LONDON — UPDATE 12:17 p.m. Medal ceremony going on right now. U.S. clad in smooth black warm ups to snag their gold medals. They won 107-100 to claim their second straight Olympic gold over Spain.
To repeat or not to repeat: that is the question facing the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team today, just minutes away from their gold medal rematch with Spain in the Olympic finals.
(Sorry, but a visit to London without at least one Billy Shakespeare reference would have been a travesty. We had to go there.)
They did this four years ago, playing a to-the-wire game in Beijing that the U.S. pulled out late for a 118-107 victory that both sides have had four long years to think about.
You know Spain’s big man brother duo of Pau and Marc Gasol have been thinking about it and hearing about it since then, especially Pau (something tells me Kobe Bryant has brought it up a time or two over the years).
Spain actually had one distinct advantage over the U.S. four years ago, in that the core group of their roster had been playing together for years, “since they were 12 or 13,” according to point guard Jose Calderon.
The U.S. has closed that gap. USA Basketball’s program is as solid as it’s been in years and arguably ever, courtesy of the commitment of guys like Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant and others.
A second straight gold medal validates everything USA Basketball chairman and managing director Jerry Colangelo and U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski have worked to build since taking over the program after the debacle at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
It would also solidify this group as arguably one of the most impressive collections of U.S. (NBA) stars to compete in Olympic competition … that’s as close as we get to the whole This Team vs. The Original Dream Team debate.
That said, they have 40 minutes and a tough Spain team to get through before they can worry about anything else. We’ll be here for every minute of the action. Get your predictions in now …
– FOURTH QUARTER –
0.0: U.S. wins 107-100. A little Bruce (Born In the USA) booming in the building as the celebration starts. Gold for the U.S. for the second straight Olympics.
12.1: Harden makes the second of two FTs again. 107-100.
13.5: M. Gasol with a junk time layup. 106-100. Am I the only person who thought it was a little soon to pull your big dogs as early as Coach K. did?
18.5: Harden makes the second of two FTs. 106-98.
19.8: M. Gasol layup and foul. 105-98.
37.6: CP3 with one of two FTs. 105-95.
41.1: M. Gasol with a layup. 104-95.
50.7: CP3 with the backbreaker driving layup past Pau at the shot clock buzzer. 104-93.
1:52: Offensive foul on Pau and Lull, for getting CP3 on the Malachi Crunch! That hurt Spain.
1:59: LeBron with a 3 in M. Gasol’s face. 102-93.
2:21: M. Gasol with a dunk. 99-93.
2:46: LeBron with the Statue of Liberty dunk when Spain’s zone rotation breaks down. 99-91.
3:20: Two straight U.S. turnovers got Coach K. out of his seat to call a timeout. LeBron replaces Melo for crunch time here. CP3, Kobe, Love and Durant on the floor, too.
3:35: Fernandez gets the tip in hustling. 97-91.
4:13: Navarro with the quick change jumper. 97-89.
4:22: So much for Spain’s big man advantage. Kobe gets a rebound over Pau and goes back up and banks in a layup over him. 97-87.
5:20: P. Gasol makes the first of two free throws. 95-87.
6:00: Kobe fouled by Fernandez on a 3-point attempt. Sinks the last two. 95-86.
6:22: Durant has no conscience with that international 3-point line staring him in the face. Takes and makes this time. 93-86.
6:49: M. Gasol with the jumper. Hey big fella, we missed you. 90-86.
7:37: Someone remind Spanish coach Sergio Scariolo that Marc Gasol didn’t foul out in the first half!
8:24: Fernandez stops another U.S. break with a shoulder shiver to Cp3. “I’m good. I’m good.” Paul tells the official as players from both sides get a little heated.
8:43: CP3 on the pause move and layup. 90-84.
9:11: CP3 for 3. 88-84.
9:28: Lull with a driving layup. 85-84.
9:48: LeBron scores on a sweet spin move in the lane after a feed from Kobe. 85-82.
– THIRD QUARTER –
0.0: Spain is all up in this one right now, answering the U.S. blow for blow. No Marc Gasol at all in the third. And Ibaka did the deed. Stepped up and filled the void, as Coach K like to say, “magnificently.” Pau Gasol was a force. Scoring at will and running the floor and playing the way Lakers fans hope he will all season.
27.8: Ibaka is fouled by Iguodala on a nice drop off at the rim from Rodriguez. Makes both free throws. 83-82.
1:39: Corner 3 from Durant. 83-80.
1:53: Ibaka ties it 80-80
2:18: Gasol cashes in with the dunk.
2:51: Durant with the get back 3.
3:22: Ibaka with the layup. 77-74.
3:34: Kobe FTs, 77-72.
4:01: Durant with a FT line jumper. 75-72.
4:14: At leas the officials have calmed down a little bit.
4:15: LeBron picks up his third as Ibaka hits the floor on a rebound and layup attempt. Misses the first FT, 73-72 U.S.
4:50: Kobe for 3. 73-71.
5:02: Gasol with the nice seal and layup over Love. CP3 fouls him. FT good. 71-70.
5:12: Lebron with the oop from CP3 after a steal. 70-68.
5:35: Kobe baseline jam. 68-68.
5:46: Gasol at the line after being fouled by Love in the paint. Misses the first. 68-66 Spain.
6:11: LeBron with the driving layup over Gasol and Ibaka. 67-66.
6:30: Pau with the baseline layup over Love. 67-64.
7:52: Gasol with the sweet pick and roll with Fernandez for the jam. 65-64.
8:19: Gasol with the lefty scoop and foul on Chandler. 64-63.
8:34: Durant just went up for the wicked jam on Gasol and got fouled. 64-60.
8:56: P. Gasol with the runner. 62-60.
9:13: CP3 for 3. 62-58.
Ibaka for Marc Gasol to start the second half. No choice there.
– HALFTIME –
When the whistles weren’t blowing like crazy, Navarro was busy getting loose. Knocked down four of his six shots from deep in the first half to lead Spain with 19 points. Vintage effort from the captain. Durant led the U.S. with 17 but shot just 4-for-12 from the floor. LeBron (8, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) and Love (9 and 6) helped pace the U.S.
A combined for 33 fouls in first half. They are on pace to finish with more fouls than the 55 they combined for in the gold medal game in Beijing. A despicable officiating performance in that first half. No one came to see whistles blowing all day. These guys are playing for a gold medal. The least the refs could do is actually let them play for it.
– SECOND QUARTER –
3.1: Fernandez just took the flopping to All-Star levels. Gets the unsportsmanlike foul on Andre Iguodala. 59-58 after the two free throws. FIBA should swap refs at halftime. Seriously. This is hard to watch. We all deserve better than this.
43.6: Melo picks up his third blocking out Ibaka. Someone needs to snatch the whistles from this crew at halftime. They’ve sapped the crowd’s energy with all of this nonsense. Ibaka makes ‘em both. 59-56.
1:05: Love with another free throws (he actually got fouled.) 59-54.
1:22: Fernandez shooting two more after D. Will picks up his third foul. Refs are in a free fall right now. 58-54. They’ve ruined what might have been an excellent game with non-stop whistles.
1:33: Fernandez with another free throw. 58-52.
1:44: D. Will from 3. 58-51.
2:07: Navarro coast-to-coast layup. 55-51.
2:41: LeBron with a rebound of a Melo miss from 3. 55-49.
3:35: B-R-U-T-A-L … Navarro called for a foul on Westbrook when he never touched him. Westbrook just lost the ball running up the floor. 53-49.
4:03: LeBron with the floater in the lane. 52-49.
4:21: LeBron fouls Fernandez hard. Ouch. Two more free throws. 50-49.
4:39: Westbrook took off for the easy dunk and left Navarro and Spain battles for a rebound and gets the Navarro 3. 50-47.
4:56: Love with two more free throws. 50-44.
5:09: FIBA refs are brutal. I’m just throwing it out there now. B-R-U-T-A-L in every sense of the word. I take back all the bad things I’ve ever said about NBA refs … well, not everything!
5:29: Fourth foul on M. Gasol leaning on Love for a rebound attempt. Wow. That’s brutal for Spain. He’s gonna be in the cooler for the remainder of the half and has no room to do anything in the second half. 48-44.
6:05: Durant with the baseline dropper over M. Gasol, on a nice feed from LeBron, 46-44. Gasol picks up his third foul, too.
6:24: M. Gasol with the layup, 44-43. He tried to draw the foul but didn’t get that whistle.
6:34: LeBron with two free throws. 43-42. Lots of wacky whistles and drama plays going on right now.
6:48: Sergio Lull with the corner 3 for a 42-41 lead. Love got called for an offensive foul on the box out. But we get no replays in here, so it was hard to tell exactly what happened.
7:10: Love tips in a Kobe corner 3 miss for 39-39.
7:17: S.Rod gives Chandler some bows to the ribs on a screen and then puts his finger in his face when Chandler objects. Double fouls. Calm down fellas and play ball.
7:21: S. Rod with the 3 for the lead. 39-37.
7:56: M. Gasol with the rainbow in the lane. 37-36.
8:20: LeBron with the drive and dunk on the inbounds.
8:43: S.Rod at the line for two free throws to close the gap to 35-34.
8:59: P. Gasol with the layup over Love. 35-32.
9:13: Fernandez gets in front of Melo on the baseline and gets run over, drawing Melo’s second fou.
9:17: Westbrook with another turnover. The U.S. has to be careful with their shot selection and turnovers against this team.
9:38: Fernandez with a corner 3 on the break after a U.S. miss. 35-30.
– FIRST QUARTER –
0.0: P. Gasol has a corner 3 lined up at the buzzer and Durant comes out of nowhere and swats it out of bounds. 35-27. Solid first quarter from the U.S. That zone strategy doesn’t work as well against them as it used to. They have too many good shooters and distributors/decision makers for it to affect them the way it did say 10 years ago in Indianapolis.
32.9: Rudy Fernandez catches the oop. 35-27.
54.6: Durant with the corner 3. 35-25.
1:08: P. Gasol with an answer. 33-25.
1:21: Westbrook with a pull up jumper. 33-23.
1:31: Another weird call. D. Will gets nothing but ball on an Ibaka dunk attempt and the whistles gets blown immediately. U.S. bench goes crazy because it happened right in front of them. 31-23.
1:48: D. Will chews up Spain’s zone with a sweet drive and dish to love for the dunk. 30-21.
2:02: Quick whistles on the U.S. all of a sudden. Kevin Love called for a foul battling Ibaka for rebounding position. Neither one of them was going to get the rebound. Ibaka makes one of two. 28-21.
2:31: D. Will from 3. 28-20.
2:39: Navarro is a master at picking up hand check fouls. A true master. I love this cat. 25-20.
3:09: P. Gasol with two free throws after he gets fouled by LeBron on a put back of an Ibaka miss. 25-18.
3:37: Ibaka and Sergio Rodriguez in for Spain. D. Will in for the U.S.
3:50: Melo with the corner 3. 25-16 just like that.
4:16: Melo with a baseline jumper off the glass. 22-16.
4:42: Durant drive and draws Marc Gasol’s second foul. 20-16 after two free throws.
5:15: Melo for 3. 18-14.
5:24: Navarro from the baseline. 15-14. The U.S. goes for every shot fake. Bad habits?
5:44: Kobe with another 3. 15-12.
5:56: Calderon with a Greco Roman horse collar on Durant. Could have started something. But cooler heads prevail. Two free throws from Durant. 12-12.
6:18: Kobe with the answer on the corner 3. 12-10
6:43: Navarro for 3. 12-7. Biggest deficit of the tournament for the U.S. Spanish crowd going crazy.
7:22: Navarro for 3. 9-7.
8:13: Durant rebounds his own miss and drops in a floater over Marc Gasol and is fouled. Misses free throw. 7-6.
8:43: Pau with the nice lefty hook over Chandler. 6-4.
9:07: Durant with his first 3. 5-4.
9:23: Juan Carlos Navarro answers with a deep 3 and a foul from Kobe. 4-3.
9:42: Kobe finds Chandler for the layup in the middle of Spain’s zone. 2-0.
– PREGAME –
This is going to be a rugged game for both sides. Spain is the first team with quality big men could force the U.S. out of its comfort zone. This thing rests on the Gasols and Serge Ibaka, if he plays. The three of them have the size and skills to make this one interesting. Just throwing that out there now, before we get rolling.
ESPANA WILL WIN THE GOLD MEDAL. Do not come back here to make excuses after game.
EXCUSE LIST:
1) We beat ourselves (no Jose Caulderon and Juan Carlos Navarro beat you with skill)
2) Lucky 3-point shot was not going in (No you have no luck against ESPANA DEFENSE)
3) FIBA reffeerees against us (No you do not know FIBA rules)
4) We did nots have the big men. (With big men, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka best frontcourt in WORLD)
REAL REASON YOU LOSE
Espana PLAYS BETTER BASKETBALL!
CONGRATS TO SPAIN FOR WINNING GOLD MEDAL !!!!
ALL tHE WAY USA. No EXCUSES. WE WILL DOMINATE.
Okay pal, we’ll see who’s going to make the excuses after we win the gold.
Nyahahahaha. Are you sure about that? Marc has 2 fouls already… Spains Big Men will either run out of gas, or run out of fouls. Do you think, which will come first?
You still talking dude?
if spain played better basketball, then they would have popular teams that are known worldwide. Spain is going to get dominated and the U.S doesn’t even have all of their big name players due to injury (Dwigh howard, dwayne wade, derrick rose). You sure are going to look stupid for posting this comment and then watching the exact opposite happen.
US Will Win. Stop posting this trash.
HAHAHAHAHA idiot… comment.
dont blow your whistle to fast.
Seriously? I mean… SERIOUSLY?
Have fun polishing your silver medal
pau gasol is not even an all star this year, serge ibaka not too? how did you come up that they are the best front court in world?
if US does win i will be interested to see your comments later on.
Ulol! Gago!
Dream on!
1) spain will lose
2) usa wins
3) spain will go home without gold
4) usa goes home with gold
Anymore excuses “Espana will win gold”? Lol, please comment back. I want to hear from you.
You were saying?
USA win.. and you lost man…
So what’s your excuse for Spain?… Go USA! Back To Back Gold Medals.
Spain Dreams of winning the gold this year.. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaandd its GONE!
Who won again???
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
LMAO Epic Fail
Where is your excuse list?
That what happens when someone make a bold declaration before an event even starts.
now what?
You were saying?
So, what’s your excuse Spain will be?
uhmmmmmm… who will win again?
I’m spanish and you’re a disgrace. USA deserved to win and we all know that they will win. Because we don’t have Ricky Rubio and we were playing very badly. Congrats USA. I love USA and I love Spain.
Oops
Dream on! 107-100.
LOL dreamer.. USA already won gold -_-
Soooo now that the USA WON GOLD, WE hope that YOU do not come back here to make excuses!
spoke a little soon there, eh mate?
Lol!!..Atleast!!!..s-PAIN really hurts!!
NO EXCUSES, just butt kicking basketball right there my man, as simple as that. Good luck in the next Olympics
ESPANA WILL WIN THE GOLD MEDAL. Do not come back here to make excuses after game.
EXCUSE LIST:
1) We beat ourselves (no Jose Caulderon and Juan Carlos Navarro beat you with skill)
2) Lucky 3-point shot was not going in (No you have no luck against ESPANA DEFENSE)
3) FIBA reffeerees against us (No you do not know FIBA rules)
4) We did nots have the big men. (With big men, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka best frontcourt in WORLD)
REAL REASON YOU LOSE
Espana PLAYS BETTER BASKETBALL!
CONGRATS TO SPAIN FOR WINNING GOLD MEDAL !!!!
Good Call Genius
lol too bad they didnt ;D
… you’re a dog. There’s a fast moving elevator in the nearest office block to you .. i suggest you take a one way, express ticket to the top, make your way to the fire exit on the roof and take a flying jump off the edge of the building. You stupid bozo.
Let me make some slight adjustments to the bozo with the opening post:
REAL REASON YOU LOSE
Team USA PLAYS BETTER BASKETBALL!
CONGRATS TO TEAM U.S.A FOR WINNING THE GOLD MEDAL!!!!
What’s up now huh?
Epic fail.
USA won, so yeah….IN YOUR FACE!!!
ha ha ha
keep on dreaming man!!!! hahahahah…..
Hahaha oh man. Nice try though.
^_^ US won gold!
Hmm what is the score 107-100 US on top? Oh and Spain won? Oh I beg to differ, don’t hold your breath…
lol what happened to your team???? whats ur excuse??? retard, u guys never had a chance hahahahahaaaa
usa is just too much firepower for the rest of the world!!!
^^^ hahahaha who won now??? your Spain? Not!
what now?
um im pretty sure you are an idiot because USA WON THE GOLD BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Too bad spain has lost
Guess you’re feeling pretty stupid right now….
Soooo now that the USA WON GOLD, WE hope that YOU do not come back here to make excuses
awwwwwwwww poor dude……smh what’s your excuse now? lol
LOL that sure worked out for Spain didn’t it. Team USA win gold!!! Epic Lebron 4th quarter
a little awkward when its not true, unless you live in another dimension
YEAH, YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU WERE GOING TO WIN BUT, WAIT A MOMENT; WHO WIN?, USA, WHY?, BECAUSE WE ARE THE BOSS FO THE WORLD AND WE MADE BASKETBALL, NOT YOU, FOR THAT REASON WE ARE CHAMPIONS AND YOU ARE LOSERS.
yea not to burst your bubble or ne thing, im supporting team USA aswell…… but Canada made basketball….
Actually Canada inviented basketball….just sayin.
Sorry… who just won?
you were saying……………
Hum… I hate to be the one to bring the bad news but Spain actually lost the game.
Oh, hi there! You can leave now.
USA just got the Gold in their necks. You can list down your own excuses now, as follows:
1.) Pau got hurt in the eye.
2.) Bad calls from the officials.
3.) etc, etc.
Get out of here.
Well that comment looks awkward now
Looks like the prediction worked out well for you… Sorry but USA is basketball NBA>FIBA
usa just won, you sound like a huge idiot right now
lol. you are funny
Yes, congrats to Spain for winning the gold medal.
@SPAIN WILL BE GOLD MEDAL WINNERS
Maybe they will get it next time
You sir just failed hard.
Pathetic loser
Really? You per-announced your country’s victory?
Well I do agree with you on one point: There are no excuses!
Please refer to your own list and hopefully no one will be making excuses for Spain.
Both countries played there games well and the reffing was even!
Congrats to both for earning their medals
Well I Guess you were wrong!
Reading this after the game is kinda funny. lololol
lol guess not
lol and yet we won the states just proved you wrong i bet you feel ashamed for posting something that was not true!!!!!! they had no chance against Lebron and the US team
Fail
Spain should be proud of the silver . That is the best they can ever get .
I agree Spain plays better basketball as a team, USA and NBA is not about teams, it is about players… that’s sad.
Luckily we have Durant, James etc.
USA BEAT SPAIN, but they won individually, if i was spanish i’d be really proud about them, a REAL TEAM, so tough win
GOOD JOB USA
What was that about no excuses? Just let this moment sink in for a few years, 4 to be exact.
Spain just lost, AGAIN.
What excuses do you have now?
USA is just too good?
looser
LOL. what you talking bout man>?
))
well this is awkward…
what did you just say?
)))
Haha.. laughing it all off now lets see your excuse why spain lost.
lmao
wat
um?
true horrible officiating its like the kings lakers west finals
epic fail! say what again? but congrats to spain for the great game! played their butt out. respect!
^ THIS LOSER! USA IS THE BEST! USA WON GOLD! WE WIN! WOOT!
A HAPPY ENDING
THE END!
what did you say?
)))
have anything to say now? LMFAO!!!! USA!USA!USA! LeBron, Kobe, KD, Melo, CP3…yeah thats where its at!
lol wow. you look a real a**hole right now. grandma always said don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
now what??
grandma also said the spanish are a bunch of tissue paper soft floppers
Where’s the GOLD to Spain hahahahahahahahaa..
good call, man! You were so accurate with your prediction!
hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!! yeah, right!!!!!!
oops..
Greatest troll ever ?
Maybe Spain will win when you watch the replay.
To the guy above…did you really thing Spain would win the gold? You must not watch USA basketball then. Spain played valiantly and I love the Gasol Brothers, they are awesome, Spain is awesome, but definitely not better than USA Basketball. We have grit and skill and the will to win the game. You must be hiding under some rocks right now because your claim came out false and your statements came out false as well. Congratulations to USA! Let’s go USA! and a well performed night for Spain, try again during the next Olympics!
Stick with your day job bro. Congrats team USA, and congrats team Spain what a game that was to watch
usa wins so i think your reasons why they should losed this game is nonsense
Spain put up a good fight but they had no chance against the far superior USA.
Hey man, have you watched the game?
One point difference at half time and the end of third quarter
Both teams could have won
lol… USA!!! =)
Man, aren’t you butthurt. Anyway, truth be told…..
USA WON THE GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. bwahahahahahahahahahaha.
You must feel silly right now.
haha its the united states who win the olympic gold medal.
Good call bud..
yeah,,,sure…dream on…
see you after four years, maybe spain will win gold then…or maybe not…
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHA
We are american’s, we don’t make excuses, we just take the gold. Don’t take it to hard buddy, i know it came as a shock LOL
well…that didn’t go as planned now did it
USA won the Gold Medal dude
what hes trying to say is that “i am from spain and i am bitter that my team lost.” you guys are lucky to even get silver. you would’ve gotten nothing if you landed in the same bracket as usa.
Seems you were wrong.
Who’s making excuses right now?
How do you feel right now?
You must be delusional you guys lost , same as last year.
So whats your excuse for “ESPANA” not winning…..
you are not really from Spain, are you? you just wanna stir things up
Um where’s spain’s gold? All I saw was them getting silver HAHA. Don’t start congratulating until the game is over, idiot.
Lol, you just lost.
I´m absolutely agree. If all refries aplie FIBA rules, they should be applied through all minutes no with exceptions.
Spain TEAM is the real winner but I´m not disappointed with the national team, they are brilliant but this is not enough sometimes.
Spain with Scariollo are tactically better than us, this is real and we should improve it because every year the distance is less.
Ha. Nostradamus really is dead, it seems. Nice prediction, Caps.
what are u talking about? now give me ur excuse list why spain lost..
too bad… US team won the game
ESPANA WILL WIN THE GOLD MEDAL.NOT!!! Do not come back here to make excuses after game.
Game over. Where are you?
EXCUSE LIST: No comment!!!
1) We beat ourselves (no Jose Caulderon and Juan Carlos Navarro beat you with skill)
2) Lucky 3-point shot was not going in (No you have no luck against ESPANA DEFENSE)
3) FIBA reffeerees against us (No you do not know FIBA rules)
4) We did nots have the big men. (With big men, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka best frontcourt in WORLD)
REAL REASON YOU LOSE
Espana PLAYS BETTER BASKETBALL! Really??
CONGRATS TO SPAIN FOR WINNING SILVER MEDAL !!!!
The bad thing about making bold predictions, is you look very idiotic when they don’t happen. GO USA
You were saying about excuses mate? lol
Hum interesting
do you need some paper for your tears, Spain won boubou I think we didn’t watch the same games
Umm i think us already won…
Too bad they lost… Go USA.
LOL nope.
LOL
#FAIL! … next time wait before the game ends.
Please don’t use the above excuses either.
bet you feel pretty bad right now. let it sink in.
actually you guys lost
What planet are you on?
What are you saying USA won
Wow, you look pretty stupid now!
your an idiot.
LOLOL
1) Where you at now?
2) There is a difference between luck and skill. The difference? The length in which it lasts. The entire olympics has gone by do you think it’s luck still?
3) Bye.
you sound stupid! USA took the game, you just have to face the reality!
REMEMBER: Put the ball on the floor before running… About 20 points should not have jumped on the scoreboard.
Now the USA wants a 23 years old limit for basketball in the Olympics because they are afraid of european teams. You are not the best and time will give us the truth. Do not cry like kids.
lol so whats your excuse?
LOL, NO!
Troll
well that was pretty lame
Lol, feel dumb.
looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
as i see spain is the actual winner of the second place in the olympics, jajajaja usa rocks
lets all be honest they could have lost. they are no dream team and should never utter a day word or comparison to the 1992 team.
look whos talking usa just won and everything u just said went down the trash
Jose who? How many treys did we make? How did the refs call fouls? Our frontcourt couldnt handle te gasols and ibaka but we still won?
REAL REASON WE WON
USA PLAYS BETTER BASKETBALL!!!!!! WE ARE THE BEST IN THE WORLD!!!!!
CONGRATS TO USA FOR WINNING GOLD MEDAL!!!!!!
Vamoos españa!! Come on spain!!
In your dreams
It’s early morning ang your still dreaming? or maybe your daydreaming afterall… whew, keep on dreaming for your team to win gold.. Team USA all the way baby!
@the one above me…
Ermm, celebrating too early are we ???
Let’s just hope the best for both teams…both teams are good so either one deserves the gold…
But ofcourse i do have my bet, which is USA..but it won’t be easy for them as spain will surely give them all the hard time they could have.
Let’s just pray that nobody gets hurt…
Goodluck USA and SPAIN…!!!
Btw, who won bronze ?
You fool Lebron , Kobe and Durant alone would eat the Spanish defense alll by themselves
I say Team USA BY 20-25 points
congrats to USA for winning the gold
U sure? 107-100 are 25 points gap?
Where were you in maths lessons at the school?
you american´s don´t understand all the help you got from referees… it is embarasing…
La furia roja is the only team in the world to make team U.S. play, not just walking from side to side.
Game ‘s awesome.
Wow… relax dude. I’m cheering for Spain too but they must play the game first. In the mean time just enjoy the beautiful international basketball game we’re witnessing right now. Whatever the outcome of the game is, i’m having a great time to this moment.
2nd half, you see!
ESPANA WILL WIN GOLD!!!
I hope the US will win but I’m really suprised with how well the spanish are playing so far. On the other hand I’m very very annoyed with those refs , it seems like they’re totally against spain. I just want to see a good game between two good teams but they’re totally killing the game with these ridiculous foul calls.
Spaniards are flopping all around, I swear I can’t stand Navarro’s face! He flops after every touch he receives and then complaints about calls going the other way…USA has got to find their groove or this game is going to slip out of their hands.
Spaniards are flopping all around, I swear I can’t stand Navarro’s face! He flops after every little bump he receives and then cries and protests the calls going the other way. If USA can’t get into its groove the game is going to slip out of their hands…
Que verguanza de arbitraje a favor de USA. Los arbitros a favor del mas fuerte como siempre. USA ladrones y prepotentes.
@ ESPANA moron keep on dreaming son.
U will shut ur mouth after USA wins the gold.
USA 2012 Olympic Goldsta!
Gaaaah!
You are saying that refs are horrible, yes, it is true, but for both teams, stop crying. Both teams suffered wrong calls. It’s hard when you think that the gold medal was already in the pocket and find out that you are not that good. US will win, but Spain is showing the world that you are humans too.
Go Spain!
SEKOU SMITH STOP COMPLAINING !!!
Hahahaha, USA complaining about referees?
Sekou, please…. Starting to feel nervous when not leading by 30? I would love to see Spain wins, but unfortunately, referees will now start to work for USA ( like in every basketball tournament when score is close ) and USA will surely win. Pity, Spain is playing so much better, like a team.
Sekou, that is not flopping. FIBA rules dictate that a foul beghind halfcourt line that is intented to favour your team is consider unsportsmanlike. Iguodala grabs Rudy’s leg and gets him down. Period. Concentrate on the fact that the US is not making the shots he uses to make. This is the game difference…an P Gasol has not really appeared yet. Spain team allowing US to get too many rebounds.
Just for the record: it was stupid to keep Marc G on court with 3 fouls, but he was fouled by LBJ and it’s not called and he received to questionable fouls on Durant just after that. John Amaechi, reporting the game for BBC, says that Spanish team is complaining to the referees too much, and USA is quiet in the bench.
1 it’s true, they should try to play and not complain every single play. I don’t like that and I give John that. It’s a shame they want to go on and on with that pointless argument against them.
2.Coach K is not complaining because he has no reason to. He is not that sportsman, he is winning and the referees are a little bias towards the USAB so no complaints. Just wait, and if the game is not going their way you’ll see him yelling at the referee.
One last thing: great job USA on travelling fiba rules. 4 years ago I was ashamed to witness that every fastbreak was started with an outrageous travelling. They worked on FIBA rules and I give them lots of credit for that.
PS: Sekou I was right, I named Navarro as the key and, well,….,
I don’t like the comments on the refs. Other than the non existent unsportsmanlike foul on Iguodala they’ve done their job well… and that one is on Rudy Fernández, not the refs. I hate those acting performances by Rudy day in and day out, by the way. I love what he can do (sometimes) playing ball but all this foul falking stuff is disgusting. Back to the refeereing issue, Sekou, the main “problem” that you may encounter is not being familiar with the “subtle” differences between NBA rules and FIBA rules (i think the USA players have learnt well to play under FIBA rules but they must still work in their hand check)
And what are you going to say if Spain loses?
Keep dreaming man.
Is Spain still overrated?
Big words from the flopping nation.
Ulol!
Flop-time babe…
No matter who gets the gold. Spain`s already won the final. Dedicated to those who critisize Rudy and Navarro because of their supposed flopping attitude. Hope you understand what real basket is one of theese days. Basketball is something more than football with a couple of baskets.
At least, you can enjoy them in the NBA.
Congrats to the best national team ever.
“REAL REASON YOU LOSE
Espana PLAYS BETTER BASKETBALL!
CONGRATS TO SPAIN FOR WINNING GOLD MEDAL !!!!”
You better get ready to eat your words. Team USA > you.
what now? USA won the gold medal game.please die
PS. dont reply here to make excuses bitch.
Guess what, USA WON THE GOLD LOL.
Do not come back here to make excuses after game.
What Now stupid, what’s your excuse
Hate TO Burst your BUbble But USA ALREADY WON
Congratualtions to USA, they have the best players and they delivered what they were expected.
Some thoughts after the game:
Spain deserve credit as the biggest USA challenger during this years and one of the best teams ever seen in Europe. Gasol has proved being the best big man in the world. And Navarro being the best SG in Europe, a pity his style did not fit the NBA. As Spaniard I feel proud of them.
Listening TV comments I don’t fully understand the compliments to coach K. He has the best players in the world and still has struggled in both final matches. USA allows 100 points to Spain who has normally scored around 70, This is a poor defense, USA has won by their terrible attacking potential and individual talent. I can’t even imagine what this team could reach with a better coach as David Blatt, the american coach of Russia.
I hope we can still see the best players in the Olympics, unfortunately money is money, and probably NBA and FIBA prefer to set the focus in their competitions, the NBA league and the FIBA world championship.
A COMPRAR ARBITROS NEGROS HIJOS DE PUTA. LA PROXIMA VEZ INTENTAD LLEGAR A LA FINAL SIN COMPRAR NADA. Y POR CIERTO, HABEIS SI SABEIS JUGAR PUTOS NEGROS, QUE PARECEIS ASESINOS
hahaha congrats spain you win silver
USA did it again …. lol @ spain will win gold medal …. eat your words now
CP3 was awesome in the fourth.
Nice win in a tense game.
haha.. you must have eaten your words mr. SPAIN fan…. hahaha USA all the way for GOLD!
You trash whos laughing now… USA basketball
I bet you don’t have much to say now HAHAHHA
very close game. the best olympic game i have seen. i think things would have been different if marc gasol wasnt in foul trouble but great show nonetheless. spain really kicked it into high gear this game.
ESPANA SIEMPRE SERA EL TERCERO RUSSIA ;; AUSTRALIA Y BRAZIL LES GANARON NO MERECIAN NISIQUIERA HABER JUGADO CON USA ;ARRIBA EL MEJOR USA ; ARRIBA LATINOAMERICA Y ARRIBA USA.
Great game, one for the ages…
The refs were a bit easy with their calls, but I guess they had to be, otherwise this gamed would’ve gotten out of control since players were obviously trying to obtain every advantage they could with loads of contact…
To Spain and the above poster: Nice try : )
Well, this is awkward
Now how do u feel? (referring to the first comment)
Yep, Spain won…….wait…..why is USA celebrating???
Reading this after the game is kinda funny. lol
watch lebron dancing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFqcR6tc3Zg&feature=plcp
One of the best games i had the chance to see, simply amazing. Enhorabuena USA!
One of the best games i had the chance to see, simply amazing! Enhorabuena USA!
Good game Durant, like always.
Parang team nonoo lang ng bahrain wag lang isama bopols na coach, rofl
CONGRATS USA ON AN IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY OF TEAMWORK IN THIS OLYMPICS!!!
@Espana , yaaaaah son eat ur own words now and start crying about how u lost.
Team USA 2012 Olympic Goldsta!
Gaaaaah!
Many compliments to the winnners. But like 8 years ago and 4 years ago playing with top NBA players there’s nothing in compare with the real and UNIQUE dream team. USA BBall 1992 forever the best!
Need from Italy
Ciao!!
hahaha sorry bro u watched the wrong game
Dam pau gasol was on a different level, he took chandler, lebron and love to school.
congrats to spain for showing they will always be second to USA
Glad we won, but, the people who put this team together should never be aloud to do it again. I think Coach K’s decision to not coach the 2016 team was a wise choice on his part. Jerry Colangelo should be banned from participating in the Olympics USA Men basketball team tryouts; I personally think Coach K. saw the writing on the wall once the process started taking place, although he would not admit it publicly.
@spain will be…
What a poor babay you are. The most sad thing about your thoughts is that ETA in this moment should be stand in the edge of the top of Rockefeller Center.
Are you in drugs? USA just made the game exciting. If they play again, the next game will be boring coz the US team will make your Espana team like a child. LOL
I´m happy that terrorist like Spains Eta are haven´t had got the gold medal.
Why do you guys always have to show Lebron’s face? Durant scored the most points. Also Carmelo was a great scorer in these Olympic games. Kobe probably thinks you guys overlook him. He opened the door for James. He has 5 championship titles. Michael Jordan paved the way for Kobe Bryant….. and Kobe paved the way for Lebron James. Give him that respect~=
Well I guess you sir will not be coming back here making silly excuses as to why Espana just lost and US won the gold medal!!!! #Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched….or some ish like that!! LOL
This win of USA shows you how arrogant Spanish are!!!!
Yes,! You can dream another 1000 years more to dream with a medal. hahahahahahahahaLOL
This Espana guy has been talking all week. Where is the Espana defense that stopped the US and won the gold medal….yea it doesnt exist! The US did not even send their best team and Espana still got smoked. Basketball is a game the US will always dominate. The sooner you understand that the better. Espana is good but not good enough to stay with the US
YAY USA! You guys represented us so well. I wish Durant and Lebron could both play for the OKC Thunder. They are both so confident and clutch.
Yay USA! I knew the USA would beat Spain! Kobe’s last olympic game, and I knew they wanted to win so bad, and they did. They did way better than outstanding, and they deserve the gold medal in every way they played. It was a very good game, and USA dominated in the last quarter. Kobe’s and Lebron’s dunks definitely has to be in the top 10 dunks of 2011-2012, they burned Spain to the basket for the dunk! Yay USA! Kobe fan for life!
LoL We dont have to make excuses because usa won and do u know why they won. USA PLAYS BETTER BASKETBALL
CONRATS TO USA FOR WINNING GOLD MEDAL !!!!
Spanish losser forever!
Europeans loser forever
Rise America!
Kobe Bryant dijo que ellos ganarían al Dream Team del 92. Pues… ESPAÑA TAMBIÉN GANARÍA AL DREAM TEAM DE 1992!
Oh, oh…. my friend, on fortuned, you have to realize that US have the best player on the floor. And douse players had been only practicing for a few weeks, which is a big difference, there are professionals. CONGRATULATIONS FOR ALL MEDALIST TEAM.
I bet you feel stupid thinking Espana plays better basketball just by having a better frontline. How does silver taste?
TEAM USA GOLD 2-TIMES IN A ROW
Well, don’t you look like an idiot.
You gotta look “so smart” now –’
^^ now you can just go kill yourself..bye hater bye hater BYE
buahahah
U.S.A U.S.A U.S.A close game but Kevin, LeBron and Kobe pull it out
we won the game espania ar indios
Congratulations Team USA!
At the end we managed to play nice game though; I expected it to be worse. Scariolo just did it wrong in the 4th quarter when he decided not to use any of our 2 main playmakers.
HI; SPAIN WILL NOT BE GOLD MEDAL WINNERS!!!
Keep on dreaming spaniard… Fans like you make me sick…
CONGRATS TO SPAIN?? HAHA.. ARE YOU KIDDING ME MAN?
BEFORE LEAVING A MESSAGE ABOUT SPAIN WINNING GOLD MEDAL MAKE SURE FIRST THAT YOUR ESPANA ALREADY BEAT ESTADOS UNIDOS!!
SPAIN GAVE USA A GOOD GAME BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THEY CAN’T BEAT USA BASKETBALL TEAM….SORRY MAN COZ’ SPAIN CAN’T BEAT THE POWER OF LBJ, KOBE. KD, MELO, CP3 & THE REST OF THE USA TEAM!!
USA BASKETBALL PLAYERS LIKE KOBE, LBJ & KD IS TOO MUCH FOR ANY TEAMS IN FIBA..
THIS USA BASKETBALL TEAM IS IMMORTAL!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO USA TEAM FOR WINNING GOLD MEDAL.
CHEERS!!
FROM: PHILIPPINES
Pathetic whining about therefs by Sekou Smith. It underlines that this team is nowhere near the quality of the one and only Dream Team. Even if all the refs would have been bribed in ’92, they’d still bring home the gold.
Kobe i love you as the best player in the NBA your the only player that i think as a brother you really inpress me
Weeell! ” ESPANA WILL WIN THE GOLD MEDAL ” has been postponed by 4 years or more or the eternity. And this was not even the best team the US could have sent to the games. I think US basketball is pulling away from the rest of the world again – and no, I’m not american
Damn talk about premature ejaculation up there..
Kobe out Lebron in! Lesson learned though for Team USA, never again without a decent center,,,,,Chandler is a joke, Kevin Love was a great factor though.
Lebron’s 3 was the dagger!!!!!
Viva España manque pierda coñeeee!!!Jugamos con cojones!!orgulloso hasta decir basta!!!
Just remeber who has beaten USA in world championship 2002, Serbia.
Durant defense of Calderon was the game changer, Lebron’s 3 was the dagger.!!!both are MVP’s. Kevin Love was the stablizer>>>>
lol yup sounds bout rite, the only time lebron wins anything hes got an all star team around him,
ya cause Kobe has won alllll his 5 rings without a single all star on his team.
So Kobe won Alllll his 5 rings without a “single” All Star on his team? Are you sure about that? So you are saying Shaq and Gasol are not All Stars? Haters!
spain is an awesome team but do they have to get serge ibaka for? that means they are very desperate to win the gold..what if they win gold? people would say because of the spaniard serge ibaka!!!!
Ibaka was born like a basketball player in Spain. Nobody meet him some years ago, and people here in Spain gave a chance to him to play in Spanish league, Ibaka is a great man, and him claim to play for Spain.
congo is spain now
Fantastic final match. Probably the best of any olympics.
..
I’m a spanish supporter of LA Lakers and I think USA made a great effort in order to win the final.
I congratulate USA supporters for your fabulous team. I feel very proud of my team as well because they played a wonderful match defensively and offensively and made us dream of a miracle. Navarro and Pau, gigantic.
Durant is greater year after year. We could do nothing to stop him. Love this player.
Wonderful images of Kobe consolating his great friend Pau at the end
Congratulations for the gold medal from a spanish ÑBA supporter!!!
Congratulations to USA team. And proud of my spanish team, proud of our basketball gold generation, we fighted until the end against an amazing nba superstars team.
By the way, that guy, that has generated so much controversy with his arrogant comments I don’t think he was really spanish. but probably a french or an srgentine trying to give a bad image of spanish people. Here in Spain we respect so much the USA team.
See you in 4 years.
Congrats from Spain, you were very lucky this time .You won because you had a hundred per cent Kevin Durant, Navarro was not to his fullest, only seven points of difference… Everybody has seen it.
The biggest USA challenger is not Spain, it is Lithuania. Just facts. 2000 Olympics US 85:76 LT, US 85:83 LT. 2004 Olympics US 90:94 LT, US 104:96 LT. 2010 World championship US 89:74 LT. 2012 Olympics US 99:94 LT.
You wish guy ¡
USA deserved the GOLD and Spain deserved the SILVER. Period.
That being said, Spain has shown to be not only the best European team in the last years, but the only one who can really try to beat USA on a final. Is not me, it is James and Kobe saying it.
USA should be proud to be the best, and should also show some respect for a Nation, Spain, 52 times smaller, that has almost been able to beat them.
Spain should be proud to be the second best, and should show respect for a Nation that has the bets talented players ever.
Good job USA, and good job Spain. And for those American and Spanish haters who show no respect for USA and SPAIN, read this up: GROW UP! THIS IS SPORTS!
Proud to be a SPANIARD.
Victor (SPAIN)
yea but the usa team won by only seven considering all the superstars they have spain kept it close give em props
From Spain, congrats to the USA team. They played a fantastic game and deserved the gold medal. Anyway, I´m sure most of the people posting here didn´t expect a game that close, but the US team is so deep that no team in the world can beat them. Against this team if you have 5 bad minutes you are dead.
I´m proud of my team Spain for thrill me and i´m proud of usa too because i love basketball and both teams gave us a amazing game. The best game in fiba History, may be. Usa have the best team from the true dream team 1992 and if they had played against aother team , we would not have had final, Usa would have defeated then by thirty points.
Congratulations Usa and see you again in 4 years….
that is what USA basketball does. Biggest fan of KOBE BRYANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lets go USA BASKETBALL TEAM
USA are invincible, but I wish there was played ricky
Lebron is getting pretty clutch nowadays..eh?
Fair to say he was the most clutch player on Team USA? (Today: clutch 3 and dunk in the final minutes; Lithuania game, Argentina Game…
Congrats to Team USA..and get ready for one crazy NBA season (Durant+Westbrook vs Lebron+Wade vs Kobe+Dwight)
To tell u the truth USA dissappointed me in this finals,their lack of big men and bad coaching was so obvious, they won because their indivindual talent is so much better than Spains.
lol…I would like watching Lebron scoring 19 on a half guarded by Kobe with Navarro´s body. Exactly, the difference between this teams is not talent but physical.
Sorry for my english.
Do not listen to the Troll. The idiots have no country. Congratulations from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Great game. Kevin Durant MVP.
I’m proud of our team that fought until the end against USA’s allstar team. It was a really good match but I prefer Pekin’s final. That was in my opinion the best basketball game between national teams ever.
Congrats USA, you deserve it, Durant made you win (you overall made also a great job but he was HUGE), he’s the best.
This is not the best dream team, period. Not even close.
Hoy hemos mantenido a raya a los USA BOYS durante 38-39 minutos. Y es que los GASOL y la Bomba Navarro han sido la clave de la gran remontada Española. Los USA BOYS son cracks al servicio del equipo y eso dice mucho de su cuerpo técnico. Felicidades. Pero esta España no competirá al mismo nivel en Brasil 2016.Dudo mucho de la capacidad física de Pau y de JC NAVARRO.
En Brasil no estarán ni Pau, ni Navarro, ni Felipe. Si no hay ninguna explosión espectacular de ningún jugador nuevo o que de los que hay ahora den un salto enorme de calidad (Llul, Claver, acoplamiento de Ibaka al equipo), sólo nos queda esperar que Ricky Rubio siga progresando y consiga hacer mucho mejor a sus compañeros.
Por cierto, increíble que Navarro no esté en la mejor liga del mundo, no entiendo como Pau no convence a la directiva de los Lakers. Y es que, como decía el gran Andrés Montes, el talento está bajo sospecha. Y que razón tenía.
Very close game. Maybe USA fans must accept that Spain was much closer than they expected. All those were praying while the third quarter. Enjoy the gold medal, but remember, it was not easy. Spain 40 million people. USA 270 million people. Who feels prouder now?
USA does – Spain 12 players. USA 12 players. The citizens didnt win the gold the 12 men on the USA team did – your arguement is invalid.
Congrats USA team!
I think Spain deserved a little more but is so hard to beat this awesome team, Durant is a scoring machine and Lebron is a monster.
By the way I think USA was helped (again) from referees, I think, with this little help from Spain, will win…
To the half at the end of second quarter , just with Llull scored a 42-41 lead, referees helped clearly USA team, and I think they don’t need it.
USA fans are happy with this game? I really don’t think so, Durant won half gold medal and a lot of usa players plated really bad.
We missed you Ricky Rubio.
You’re right. USA had to win… and the referees did their best, as always.
it is true that the usa can play much better but even when they have a bad day they beat spain . the referees tried to help spain but even that did not help .
Did you watch the game? I don’t think so
Durant won HALF a gold medal? He earned and deserved that gold medal he set an olympic record for most points in one olympic tournament – he is the best scorer on the planet and he well earned that gold