointment.”

His Seattle SuperSonic teams might have been the best in the league during Michael Jordan’s sabbatical in the mid-’90s, but they were bounced in the first round of the playoffs both times.

He was the highest-paid coach this season, his Milwaukee Bucks picked to win the Eastern Conference title. Yet he wound up hating his players, they hated him back and the Bucks didn’t even make the playoffs.

After the United States had lost to Argentina on Wednesday, Karl predictably went into panic mode and changed three starters. Then he couldn’t come up with good plays when the game Thursday was a one-possession affair at the end.

To be fair, Karl didn’t have the best-equipped roster. The NBA’s elite players declined to come, leaving this squad with no low-post threats and not enough deadeye shooters.

There has been mounting pressure on the top players--notably Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant--to step up for the cause. I think there ought to be a draft, and every player should be required to play in at least one Olympics and one World Championship, if asked.

You get the sense that the players from other countries wanted to be here, which gave them an edge.

Peja Stojakovic of the Sacramento Kings suffered a badly sprained ankle during the playoffs, but that didn’t keep him from showing up for Yugoslavia.

“For me it is important [to be with] the rest of the guys,” Stojakovic said after Yugoslavia had beaten the United States. “We all had the tough seasons and long seasons. I think the national team brings us joy.

“We all have fun playing together, and today we showed it. We showed we are a real team. We really care about the people in our country. If you can imagine how many people were in the bars at 3 in the morning [watching in Europe], it’s great. It was worth it.”

These guys grow up playing together. They play on national teams as teenagers--another reason they’re more advanced than U.S. high school kids and college players--and they play under the FIBA rules used for international competition, such as the wider lane and different goaltending regulations.

“It’s not fair for those [U.S.] players who are there,” Yugoslavia’s Vlade Divac said. “It’s an international game. It’s a lot different from the NBA.

“You have to get used to the rules. You need so much time to get used to the rules, and it’s frustrating for them. International guys take advantage of that. I feel sorry for them.”

Yes, it’s come to that: foreign players feeling sorry for the U.S. Not fear, not awe. Pity.

How about this unintentional slight from Divac after beating the United States to advance to the semifinals:

“It’s a great win for us and it’s a great opportunity for us. But it’s just one game. We’ve got to finish up.”

They beat U.S. pros and it’s just one game?

Perhaps it isn’t cause for national holidays anymore. The defeat certainly hasn’t provoked national distress here in the States. With college football underway, the NFL kicking off and baseball title races cooking, most people weren’t aware of the event until the Americans lost.

It sure wasn’t a big deal in the host city, the capital of the supposedly hoops-crazy state of Indiana. High ticket prices and lack of interest kept crowds in the hundreds for some games. There were more and noisier fans for Yugoslavia than the United States on Thursday night. And only about 1,000 showed up Friday night to watch the U.S. beat Puerto Rico, 84-74, in a classification-round game. The Americans play Spain tonight--for fifth place.

Losing superiority isn’t the worst thing. Healthy competition is good, and Thursday’s game had plenty of drama. Every time the United States made a big shot, Yugoslavia came back with one of its own--and then some.

Put it this way: Didn’t you enjoy the Lakers’ conference finals struggle with Sacramento more than their NBA Finals blowout of New Jersey?

We’ll only look back at this week as a bad turning point if the trends from this year’s World Cup and World Championship continue ... and the United States becomes a soccer country.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at: j.a.adande@latimes.com.