Dream Team

ATLANTA -- The Dream Team debate is certain to heat up now. The USA baseball team won the bronze medal at the XXVI Olympiad yesterday and -- in doing so -- provided another compelling argument for the use of professional players in 2000.There is little question that the United States would field the best team in the world if major-leaguers were eligible for the Olympics and a format was created that did not conflict with the major-league season. There also is reason to believe that the International Olympic Committee will find a way to make all that happen, but there was strong sentiment at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium that it would be a pointless exercise in commercialism and U.S. self-congratulation.

ATLANTA -- Much was made four years ago about the elbow Charles Barkley threw at Herlander Coimbra of Angola during a 68-point rout for the original Dream Team in Barcelona, Spain. Little was made of the blowout, mainly because both teams expected it.Their Olympic rematch passed without incident last night at the Georgia Dome. What will be remembered is not only how quiet the Phoenix Suns forward seemed during an 87-54 victory for this year's Dream Team, but also how well the Angolans played during the first half.

ATLANTA -- Give me headstrong Lisa Leslie over hothead Charles Barkley, sweet-passing Dawn Staley over trash-talking Gary Payton, the real Dream Team over the repugnant Green Team, but only under one condition:The women never change.They're a joy to watch and a joy to interview, but how long will it last? Women's basketball is getting so big, it won't be long before Leslie does a commercial as Grandpapa.Heck, George Steinbrenner was in attendance at Morehouse College yesterday, ready to fire U.S. coach Tara VanDerveer if the women's team failed to trounce Cuba.

ATLANTA -- Their coach got the job a decade ago after being a national war hero. Their most-recognized player found his piece of the spotlight at the 1992 Olympic Games after being elbowed by Charles Barkley. And their best player is nowhere to be found, perhaps back home in Luanda or maybe in Portugal.The Angolan national basketball team is once again at the Olympic Games, bringing memories of Barcelona into tonight's mis-matchup against another Dream Team at the Georgia Dome (10 p.m.). "It will be something special for us," said Justino Victoriano, a 22-year-old forward, "and something very difficult."

ATLANTA -- Argentina hadn't played men's basketball in the Olympics since the 1952 Games in Helsinki, Finland, losing to the United States by nine points.Talk about laying in wait.Argentina, a team that former Duke star Grant hill admitted last week he knew nothing about, proved to be the Dream Team's worst nightmare for more than a half last night at the Georgia Dome.When the United States woke up from its nearly 30-minute slumber in their Olympic opener, it pulled away to a deceptively one-sided 96-68 victory.

How hot it will beTemperature: High 95, low 73Forecast: Rain expected, with high humidityMain eventThe first swimming finals are tonight, in the women's 100-meter freestyle and 400 individual medley and the men's 100 breaststroke and 200 freestyle. U.S. hopes will ride mostly on Jenny Thompson, the former world-record holder in the 100 freestyle; breaststroker Kurt Grote, a two-time NCAA champion; and Josh Davis, the sixth-fastest American ever in the 200 free.Best of the restDream Team III makes its debut against Argentina at 10 p.m. with a host of questions to answer, all created by the phenomenal success of Dream Team I at Barcelona.

ATLANTA -- The young man from Denmark apologized for his naivete, then asked Karl Malone the question."Excuse me, I am new to this business, but why is a basket worth two points?" the man wanted to know.Malone smiled."You are new," the Utah Jazz power forward said gently. "That's a tough question. I thought I've heard them all. It's just the way Dr. Naismith designed it, my man. You get two points for a basket, unless you step outside the three-point line. That's the way we play the game over here in middle America, son."

It was a question so absurd that it even caught the usually even tempered Lenny Wilkens off guard. "Is there any scenario where the United States can't win the gold medal?" was the query, and Wilkens' response was fast and firm."I don't even think about that," said Wilkens, the coach of the Dream Team in this year's Olympics. "We have 12 of the best basketball players in the world who should be honored to be in the Olympics. We just want to go out there and show the world we're the best."One would imagine that Wilkens, over the next few weeks, will have one of the easiest jobs in Atlanta as he coaches the latest version of the Dream Team, which will make its 1996 Olympic debut tomorrow against Argentina.

FIRED UP ABOUT the Olympics? Oh, you betcha. I'm sitting here in front of my grainy big-screen TV, with the remote in my fat, Cheetos-stained fingers, counting the minutes until I can punch in the satellite coordinates and watch Team USA kick some butt.Yeah, I sprung for the home-theater concept expecting NBC's usual, thorough coverage of the games, which should look like this on a typical night:7: 00-7: 01: Modern pentathlon.7: 05-9: 05: Dream Team vs. Brazil.9: 08-9: 09: Judo.9: 11-10: 11: Dream Team post-game interviews.

The alleged incident involving Dream Team member Charles Barkley in a Cleveland bar early Sunday morning raises an interesting question: Does punching another person in a bar violate the code of conduct U.S. Olympic athletes are supposed to follow?Barkley, who has a history of similar altercations, reportedly was with fellow Dream Teamer Reggie Miller when Jeb Tyler of Spencerport, N.Y., began talking with a woman who was with the players at the Basement, a local dance club.According to Tyler, Barkley told him to leave and Tyler suggested that Barkley leave.