The U.S. men’s basketball team accomplished its goal of winning a gold medal by defeating a feisty Spanish team, 118-107. I give credit to NBC for airing the game live even though it was on at 2:30 AM on the East Coast. It’s too bad that they didn’t plan to air it again later in the morning, because it was a great game.

With Kobe Bryant and LeBron James in foul trouble throughout the first half, the game was tight but Dwyane Wade came off the bench to score 21 points in the first two quarters to lead the Americans to a 69-61 halftime lead. Spain continued to fight back throughout the second half, eventually cutting the lead to two on a Rudy Fernandez long ball with 8:13 to play. It was gut-check time for the U.S.; they had allowed Spain to get back into the game with a combination of sketchy shot selection and poor defense and once again it looked like the Americans would be plagued by fractured play.

But down the stretch it was Kobe who took control, scoring eight points and dishing out a couple of assists over the next five minutes to build the lead to nine. Spain cut it to four with 2:25 to play, but Wade hit a clutch three to push the lead back to seven. Carlos Jiminez missed a wide-open three (after just knocking one down) that would have cut the lead to three with 1:33 to play, but Bryant hit a tough shot in the lane on the Americans’ next possession to effectively put the game out of reach.

Defense had been Team USA’s calling card throughout the Olympics, but save for a couple of key stops, they just didn’t have it tonight. Luckily, they were able to knock down their three-pointers (13/28, 46%), which is something that has hurt the U.S. in the past. Wade led all scorers with 27 points and had four steals. Bryant chipped in with 20, including those eight crucial points in the fourth quarter. LeBron James played a solid all-around game, posting 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Spain was led by Pau Gasol (22 points), Fernandez (21) and Juan Carlos Navarro (18). They were playing without Raptors’ point guard Jose Calderon, who was sidelined with a groin injury. (Fernandez joins the Portland Trailblazers next season and he looks like a star in the making. He’s just 23, stands 6′6″, and has a great jumper. He also handles the ball well and attacks the rim. He is starter-quality, but may come off the bench behind Jerryd Bayless and Brandon Roy.)

Hats off to Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski for putting together a team capable of winning the gold. For the most part, they set their egos aside and played together, which is necessary these days to have success at the Olympic level. Every player knew and played his role.

Now where does the program go from here? It will be interesting to see if USA Basketball pushes forward with the same philosophy or, with this success, if they get lulled into a false sense of security. I’m betting on the former, but you never know.

…assuming the U.S. men’s basketball team wins, of course. It turns out Kidd’s medal is already spoken for.

His name is Steve Wynn. He’s a billionaire. And his wife, Elaine, is getting Jason Kidd’s gold medal if Team USA wins one more game in China.

“No, it’s not a (gambling) marker or anything like that,” Kidd said. “She’s just a great friend and a really great person.”

“Last summer, we stayed at the Wynn (resort) for a lifetime, close to three weeks,” Kidd said. “We met at a banquet, we got to talking, and she really understands the game.

“I told her I’d make a deal with her, that if we won the gold medal, I’d give it to her. She thought I was kidding. But I told her I had one already, and the way they treated us at the Wynn, it was the least I could do.”

So I’m trying to figure out this “deal” that Kidd is talking about. Did he stay at the resort for free and the gold medal is his way of paying Mrs. Wynn back? Really? It’s either that or he paid for his stay and doesn’t get anything in return for giving her the gold medal. This is apparently the “least” he can do. Hmm.

I guess the lesson here is that if you treat Jason Kidd well, he’ll give you things… like gold medals.

Argentina figured to be one of the toughest tests for Team USA at these games, but the U.S. raced out to a 21-point lead in the early second quarter of the single-elimination semifinal. The first half was a tale of two quarters. The lead, coupled with an injury that knocked Manu Ginobili out of the game, made it easy for the U.S. to get complacent. Even without their star, Argentina is a good team and while the Americans were sleepwalking, the lead was cut to six just before the half.

The U.S. got its act together after a halftime tongue-lashing from Coach K, and won the game going away, 101-81. Carmelo Anthony led Team USA with 21 points, but it was a very balanced attack as seven Americans scored in double figures.

The U.S. moves on to face Spain in the gold medal game. Jose Calderon is iffy to play with a strained groin, and given the Americans’ dominance in the two teams’ first meeting, the Spaniards are really going to have to raise their game if they’re going to keep it close. The game is scheduled for 2:30 AM ET on Sunday morning, so check your local listings.

It wasn’t pretty during the first quarter, as the U.S. men’s basketball team struggled to make shots and to defend the three-point line. But a 14-0 run at the beginning of the second half broke the game open and the U.S. went on to win, 116-85.

Kobe Bryant led Team USA with 25 points on 10-16 shooting, including 4 of 7 from long range.

“Early in the game, they made a lot of tough shots,” U.S. point guard Chris Paul said. “We were doing what we were supposed to be doing and they made tough shots, but sooner or later we’ll impose our will. I don’t know if you can keep up with us for 40 minutes.”

LeBron James added 16 points for the Americans, who are guaranteed a chance to play for a medal. They need two more wins for their first gold medal in a major international competition since the 2000 Sydney Games.

The U.S. moves on to the semifinals where they’ll face Argentina, who nipped Greece, 80-78, in the first round of the elimination bracket.

The Argentineans figure to be Team USA’s toughest challenge in these Games. With Andres Nocioni, Luis Scola, Fabricio Oberto and Carlos Delfino, they have NBA-talent, and in Manu Ginobili, they have one of the best players in the world.

Real German Dirk Nowitzki and fake German Chris Kaman were no match for the U.S. men’s basketball team, who trounced Deutschland, 106-57.

The U.S. is three wins away from its first gold medal since 2000. First up is Australia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday night.

The U.S. didn’t wait to dispose of the Germans. The U.S. jumped out to a 20-3 lead, with LeBron James capping the run with a dunk, a bucket and a 3-pointer.

The U.S. led 53-29 at halftime, and the rest of the night was garbage time.

Asked afterward what it will take to beat the U.S., the American-born German center Chris Kaman replied, “No one’s gonna beat ‘em.”

Once again, defense was the story for the U.S. The Americans limited Germany to 30 percent shooting from the floor and forced 18 turnovers.

Team USA shot 42% from long range, which is encouraging, but they need to take that accuracy with them into the medal round. They still make careless passes at times, and their 13 turnovers against a team like Germany are too many.

On a side note, Chris Kaman has been criticized for deciding to play with the Germans in these Olympics. Even his dad isn’t happy about it. I’m not happy about it either. I think, in a way, he’s betraying his country. It’s a positive for Chris Kaman the basketball player to have the opportunity to play against good competition in the summer, but he’s working against U.S. interests. If you’re born and raised in the U.S., you’re not good enough to make the U.S. team, and even your dad says you shouldn’t play for another country, then you should probably just stay home.

U.S. begins the round of eight against Australia at 8 AM ET Wednesday morning (on the USA Network). The Aussies gave the U.S. men a tough game in a warm-up match, and they didn’t even have a healthy Andrew Bogut in that game. Argentina and Greece square off in the other quarterfinal on the Americans’ side of the bracket.

Even with six current or former NBA players, Spain was no match for Team USA in the fourth of five games of pool play. The combination of the Americans’ defense (16 steals) and three-point shooting (12-25, 48%) led to a 119-82 rout of the 2006 World Champions.

LeBron James led the U.S. in scoring with 18 points, while also posting eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. Dwyane Wade continued his fine play off the bench with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals. In total, the Americans had eight players in double figures.

Both teams have secured spots in the medal round and if the current standings hold, they wouldn’t meet again until the finals. The U.S. team plays Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Kaman and the rest of the German team at 8 am on Monday (on the USA Network) in the final game of pool play. The medal round starts on Wednesday.

Greece beat Team USA two years ago in the World Championships, forcing the U.S. to settle for a bronze medal. It might have been a blessing in disguise for the Americans since it required them to play in the summer of 2007 to qualify for the Bejing Olympics. That extra work is paying dividends as Team USA’s collection of (mostly) All-Stars is starting to play better together, especially on the defensive end. Team defense is what has gotten them through the preliminary games, and it’s what allowed them to upend Greece, 92-69.

The Americans have started 3-0 in pool play without an effective long-range game. They have shot just 19 of 65 (29%) from behind the arc, which is something that has plagued the U.S. for some time. Coach K has elected not to use three-point specialist Michael Redd all that much, probably because his team is getting by without him. They continue to see a lot of zone, however, and as the competition gets tougher, they might need Redd’s shooting to open up things inside.

The team faces its toughest test of pool play when it faces unbeaten Spain at 10 AM (ET) on Saturday.

On a side note, one thing that struck me as odd as I was watching ESPN’s series “Road to Redemption” was just how much of a leadership role LeBron James has taken. Apparently, he’s constant talking, coaching and cracking jokes. But other than his tremendous talent, I just don’t see how LeBron qualifies as a leader of this particular team. He’s just 23 and hasn’t been around great coaching other than his summers with Team USA.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s one of the world’s best and is already basketball’s most athletic player, but he doesn’t strike me as a particularly heady guy. His shot selection is suspect, he gets out of position when he’s on the ball defensively and, other than a big jump in FG% from his rookie to his second season, he has failed to drastically improve any other part of his game. His 3PT% still hovers around 32% and his FT% has actually decreased from 75% his rookie season to 71% last year. Moreover, he has failed to recognize that by developing a good post game, he could literally dominate on the block. Where is that turnaround that made MJ so hard to guard? Where is the up-and-under?

Given his athletic ability, it seems like LeBron could be so much more. And for that reason, I’m not sure why anyone on Team USA would be spending a lot of time worrying about what he has to say.

It isn’t going to be this easy. The U.S. men’s basketball team beat Angola, 97-76, in preliminary pool play.

Dwyane Wade scored 19 points, James dominated the game with his size and strength on both ends, and the U.S. Olympic team wrapped up the easy portion of its schedule with a 97-76 victory Tuesday night.

Dwight Howard added 14 points and James finished with 12 for the Americans, who had another rough night from 3-point range but don’t appear to be stoppable in the open court. Wade was perfect from the field in Beijing until missing in the third quarter.

The Americans (2-0) moved on to face Greece, the team that stunned them two years ago in the semifinals of the world championship. Two days later comes a matchup with Spain, the team that won that tournament and is also 2-0 in this one after rallying to beat China in overtime behind 29 points from Pau Gasol.

Look for Team USA’s game against Greece on Thursday (early) morning on the USA Network.

It was a rough start for Team USA in its Olympic opener as China made eight of its first 12 three-point shots. After that run of hot shooting, China was still within three (35-32) with 4:10 to play in the second quarter, but the U.S. outscored the Chinese 66-38 over the last two and a half quarters to win, 101-70.

Dwyane Wade came off the bench to lead Team USA in scoring with 19 points, shooting 7 of 7 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free throw line. LeBron James had an outstanding games, posting 18 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks, including two spectacular rejections in the first half.

The U.S. was sloppy at times and struggled to get good inside shots against China’s 2-3 zone. Shooting is still a team weakness as the U.S. made just 7 of 24 from long range. But the Americans’ overall athleticism was just too much in the end.

For China, Yao Ming posted 13 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, and looked pretty active coming off a foot injury. Yi Jianlian, who was drafted by the Bucks but was recently traded to the Nets, had a pretty rough game, missing his first seven shots and finishing 4 of 13 from the field. China is going to need him to play better to make the medal round.

Team USA’s next game is Tuesday morning against Angola. Check your local listings.

Call me unpatriotic, but at times during the 2004 Olympics in Athens, it was tough to root for the U.S. Men’s Basketball Team. Helmed by Larry Johnson (boy was that a bad choice), Team USA was young, fragmented and couldn’t shoot. For the most part, the competition in Athens played together, proving the old adage that a sum can be greater than total of its individual parts. Teams like Greece and Argentina ran fluid, smart offense and played gritty defense - stuff that would make James Naismith proud.

Truthfully, the bronze medal finish was just what American basketball needed. It served as a wake up call that the rest of the world hadn’t just caught up to Team USA, it had passed them by.

Enter former Suns owner and four-time NBA Executive of the Year, Jerry Colangelo, who became the national director of Team USA. He immediately decided to hire legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski to helm the team. Tired of the revolving door access to Team USA, in 2005 Colangelo required a three-year commitment that would take the program through the 2008 Bejing Olympics.

While the team has made progress defensively and (generally) playing together, offensively things are still a little rough. Team USA is at times sloppy, playing too fast and chucking up bad shots when an open jumper is two passes away. It’s difficult for NBA stars to check their egos at the door and pass up what they believe to be a good shot to eventually get a great one.

The team looked pretty good in a recent series of warm-up games against Turkey, Russia and Lithuania. They did not, however, look very good against Australia, even though they were playing without the Milwaukee Bucks’ Andrew Bogut.

The team added long range bomber Michael Redd (right) to shore up its shooting, but only he and Carmelo Anthony are consistent deep threats. Anyone on the team can get hot, but only the perimeter shooting of ‘Melo and Redd strikes fear in the hearts of the opposition. I’m afraid what will happen if both players have a bad game.

ESPN has been running a series called “Road to Redemption” that follows Team USA in its preparation both on and off the court. Essentially, it’s a fluff piece with all the players talking about how great everyone is and how much fun it is to play on Team USA. The footage from the meetings reveals a serious side to all of this; there is incredible pressure on the team to return with the gold medal. Failure is not an option.

Team USA opens up on Sunday at 10:15 AM ET against Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian and the rest of the Chinese team.

Here’s the complete schedule:

vs. China: Aug. 10, 10:15 a.m. ET
vs. Angola: Aug. 12, 8 a.m. ET
vs. Greece: Aug. 14, 8 a.m. ET
vs. Spain: Aug. 16, 10:15 a.m. ET
vs. Germany: Aug. 18, 8 a.m. ET
Quarterfinals: Aug. 20
Semifinals: Aug. 22
Finals: Aug. 24