Olympic Gold: A Look Back At Team USA’s Victory

The 2016 Olympics final round failed to live up to the thrilling victories of past Team USA squads.

Now that it’s been a week since the Olympics finished, it might be time to take a look back at what Team USA. accomplished this year. There’s no doubt that the U.S. performed better in every round of the Olympics.

Early on, they feasted on weak teams from countries like China and Venezuela. It wasn’t until they ran into teams heavily manned by NBA players, such as Australia and France, that Team USA started to sputter.

The surprise performance in group play was Serbia, which nearly inched out the USA. for victory. Serbia came within three points of the win, and would later knockout Australia in a surprise upset during the semifinals.

Going into the final game on the last day of the Olympics, Team USA looked like it would have a fight on its hands. The team from Southeast Europe looked ready to contend against the Durant-led U.S. squad.

July 24, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; USA forward Paul George (13) shoots the ball against China in the first half during an exhibition basketball game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Then again, Team USA had been growing better game by game. After scraping by France with a three-point victory, the U.S. went on to trounce Argentina by nearly 30 points.

Even though the United States only got past Spain with a six-point win, they led from start to finish. Many expected the surprise Serbian team to compete with the U.S., but the United States exploded to a commanding lead in the second quarter.

Team USA finished the game with yet another 30-point victory.

It was a less-than-thrilling conclusion, especially compared against previous Olympic finals. In 2008, the U.S. scrapped its way to an 11-point victory against Spain. Viewers of that game will remember it took a heroic Kobe Bryant performance to lift the team to victory.

Black Mamba began a devastating assault on Spain’s defense with the U.S. was clinging to a two-point lead in the fourth quarter.

In 2012, the United States again met Spain in the finals, and this time escaped with only a seven-point victory. In global rankings, Spain was considered the second best team behind the U.S., and brothers Pau and Marc Gasol were balling out of their minds.

Still, the USA really only came close to losing once during that tournament, against Lithuania.

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Against Spain that year,

LeBron James

and

Kevin Durant

took on the responsibility of saving the team. James walked away as the only player since

Michael Jordan

to get Olympic gold in the same year as winning the NBA Finals MVP, an NBA championship and NBA regular season MVP.

That would make a nice display on anyone’s trophy rack.

In 2016, Team USA lacked the sheer star power of past years, and was tested far more often. The number of new players always meant the United States would face more challenges. Still, they managed to gel together by the last day of the tournament.

The ability for Team USA to succeed despite so many new faces is a testament to the modern U.S. basketball program.

The more competitive semifinal game is a testament to how well Spain’s big men play the U.S.

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Still, with the Gasol brothers aging, Argentina’s golden generation retiring and Australia failing yet again to medal, it’s hard to see which national teams will give the USA its greatest competition in 2020.