I just watched the best basketball game in 2008 from 2:30 a.m. to 4:20 a.m.!
Team USA beat Spain 118 – 107 in an instant Olympic and basketball classic. Finally breaking an 8-year Gold Medal drought for USA Men’s basketball. If you were expecting a blowout at the hands of the U.S. you were mistaken. This was a 12-round heavy weight fight and Spain brought everything they had for 38 minutes.
The US came out pressing a bit clearly feeling the weight of their country on their shoulders. That got them into early foul trouble being too aggressive defensively on the perimeter. On the flip side, Spain came out calm and sharp leading until the 3:44 mark in the first quarter something Team USA had not faced at all in the Olympics.
Enter Dwyane Wade.
This guy went on to score 8 of his 13 first quarter points in the last 3 minutes of the quarter giving the US a 38-31 lead after one. Although this was a close game by Team USA standards they never trailed again after the 3:44 mark in the first period.
The rest of the game was punch-counter-punch. With both teams trading runs. The US never lead by more than 14 and Spain got as close as two early in the 4th quarter. The game was pretty much sealed on a 4-point play by Kobe Bryant with 3:12 remaining.
Here are some other thoughts to chew on…
- One very big and intriguing question was answered in this game. Who was going to take the big shots in a close game? I told Pete way back when the answer is unquestionably Kobe Bryant. He is the best player in the world with the greatest overall skill set. He proved that tonight. When Spain made their run to cut the game to 2 at the 8:13 mark in the fourth, Kobe single handedly took over the game. Team USA scored 27 points the rest of the way: Kobe scored (12 points) and assisted (5 points) on 17 total points to close out the game. He finished the game with 20 on 50% from the field.
- Another question was answered in record setting form. Can Team USA shoot the three effectively? Well they finished 13-28 (46.4%) from three setting an Olympic record for 3-pointers made.
- I thought Coach K made too many substitutions in such a close game. He should have stuck with the most effective line-ups longer as if this was a NCAA tournament game or NBA playoff game. You can’t entirely knock him for sticking with what got them to the Gold Medal game. But with this game being so close and the the way it was playing out I think it would have been more effective to shorten his rotation a bit.
- Ricky Rubio looks good and will certainly be a solid NBA point guard. His vision is phenomenal and defensive intensity is very promising. But he will have to improve his left hand, jumper and tone down all the antics playing with the ball when he gets to the league. Guys are quicker defensively and pick up on stuff like that. That’s why we don’t see more AND 1 ballers making the jump to the big stage.
- Rudy Fernandez played out of his mind before fouling out (he was the one who fouled Kobe on the 4-point play). He also had the highlight of the game maybe the entire basketball tournament when he emphatically banged on Dwight Howard for an AND 1. Portland should be excited for this guy to get on the court, but also have some caution. I can easily see him getting out of control in the NBA game and taking bad shots. Tonight he looked great because he hit some really really tough shots (step back, fadeaway threes with hands in his face) that I don’t see him making consistently in the NBA.
- Flash is officially back. He played like NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade this morning. He quickness, explosiveness, defensive instincts and aggression were off the charts. He finished the game with 27 and was without question the best player in the Olympics. In 8 games Wade scored 16.1ppg on 65% from the field.
Most importantly this collection of players set a new standard going forward for USA men’s basketball. Something the women’s team has been doing forever. Build a team not just throw a collection of talent together. Prepare for the Olympics by competing internationally leading up to the games. Besides playing team basketball and respecting the competition. They must get to know and support other U.S. Olympic athletes. Take part and revel in the entire Olympic experience as a team – it’s not just playing basketball.
It is those last two points which helps guys understand the importance and honor it is playing for their country. By doing those things it helps fuel the emotion, commitment and teamwork necessary for the U.S. regain it’s dominance over International basketball.
This game was more than worth me staying up over 18 straight hours. I hope you got to watch it.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Dannie, again you show your dedication; planned on staying up but had too many beers. Good to be back as a basketball power, maybe they finally get it. Fernandez, the little I!ve seen seems to bring a D.Collins like frenetic energy to the court, always moving. Hopefully one of ours gets to play in a few years [Iggy,Thad ?].
Dannie…Thanks a lot for the recap. No way I could stay up to watch it. It’s great to see basketball around the world develop to the point where we have no choice but to practice, play, and develop as a team in order to win the gold. Like Suede said, hopefully they get it and now fully understand the dedication required. The best part is, it will just continue to raise the level of the game, which is great for us fans.
I didn’t stay up, I went to sleep from 12-230, and then got up. Much better strategy.
Kobe took a couple bad shots in almost every game during the Olympics as well as Melo. His defense was fantastic most of the time, but offensively he settled for threes entirely too much and didn’t post up enough.
I agree Bosh was the surprise player of the tournament for Team USA. He was amazing at everything he did. Without his fantastic pick and roll defense and FT shooting team USA would have been in trouble.
I think Marc Gasol is going to have a hard time staying out of foul trouble in the NBA. But, with the additional space he will have to work with in the post he should be effective on offense in the post.
Pete I initially thought the same thing about Chris Paul. But then I thought more about it and I think he was smart not to penetrate like he does in the NBA. He dominates the ball and dribbles around a lot. He loves to get in the lane and dribble around in that box for 2.5 seconds then make the lob to Chandler to go to the hole. That works perfectly in the NBA because the rules keep the lane more open for him to maneuver in there. When I saw was him try to do that, instead of seeing a terrified NBA big man unsure of how to play the situation he had 3 dudes forming a triangle around him and he ended up just backing it out to reset. He also tried the lob to Howard on a few occasions and they just weren’t in sync at all – lobs right on point but Howard not even jumping for them unaware that the ball was even coming.
As for Howard I just think his post game isn’t advanced enough (yet) to deal with less time to make an offensive decision and less space to work with.
My 2012 Starters (not different from Pete’s):
Reserves:
whoops, I forgot Greg Oden. He can replace Horford.
Dannie’s team has 3 Blazers, not to mention Rudy will probably be the star of Spain by 2012.
They’re going to be scary.
Blazers should be unbelievable with the glut of talent they have at such a young age and more draft picks than they can use in the coming years as well. I think Bayless could be interchangeable with Monta Ellis but I prefer the better perimeter shooter. Now that I think of Eric Gordon could be a shooter on that team as well. And I think Brandon Rush could be a good role player guy as well. Do we think no other veterans would want to play?
That team would have trouble with this Spain team for sure, but they have the luxury of playing against a 32-year old Gasol vs. the 28-year version we just faced.
And I have no idea how good any of the young U.S. players well end up being. Oden could be the best big man in the world or a one-dimensional defensive player.
Pete you don’t think Deron Williams will want to play again?
Do you guys think it would have been different had Manu not been injured during the semis?
Good point about Chris Paul not being as effective as he was in the NBA with Chandler. He holds on to the ball a little too long for international play, and the defense just stays on that zone so, as it was pointed out, CP had to reset several times.
Am still not convinced about Bryant being the dominant player during the clutch, though. It seemed to me his teammates just deferred to him. Also, the fact that he dominated the clutch means he was hogging the ball at this time (anent, it may be argued he rightfully did). It just meant that since KB was dominating, no other teammate could prove his own mettle at that time. I believe there were at least two others in the team who are on a par with KB, particularly Wade and James.
I look forward to the next International Championships. I agree with the opinion that the USA will not be as dominant. I like it that way. Just good, healthy basketball for everyone to see and admire, regardless of which team anyone may be cheering for.
Thanks for the posts, guys. Very interesting and insightful.
Tsubs – about Kobe one thing you have to remember, although this was a collection of the best players in the world with many guys capable of dominating a game, it’s still a team and successful teams have players that know, accept and play their roles to perfection.
LeBron James has said all Olympics that Kobe was the guy willing and capable to take over a game in the clutch if things were not going well. They never had to deal with that proposition or allocate that role until the Gold medal game.
Wade’s role was the spark off the bench. LeBron was the versatile all-around forward who dominated the interior and weak side defense. Kobe was the perimeter defensive stopper. But with the game on the line I think everyone on that team as well as the coaching staff knew who the go-to guy would be and that’s Kobe.
You said his team deferred to him as if that was a bad thing. I argue it’s mandatory in order for teams to be successful. If you have too many guys trying to “prove his own mettle” you have no “team.” They deferred because they accepted Kobe as the dominant offensive player in that situation and they simply filled other roles i.e. offense rebound, catch and shoot, set screens etc.)
Kobe came through in a big way. He made the right pass and took the right shots in the fourth quarter. That’s why he is the best player. Like Pete said, he took some bad shots all through the Olympics but in the clutch he was nearly flawless (only mistake was playing terrible, reaching from behind defense on Fernandez which led to him dunking on Dwight Howard). Besides that he was perfect.