I was very tired last night when I switched on the USA-Spain gold medal basketball game ten minutes late to find Kobe and Lebron already on the bench in foul trouble. Somehow I had sensed it. This wasn’t going to be easy. Spain was filled with good players playing loosey-goosey out of their minds. They had nothing to lose, after all. And the USA was weak in the paint – no real enforcers to stop the Spanish guards. (Andrew Bynum next time?) Pau Gasol was doing much better against the USA bigs than he ever did against the Celts… dammit. Sure enough, fourth quarter Los Espanoles were within four and I was wide-awake.
But then it was just like a Laker game. Forget Lebron. Forget Jason Kidd and his years of experience. Bring on the Mamba – the best crunch player since Jordan. Pretty soon things were in hand. It was like being at Staples against the Spurs.
More here, including Kidd calling Kobe “best on the planet.”
Kobe is a great basketball player, but why are his last minute efforts even needed? Spain is good, but we blew them out in pool play. This is more like the game against France in 2000, where we almost lost. Where was the vaunted “pressure D”? What business has any team got scoring over 100 points on the cream of the NBA crop in a 40 minute game? Maybe if Kobe & Co. had played better defense earlier, he wouldn’t have needed to be a star later. Really, the game should have been put away in the first half. Yes the rest of the world is catching up, but I hope all the hyperbole floating around about how wondrous this team is will evaporate. They redeemed the loss. That’s good enough, let’s not make too much of it.
Roger, it’s only a Detroit fan that will comment on this thread. See you in the finals next year. We will beat Boston. Great 7 game series Detroit-LA.
Dear Mr. Simon,
I am an NBA fanatic. The first game I ever saw was between the Celtics and the Lakers – the Minneapolis Lakers. Mikan and Cousy.
When Kobe first came up I thought “good player – but doesn’t he know this is a team game?”. I can’t tell you how gratified I am that he has turned into a real mensch. Course the Suns will kill ‘em next year.
Regards,
Roy
Weak in the paint, indeed. They seemed to be giving up an awful lot of offensive boards, and there were rather more alley-oops than I was expecting.
The Dream team would eat the Redeem Team for breakfast.
But they did what they were supposed to, and came home with the gold, so I’m going to stop bitching about it.