Germany vs. China + Team USA vs. Spain - LIVE
August 16, 2008 by Tobias
Here we go - the day every single European and especially Spanish basketball fan has waited for. Well, is it really? There is no doubt, that Team USA wants to win every single game, including the final, to take it all, but how about Spain? Do they really have or want to win this game?
Remember this is still group play, which only determines your next opponent in the Quarterfinals.
Team USA has to win, no doubt. They will be motivated as anything, even though, only Kobe Bryant was watching the Spanish team play live so far - pretty strange for a team that tells us over and over, not taking gold will be unacceptable, claims itself the the redeem team and tells us they take every opponent very serious.
I am not expecting Spain to win this game, Ricky and Rudy will only show what they are capable of, while the rest of the Spanish national team is already known to US basketball fans (Gasol, Gasol, Calderon, Navarro, Garbajosa).
BallinEurope will blog the game LIVE, which starts Saturday at 10:15am US ET and 16:15 Central European time (10:15pm local time in Beijing). Should be a great game, but the important game will follow later in the knock out stage.
[...] Team USA vs. Spain - LIVE [...]
a lesson in humility. I hope Spain learns a lesson. We have to defend better and of course… some of our players have played their worst game ever, like Navarro or Calderon.
I have my doubts about Aito, the Spanish coach.
That said, congratulations, USA, they have played superb I think. Serious and totally concentrated from minute 1 to 40.
every team looks bad against TEAM USA this year. just look at greece against germany compared to greece usa. errors, errors, errors… it is the intensity of the US players that creates this fear that if something goes slightly wron, they will score(dunk!) on you. every time. pus these guys are lightning.
I don’t tink there is a match to them , especially snce Big Sofo seems to be completely off and he could be the prominent inside presence needed to kill them, but we will just have to wait and see. Maybe argentina can do some things…but thus far (counting in preparation) I have yet to see a team able to outmatch them straight, youhave to catch them on an off night. But what arethe odds of catching bryant, james, et al on a night when EVERYONE of those famous and clutch players is off? woe is me, but there is still some games to be played and some water to run down in beijing…
I have to tell that I am a little bit surprised. I thought that at least teams like Greece or Spain are able to withstand the pressure. But congratulations to Team USA: they prepared, they thought about how to play here and they put this will into reality every game.
Now it´s a little bit like 1992 again, the rest of the world has to do its homework and to catch up again. As I do not think that team USA will take off for one game here and as I do also not think that one of other teams will play at the same time at a 150%, the road to gold is paved for Team USA.
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