Dream team facenightmare of hostility

They are the richest athletes at these games, the latest minting of a team who were lauded and applauded in the Olympics of 1992 and 1996, winning gold both times.

In Sydney, however, the United States basketball dream team are being wished a nightmare time in their quest for a third consecutive gold since NBA players were first admitted in Barcelona in 1992. The pampered all-stars of American basketball have become the most disliked athletes in Sydney, whom everybody would like to see beaten.

The latest attempt to make the NBA's multimillion-pound egos eat a large piece of humble pie unfolded yesterday as a partisan Australian crowd booed them off court here in the Dome arena after a tense match against Lithuania, the closest the dream team have come to a defeat in any Olympic Games.

With 17 minutes left Lithuania, who were without their only NBA stars, Arvydas Sabonis and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and two more of their best players, who play professional basketball in Europe, were leading by one point. And although the United States went on to win, as the boos echoed around the arena, they sneaked home only 85-76, their narrowest margin of victory since 1992.

Indeed the Lithuanians had several late chances to regain the lead but missed an historic chance to become the first conquerors of the dream team. They left the court with plenty of goodwill from the home crowd and the hollow satisfaction of being the first team in Olympic history to hold a second-half lead against the Americans.

Few had given Lithuania a chance against a side with a collective annual salary of around £20m and featuring basketball idols such as Alonzo Mourning of Miami Heat, Vince Carter of Canadian team Raptors, Kevin Garnett of the Timberwolves and Jason Kidd from the Phoenix Suns.

Lithuania secured bronze in both the 1992 and 1996 Games. Most of the team play for clubs in Spain and Italy, though nearly all say that their ambition is to join the mega-rich players of the NBA.

But the invincible aura the dream team once generated with the likes of Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and Larry Bird has long gone. Now, for the first time, their crown is in danger.

"Right now everyone wants to see us get beat so they come at us with no fear," said Gary Payton of the Seattle Supersonics. "But you don't think about losing. Even when they were taking big runs at us, we just tried to slow them down and knew we would be able to generate the shots we needed to."

The American kings of the hoop have been seen as aloof and arrogant in Sydney, and the fact that most of them chose not to take part in the opening Olympic parade did not go down well with many Australians.

The damage, however, had been done before last week's opening ceremony. In a warm-up match against a local Melbourne team prior to the start of the games, the dream team were heavily criticised after the referee was elbowed in the face and NBA players were involved in scuffles with their more humble opponents.

The team are not staying with other athletes in the Olympic village but are locked away under heavy security in five-star accommodation. The feeling among their rivals is that, unlike former dream teams, they can be beaten and a hostile crowd might just be the factor that helps topple them from their perch.

"I think they are going to lose a game, the way they played," said the Lithuanian guard Kestutis Marciulionis. "They are treating this whole tournament like a vacation. Obviously they are capable of turning it on, and if they do they will beat people. But if they don't they are going to have some problems. They should have lost yesterday."

Mourning confessed: "We didn't play with energy. We didn't play like we were having a good time. But we knew we were going to win, no matter what the margin was."

The dream team's mediocre performances are good news for Yugoslavia, Canada and Russia, who are considered second favourites to win gold.

Next up for the United States is New Zealand. Now that should test the allegiance of even the most partisan Australian in the crowd, whatever they might think of the dream team.