Team USA 119, Spain 82: Analysis
Chris Paul (photo. Mannion)(Author’s note: NBC didn’t air the game live on the West Coast. Sorry for the delay.)
Why Team USA won: The second quarter blowout run that is becoming trademark with this group. Holding a nine-point lead at the end of the first, Team USA started racking up steals, knocking down threes and cutting through Spain’s D like they were traffic cones. By halftime it was a wrap, and the second half was just salad dressing.
Why Spain lost: They gave up. After the U.S. took its 16-point lead at halftime, the announcers wondered aloud if Spain’s coaching staff would tuck their cards away and not show anything going into the medal round. Whether that was the case, or Spain’s players just conceded the game in their own minds, at no point in the second half did it seem like they truly thought they could win.
Looking ahead: While Dirk Nowitzki could give anyone on Team USA massive buckets, and Chris Kaman could easily slap up a double-double, Germany (1-3) just isn’t that good. They were beaten by China on Saturday, lost to Spain by double digits before that, and were 20-pieced by Greece earlier in the tournament. Where’s Ademola Okulaja when you need him?
August 16th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Arrogant says:
Mello was giving them treys in their face…. great play by usa…. looks like their legit..
August 16th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Big Freeze says:
“looks like [they're] legit”
August 16th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Ashlov says:
El Teabag complete. If Team USA manages to not get too confident, they should be able to blow away every team. I’d like to see them take out Australia by 20 or 30 points, to make up for their half-ass game last time.
August 16th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Tha Boddy says:
Team USA is getting it done…Gold here we come…
August 16th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
georg says:
haha nice some love for my boy Adi
August 16th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
marcus the great says:
i was watchin in bed while my girl was sleep. after she got up she said “i woke up one time, looked at the score and wondered if they (spain) was really playin or jus runnin and throwin the ball around”
pretty much sums up the game…
August 16th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
weezy f says:
told you the games arent live here fuck nbc pay so much money but we cant really see highlights on other stations
August 16th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
AB_40 says:
menn spain gave up big time leaving some sneaky ish ready for the medal rounds but if they don’t win then?
There will stand that they lost to the us twice and this time by 37 in preliminary’s and how much in the finals? who knows
August 16th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
fReSh says:
yep, spain seemed like they dont want to show everything they got….i mean i saw pau gasol nearly fall asleep on the bench…..
by the way….great that Dime knows Ademola Okulaja aka the Warrior, but guys, the former Tar Heel has a tumor removed in his back, and the whole german national team is playing for him…..
August 16th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Dagomar says:
Why did Spain lose?
Gasol ain’t Lebron and Calderon isn’t Kobe. Let’s face it: if Team USA plays like this they still have WAY more talent than any other team. A 1-2-3 punch of Brown-Kobe-Wade? That’s ridiculous. And when everyone plays D and executes sound, fundamental basketball . . . game over. Give them the gold.
August 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
daquest?on says:
yo team usa played great! thats how they are supposed to play. i hate when teams throw in the towel after the first half, i think that everyone that has played this sport since they were little, were told never to give up even if ur losing 100 to 1. ricky rubio played good, extremely great for a 17 year old
August 16th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
daquest?on says:
did anyone notice how the commentator kept calling rudy fernandez rudy rodriguez?? saying that he played for portland last year??? get ur facts straight that was sergio rodriguez
August 16th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
sans says:
15 people on this site thought Spain would whup on us…Way to be global DIME! 15 retarded Europeans are super angry right now, but c’mon, we invented this shit.
August 16th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
E$ says:
D.Wade had 30 steals!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr9MLxwbzVU
August 16th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
Man, I totally underestimated us. I thought we would have a tough time w spain and Greece.
This is one talented and motivated group.
I guess Doc was right….We just too damn good for the WORLD!!!
Go USA
August 16th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
the mamba says:
I hope usa keeps kobe, bron, melo, howard, cp3, dwill, wade, and bosh together for 2012. We would be unstoppable
August 16th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
This is what a butt whooping is supposed to be like. Wade played great, Melo was giving them 3s, Prince came off the bench and planted 3s, Redd was dunking (!!!), Lebron was running over niggas, it was a great showing all around.
August 16th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
yoda says:
sans, naismith was a canadian, so techicaly americans didn’t invented “that shit”
usa played great game, great D. flash played like mad man. kobe still tends to jack shots, but i know he will be great when usa needs him most. as for spaniards, they played without backbone. only ricky rubio and that reyes? showed balls, marc gasol also tried to do something. others were no show till 5 mins to end, when they started to shoot 3 pointers and tried to drive to basket.
side note, coach K really needs to play more prince and boozer. usa had 20+ lead in last quarter but those 2 seen some burn maybe in last 5 minutes. after all, guys skipped theirs summer to play for national team, and now they get some garbage time.
August 16th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Tim says:
Tayshaun prince just earned more playing time…Guy is so sneaky good.
August 16th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Xavier Garcia says:
Im from Spain and I thought the US played FANTASTIC today, main highlights:
-3 pt. shooting: They were seriously raining 3’s today, while Spain couldn’t find one to save their lives. One of Spains biggest strengths became their weaknesses and viceversa.
-Intensity: The Americans were seriously on a different world when it comes to fitness. This team is FAST and they’re on your face at all times, causing 20+ turnovers on a team with Calderon at the point? Thats amazing. Spain could NOT find their game at all, they looked nervous, out of place and downright stopped caring after a while.
In the long run, this works well for both teams. If Spain hadn’t played the US until the (hopeful) final then it would have been a disaster. Now they know how they match out and what to look for. For the US this builds their confidence and gets their guys up to speed. Wade is playing out of his mind and no doubt he deserves a lot of the credit along with Lebron. If a USA-Spain finals happens, Spain will NOT be the favorite by any means, but if we play like we know we CAN play and the US isn’t having an exceptionally good day from the 3pt line (seriously, didnt they shoot like 70%) then it should at least be somewhat close.
Either way, its great fun, congrats to the US on a great game.
August 16th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
weezy f says:
phelps just won his 8th medal man dude is amazing…you guys should give him something for it even tho it aint basketball related i think he should get an article or something
August 17th, 2008 at 12:06 am
luke says:
Did anyone see the Rubio to Fernandez qalleyoop? THAT. WAS. SICK.
Wade is looking amazing, I thought Calderon played ok though. Also I think Deron is a more effective point gaurd on this USA team than cp3 or Kidd, his aggresive style and athletic ability gives them yet another option to overpower the opposition.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:18 am
shake&bake says:
Wade never stopped running from the second he hit the floor. He played a great game on both ends. LeBron was a man, that left handed dunk off his opposite foot was nasty. Bosh was very active and had a nice game.
I thought LeBron was moving the ball very well against the zone. He got in around the free throw line a couple times and made quick passes out to shooters for open 3’s.
Rubio’s one-hand, line drive alley oop off the bounce was nice. He held his own and looks like he’ll be a decent NBA point but I don’t know if I’m sold on him as a top 5 pick.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:34 am
Jim says:
Props to Xavier for respecting game.
Wade is going to be a monster this year. I don’t which will ache worse, his back from carrying that team or his head from hearing Marion bitch and Beasley do his Wall-E impersonation.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:27 am
KT says:
spain is jsut hoping manu and the biys can beat us, because in round two, i think this joint will worse. Kobe WONT let Gasol beat him, and CP3 is intent on letting calderon, navarro, and RUBIO know that he is the gold standard when it comes to point guards
August 17th, 2008 at 1:45 am
Jon says:
even if this wasn’t a medal game and they are trying to save themselves, Spain should’ve showed more effort in the 2nd half. This is the Olympics, not professional league play, so you should put out a respectable try every time.
Just compare their attitudes to China when they were down 30.
Wade is definitely looking like the MVP of the Olympics so far.
The US has yet to play its best, so watch out world!
August 17th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Jon says:
Luke, I have to say, I thought CP3 was the best of the guards yesterday…
August 17th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Mo says:
No doubt Jon. And against the reigning world champions no less.