US hoopsters: one win away from gold after routing Argentina

ESPN’s Chris Sheridan is nothing if not consistent. He’s continued the mantra that the United States Olympic basketball team is due for a comeuppance all the way along despite mounting evidence that none will be forthcoming. Argentina was the latest “team that would derail the Dream Team 2.0”, and they met the same feat as the ones before them—China, Australia, Spain and Greece: they lost by 20 points to what is clearly the best basketball team on the planet. Undeterred, Sheridan is already banging the drum for Spain in the final game, suggesting that their coach, Aito Garcia Reneses now has a “master plan for the title game”. All he needs to do, at least in Sheridan’s deluded mind, is to play zone defense and “out physical” the US.

Of course he’ll need to do *something* to improve on the team’s first meeting against the US in this Olympic Games. The teams met in the preliminary round and Spain “taught the Americans a lesson” just as Sheridan drew it up. Wait a minute…no they didn’t: the US beat Spain by 37 points in a game that wasn’t even as close as that lopsided score indicates. And with the US showing nothing but talent, focus and resolve in Beijing there’s not really a sound basis by which to suggest that they won’t close the deal. The bookmaking community doesn’t see much upside for the Spaniards, and have installed the US as a 21 point wagering favorite. They can’t exactly be encouraged by Sheridan’s bandwagon jumping either, since the other teams he’s backed against the US have all lost big.

The anti-US media considers the fact that Argentina only trailed by 9 at the half something of a “moral victory”, but the reality is that this team has enough talent and on-court maturity that they have no trouble downshifting and blowing past the competition when necessary. The US starters also played more minutes than in previous games, but that’s not really surprising with the medals on the line. Besides, that’s why you limit their minutes early in the tournament when you can—so they’ll be fresh when it counts.

Besides that, it was business as usual. Carmello Anthony scored 21 and LeBron James added 15 with 5 other US players in double figures (Kobe, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade). It may not have been their most dominant performance of the games, but they won by 20 so it’s hard to argue with the result.

The gold medal game will take place late Saturday/early Sunday US time (11:30 PM Pacific/2:30 AM Eastern) and perhaps after the Americans win the gold medal scolds like Chris Sheridan will give them their due. They came to Beijing with the highest of expectations and a ton of pressure and dealt with it like champions.