Is the U.S. men's basketball team following the same path as the 2004 team that rallied for a bronze medal in the Athens Olympics?
Team USA's 83-76 loss to France in Sunday's opening game in Tokyo was its first loss in Olympic competition since 2004, when a defeat to eventual gold medalist Argentina in the semifinals doomed the U.S. to the bronze-medal game. Then as now, Team USA suffered early losses in pre-Olympics exhibition play and fell in its opening game of pool play.
USA Basketball responded to the disappointment of 2004 by putting together a stronger program with Mike Krzyzewski leading the U.S. to gold medals with undefeated runs in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics. Is that streak of golds destined to end as Team USA's Olympic winning streak did? Let's break down the comparison.