The U.S. men's basketball team defeated Spain 107-100 to take home the Olympic gold in men's basketball. Spain, led by Pau Gasol, did a good job of keeping the game close, but the final score may not actually reflect the dominance that the United States has in basketball.
The United States entered the Olympics (and has been doing so for a while despite some early 2000 results) as the favorites to win the gold at the Olympics. Pre-competition debates raged about whether or not the current 2012 team is good enough to compare and compete with the legendary 1992 Dream Team that featured Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Charles Barkley. While that debate was, and never will be, settled, the 2012 U.S. team did prove their worth by defeating Spain for the gold in what will be Kobe Bryant's and Coach Mike Krzyzweski's last Olympic games.
And through all of it, the United States did not have a chance to field players such as Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, and Blake Griffin due to injuries. Rose, the 2011 NBA MVP, would have added to the already-potent U.S. offense, while Howard would have contributed on the inside and on the defensive end.
The U.S. team was criticized for its lack of big men, something that some critics thought would hurt them. Despite that, the scoring prowess of players like Kevin Durant, Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Kobe Bryant helped the United States to an undefeated record that includes a record for most points scored in an Olympic basketball game - 156 against Nigeria. Imagine if the United States had big men like Howard and Griffin to feed the ball to. It might have almost seemed too easy.
The United States is a secure first place in the world basketball FIBA rankings. Spain and Argentina come in at second and third respectively, and are the only teams to have remotely as much points as the United States. Fourth-place Greece is almost 400 points behind the United States.
The competition today is tougher than ever, and teams like Spain and Argentina are still a threat to U.S. basketball when their gears are churning. But the best players in the world play in the NBA, where all the U.S. basketball players have been through. The experience, passion, and reach of the NBA is something the United States will always have, and yes, the U.S. gold came with a seven-point victory, but the real spread is far larger.
Watch the top five USA basketball highlights from the 2012 London Olympics:
Watch the top ten moments of USA basketball from the 2008 Beijing Olympics: