By Steve Wilstein

AP columnist

updated 1:02 a.m. ET Aug. 29, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - Ten time zones away, the most venerated coach in basketball history, John Wooden, proudly watched the U.S. women’s basketball team win gold medals playing the game the way he always taught it.

Unselfishly. Strong on movement, shooting, passing. Communicating on and off the court.

If only the American men had studied the same concepts before they came to the Olympics, they might have won gold, too, instead of bronze.

“The women play the purest basketball,” Wooden said from his home in California, his voice strong, his eye for the game still keen at 93. “Their fundamentals are much more sound. They don’t have the athletic ability of the men. They’re not as big or as strong and can’t jump as high. They play below the rim, not above it. But there’s a harmony to their game. It’s the way basketball should be played.”

In beating Australia 74-63 Saturday to win a third straight Olympics, the American women were not at their sharpest. They sputtered at times, shot poorly in stretches, got outrebounded in the first half. They trailed by as many as four points in the third quarter.

Yet they stayed together as a team, leaned on their leaders, talked to each other — unlike the men who had no players with Olympic experience.

Sheryl Swoopes scored only five points but contributed in other ways.

“It’s not always about having those veterans who are going to go out and score a lot of points for you,” Swoopes said. “Obviously, I didn’t score a lot of points today. I didn’t shoot the ball well. I think the men (needed) a couple of veteran players to get everybody up and together on the same page and say, ‘Y’know what, we’re OK, we’re going to get the job done.’

“There was a point tonight where we did that. We were down by four points and we looked at each other and said, 'All right, it’s time. Now we’ve got to get the job done.’ I think that’s one of the biggest differences between our team and the team the men have.”

The other big difference was passion. The women had it, the men didn’t.

“It’s the camaraderie, it’s the innocence of basketball that’s played on this stage,” said Dawn Staley, waxing poetic after announcing this would be her last Olympics as a player. “When we get together for USA basketball, it’s a selfless environment and it’s basketball played the way it should be played. It almost takes you back to your childhood, days when you just played simply for pride. And that’s what we do for our country.”

Staley, Swoopes and Lisa Leslie — who have nine gold medals among them — spoke with a love for the game never heard among the NBA players in Athens.

The men had the disadvantage of coming together late after other NBA players turned down their Olympic invitations. But that’s a lame excuse for players with such strong individual talents. Most of them never learned to play as a team on any level. They didn’t learn it quickly enough here.

“Larry Brown is an outstanding coach and I thought he’d be able to take players with all those extraordinary athletic abilities and win, even if they hadn’t been together very long,” Wooden said. “But I thought as I watched them that maybe subconsciously there’s too much 'me’ and not enough 'we.’

“That’s the way they’ve learned to play. The NBA loves showmanship. That’s what their fans want. But in the Olympics it’s about the team, not the individual.”

Wooden’s name is on the awards that go to the most outstanding men’s and women’s college players each season. His books are the bibles of the game and can be found on the shelves in virtually every coach’s office at all levels, from high schools to the pros. His UCLA dynasty in the 1960s and early ’70s exemplified his principles and has never been matched.

“It makes me very, very proud to see a team play the way the American women did,” Wooden said. “It’s not just that they won a gold medal, it’s the way they pulled together and used different players strategically. Their closeness off the court also makes a lot of difference.”

Staley couldn’t agree more.

“I knew Lisa when she was ... actually, I changed her diapers,” Staley joked. “It was so long ago.

“It’s tremendous how we’ve grown, on and off the floor. Our friendship off the floor really does help on the court. I can talk to Lisa any kind of way. I think we have a mutual respect. Sometimes I don’t say things appropriately. But she knows I mean well.”

Leslie laughed about that. It’s easy to laugh when you win, and winning comes only after a lot of hard work. These American women made their commitments to play in the Olympics long ago and never wavered.

The priority is different for the American men. Their paychecks and glory come in the NBA, not the Olympics.

Next time, though, when the games are in Beijing, USA Basketball would be wise to pick players who have international experience, a true desire to play in the Olympics, and a willingness to sacrifice themselves for the team.

It wouldn’t hurt, too, if the players packed copies of Wooden’s books and DVDs of the women’s games.

MORE FROM BASKETBALL

Basketball Section Front

Knight rips Team USA players, organizers TSN: College players not the answer U.S. can only question what went wrong TSN: U.S. hoops demise began in '92 U.S. women have youthful help on way Interactive: Courtside with dream teams NBCO: Inside the sport Medal winners U.S. medal winners U.S. roster Basketball Section Front   Add Basketball headlines to your news reader: