Thought this was an interesting read about the non-Gold medal winning USA basketball team of 2004. Lot of the blame is placed on Larry Brown:
New details on what went wrong for USA Basketball in 2004
There is also an oral history type article on the subject:
Red, White and Bronze: The death and rebirth of USA Basketball
http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/red-white-and-bronze-2004-death-and-rebirth-usa-basketball