The United States never trailed in the second half but did not officially put Spain away until Dwyane Wade, unofficially the best player in these Olympics, drilled a 3-pointer with 2 minutes 2 seconds remaining.
Wade, who led the team with 27 points, stayed in that spot for a second and posed with his hands on his hips and a cocksure grin. If there was ever a night for the Americans to show off a bit, this was it: They had completed their long journey back from a disappointing bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Games.
Carmelo Anthony, a veteran of Team USA, said the squad had put “American basketball where it’s supposed to be — on the top of the world.”
After embarrassing the United States on and off the court in Athens, this so-called Redeem Team lived up to its moniker with vigor. The players guarded as if their meals depended on it, shared the ball as if they were starring in “Hoosiers” and made not even a wisp of trouble off the court.
Their performance here validated the formula of USA Basketball’s managing director, Jerry Colangelo, who had dozens of the country’s best players commit to the program for three years. The players’ defensive zeal and camaraderie were a testament to just how far the Americans had come from the petulant and selfish group in 2004.
“The fact that we had this team for three years was the telling difference in this game,” Colangelo said. “It was a great game. It was a pressure game from the get-go, and we never cracked. The fact that we were together for this period of time was the difference.”
They needed that resolve as Spain stayed in the game with a flurry of Juan Carlos Navarro teardrops, Pau Gasol lobs and Rudy Fernandez 3-pointers. Fernandez finished with 22 points and Gasol added 21 after looking soft in Spain’s 37-point loss to the Americans during pool play.
But the Spanish team settled for silver and also inherited the title as the most controversial basketball team of these Games. Spanish players posed for a picture in a newspaper advertisement that the International Olympic Committee deemed “clearly inappropriate,” because they had pulled the skin behind their eyes in a gesture that many felt mocked Asians.
“They gave a better feeling of a team,” he said.
And afterward, the Americans had a chance to tell everyone about it as a team. Just as they planned to walk up on the podium with their arms locked, the entire team showed up at a news conference designed to accommodate no more than six people.
They complimented Spain’s valiant play but talked about how their shared experience of the past three years had allowed them to fend off every Spanish run.
The United States shot 60 percent from the field. Aside from Wade’s late 3-pointer, Kobe Bryant came through with numerous clutch fourth-quarter shots. After Spain had cut the lead to 2 points in the fourth quarter and forced Coach Mike Krzyzewski to call a timeout, Bryant hit a shot that started a 12-2 run. He later made a 3-pointer to boost the lead to 8 with 3:10 remaining, putting his finger over his lips to quiet the crowd.
“Everybody wants to talk about N.B.A. players being selfish and arrogant and being individuals,” Bryant said. “Well, what you saw today was a team bonded together, facing adversity and coming out of here with a big win.”
The victory appears to portend well for USA Basketball. Although Krzyzewski is not likely to return as head coach, Bryant is one of five core players — Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Dwight Howard are the others — who said they would gladly return to play in London in 2012. LeBron James, Anthony and Wade said they would consider it when they must decide.
“I think it’s important to play for the national team now,” the assistant coach Jim Boeheim said. “I think that’s what Jerry wanted to do. That was the whole goal.”
The other goal was to end up atop the podium. Along they way, they contributed to an instant classic of a game.
referrence:www.sterlingtiffamy.com
