The USA’s win over France in the gold medal match of the 2024 Olympics resulted in several analysts praising Stephen Curry. Richard Jefferson, an analyst who has played both with and against Curry, revealed the importance of a high-IQ shooter like him.
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Further, after naming all the top guards who backed out from playing for the USA at the 2004 Olympics, RJ discussed how a player like Steph would’ve made a huge difference.
Immediately after LeBron James and Co. won gold at the Paris Games, the panel of Road Trippin’ went live on YouTube and reacted to the same. With Curry being the man of the hour with his impressive performance in the clutch, Jefferson stated that a player like the Warriors guard could’ve potentially made the difference for the USA winning gold in the 2004 Olympics.
“It would’ve been nice to have a Steph Curry on our team cause that’s really what we were lacking in ’04. We had Ray Allen backed out, Mike Bibby backed out, Jason Kidd backed out, Chauncey Billups said no, Rip Hamilton said no, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter. When I go back and look at our beautiful bronze medal that we won… I’d look at how important shooting is for the USA. It’s not just the physical,” Jefferson said.
The squad representing the USA at the Athens Olympics had no players who were considered great 3-point shooters. Shawn Marion was the best shooter from the 2003-2004 season, recording 90 3-pointers on 34% 3FG. During the quadrennial event, Marion failed to average more than 0.5 three-pointers per game.
This is where Argentina had a huge advantage over the USA in the infamous semifinal contest. Led by Manu Ginobili, the South American squad knocked 11 three-pointers at 50% efficiency. The US team, in contrast, hit only 3 shots from beyond the arc at an awful efficiency of 27.3%.
The struggles from the 3-point land was consistent throughout the tournament. On average, the USA was recording fewer than 6 three-pointers a game. While Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury were responsible for 3.2 three-pointers made per game, their efficiency (34.45%) took a toll on the team.
LeBron and Carmelo Anthony, who were the two major competitors for the 2004 Rookie of the Year race, underperformed as they only combined for 7.8 points per game.
The absence of players such as Tracy McGrady, Ray Allen, and Baron Davis, among others, had an adverse effect. One can only imagine what the result would’ve been had the USA Basketball had a few of these sharpshooters in the squad.
