By Bill Koch
Enquirer staff writer

Oscar Robertson cringed as he watched the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team get crushed Sunday by Puerto Rico on television.

Robertson, the former University of Cincinnati great who played on the 1960 U.S. Gold Medal team - still considered one of the greatest ever - knows something about how the game is supposed to be played.

What he saw on television didn't qualify.

"Obviously, they don't understand how to attack a zone," Robertson said Monday. "They don't have any good shooters outside. They dribble too much, rather than passing the ball, and they don't play good defense."

The Americans trailed Puerto Rico by 22 points at halftime, then rallied to get within eight with 6:11 left before losing 92-73.

"I'm sure the guys are going to take this to heart," said Robertson, who's currently serving as UC's interim head coach until Bob Huggins returns from his suspension. "The problem is, who picked these guys to play? That's where the problem lies. Some guys just can't get it done."

The team was picked by head coach Larry Brown and USA Basketball. What they came up with was a team with an average age of younger than 24 years old, the youngest U.S. team since the Dream Team era of NBA players began in 1992.

Brown, who won a gold medal as a member of the 1964 U.S. team, is one of the most respected coaches in the NBA, but as Robertson said, "Great players make great coaches. It doesn't matter who the coach is if you don't have the players on the court."

Among those who declined to play because of injuries or personal reasons are Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Elton Brand, former UC star Kenyon Martin, Kevin Garnett, Richard Hamilton, Ray Allen, Ben Wallace, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Karl Malone, Reggie Miller and Jermaine O'Neal.

Robertson, who rates his Olympic experience as one of the highlights of his Hall of Fame career, can't understand why so many players turned down a chance to play for their country.

"I thought it was an honor to go and play in the Olympics," he said. "I don't know what to think about these guys. Some make $10 million. Some make $15 million. Maybe it's the money, being complacent. The patriotism maybe they don't care that much about. Maybe they burn out. Who knows?"

Robertson's 1960 team, coached by Pete Newell, featured the best college players of the day, including Jerry West, Jerry Lucas and Walt Bellamy. Robertson and Lucas, both of whom would later play for the NBA Cincinnati Royals, led the team in scoring with 17.0-point scoring averages.

That team won its eight games by an average margin of 42.4 points, holding opponents to 59.5 points per game.

"We knew how to play," Robertson said. "We played together. We knew how to attack. We knew how to pass the ball against the zone."

One loss doesn't mean the U.S. can't recover to win the gold, but Robertson said it won't happen without some changes.

"I'm sure they're trying to make some adjustments right now," Robertson said. "How many players do they have, 12? From what I've seen, they ought to leave about five of them on the bench. Go with six or seven. You want to win the game. Just to keep somebody happy is not the thing to do right now."

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