Sketchy crew

I went to bed at 11:30 PM on Saturday night. I woke up at 2:30 AM Sunday morning to watch the gold medal game between the United States and Spain. I am quite happy that I made the effort. I got to see the United States and LeBron James play one of the most entertaining games that I have ever watched. The US led the game almost wire to wire, but the margin was constantly in jeopardy. The US would go up by ten or twelve and then all of a sudden the talented Spanish team would tighten up on defense and bomb some threes and it would be back down to six points, and then four. I think a couple times it even got down to two.

There was additional drama provided by a sketchy international referreeing crew. The US got into foul trouble early. After five minutes passed LeBron James and Kobe Bryant both had two fouls each. Certainly this was not the preferred scenario for Mike krzyzewski and the US Olympic team. That is where the depth of such a team comes into play. When your first team gets in foul trouble and your team strategically has left Dwyane Wade on the bench to come in and overwhelm opponents with his tenacious attack of passing lanes, it is a bit of an advantage. But then the referreeing started to even out. At the end of the game, I think both teams had a right to complain almost evenly about the foul situation and inconsistency. Considering that Spain had to foul the US intentionally at the end of the game, the fouls were almost even as the US had 26 whistles blown against them, to Spain’s 29.

So, now the gold is back in US custody. It felt great to see the US team celebrate on the court with an almost tearful Mike Krzyzewski clapping for his guys at center court. You could tell that the players and coaching staff were full of different emotions. Instead of just expecting to win, this team seemed not only happy and satisfied, but also relieved. Relieved that their hard work playing in all the off-seasons of their hectic NBA lives for three years would actually pay off. That it would not only make them more competitive, but put them over the top for the next four years.

As a Cavs fan, it isn’t like winning a championship, I don’t think. But, it does show LeBron as a true leader amongst any group of basketball players. He didn’t have the flashiest box score of anyone on the team. He didn’t hold the ball all the time. He didn’t take the biggest pressure shots, instead opting to help set teammates like Kobe and Dwyane Wade up. What he did was play perfect team basketball. He was defending the fast break, defending the weak side, driving to the basket to stop streaks, and looking for assists. LeBron insists on playing basketball the right way at all times, even as it has led to criticism at times in Cleveland.

But now, his style and substance has helped Team USA bring the gold back. It doesn’t feel like the gold is rightfully ours and has been stolen since 2000, like the original Dream Team would have had us believe. This is a new era with very talented international teams vying for this gold every four years. It feels like a great accomplishment, rather than just a rite of passage. In the scheme of things, this is good for the game of basketball and good for the United States. It is now the kind of accomplishment that seems worth getting up in the middle of the night to watch.