Yea, it doesn’t come as much as a surprise, but it was exciting to watch. I’m not sure how many people stayed up to watch the game live, but if you did, you got a good one. Spain played above themselves and challenged the U.S. team for the first time in the tournament, getting as close as 2 in the fourth quarter.
Most of the game looked like another iteration of the All-Star scorefest we see every year here. When there are over 200 hundred points scored in 40 minutes (vs. the NBA’s Forty-Eight) you know the defense has taken something of a back seat. Like many other events the “judging” was a bit erratic, but seemed to be shitty for both sides, so it was something of a wash.
They are talking to the two MVPs of the team, Dwayne Wade and Kobe Bryant. Wade was amazing for most of the game scoring 21 in the first half and was typically everywhere. Kobe took over in the last fourth quarter, hitting a huge 3 + 1 after Spain had pulled to within 3 and did a wonderful job of distributing the ball down the stretch.
Good job fellas, thanks for working for it this time.
Robot Pirate Ninja 
Now that the Gold Metal has come back to the U.S., the debate begins, who is better team: The 1992 Dream Team or this years Redeem Team? You decide. 🙂
http://kowalkerjourney.com/2008/08/24/mission-accomplished/
Personally i don’t know if a comparison can be made. My hunch would be that this team probably has more athletic talent. Recall the Dream Team didn’t get together until Bird could barely walk, Magic was HIV+ and Jordan was kinda bored with any game that didn’t include a six-figure wager.
It’s nice to see the level of competition catching up as well. Sure, the U.S. in 2008 was only challenged in one game, but that’s one more than the Dream Team was. It was fun to see them have to actually *work* to bring home the gold. I think it meant a lot more to them.