Dreamy Debut For U.S. -- Dream Team Opens By Routing Cubans By 79

PORTLAND - Leave it to the ultimate underdogs, the humble citizens of one of the last outposts of Communist rule, to put in perspective the futility of competing against the American Cream, er, Dream Team.

"As we say in Cuba," Coach Miguel Calderon Gomez said, ` "you cannot cover the sun with your finger."

Overwhelming beyond description, the U.S. men's basketball team made its debut with NBA professionals yesterday, destroying Cuba 136-57 in the Olympic qualifying tournament for this hemisphere.

Dali never produced anything as absurd. The men of Fidel Castro fell behind 27-9 in the opening minutes, scored consecutive baskets only twice, and were helpless in preventing Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler and the rest of the sneaker salesmen from traipsing through the lane.

Next up for the U.S. men in the Tournament of the Americas is the Canadian national team, tonight at Memorial Coliseum. They must place among the top four in the 10-team tournament to advance to Barcelona this summer, where possibly tougher games await them from several European teams.

But the Cuban coach begged for honesty: Only another NBA team, he said, could deny the U.S. team gold in Barcelona.

"It is a basketball machine - a perfect machine," Calderon said. "I know there's no such thing as perfect in this world, but that is as close as you can get."

Once Larry Bird got history out of the way, quickly hitting a 13-foot fade to score the first points for American pros, among the few sources of suspense was whether the Cubans could keep any of their big men on the floor.

Andres Gilbert, the outclassed Cuban center, was so barraged in the middle that he picked up three of his five (the maximum under international rules) personal fouls in the first 7 1/2 minutes. In came Felix Morales, who promptly committed three himself in the next two minutes.

So it went for the Cubans, who are not a bad team by global standards but would hardly set the Pac-10 Conference on fire. On an 11-game, 13-day tour against U.S. college teams last November, they were winless.

Records are incomplete and not always reliable with the Cubans, but if this was the worst loss ever for them in international ball, the coach was keeping it a state secret.

"If you lose by one (point) or 100, it's a loss," Calderon said, when asked the previous low mark. "It's not necessary to know."

When Fidel asks, the Cubans can give solace in that the U.S. victory does not even rank among their top 10 biggest blowouts in international competition. Thirteen teams have fared worse than the Cubans, whose performance against NBA pros seems almost heroic when compared to that turned in by the Sudan (pre-Manute Bol, of course) in a 173-14 loss to U.S. collegians in the 1979 World University Games.

Even more impressive, the Cubans got the U.S. team to pose with them for a photograph before the game. Some of the NBA pros were cool to the idea of breaking their game face for a friendly snapshot, but they agreed, kneeling with the gleeful Cubans, many of whom previously had known the stars only from video that made its way into the country.

"To see them right there in front of you is definitely an awesome thing," Morales said. "For me, it was an honor."

Said Charles Barkley, who regained enough composure to lead all players with 22 points and eight rebounds: "We don't want to make that a habit. Business is business."

Beyond guard Leonardo Perez, who scored 13 points by shooting over the relaxed U.S. perimeter defense, no Cuban scored in double figures. None had more than four rebounds or four assists. None got to joke around with courtside spectator Arsenio Hall, as injured U.S. center Patrick Ewing was doing early.

So why were the Cubans still smiling after the game?

"It is unheard of," Morales said beaming, "that the country that invented the game has to go to the pros to win the game."