Massacre of the ‘Dream Team’ amused and marked the generation of Brazilian basketball

“It’s even going to be fun to play with our idols,” Oscar Schmidt told Clóvis Rossi, the Sheet to the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992.

The ace would end up smiling the match between Brazil and the United States, in the men’s basketball tournament, on that July 31st. On the last throw, he missed a shot attempt by his own defense. Then he ran to warmly hug Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley.

The score pointed 127 to 83 for the North American team, known as “Dream Team” for bringing together some of the great names in the history of the sport. Winning the “Dream Team” was not a possibility for José Medalha’s men, who were satisfied with some effective plays and a defeat by 44 points, more or less within the average established by their rival.

“The Brazilian dream of at least balancing things a little lasted exactly 4 minutes and 42 seconds, which is already a feat. Until then, the game was 15 to 15”, reported Rossi, then changing the verb tense to convey the experience seen from the edge of the court. “Then, the monsters that look like they’re made of rubber bands accumulate points with a naturalness that you don’t even notice the time passing by. Even the judges, from time to time, watch.”

For a brief period, Brazil actually held up surprisingly. Until the opponent adapted to the zone marking, he forced mistakes and even took advantage with a cadenced rhythm. The winger Paulinho Villas Boas started the duel with a hot hand, and the green-yellow team was ahead by three points, opening 11 to 8. Then it went 15 to 13.

There, the Americans began to impose their physical game, especially with center forward Charles Barkley. In the demijohn, they exerted their strength. And, when the confrontation took a faster pace, with counterattacks in series, the Brazilians didn’t have the gas to keep up with the NBA stars.

Coach Chuck Daly didn’t even put on the court Magic Johnson, who was recovering from injury and was spared. Jordan was understated by his standards with 15 points. The highlight was Barkley, with 30 points and eight rebounds. Chris Mullin, on the three-pointers, and Scottie Pippen, lethal on defense and in the transition game, also appeared well.

On the other side, Oscar scored 24 points, a number inflated by three three-pointers at the very end. He hit just eight of his 25 shots from the court and suffered multiple blocks. He even enjoyed himself, as he had promised, but the physical size of his opponents frustrated him repeatedly at the Palau d’Esports in Badalona, ​​on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Center Pipoka, who had a nine-minute NBA experience the previous season, ended the game exhausted. “‘Can you compete with some guys with muscles like that?’, asked the player, who is not exactly a dwarf with his 2.05 meters and 100 kilos of weight”, reported the Sheet.

As far as possible, the Brazilians liked his performance, treated as training for the next decisive confrontation with Germany. The selection had lost to Croatia and Spain and won only Angola. It was with an 85-76 victory over the Germans that they advanced to the quarterfinals. In the playoffs, he couldn’t resist against Lithuania, who would win the bronze medal. Then José Medalha’s team beat Puerto Rico and Australia to get fifth place.

The United States, in the finals, easily defeated Puerto Rico (115-77), Lithuania (127-76) and Croatia (117-85). The campaign of the iconic “Dream Team” remained in history, remarkable for those who were able to accompany him and even more for those who had the opportunity to face him. “Cadum, for example, was ecstatic because Magic Johnson praised some of the passes he made in the second half”, described Clóvis Rossi.

Thirty years later, the NBA is no longer a distant reality for Brazilians. From the 21st century onwards, as part of a global movement fostered by the North American basketball league itself, they started to attend it, some with considerable prominence.

The strong Nenê, with his 2.11 m, had no problem adapting to the physical game and built a productive career of 17 seasons, the best of them with the Denver Nuggets. Anderson Varejão, also 2.11 m, was in 14 editions of the tournament and became an idol for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Leandrinho, 1.91 m, was not that tall, but his speed earned him the nickname “Brazilian Blur”, since in the fast movement he looked like a “blur”. Elected best sixth man in 2006/07, by the Phoenix Suns, he was in the Golden State Warriors champion of 2015. The year before, Tiago Splitter had become the first Brazilian champion, with the San Antonio Spurs.

Such success, however, was not reflected in good results for the Brazilian team. NBA athletes have repeatedly prioritized American basketball, giving up the national team. When they were introduced to him, they didn’t reach the relevance of Oscar’s generation, which, of course, is not limited to the blow taken by the “Dream Team”.

With Schmidt, after winning the 1987 Pan American Games, Brazil came in fifth at the 1988 (Seoul) and 1992 (Barcelona) Olympics. In 1996 (Atlanta), he was sixth. Then, while gaining space in the NBA, it began to lose relevance in national team basketball, being left out of the 2000 (Sydney), 2004 (Athens) and 2008 (Beijing) Games.

He returned in 2012 (London), a much-celebrated spot followed by a new fifth-place campaign. In 2016 (Rio de Janeiro), the classification was previously assured to the host country, but the trajectory was disappointing, with narrow defeats, elimination in the first phase and nothing more than ninth place.

The sequel was worse. With no vacancy at the Tokyo Games – held in 2021, with a year delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic –, the team has again commanded a Brazilian, after a sequence of foreign coaches. Now it is the young Gustavo de Conti, 42, who is responsible in the attempt to restore the national team to a prominent position.

Hired because of the great work done at Flamengo, he arrived at the green-yellow team seeking to rescue the attachment to the shirt shown when Brazil was beaten by NBA athletes and was not in it. “What I want to bring is this feeling of selection. I want it not to be so formal, so professional. I want it to be with more feeling involved.”

The first goal of the coach, who took over the team last year, is to qualify for the 2023 World Cup. So far, the campaign is solid, with five wins and only one defeat, an underdog in a two-time game against Colombia. Then, of course, the goal is to go to the 2024 Olympic Games (Paris).

According to De Conti, one of his influences is the American school, which he described as “a faster, more physical basketball”. His idea is to take Brazil to Paris and not see any of his players asking: “Can you compete with guys with muscles like that?”.

It is quite possible that until then, winger Gui Santos, now 20 years old, will be an important part of the team. He has just arrived in the NBA, chosen by the champions Golden State Warriors, and, already in the summer league, played mainly by boys trying to enter the league, he noticed something noticed by Pipoka in 1992.

“The game is very fast, and the players are very athletic. Everyone, everyone, without exception.”