LONDON — So … is this it? Is this the final product? Is this the team that — forget that five-point Lithuania game — will storm to the gold medal? Is it this the team that has put it all together? Found a way to mesh all the pieces?
Is this, at last, the Regime Team?
That wasn’t Nigeria being eaten alive 126-97 on Monday night at the basketball venue in Olympic Park. It was an Argentina team with four legit NBA players, including Manu Ginobili, that scrum-seeking demon who scares anyone in international play.
Is this the team that can turn it on at will, as it appeared to do in the third quarter on Monday night when it stretched a scary-thin 60-59 halftime lead to 102-76 by the end of the third?
Is this the team that can say, “Lead us, LeBron,” and make it almost like ordering from room service, lie back and wait while James takes over the game for a four-minute stretch (one three-pointer, two other field goals, two assists, two rebounds, one steal)?
Is this the team that, when James goes to the bench, simply moves to Kevin Durant, who is shooting three-point shots (8 of 10 in this game) like they were layups?
Is this the team that gives the ball to point guard Chris Paul, who counters the opposition’s let-him-shoot strategy and drains five of his six three-pointers, as he did against Argentina?
Is this the team that can change tempo by inserting Russell Westbrook (who has to be one of the top 10 athletes at these Olympics Games) and Andre Iguodala and watch them harass their way to steals and layups?
Is this the team that can find 12th man Anthony Davis some time, then wave towels and cheer as he makes a minor contribution of two points and two rebounds?
Well … it might be.
“When you play them, you have to make decisions,” said Ginobili, who finished with 16 points, six assists and an estimated nine bruises. “We decided we were not going to give them layups. So that means we gave them the three-pointers. And what happens? Kevin Durant makes everything. Then everybody starts making everything. And it’s all over.”
Is that kind of dominance fated to continue for Team USA?
“If they are on top of their game, no, they will not lose,” says Ginobili. “But you know what? Anyone can start missing shots, and that’s when it gets interesting.”
So, for all of those questions raised above, Ginobili’s is the simplest answer. But if the U.S. does win three more games to capture the gold, it will look back upon the Argentina game as the one where it really found itself.
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