Olympic Results 2012: Countries That Solidified Their Contender Status
Parity is nonexistent in Olympic basketball.
The results in 2012 speak for themselves. It doesnโt take a rocket scientist, or even Stephen A. Smith, to separate the contenders from the pretenders in London. Here are the teams that distanced themselves from the pack early on Tuesday.
Spain
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The Spaniards defeated Australia 82-70, but the final score doesnโt do justice to their domination.
While the Aussies actually held a 19-14 lead at the end of the first quarter, Spain stormed back to outscore them 49-23 over the next two. They held a comfortable lead for most of the second half and only a meaningless surge by the Australian in garbage time made the score look respectable.
Spain is still working out the kinks, but itโs showing the flashes of brilliance that international basketball analysts vowed the squad was capable of. They remain the favorite to represent Group B in the gold-medal game, but a threat outside of Brazil has officially emerged.
Russia
The Russians have been the most dominant team in the Olympics outside of the United States and Argentina. The catalyst behind their emergence is none other than Andrei Kirilenko.
AK-47 dropped 35 points, carrying Russia to a 20-point victory against Great Britain in their first game of the tournament. The Associated Press reported that Kirilenko said after the contest (via ESPN):
"I feel great. Look at me. I'm running like a young deer."
Against China, the Russians proved they arenโt a one-man army, though. Kirilenko (aka Bambi, depending on how much he embraces the โyoung deerโ thing) only scored 16 points in a 73-54 triumph. Three others Russians scored double figures as a collective team effort led to the W.
Russia doesnโt look nearly as intimidating as Spain on paper. Their only other notable name outside of Kirilenko is Timothy Mozgov. But through two games, no other team in Group B has played as well together.
David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicatedย writer.
