The recruiting season is over. So is the conference race. What remains for the U.S. men’s basketball team starting Thursday is the equivalent of the single-elimination NCAA tournament.
“We are in the Elite Eight,” coach Larry Brown said.
But are they elite enough to survive? The U.S. will face unbeaten Spain. That means trying to find a way to neutralize forward Pau Gasol, who stars for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Should the U.S. win, it will play Friday against Argentina or Greece. A second victory would put the U.S. in the gold-medal game Saturday.
“[Spain] is the best team I’ve seen thus far,” Brown said. “Gasol is as good a player as there is in the tournament. They are a veteran team. The fact that they have gone through their pool undefeated tells you how good they are.”
Brown said Wednesday he intends to shorten his playing rotation, which might leave Carmelo Anthony out of the mix and cut time for Stephon Marbury.
“Knowing what I know now, [Olympic gold] would be one of the greatest thrills I’ve ever had under the circumstances,” Brown said. “A lot of guys are going to have to come a long way in a short time. It isn’t going to be easy.”
