London 2012 Medal Games

[Andrew]

Did anyone else catch them?

I thought we were treated to two very exciting games to end the Olympic tournament. Argentina vs Russia was a bit sloppy in parts but still a good one to watch, competitive right to the end. Great win by Russia.

Spain vs USA is one of the best gold medal games I've seen. I'd still rate the Dream Team as the superior squad, but this USA team is still great in their own right and they pulled out an exciting win over Spain, who I thought were going to take it for a while there. I'm very glad it didn't turn into another blowout, a fitting way to crown the Gold and Silver medalists. Just a great game, glad I stayed up to watch it live.

[stereoxide]

The first half was really long because almost every possession ends up in a foul.

[Andrew]

Yeah, it did get a little ugly there in the second quarter with all those free throws. Apart from that though, it was a fairly free flowing game.

[deihatein]

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[_Steve_]

Alexey Shved had a huge game and hit a clutch 3 pointer to help Russia win the bronze medal.
The win was well deserved as Russia has been the better/ more disciplined team over the cause of the game.

USA vs. Spain was very thrilling for a long time. I liked the effort Spain made. They played with a lot of heart but also a hard and physical game (very old school basketball in my opinion).
USA deserved the Gold medal. They impressed me on and off the court for just beeing a very sympathic bunch of guys who enjoyed playing their game.

[Andrew]

Agreed. In a tournament with a few things that weren't quite on the level, they were pretty good sports throughout.

[Dc311]

The gold medal game was pretty good.I blame the coaching of Spain for leaving Marc Gasol out there on the floor with 3 fouls in the first quarter into the second and then he picked up his fourth.Everybody(analyst) were saying throughout the Olympics how it is going to be the Gasol brothers that give USA a hard time but we never got to see that.Big kuddo's to Serge Ibaka for stepping up.And a big slap in the face to Tyson Chandler for wanting to get into it with a guy almost a foot shorter than he is.

I was more excited about the bronze medal game.I was not thrilled about the 5 a.m (US time)start but oh well.The game was sloppy at times as Andrew pointed out but that fourth quarter was the thing to remember.Pablo Prigioni was fouled at the end when he stole the ball.That should have set him up to try to tie the game with free throws.But Argentina had their chances throughout the game to take control.Congratulations to Russia though.Hopefully Alexey Shved will carry his abilities over with the Timberwolves when the NBA season starts.

[Andrew]

Yeah, with the way they were calling fouls in the second quarter that's perhaps a time when you do adhere to the old notion of sitting a player in foul trouble and giving him a little more margin for error in the second half. However, whether he fouls out or is taken out with the four fouls he's not going to be able to contribute anything on the court, so he should've seen more time in the second half regardless.

[koberulz]

However, whether he fouls out or is taken out with the four fouls he's not going to be able to contribute anything on the court

I wish coaches would learn this. Avoiding fouling out isn't an achievement. The Russian women did the same thing in the bronze medal game against the Opals.