USA Basketball, better known as “The Redeem Team,” finally redeemed themselves. They beat Spain in the gold-medal game 118-107, but the game was a lot closer than the score indicates. Spain was able to keep the game close throughout due to the spectacular play of Pau Gasol, Juan Navarro and Rudy Fernandez, who is now one of my favorite players. Rudy was arguably the biggest reason Spain was able to keep it close. I don’t know if he’ll be able to run through the NBA like that with Portland next season, but I’ll definitely be watching. He also had the dunk of the night over Dwight Howard (I looked for pictures of it online, but I was unable to find any so maybe it didn’t really happen).
The Redeem Team’s lack of defense made it very easy for these guys to be spectacular; Spain was basically able get any shot they wanted. Fortunately for the United States, they had Kobe Bryant. With a little over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter and only a two-point lead, Kobe did his whole “I’m the best player in the world act” and took over the game. There was nothing Spain could do about that.
Since I’m genetically engineered to root for the underdog, I found myself quietly rooting for Spain … I hope that doesn’t make me a traitor. I guess I’ll have to ask Anne Donovan to find out. It’s not that I wanted Team USA to lose, it’s just that it was clear to me Spain was trying extremely hard and I admire that. While I feel like The Redeem Team was also trying hard, I can’t shake the feeling that they only tried as hard as they had to. They played defense like they had a 30-point cushion, but in the end it didn’t matter. Team USA won the gold and now order is restored in the basketball world.
Visit C.C.’s blog at http://coco-vents.blogspot.com. C.C. can be reached atcfelicec@yahoo.com.
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