USA Basketball Gold Medal Game

[appmaj]

Things not looking great at the moment Spain up 2 in the third

[appdaze]

I thought it was fantastic that when a game is called objectively that a team of 3 nba starters and a bunch of bench players can go toe to toe with a team of nba all stars and future hall of famers and a hall of fame coach. Spain put on a hell of a game but ran out of gas in the last 3 ish minutes. This USA team was a great one but I still say MJ and the dream team would take them.

[firemoose]

I thought it was fantastic that when a game is called objectively that a team of 3 nba starters and a bunch of bench players can go toe to toe with a team of nba all stars and future hall of famers and a hall of fame coach. Spain put on a hell of a game but ran out of gas in the last 3 ish minutes. This USA team was a great one but I still say MJ and the dream team would take them.

Agree on the original Dream Team. No doubt that the 2012 could turn on the three's when they needed to but one thing almost everyone is leaving out is the international rules and the court itself are much closer to the NBA today than they were in 92. For MJ and the gang it was a completely different set of rules to play by. Over the years FIBA has started matching things closer to the NBA type rules since so many teams have NBA players on them. That makes it a little bit easier on the current teams as they don't have so many things they have to learn not to do when they play international. That makes the 92 team even a little bit more special.

[eggers76]

Most reports that I have read said that the game was called horribly. One official noted that the refs were in over their heads.

[appdaze]

I didn't think the refs did a horrible job. If by horrible they mean calling fouls on NBA all stars who don't know what its like to have 4 fouls then I guess they did a horrible job. But I saw the whole game and I thought it was called pretty evenly regardless of how good or bad sports writers thought their calls were. Had that game been called like an NBA game with NBA refs it would have been a lopsided victory because lebron and company would have been able to drive the lanes recklessly, get away with the fouls underneath, and get the typical "super star" treatment that is rampant in the NBA. As I said I've said before though Spain put out a heck of an effort and should get a ton of credit for it. I just think that the consistency of the refs calling helped in favor of Spain.

[eggers76]

I did not watch the game and I don't want to slight the efforts of the Spanish team at all. I am only going by what I read from multiple sources and yes they are from biased US news outlets. I don't watch the NBA games for the reasons you just posted.

[97APP]

....But I saw the whole game and I thought it was called pretty evenly regardless of how good or bad sports writers thought their calls were....

Agree some may argue that the refs were too visable (i.e. too many calls) but IMO they were consistant and called a fair game and as a player that's really all you can ask for.