Team USA Basketball Defeats Spain in Exhibition

Team USA played Spain on Tuesday in what could be called a preview for the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. The US struggled at the beginning but used a strong second half to pick up the victory. Carmelo Anthony was a big help off of the bench after a sluggish start by the team.

However, Team USA can not be crowned champions just yet. Spain was not playing all out. Pau Gasol did not play a lot of minutes while his brother Marc Gasol did not see the court. Spain was trying not to give away too much of their strategy in an exhibition game. They used this strategy in 2008 and nearly won the gold medal after losing to the US by 37 points in an exhibition game.

The play of Tyson Chandler has to scare any basketball fan in the US. The big man has struggled with fouls in almost every exhibition game and it could hurt the team in actual games. If Chandler continues to struggle with fouls, Anthony Davis and Kevin Love are going to have to play big minutes. Other teams in the tournament have size, but the US is dangerously thin.

Team USA finished up their exhibition schedule with a sterling 5-0 record. They had some close scares but they looked pretty good throughout the games. However, they have a lot of things to work out before they can be handed the gold medal. Expect Spain to put up a much bigger fight when an actual medal is on the line.