USA by 20.
Beat pretenders China and Angola- CHECK
Revenge the 2006 World Championship loss to Greece- CHECK
Beat USA's predicted greatest competition- ???
Most experts seem to believe that Spain will be our biggest obstacle on the way to Gold, and why not? They have the second most talented team in this olympics... by far.
Rudy Fernandez-
Jose Calderon
Pau Gasol
Marc Gasol
Jan Carlos Navarro
Jorge Garbajosa
Ricky Rubio
... just to name a few
Every name up there is a former, current, or future NBA player. Here are a few notes on this game from my perspective.
1) Not Your Average European Team- Spain is no Greece... that much is for sure. We will be seeing a very different form of offense that goes outside-in (like the NBA) instead of inside-out. Pau Gasol is there best player and is averaging almost 18 points a game. They WILL be feeding him consistently if they are really trying to beat us.
2) Big Boys- Spain and Germany are the two teams in our bracket that have a number of skilled big men. I predict that Boozer will be needed to throw his weight around a bit...
3) Depth- Spain is really the only other team we will face that doesn't have to worry about a drop-off in quality when the second line comes in. Garbajosa, Calderon, and Navarro have all come off the bench, and Rubio is the backup point most of the time.
4) Lots of Questions- Aito Garcia Reneses is either indecisive or a magician using slight of hand. So far he has not shown any consistency in minutes and starters. In the game against China, he hardly used teen sensation Rubio until the last 5 minutes of the game when the score was tight and they needed to comeback??? Many experts are saying that this is simply his style. He plays mind games and refuses to show his hand until games become critical. A few weeks ago Chris Sheridan at ESPN wondered whether or not Spain would throw the game against America so as not to let them gain an edge in game planning for the knockout round. I am wondering the same thing.
5) Execution and Drop-Off- We have now "redeemed" ourselves temporarily after a great game against Greece, but the real question is, can we keep up the intensity? Spain is the best team in Europe (presumably) because they execute very well on the offensive end. If we slack off and don't get the requisite turnovers, we could be in some trouble. (Ricky Rubio is being heralded as a possible top5 pick in the draft next year, but my guess is that he will crack against our pressure if we bring it).
Previous Results- (3-0)
Spain 81 Greece 66
Spain 85 china 75 (OT)
Spain 72 Germany 59
Add your thoughts please...
Sidenote- Lithuania is quietly looking very impressive on the other side of the brackets.
USA by 20.
<Thread Hijack>In non-USA games on Saturday, China vs. Germany and Russia vs. Australia are key games. Those four teams (along with Greece) are all 1-2 and desperately need to win. I believe Greece will beat Angola to improve to 2-2, but the other two contests are wide open and the results will setup do or die matches on Monday. Specifically, a China victory over Germany will result a huge Monday afternoon China vs. Greece matchup. </Thread Hijack>
Bob Green
my prediction: An epic battle with lots of foul issues and head-scratching officiating.
I predict USA by 19, I for one feel this will actually be an easier match for us, because they want to try and play the same style as us. On another note, do not be surprised if Angola pulls an upset over Greece, sometimes when you get beaten down like that, it is hard to get back up and fight, we will just have to wait and see. By the way what time will our next game be?
The USA vs. Spain game is Saturday at 10:15 pm in Beijing which equals 10:15 am EDT.
Bob Green
Has anyone else seen Rubio? I have just been very underwhelmed by him considering all the hype...
It worked last time, so I'll say Spain by 5.
'Melo and Kobe start bombing threes in the third quarter.
USA over Spain: 103-81
Did you guys see Rubio against China? He was great he didn't score but he had like 4 assist and 5 steals in limited minutes. His defense is incredible for someone his age, he's got extremely active hands and has quick feet. I think he's gonna be a really good player.
Rubio is outstanding. As someone else said, you can't forget that he's only 17. His jump shot needs work, but he's really quick, can handle the ball well and is a demon on D already. He has the chance to be, as a certain coach likes to say, "special."
This is going to be a tough game. The greatest asset for the U.S. team (by far) is its pressure D. But Calderon will be able handle it, and should be able to get Spain into its sets much better than Greece did. Conversely, we stlll need to execute better in our half-court offense.
The Washington Post has an interesting article on Rubio.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews
i think (hope) that the US will come out with the same type of controlled intensity as they did against greece. they will let spain hang around before delivering a big time knockout blow, similar to greece. However, Spain won't go away at all or nearly as easily as Greece did. My prediction is 98-85 US win.