The stars just never quite aligned for them. They took home bronze in 2016 despite Marc Gasol missing out due to a broken foot. In 20, they pushed Team USA in gold medal games. In all likelihood, we have seen the last of a Spanish group that has undoubtedly been the best non-American national team in the world for the past decade. Rudy Fernandez is 36 and Sergio Llull is 33. Rubio is the spring chicken of the Spanish core at 30. Pau Gasol is 41 years old and unlikely to return. Marc Gasol heavily implied that this was his last international tournament for Spain after the loss. This weakness is going to be tested again before the tournament's end. If Team USA reaches the gold medal game, it will likely either be against France, a team that beat them thanks in part to Rudy Gobert's interior excellence, or Slovenia, a team that has Luka Doncic, who can get to the rim at will. They missed several makeable layups and bunnies inside that could have shrunken this margin. ![]() Spain lost this game in part because it couldn't take advantage to the degree that it needed to. That has given opponents easy access to the basket on drives and rebounds. Bam Adebayo and Draymond Green, for all of their other virtues, are not traditionally-sized centers. Opponent after opponent is having that same interior success against this team. Even when Spain was missing shots, it managed to find points in the early going by rebounding them and putting them back up. Team USA was better from there, but was still ultimately out-rebounded 42-32. They opened this game with a 25-12 rebounding advantage. When Spain built its first-half lead, it did so on the glass. Size continues to be a problem for Team USA He pushed Team USA in this game, which may have been the best he's ever played at any level. In the NBA, Rubio hasn't exactly been one of them. Durant has battled many all-timers in high-stakes moments. Still, it was a remarkable sight on such a big stage. Three of Spain's starters were held scoreless. Jayson Tatum hit a number of big buckets on the way to 13 points, and Jrue Holiday, Damian Lillard and Zach LaVine all got to double digits as well. His teammates woke up in the second half. He scored 29 for Team USA, and when they were struggling to score in the first half, he was their only steady source of offense. Had his teammates stepped up for him, it might have helped him complete the upset.īut Kevin Durant was nearly as good. ![]() He got to the rim frequently and hit jumpers that he rarely even attempts in the NBA. Rubio broke Butch Lee's record for most points scored against Team USA in the Olympics by notching 38 of them in this loss. In the FIBA game, he's certainly played like one. If Rubio were a better shooter, he might be an NBA All-Star. He's averaged 11 points per game in his career, but that is the lone weakness in his otherwise stellar skill set. Ricky Rubio is primarily known for his deficiencies as a scorer in the NBA. Here are the three biggest takeaways from the Team USA victory. If they win that game, they will face France, Slovenia or Italy in the gold medal game. ![]() Team USA faces Australia in the semifinals after the Aussies dispatched Argentina with ease. Spain has now been knocked out of the tournament. There was an error processing your subscription.
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