USA vs. Spain: Open thread

Good news! Someone will be bringing gold back to Oklahoma City next season. Seeing as I’m an American though, I’d much prefer it to be the three Thunder players and not the one to do it. Plus, three golds in OKC is better than one, right?

The line on the gold medal game was set at 21 points for Team USA and I think that’ll probably end up being about right. There’s just too much firepower to hold this team down for 40 minutes. Too much talent. Too many weapons. Between Kevin Durant and LeBron James, this team just isn’t going to lose.

The only way it conceivably happens is if Spain plays a literally flawless game and the U.S. goes ice cold. Outside of that, I don’t see how Spain outscores Team USA for 40 minutes.

One interesting sidenote to it though is how much Serge Ibaka plays. He’s become an afterthought for the Spanish team playing as few as six minutes against Russia in the semifinals. Obviously Spain’s size is the major advantage for them and in the first half of the U.S.-Spain exhibition, Ibaka has a major impact. But Marc Gasol sat that game and he’s fallen out of favor lately.

Tip-off is at 9 a.m. CT on NBC.