Sports: We Got The Gold

By Eddie Castro

The United States basketball team added the finishing touches to what was an impressive performance at the London Olympics, as they defeated second world-ranked Spain for the gold medal last Sunday morning by a score of 107-100. Throughout the entire tournament, the team played with a dominant swagger, a few which included a 156-73 victory against Nigeria, and defeating third-ranked Argentina two times in the same week. As unbeatable as they looked, Spain made them earn the gold, as the two teams battled and made it close, Team USA was up one (83-82) going into the fourth quarter. It was the second straight Olympics the U.S. have won the gold, and the 14th overall. Spain made it close, but in the end, Kevin Durant was too much for Spain dropping 30 points and 9 rebounds to assure a “W” for the red, white and blue. It was an epic and historic Olympics for the team overall, as some of the best players displayed their talents quite well in London.
Without a shout of a doubt, LeBron James silenced his critics and showed that he was indeed the best player in the world. In the two toughest games in the tournament, James came up huge against Lithuania in pool play, and against Spain in the gold medal game. His overwhelming sense of confidence caught many critics off guard, however, he did everything that needed to be done on the floor. With James winning the gold medal, he became just the 2nd player to win the NBA Finals MVP, the NBA Championship and Olympic gold all in the same year. The first person to do it was Michael Jordan back in 1992. I’d say James is living the American dream right now. There were other players showing off their talents as well.  Knicks’ forward Carmelo Anthony had his scoring surges, including an Olympic record 37 points against Nigeria where he knocked down 13 three-pointers. Thunder forward Kevin Durant became the up-and-coming and probably the face of Team USA basketball for many years to come. Durant scored an Olympic record 156 points in 8 games, an average of 19.5 points a game. His scoring of 156 is now the most by any player in Olympic play. At a slender 6’11 and just the way he is able to move around really became a nightmare for the international players who had to guard him. At 23, it is almost pretty safe to say he’ll be back in 2016.
With the team heading back to the states to celebrate their victory, there will be changes to the coaching staff and probably the roster as well, thus giving USA basketball president Jerry Colangelo a lot of work to do and decisions to make. USA coach Mike Krzyzewski has said that he will not coach the team in 2016. The team went on to have an outstanding record of 50-1 under Krzyzewski with their only loss coming against Greece in 2006 at the FIBA (Federation International Basketball Association) World Championships. Maybe a Wine-and-Pizza get together between Krzyzewski, and Colangelo will convince coach K to return in 2016. After all, it did work before and got him to return for this year’s Olympics. As far as the players go, the roster will be a bit older. Kobe Bryant, 34, has said that he will retire from Olympic play. One of the team’s biggest concerns was their size. It almost cost them the gold. In 2016, Kevin Durant will be 27, and will probably become the leader of the team. We all assume Dwight Howard and perhaps Andrew Bynum can contribute with their size to help the team in 2016. James will be 31, but it is unknown whether he will return. So as the team celebrates their victory, they will also be looking to get bigger, faster and better as the Olympic Games shift to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016.
Sports Notes: (Olympics) The athletes of the United States dominated in London winning gold (46) silver (29) and Bronze (29) medals, the most by any country. (Baseball) The Mets end a 3-game series against the Reds, and then focused their attention towards the Washington Nationals. The Yankees prepare themselves for another grueling 3-game set against the Boston Red Sox.

The United States basketball team added the finishing touches to what was an impressive performance at the London Olympics, as they defeated second world-ranked Spain for the gold medal last Sunday morning by a score of 107-100. Throughout the entire tournament, the team played with a dominant swagger, a few which included a 156-73 victory against Nigeria, and defeating third-ranked Argentina two times in the same week. As unbeatable as they looked, Spain made them earn the gold, as the two teams battled and made it close, Team USA was up one (83-82) going into the fourth quarter. It was the second straight Olympics the U.S. have won the gold, and the 14th overall. Spain made it close, but in the end, Kevin Durant was too much for Spain dropping 30 points and 9 rebounds to assure a “W” for the red, white and blue. It was an epic and historic Olympics for the team overall, as some of the best players displayed their talents quite well in London.
Without a shout of a doubt, LeBron James silenced his critics and showed that he was indeed the best player in the world. In the two toughest games in the tournament, James came up huge against Lithuania in pool play, and against Spain in the gold medal game. His overwhelming sense of confidence caught many critics off guard, however, he did everything that needed to be done on the floor. With James winning the gold medal, he became just the 2nd player to win the NBA Finals MVP, the NBA Championship and Olympic gold all in the same year. The first person to do it was Michael Jordan back in 1992. I’d say James is living the American dream right now. There were other players showing off their talents as well.  Knicks’ forward Carmelo Anthony had his scoring surges, including an Olympic record 37 points against Nigeria where he knocked down 13 three-pointers. Thunder forward Kevin Durant became the up-and-coming and probably the face of Team USA basketball for many years to come. Durant scored an Olympic record 156 points in 8 games, an average of 19.5 points a game. His scoring of 156 is now the most by any player in Olympic play. At a slender 6’11 and just the way he is able to move around really became a nightmare for the international players who had to guard him. At 23, it is almost pretty safe to say he’ll be back in 2016.
With the team heading back to the states to celebrate their victory, there will be changes to the coaching staff and probably the roster as well, thus giving USA basketball president Jerry Colangelo a lot of work to do and decisions to make. USA coach Mike Krzyzewski has said that he will not coach the team in 2016. The team went on to have an outstanding record of 50-1 under Krzyzewski with their only loss coming against Greece in 2006 at the FIBA (Federation International Basketball Association) World Championships. Maybe a Wine-and-Pizza get together between Krzyzewski, and Colangelo will convince coach K to return in 2016. After all, it did work before and got him to return for this year’s Olympics. As far as the players go, the roster will be a bit older. Kobe Bryant, 34, has said that he will retire from Olympic play. One of the team’s biggest concerns was their size. It almost cost them the gold. In 2016, Kevin Durant will be 27, and will probably become the leader of the team. We all assume Dwight Howard and perhaps Andrew Bynum can contribute with their size to help the team in 2016. James will be 31, but it is unknown whether he will return. So as the team celebrates their victory, they will also be looking to get bigger, faster and better as the Olympic Games shift to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016.
Sports Notes: (Olympics) The athletes of the United States dominated in London winning gold (46) silver (29) and Bronze (29) medals, the most by any country. (Baseball) The Mets end a 3-game series against the Reds, and then focused their attention towards the Washington Nationals. The Yankees prepare themselves for another grueling 3-game set against the Boston Red Sox.