Payback is a bitch. Four years ago, Argentina eliminated Team USA in the semi-finals and went on to win the basketball gold medal. Today Team USA returned the favor, winning 101-81.
The Americans took control early. Argentina couldn't do anything right, and their leader Obi Wan Ginobili picked up two quick fouls in the first five minutes. Then when it looked like things couldn't get any worse, Ginobili was injured and had to limp off the court. Team USA had said they can't expect to blow teams out in the first quarter, but they ran up a 21-4 lead, and the quarter ended 30-11.
This looked like it was going to be the mother of all blowouts, with Argentina losing its best player. But the second quarter was a strange reversal of fortune as Argentina went to a zone defense, and Team USA went to sleep. The Americans held the ball, over-dribbled, and settled for outside jumpers, which they missed. Argentina kept chipping away, and cut the lead to 6. There was the usual strange international officiating, but basically Team USA stopped running, got no points off turnovers, no points in the paint...well, you get the idea. At the half the USA still led 49-40, and that was only because of a ticky-tack foul that gave Camelo Anthony 3 free throws.
In the third quarter the Americans went back to basics, started attacking the zone. It paid off as Argentina's big men got into foul trouble, and Team USA pulled away. But even though Argentina didn't have much depth to begin with, and now they were undermanned, they were still in the game till the end, even though they never threatened again. Before the Olympics started, I thought there would be some close games, and I guess this one qualifies, because it was a lot closer than it should have been.
The final game of the tournament will be a rematch with Spain, which Team USA pasted by 37 points last time around. Spain has 5 or 6 players who have played (or will play) in the NBA, but this time it looks they may be missing their point guard Jose Calderon. I think it's a good bet that Spain will be playing zone early and often. But I don't think it will matter.
Gymnastics note: even though the gymastics competition was over, some of the champions performed in a gymastics gala. There were no judges, no scoring, and mercifully, no Bela.
I don't which sport has the smartest athletes, but I know which sport has the dumbest ones. Track. Hands down, with nothing else even close. The US Mens 4 x 100 relay team was a medal contender, but failed to even qualify for the finals because they dropped the baton in their semi-final heat. They DID manage to complete TWO of the three necessary passes, but Tyson Gay dropped the baton, and that was that.
Not to be outdone, THREE other relay teams were also disqualified because passing a baton around the track was too complicated for them, too. Then in the other semi-final heat, two more teams were disqualified. So a total of 6 out of 16 relay teams, including all three of the medalists at Athens, were disqualified.
Then came the Womens 4 x 100 meter relay semi-final heat. Again, Team USA was a medal favorite. Again, Team USA did not make it into the finals, as they were disqualified, because...you guessed it! They dropped the baton! The damn thing only weighs 2 ounces. How hard is it to pass a baton around the track without dropping it?
We also had the pleasure of watching Usain Bolt of Jamaica, who looks like a man running against boys. Track needs more characters like him. He had already won the 100 meter dash, breaking the world record despite slowing down in the last 15 meters to wave his arms and pound his chest. Then he won the 200 meters, only this time he was serious and broke Michael Johnson's record, which had stood for 12 years, and looked unapproachable.
And on top of that, he didn't have a lot of competition. Because BOTH the silver and bronze medalists were disqualified. They didn't have to do anything complicated, like passing a baton, either. All they had to do was stay in their lanes, but they couldn't manage that. Sometimes I think their coaching sessions go something like this:
Runner: Me run track.
Coach: Stay in your lane.
Runner: Me run fast.
Coach: OK, but remember to stay in your lane.
Runner: Lane? What lane?
These are world class sprinters, and they're making mistakes you wouldn't expect to see at high school track meets. I think I'm going to start rooting for Jamaica.
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