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James, Durant lead way to gold medal

By Tony Farina

The Team USA basketball team captured Olympic Gold in London by beating Spain 107 – 100 in a hard-fought contest that really wasn’t decided until a dunk and a three-pointer by Lebron James late in the fourth quarter that finally put away the Spaniards for good.

With NBA stars James, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant leading the way, Team USA overcame a height disadvantage and a strong game by Bryant’s Lakers’ teammate Pau Gasol to win the gold medal and evoke comparison with the great Olympic Dream Team of 1992 led by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Could the 2012 team beat the Dream Team?  We’ll never know, of course. But they put on quite a show  and James capped off a terrific year by winning his second gold medal and being the all around leader of the quick and athletic 2012 team that went undefeated on its way to Olympic gold.

“I was happy I was able to contribute to this great team,” said James after scoring 19 points against Spain.  “It’s one of the best teams ever.”  Kevin Durant, the NBA’s 23-year-old NBA scoring champ, put up 30 in the title game and Kobe Bryant, a five-time NBA champion, added 17 points.

Pau Gasol, Bryant’s good friend and teammate on the Lakers, scored 24 points and had eight rebounds and seven assists for the Spaniards who put up a strong challenge to the Americans but came up short, at least in the score.  If the U.S. team had any weakness, it’s at center where the 1992 Dream Team with Patrick Ewing and David Robinson were dominant. But the 2012 team put Kevin Love to good use in the post and relied on tough defense that at times saw the 6’8” James guarding the 7’2” Gasol.  And Carmelo Anthony had great scoring nights along the way.  

“They [U. S. team] had to play one of their best games to beat us,” said Jose Calderon, a star on the Spanish team who plays in the NBA. But that’s just what Team USA did, under the leadership of Duke’s great coach, Mike Krzyzewski who was able to mold the super talented team--- into a well-oiled machine that could put up big numbers in the blink of an eye.
 
For James the gold medal win capped a Cinderella year during which he led his Miami Heat to the NBA championship, winning the MVP for the regular season and the finals and putting to rest criticism that he couldn’t deliver when it counted. Krzyzewski called him the best player on the planet and his performance in the Olympics lived up to that billing.

 

 

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com Aug 14 , 2012