The US Redeem team takes the gold at the recently concluded Olympics in Beijing. It was a mission accomplished for a team that was dead-set on recapturing their lost glory. The gold was a victory for the team after the debacle at the Athens Olympics. The win can be summed up as the culmination of the three year mission and in essence end years of losing embarrassments for the Americans. Yet, the win did not come easy for US as the Spanish team led by Pau Gasol showed some signs of strength before bowing out 107-118.

The Spanish team was the worthy opponent for Team US in the finals. The US team overwhelmed all their seven rivals with large margins, but this time in the gold medal match against Spain the team needs to dig deep in order to put the opposing team away.

The Americans only led by four points with only 2 ½ minutes to play. The team never withered under the pressure and proved that they can handle a close game as well. Argentina took the bronze at the expense of Lithuania with an 87-75 victory.

Dwayne Wade scored 27 points for the team and Kobe Bryant added another 20 points. The Spanish team in the finals was different compared to the team that the US team faced in the preliminaries. It was never the same team that the US humiliated by 37 points. Rudy Fernandez scored 22 points for Spain and Pau Gasol added another 21 points for the Spanish team. The Spanish team is the reigning world champions and hoping that they can win their first Olympics gold as well.

The US players responded well and the players appreciated the challenge forwarded by the Spanish team, hugging the players of the opposing team afterwards. Kobe Bryant had a long embrace for NBA team mate Pau Gasol.

What was supposed to be a tough opposition coming from Australia fizzled out as the US men’s basketball team scored another romp. The easy win by the US team was anchored on the efforts of Kobe Bryant who led the team. The effort of Kobe Bryant was his best yet in Beijing and thanks to his contributions, the US Olympic team advanced to the semifinals. The score was 116-85.

The win by the US over Australia sends the team against the defending champion Argentina on Friday night and the winner will advance for a spot in Sunday’s gold medal match. The Argentina team defeated Greece 80-78 for a place in the semifinals. Bryant and the rest of the US coaching staff watch the Greece and Argentina game from the baseline. Team Argentina was the team that beat the US in the semifinals of the 2004 Olympics.

The Australian team started the game strong and hinted that the team will stay close throughout the match. The performance of Team Australia remained for the first 15 minutes of the game. Their performance duplicated the one that they have shown at the exhibition in Shanghai on August 5. In this exhibition match, the team Americans led by only seven points midway into the fourth quarter. But what was supposed to be a tough contest and even an upset was snapped early in the second half as the US team made its move. Their hopes of a tough game and an upset fizzled out as the US team started the 14-0 run that featured nine points coming from Bryant.James added 16 points to the team. Two more wins by the American team will give the team its gold medal, their first gold medal in a major international competition. Mills led the Australian team with 20 points.