Team USA's brutal Boomers sledge

With the Americans claiming their 15th gold medal in 18 Olympic Games, their chairman has hit out at other basketball nations.

Their win over Serbia was the most lopsided gold-medal victory since the 1992 Dream Team and USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo was unusually frank about why a significant gap continues to exist despite the growth of the game around the world and the international talent littered throughout NBA rosters.

“I’m all for raising the bar for global basketball,” Colangelo said.

The Boomers were devastated after their loss against Spain. Source: Getty

“The more interest in basketball on all levels, I’m for. I’m a lifer of the game.

"Basketball is the No.2 sport in the world. We just need to see these other countries get their acts together and become more competitive. I’m not going to be making any excuses.

“One of the officials said to me, ‘You oughta play with four.’ I said, ‘No, maybe the other teams oughta get their act together and compete.’ We’ve been helping in basketball around the world for 50 years.

"We’ve taught the world the game. We’ve taught their coaches. Look at the number of players in the NBA. Look at the number of international players in college today in the states. We’re all for that. I want to see their level raised.”

Ten years ago it appeared that the level had been raised, with a string of humiliating international defeats between 2002-06.

But the program that Colangelo built, Krzyzewski directed and players like Anthony made desirable is so good that it was able to send less than the best it had to offer and still keep alive a 53-game international winning streak dating back to a semifinal loss to Greece in the 2006 world championships in Japan.

Anthony and Krzyzewski shared a podium that night in Saitama, and a commitment that they wouldn’t share that failure again.