Interbasket

The United States Men’s basketball team, dubbed the Redeem Team, captured the Olympic gold medal for basketball yesterday, defeating Spain 118-107 in a tightly-contested and high-scoring game (replay).

The 2008 US National Team has shunned any comparisons to the iconic Dream Team, and ironically, they’re probably the closest thing to the 1992 team in terms of dominating the competition.  Coming into the final game with Spain, the USA had defeated teams by an average of just over 30 points a game.

The win placed the USA back on top of the basketball world, but the game also showed why Spain is considered one of the tournament favorites, and basketball powerhouse, as they played a composed game, withstood the American’s defensive pressure, and fought hard for 40 minutes before finally succumbing by eleven points, which is the lowest victory of margin for the Americans during the Beijing Olympics.

Quarter-by-Quarter Breakdown:
First Period: Other than the 17-year old Ricky Rubio starting in place of the injured Jose Calderon, there weren’t any significant changes in the starting lineups.

LeBron James started out the game with a long three pointer for the United States, and was immediately answered by a Pau Gasol’s three point play on Spain’s first play.  The two teams would exchange leads throughout the beginning of the game before Spain took one-point lead after a Carlos Jimenez three pointer to make it 10-9 Spain.

The Spanish were able to maintain a slim lead throughout the next four minutes and would take a 5 point lead after free throw by Juan Carlos Navarro.  The United States would then outscore Spain 21-9 to finish out the first quarter, to take a 38-31 lead.  Dwyane Wade scored eight points during their run and led the United States in scoring with twelve first quarter points.

The second period starts out with five straight points from Kobe Bryant, which pushes the United States’ lead to 13.  Critical time for Spain because with a couple key mistakes, this could be when the United States goes on one of their runs that takes the spirit out of their opponents.

But the Spanish would remain strong with a Marc Gasol basket, a Rudy Fernandez three, and a couple free throws from Ricky Rubio that puts the Spanish within striking distance again.  Spain would close the lead to six twice in the period, but wouldn’t get any closer than that.

USA goes into halftime with an eight-point lead 69-61, thanks to Dwyane Wade’s 21 points and 10 points from Chris Paul.  Spain’s Rudy Fernandez, who will play for Portland in the NBA, came alive with 11 points in the period, including three three-pointers.  Pau Gasol added 9 points.

Third Period: Spain took advantage of four USA turnovers in the first few minutes and uses a 10-6 run, with four points each from Felipe Reyes and Juan Carlos Navaroo, to start the third period.

The run brings the lead down to just four points, 75-71, and prompts the USA to call a timeout.

The two teams would exchange buckets before the US eventually builds the lead to 11 before Juan Carlos Navarro strikes at the buzzer with one of his patented runners to make it a nine-point lead going into the final quarter.  Navarro goes for four field goals and eight points in the quarter and Carmelo Anthony hits six points for the USA.

Fourth period: Spain is down nine, but they use a 7-0 run out of the gate with two straight buckets from Pau Gasol, and a three from Rudy Fernandez to cut the United States’ lead to just two, 91-89 with a little over eight minutes remaining in the game.  This mini-run prompts another US timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, the USA answers Spain’s 7-0 run with one of their own; Kobe hit a tough jumper in the lane, a Deron Williams three, and a Dwight Howard dunk, both off Bryant assists.   The lead is back up to nine, at 98-89.

Rudy Fernandez would break Spain’s drought with another three, but Kobe would answer with a three pointer of his own.  After a LeBron James putback of his own miss, Fernandez runs a pick-and-roll with Pau Gasol.  Dwight Howard switches out on Rudy after the supposedly great-defender Kobe Bryant goes for a steal.  Rudy looks left takes one hard dribble, takes two long steps with Dwight Howard trailing, and puts down a spectacular one-hand dunk with Howard in tow.  And one.

After the free throw, the lead is back down to eight, 103-95.  Pau Gasol would hit for four points on Spain’s next two trips to cut the lead to five, 104-99.

On the following USA possession, Kobe Bryant hits a long-three and is fouled by Rudy Fernandez.  Not only would Bryant convert the free-throw for a rare four point play, Rudy Fernandez would commit his fifth foul on the play, and was disqualified from the game.

And even with the lead back up to nine with just over three minutes left, Spain still had more fight in them.

Spain would score the next five points with a Juan Carlos Navaroo runner and a Carlos Jimenez three cutting the lead back down to four, 108-104.

And again the USA would counter.  Dwyane Wade would hit his fourth and final three-pointer on the next possession to push the lead back up to seven with just over two minutes remaining.

Spain would miss their next three shots and wouldn’t get any closer than six.  With 34 seconds left, Marc Gasol would follow up a miss by his brother to make the score 115-107 and USA bench was already celebrating, knowing that the game was all but over.

The final score, 118-107, was not indicative of how close the game really was as technical fouls against Spain’s bench and Rubio padded the final score.

Respect for the Both Teams
After the game, there was respect for both teams for what they had just accomplished.

“Every possession counted.  You couldn’t take one second off. Much respect for Spain” LeBron James said shaking his head as if the USA had lost the game “Spain was unbelieveable.”

“It has been a very beautiful game to play,” said Spain’s Pau Gasol. “It’s a pity because we came mighty close. We never backed down and played a tough game. I think this final game says a lot about what team we are and how we deserve to be in this position.  We should be very proud of what we have accomplished here.”

“Spain was fabulous. Everything we did, we tried to stop them, we couldn’t stop them completely and it was a great basketball game where everybody involved played at the highest level,” said US Coach Mike Krzyzewski. “It brought out the best in us. We played with great character in one of the great games of international basketball history.”

Gold Medal Game Recap, Facts, & Stats
The USA used great shooting from the three-point line. hitting a US Olympic record 13 threes at a 46% clip (13-28 including four threes from Dwyane Wade, who led the US in scoring with 27 points and 4 steals.  Kobe Bryant added 20 points, 6 assists and played a significant role in withstanding Spain’s comeback in the fourth quarter.

Lebron James scored 14 and grabbed 6 rebounds.  Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul each scored 13 points.  Paul added a team-high 5 assists.

Rudy Fernandez led Spain in scoring with 22 points, Pau Gasol put up 21 points and 6 rebounds.  Juan Carlos Navarro added 18 points and 4 assist.  Carlos Jimenez chipped in with 13 points.

Pau Gasol’s brother Marc, who will join Fernandez as an NBA rookie next year, scored 11 points and pulled down 5 rebounds.

Ricky Rubio totaled 6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in helping to fill the point guard void left by the injured Jose Calderon.  With his silver medal, Rubio became the youngest basketball player ever to win a gold medal, beating out the legendary USSR center, Vladimir Tatchenko, who won a bronze in the 1976 Olympics.

USA Basketball has put together a 96% winning percentage, with a 122-5 record, and have now medaled in every Olympic basketball competition they have particiapted in. Including these Olympics, the USA has 13 gold medals, one silver (1972) and two bronzes (1988, 2004).

Links and Resources: Americans overcome battling Spain to win gold medal (FIBA), USA Men Fight Off Spain To Claim 118-107 Win And Olympic Gold Medal (USA Basketball), USA vs. Spain Replay (Interbasket), 2008 Olympic Men’s Basketball Tournament Results (USA Basketball), USA-Spain Play by Play and Boxscore (NBC Olympics), Images in this article are courtesy of Gettys Images.

The 2008 Olympic Basketball Gold Medal will go to either the United States or Spain.  Watch and discuss both the gold and bronze medal games live on your PC by clicking the appropriate regional link below:

August 24, 2008
Bronze Medal Game (discuss)
12:00: Argentina vs. Lithuania
Watch the game live in Argentina, Lithuania, Spain, USA

<< GOLD MEDAL GAME (discuss)
14:30: USA vs Spain
Watch game live in Argentina, Lithuania, Spain, USA

The USA and Spain, the two powerhouses and the favorites coming into the tournament advanced to the medal game by defeating Argentina and Lithuania respectively in the Olympic semi-finals, they’ll now play in a rematch for the 2008 gold medal in basketball.

The USA had demolished Spain earlier in the tournament during pool play.  Look for both teams to come out extremely intense and focused, with the Americans defense being the key factor.  The Spanish’s key to victory will be keeping turnovers low and their three-point accuracy, both of which will keep the United States running a half court game.  Ricky Rubio is going to be a great player, but Jose Calderon must play at least 32 efficient minutes, the fiery guard is the linchpin for the Team Spain.

The USA must continue to keep up the defensive pressure, but to pick and choose when best to gamble.  Kobe Bryant’s three-point shooting has mostly been horrendous during the Olympics and his breaking the offense to shoot contested shots has unsuccessful the majority of the time, but his presence on the court is important for the United States, more than I’d like to admit.

Olympic Basketball Semifinals Recaps
USA 101 - Argentina 81 (boxscore) - The USA defeated Argentina by 20 points, as Argentina lost their leader and best player Manu Ginobili six minutes into the game after re-injuring his right ankle.  The Americans used a balanced attack led by Carmelo Anthony’s 21 points and LeBron James 15 points.   Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul each had 12 points.  And Chris Bosh added 11 points for the Americans.  Luis Scola scored 28 and Carlos Delfino put in 17 points and 8 rebounds for the Argentinians.

Unfortunately for Argentina, Manu Ginobili’s injury will keep him out of the bronze medal game against Lithuania.

Spain 91 - Lithuania 86 (boxscore) - Behind Pau Gasol’s 19 points and Rudy Fernandez’s 18 points, Spain put Lithuania away with a 91-86 win.  The game was tightly-contested with both teams exchanging leads several times throughout the game before Spain pulled away

For the Spanairds, Felipe Reyes added 15 points and Carlos Jimenez had 11 points and 7 rebounds.  Simas Jasaitis and Sarunas Jasikevicius scored 19 points for Lithuania. Robertas Javtokas added 15 points for the Lithuanians.

After the Bronze medal game, Lithuania will have played for the basketball bronze medal in all five of the Olympics they’ve participated as since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.  Team Lithuania has three bronze medals (1992, 1996, 2000), and placed fourth in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Links and Resources: Final: USA vs Spain discussion thread (interbasket), Bronze game: Lithuania Vs. Argentina (Interbasket), Gasol leads Spain past Lithuania 91-86 (AFP), USA-Argentina Boxscore (NBCOlympics), Spain-Lithuania Boxscore (NBCOlympics), Ginobili done for the olympic (Interbasket)

The Olympic basketball’s final four has been determined, and there are no surprises as Argentina, Lithuania, Spain, and the USA, the top four seeds going into the round have advanced.

The four teams have a combined record of 21-3 with the United States the only undefeated team left in the field.  Argentina, Lithuania and Spain are each 5-1.

To watch the games live, you’ll have to determine whom is your local official Olympic partner.

August 22, 2008 Game Times
20:00: Spain vs Lithuania (discuss the game)
Watch Live in Argentina, Lithuania, Spain, USA

22:15: Argentina vs. USA (discuss the game)
Watch Live in Argentina, Lithuania, Spain, USA

If the above providers don’t work, click here to find your specific local partner in your region or country.

Olympic Basketball Quarterfinal Recaps:
Spain defeated Croatia 72-59 behind 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots from Pau Gasol.  As with their two other losses previous to this game, the Croatians couldn’t find the mark from three, shooting only 5-17.  Marko Banic led the Croatians with 15 points.   Felipe Reyes chipped in 13 and Jose Calderon added 10 for the Spanish team.

Lithuania put away host China in the second match of the day 94-68.  The game was only a two point difference after one, and from there the Lithuanians pulled away with each subsequent quarter, outscoring the Chinese team by 9, 6, and 9.  Sarunas Jasikevicius hit 5-6 threes, scored 23 points, and dished out 6 assists.  Linas Kleiza and Ramaunas Siskauskas added 15 each.  Team China was led by Yao Ming 19 points and 7 rebounds, while Yi Jianlian added 11 points and 9 rebounds.

The Aussies kept up with the Americans, keeping tight after one, and only down 12 at half.  That was until Team USA used a 14-point run to start the third that opened up the game.  Kobe Bryant scored 25 points for the Americans in his first game of the tournament in which he shot better than 50% from the field.  Lebron James added 16 points and 9 rebounds, and Carmelo Anthony scored 15 for the USA.  Patrick Mills was amazing again against the Americans, the speedy 5-11 guard scored 20 points with 3 steals.  Glen Saville socred 13, and Joe Ingles added 11 hitting all four of his shots.

Everyone expected the Argentina-Greece match to be the most competitive, and they were right.  Behind Carlos Delfino’s 15 fourth quarter points, great individual defense by Pablo Prigioni, and Manu Ginobili scoring Argentina’s final seven points, the defending Olympic Champions held off Greece 80-78.  Greece had a stretch in which they threw the ball away three consecutive possessions, allowing the Argentinians to build a lead before riding some hot three-point shooting back into the game.  Ginobili’s layup put Argentina up 5 with 46 seconds left, Greece’s Panagiotis Vasilopoulos banked in a three.  And after a missed three by Ginobili on the other end, Vasileios Spanoulis dribbled up-court, shot a straight-away three that was just short to make the final margin.

Manu Ginobili led Argentina with 24 points, hitting 6-13 threes.  Carlos Delfino scored 23, Luis Scola had 11 points and 8 rebounds and Pablo Prigioni added 7 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists.  For Team Hellas, Antonis Fotsis led the Greeks with a double-double (17 points and 10 rebounds) and received some surprise offensive contribution from Konstatinos Tsartsaris with 13 points.  Tsartsaris had scored only 9 points total in the five games previous.  Ioannis Bouroussis remained solid again with 12 and 3 rebounds.

Links and Resources: Watch Olympic Basketball Live Online (interbasket), NBC Olympics Live Basketball Coverage (NBC Olympics),

Day three of Eurobasket 2007 saw several upsets that changed the face of the next round:

Israel 87: Serbia 83 (game thread)
Israel shocked Serbia today behind an excellent performance from Yaniv Green. Israel was the 16th and final team to qualify for EuroBasket.

Coming into the game, many believed that the size of the Serbs (specifically Darko Milicic) would punish the Israeli team in the paint. Enter Yaniv Green, who held down the middle, scored 26 points and pulled in 12 rebounds for Israel, including two free throws that gave Israel the lead for good with under a minute left. Green’s performance was doubly-important as the 6-9 forward was matched-up against his bigger opponent, in both size and name, 7-0 Serbian center Darko Milicic (18 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks). Yotam Halperin added 17 points for Israel. Milan Gurovic scored 19 points for Serbia.

Lithuania 84: Germany 80 (game thread)
In a battle of the two unbeatens in group C, Lithuania was able to squeeze out a close-win after almost forfeiting a 21-point lead against Germany. With 11 seconds remaining, Dirk Nowitzki hit two free-throws (after hitting a three the previous possession) to bring Germany within one, but an untimely offensive foul by Ademola Okulaja on Germany’s next possession closed out any chance for Team Germany. Nowitzki put up 28 points and 9 rebounds while Ademola Okulaja had 12 points and 7 rebounds. Darjus Lavrinovic led Lithuania with 18 points, Sarunas Jasikevicius added 15 points, 10 assists and 4 rebounds and Ramunas Siskauskas had 13 points and 6 rebounds.

Portugal 77: Latvia 67 (game thread)
Andris Biedrins scored 14 points, grabbed a tournament-high 18 rebounds and blocked 3 shots for Latvia, but that wasn’t enough to overcome his team’s overall 27% from the field. On the other side, Portugal was an efficient 9-18 from three and 90% (20-22) from the free throw line. Portugal was led by forward Joao Santos who scored 14 points and had 8 rebounds, and Mário-Gil Fernandes had 14 points. For Latvia, Kristaps Janicenoks hit 4-6 from three, 9-10 from the free throw line and scored 22 points, but missed all five of his two-point attempts.

Even with the win, it did not guarantee Portugal a spot into the next round. Croatia would have to defeat Spain for the Portuguese to advance, and if the Spanish beat Croatia, Latvia would move on.

Slovenia 67: France 66 (game thread)
Slovenia continues to surprise, bringing their overall mark to 3-0 with an impressive win over France.

Slovenia led 67-65 with 0.1 seconds left. Tony Parker, the 2007 NBA Finals MVP, went to the free throw line with a chance to tie the game with two free throws, but was only able to convert one. France focused their defense on Jaka Lakovic (Lakovic only got one shot up; he missed), so his backcourt mate Domen Lorbek responded with 15 points (5-5 from the field). Matjaz Smodis added 15 points and 6 rebounds for the Slovenians. Despite missing the crucial free-throw, Tony Parker scored 25 points for Las Bleus and Ronny Turiaf had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Russia 61: Greece 53 (game thread)
Greece just couldn’t get their offense going against the Russians today and succumbed from 37% from the field and 58% from the free-throw line. Super Greek backcourt Dmitrios Diamantidis and Theo Papaloukas combined for 16 points, 9 turnovers and just 2 assists. Andrei Kirilenko collected 17 rebounds, 12 points and 5 turnovers for Russia, while JR Holden scored 17 points. V asillis Spanoulis led Greece with 12 points but shot just 3-9 from the field and 4-8 from the free throw line.

Turkey 80: Czech Republic 72 (game thread)
The Turks got their first win over the tired-Czechs. Mehmet Okur and Hidayet Turkoglu led Turkey to a 15-2 start, and the duo finished with 16 points at the end of the first quarter. The Czechs fought back in the next quarter, to come within three, but another 15-0 run expanded the Turkish lead to 46-31 at the half.

CR made a couple more runs in the second half, but wouldn’t be able to overtake Turkey. Lubos Barton scored 22 points for the Cezch Republic. For Turkey, Memo Okur finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, Turkoglu scored 22 points, had 5 rebounds and 5 turnovers. Ibrahim Kuatluay scored 17 points after being held to zero points yesterday by Germany.

Croatia 85: Spain 84 (game thread)
In a day of upsets, this was probably the biggest one. Marko Tomas hit a three with 3.1 seconds left and Rudy Fernandez couldn’t convert the final shot; lifting the Croatian National Team over the 2006 World Champions Spain.

Spain, had been unbeaten for not only the two games of EuroBasket, but for 28 straight international competitions going back. The win gave the Croatians the top seed coming out of Group B.

Rudy Fernandez had a chance to win the game, but his drive into the heart of the Croatian defense yielded no basket. As the Spanish team complained that Fernandez was fouled on the drive, the Croatians celebrated their win. The three Markos led the Croatian team: Marko Popovic scored 18 points, Marko Banic grabbed 9 rebounds (+12 points), and Marko Tomas passed for 4 assists in addition to hitting the game-winning three. Pau Gasol’s 26 points led the Spanish, Rudy Fernandez added 14 points and 3 steals and Felipe Reyes had 10 points and 10 rebounds. With the win, Croatia will face Israel in the first round, while Spain will face Greece.

Italy 79: Poland 70 (game thread)
The stakes were high- the winner of this game would move on, the loser would go home. Poland finished the first quarter with a 16-14 lead, but Italy would capture the rest of the quarters, behind a strong second that included a 22-6 run. Marco Belinelli led Italy with 20 points and Andrea Bargnani went for 19 points and 7 rebounds. Lucasz Koszarek put up a double-double for the Polish, 10 points and 11 assists. Andrzej Pluta scored 15 points and Adam Wojcik had 12 and 6 rebounds. Massimo Bulleri added 10 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds for Team Italy.

With the completion of today’s games Latvia, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Poland have been eliminated from the tournament. The top three teams from the four groups move into two groups of six in the second phase, which starts in Madrid on Friday, September 7th, with the results from the first phase carrying over.