Does the US care about international hoops?

The US basketball team lost its quarterfinal game with Yugoslavia. It's not entirely surprising since the Yugos are a European basketball power, and their team has five NBA players including two (Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic) from a championship contender. The American team is stocked with either rising stars (Ben Wallace, Paul Pierce) or veterans (Reggie Miller, Antonio Davis), and is severely underpowered.

This team is proof that international hoops (other than the Olympics) is practically irrelevant in the US. The competition is being held in Indiana, the bread basket of American basketball, it's being televised nationally (on NBC), and still they field average players like Raef LaFrentz.

If the Americans had assembled a real "dream team"--one that included Shaqille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Chris Webber, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Jason Kidd and, let's say, Mike Bibby--a gold medal performance would hardly be in doubt.

In fairness to the players and owners (who increasingly determine which players are allowed to participate in these extra-curricular tournaments) the value of a gold medal is much less than the millions they earn in the NBA. Who can blame them for shying away from an international competition that offers little money and prestige?