The women and mens American Olympic basketball teams have completed their mission and it all is now golden. The women fist won gold on Saturday and the men earlier today. The women’s game started out close and ended in no contest but the mens game was down to the wire with Spain.

Spain gave the US the best game of their Olympic run and came very close to beating the Redeem Team where at times it looked like Spain would play the spolier to the mission at hand and one the American team had planned for three years.  With the US being up by 13 at one point in the 2nd quarter. the lead quickly was brought down to 2 and the score remained up and down during the whole second quarter. It actually was not until Kobe Bryant got hot in the 4th and finished Pau Gasol, his cohort during the regular season and his oppenent today, and the Spain team off. The victory score was 118-107.

The celebration began with a little over 40 seconds to play as the US knew they were no longer bronze but Golden boys again. Congratulations USA Basketball!

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This past week the US Olympic basketball team arrived in China to begin their quest to take back the gold medal that they lost to Argentina in 2004. By most people’s account they have the team to do it and they should accomplish this goal.

For the first time, the US players has to make a three year commitment to this team. The team was assembled back in 2006 and have been playing together in practices on and off since then. It was not the typical “let’s assemble the team and hope they can play together” type of attitude.  The loss in 2004 showed the US that it was not infalliable and thus the reason fof this plan. Chemistry on the court is important and therefore they created it the past three years.

In 2004, the US brought some good players to the floor including some returning, but this year it is the best of the best. Including in this years NBA MVP, Kobe Bryant (Lakers) and Jason Kidd (Mavericks) who not only has Olympic experience but has a gold medal from playing with the US team back in 2000, the 2008 team is ready to hit the ground running. The other team members include Lebron James (Cavaliers), Carmelo Anthony (Nuggets), Carlos Boozer (Jazz), Chris Bosh (Raptors), Dwight Howard (Magic), Chris Paul (Hornets), Tayshaun Prince (Pistons), Michael Redd( Bucks), Dwayne Wayde (Heat), and Daryn Williams (Jazz). The coach is Mike Krzyzewski who currently coaches the NCAA Duke team and has been at the helm of this Olympic team since conception in 2006.

Although there are quite a few members from the 2004 team that took bronze returning, they are not thinking about that experience any longer. They know they can win and the team has been built to do just that. Jason Kidd knows what it is like to win in the Olympics. In Sydney in 2000 the US team went undefeated and took gold. He, however, isn’t thinking of that either.

The team landed in Beijing this past week and based on the Olympic tuneup games, if they stay focused, they should all be standing with gold medals on August 23rd. That would be a great gift to everyone, but to Kobe Bryant, it would be an excellent birthday gift as he turns 30 the day before the gold medal game. GO US!

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The NBA draft was held Thursday and as always, the most talented college stars became the top picks of the day and this year three of the top five came from Southern California. The first was a guard that the Chicago Bulls can build their team around, Derrick Rose. Derrick grew up in the Chicago area and is now going to play for his home team. The Heat chose next and they chose Michael Beasley who was the NCAA top rebounder last year.

The Los Angeles schools took over as USC O.J. Mayo became the first USC Trojan ever drafted. he was used in a deal later but he was the third pick. The surprise of the day was when Seattle Sonics picked Russell Westbrook and then the Memphis Grizzlies chose Kevin Love who seemed disappointed as he wanted to play for Minnesota. Well remember that deal I mentioned regarding Mayo? It helped Love as he will get to play for his choice afterwards as he was traded to them for Mayo that night. It kind of reminds me of the Eli Manning NFL trade from the Chargers to the Giants as Eli and his dad made it completely clear he did not want to paly for San Diego and if you watched the Superbowl, you know how that story turned out.

If you are a sports or just a basketball fan you already know these things happen in sports and are expected as part of the game so it seems as the top five picks were good choices. What do you think? We think the upcoming seasons will tell.

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